In addition to two exciting new modules - TRANS-it and STAR-it - Data Academy 5.4 also introduced some significant new features - focused, as always, on developer productivity, warehouse maintainability and ease of use.
TRANS-it
The TRANS-it module is the most significant innovation in Data Warehousing since the introduction of Microsoft's DTS. One of the biggest headaches faced by Development Project Managers is how to isolate developers from a stable release environment, and provide the ability to easily move their work from a Development, to a Test and subsequently Production or Live platform. The movement of DTS/SSIS packages is a relatively simple task, but ensuring that all necessary dependent objects such as Tables, Views, Stored Procedures, etc... also follow has historically had to rely on 3rd party tools or, worse yet, Documentation.
By basing a Data Warehouse development on the Data Academy platform in conjunction with SQL Server 2005, this problem evaporates. Data Academy TRANS-it resolves all of these issues, and provides a platform with the ability to automate deployments via custom scripts. With the simultaneous introduction of runtime licensing for Data Academy, significant cost savings can be made on the Test and Production environments.
Development can continue within an isolated development environment. When ready for deployment to the test or live environments, the TRANS-it module is used to identify the elements of the warehouse to be deployed. A single click copies those objects plus their appropriate dependencies to the target environment or a file for later deployment. Where appropriate, connection details etc... can be modified on the fly so that the deployed element has all of the appropriate settings.
STAR-it
Classic data warehousing principals require sophisticated dimensional modelling. The STAR-it module eases the development of Star Schemas. Star Schemas can be demanding to build and maintain, but with Data Academy STAR-it they become simplicity itself. You simply define your fact and dimension tables, and then specify the relationships between them.
STAR-it includes support for Slowly Changing Dimensions, which allows Data Academy to derