Release Notes archive - 2014 August-September

Saturday September 27, 2014

Bucket Data with Computed Attributes^BETA

You can now create buckets defined by metric ranges with our new computed attributes feature. Because buckets are dynamically calculated, they are particularly useful when metric values change over time. When you include a computed attribute in a report, its buckets appear in that report. After you create a computed attribute it appears in the Attributes menu and you can use and manage it like other attributes.

NOTE: This feature is in Beta release.

Example: You create a computed attribute named Age Groups and define the following buckets: kids (metric range 0-13); teenagers (metric range 13-19); adults (metric range >19).

Limitations:

• Computed attributes do not appear in CloudConnect data models.
• You cannot transfer computed attributes to other projects.
• In the Beta release, you cannot change previously defined ranges. This capability will be added in the general release.

For more information, see https://support.gooddata.com/entries/98674263-Feature-Preview-Bucket-Data-with-Computed-Attributes.

New White-Labeling Customization Options Available

You can apply additional customizations to the navigation bar on white-labeled organizations:

Figure: New white-labeling customization options

The API-level changes for these customizations are the following:

• New headerColor, headerTextColor, and activeColor keys
• The documentationUrl key now adds a link in two places: the Help > Documentation option on the navigation bar and the Help link on the Portal footer
• The headerBackgroundUrl key was removed

For more information, see the White Labeling section of the GoodData API documentation.

Saturday September 20, 2014

ETL schedules can be named in Data Integration Console

In the Data Integration Console, you can define a display name for your ETL schedules. By default, display names inherit the name of the executable graph, but if desired, you can provide a more descriptive name.

Figure: Renaming a schedule

This feature is useful for distinguishing small differences in schedule timing or parameters among a set of schedules that utilize the same graph.

ETL schedules can be renamed in the Schedule definition and Project Details screen.

• For more information, see http://help.gooddata.com/doc/public/wh/WHAll/Default.htm#DICUserManual/NewProcessSchedule.htm.

Set Scaling on Tabular Reports you Export to PDF

When you export a tabular report from the GoodData Portal to PDF you can now set custom scaling using the APIs. This scaling enables you to more easily see all data, print copies, and share with colleagues. Scaling applies both to scheduled emails and ad hoc reporting. You can scale in the following ways:

• Fit the report to a maximum number of pages
• Shrink or magnify by a percentage

Additionally, when you export a report as a PDF in landscape orientation, it now exports as a single page by default.

• For more information on setting custom scaling for a report, see API Documentation.

Saturday September 13, 2014

Visualization SDK is now available

Use the Automation SDK to extend your project visualizations in new directions. This library provides a Javascript wrapper on top of the GoodData APIs, so that you can manage authentication and data retrieval with a few simple JavaScript calls. Insert the results into your custom visualizations and then integrate the visualizations as web content into your dashboards.

NOTE: Visualizations and their projects must be hosted within the same domain, as the GoodData APIs prevent cross-domain queries. So, the Visualization SDK may be used in white-labeled organizations only without special modifications. For non-white labeled customers, a separate GoodData organization (domain) must be created to host visualizations and the projects that reference them. For more information on acquiring a new domain, please contact Account Management.

• The Visualization SDK is maintained in a Git repository. To download the SDK, see GoodData Visualization SDK repository.
• To review documentation, see GoodData Visualization SDK microsite.

Take our Documentation Survey

GoodData is collecting feedback on our product documentation. If you have a few minutes, we'd love to hear your opinions.

Thank you in advance for your time.

Saturday September 6, 2014

Personal objects are now available

When you create a new metric, report, or dashboard in your project, it is now visible only to you at first. These hidden objects, called personal objects, are marked with an Eye icon () in the GoodData Portal interface.

• This feature is delayed for some customers (Zendesk). For more information, please contact GoodData Customer Support.

When the object is ready for other users, you can easily share it through the UI. Personal objects enable Editors and Administrators to experiment and develop new reporting objects without having them immediately impact other users in the project.

NOTE: This feature is a significant change to how objects are managed in a project. It should be communicated to all Editors and Administrators in your user community.

In the GoodData Portal, hidden objects can be shared by providing a link to the object to other Editors and Administrators, which enables collaboration during development.

Editors can hide any object, even ones that they do not own. If you hide an object that you do not own, retain its URL. Otherwise, you will not be able to access it.

Administrators retain global controls over objects. However, ownership of an object cannot be changed.

For more information, see http://help.gooddata.com/doc/public/wh/WHAll/Default.htm#GDRefGuide/ManagingPersonalObjects.htm.

For more information on making changes to personal objects via API, see https://developer.gooddata.com/article/managing-access-to-project-objects-via-api.

Data Loading Administration console to be discontinued

The Data Loading Administration console has been superseded by the Data Integration Console, which was released three months ago. Customers need to migrate to using the new Data Integration Console immediately.

The Data Loading Administration console will no longer be available as of September 18, 2014.

To access the Data Integration Console, please visit https://secure.gooddata.com/admin/disc/.

• For more information on the Data Integration Console, see http://help.gooddata.com/doc/public/wh/WHAll/Default.htm#DICUserManual/IntroductionToDISC.htm.
• For the initial Release Notes announcement, see Release 101.1 Release Notes.

Saturday August 30, 2014

Search projects in Data Integration Console

In the Data Integration Console, you can now search your available projects by name or project identifier. You can then apply the same batch operation to the returned list of projects.

Figure: Searching by project in Data Integration Console

To return to the full list of projects, search for an empty string.

• For more information, see http://help.gooddata.com/doc/public/wh/WHAll/Default.htm#DICUserManual/DISC-ProjectsScreen.htm.

 

Zendesk Reader component has been removed from CloudConnect

NOTE: Due to a technical issue, the Zendesk Reader may be temporarily available in some builds. When the issue is resolved, the component will be permanently removed. Please review these release notes and make updates accordingly.

 The Zendesk Reader component is no longer available in CloudConnect. This component is not widely used.

NOTE: Processes that have been published to the platform using this component will continue to work for a period of several months. This component references the legacy Zendesk APIs, which may not be available in the future. You should migrate your processes to use the recommended component below.

Instead, you should use the REST Connector component to connect to the Zendesk REST API’s, which enable the same functionality.

• For more information on the GoodData REST Connector, see https://developer.gooddata.com/cloudconnect/manual/restconnector.html.
• For more information on the Zendesk APIs, see http://developer.zendesk.com/documentation/rest_api/introduction.html.

 

 

Saturday August 23, 2014

Data Permissions filters can be applied to rolling periods

Data Permissions filters can now be extended to apply filtration on rolling periods. Using the PREVIOUS, THIS, and NEXT keywords in your Data Permissions expressions, you can define your filters to display only data from a specified rolling time period, which is very useful for filtering out historical values that are no longer important for specific employees.

NOTE: Data Permissions filters were previously known as Mandatory User Filters (MUFs).

• Data Permissions are attribute-based data access controls, which project administrators can use to limit sensitive or irrelevant data displayed to users who are assigned the filter.
• For more information on Data Permissions filters, see https://developer.gooddata.com/article/lets-get-started-with-data-permissions.

For example, suppose you wish to limit user’s ability to see data from the current year only. In the Data Permissions expression below, you can see a reference to the appropriate date attribute (/obj/398) and how the THIS keyword is used to identify the attribute value to apply to any user with this filter:

{
    "userFilter": {
        "content": {
            "expression": "[/gdc/md/e5lnxh2jqiglfz2d7j2nenivvabazlq5/obj/398]=THIS"
        },
        "meta": {
            "category": "userFilter",
            "title": "This Year Only"
        }
    }
}

NOTE: The filter must be applied to each Date dimension in the project, for all users whose data should be filtered by it.

You can use the PREVIOUS and NEXT keywords in a similar manner. For more information, see http://developer.gooddata.com/article/creating-data-permissions-filters-for-rolling-time-periods.

 

 

Saturday August 16, 2014

GoodData Help is now available! Through a single interface, business users and developers can find answers to their most pressing questions and explore the documentation for individual features. More content is on the way. Please bookmark GoodData Help.

Release 101.12 contains various enhancements and bug fixes to the platform and GoodData Portal. Check back next week for the latest updates!

Saturday August 9, 2014

GoodData Help is now available! Through a single interface, business users and developers can find answers to their most pressing questions and explore the documentation for individual features. More content is on the way. Please bookmark GoodData Help.

Timeline in dashboard date filter can be scrolled

To simplify the selection of time intervals, the timeline in the dashboard date filter can now be scrolled, enabling faster and easier selection of date ranges:

Figure: Scrolling date selector

To select a date range:

1. Click the desired date block or click and hold the left/right buttons to see other date blocks.
2. To select the end date block, use the buttons if needed, Press SHIFT + click to select the ending date block.

NOTE: As previously, you may also use the calendar tool to select the beginning and end dates. However, this method may not work correctly with custom calendars.

For more information, see http://help.gooddata.com/doc/public/wh/WHAll/Default.htm#GDRefGuide/DashboardFilters.htm.

 

Schedules may now be triggered by other schedules

In the Data Integration Console, you can now configure one schedule to occur after another schedule has completed. In this manner, you can configure sequences of schedules.

For example, suppose you have an ETL graph that updates Zip code information in your project. You may wish to run this schedule first, so that all references are updated, before you run the other ETL graphs for the project.

When defining the schedule, you may specify the schedule that is to run after successful completion of the current one:

Figure: Configuring a schedule to run after another

• Schedules cannot be sequenced in a loop. A schedule can be used only once in a scheduling sequence.
• If a schedule is deleted, all schedules that are supposed to run after it must be reconfigured. The reported error message for these schedules is "Trigger schedule missing!"

You can navigate a sequence of schedules. Links to connected schedules are displayed next to the schedule name:

Figure: Click links to navigate schedule sequences

For more information, see http://help.gooddata.com/doc/public/wh/WHAll/Default.htm#DICUserManual/ConfiguringScheduleSequences.htm.

 

Saved Dashboard Views - Feature Preview

Here’s a sneak peek at the new Saved Views feature, which enables you to save multiple dashboard filters as a filter group called a Saved View. You can use your Saved Views to quickly switch between filter combinations that you frequently use. Click here to learn more.

• Sign up to preview the feature.

Saturday August 2, 2014

GoodData Help is now available! Through a single interface, business users and developers can find answers to their most pressing questions and explore the documentation for individual features. More content is on the way. Please bookmark GoodData Help.

Data Permissions now available to Admins in member profile

Project Administrators can now review the Data Permissions filters applied to any user in the project.

NOTE: Data Permissions were formerly named Mandatory User Filters.

In the Project & Users tab of the Manage page, when you select a user, the user’s Data Permissions filters are displayed:

Figure: Data Permissions displayed for user

Data Permissions filters enable project Administrators to apply data access controls based on attribute values to one or more users in the project, so that sensitive or inapplicable data is hidden from the user.

• For more information on configuring Data Permissions, see https://developer.gooddata.com/article/lets-get-started-with-mandatory-user-filters.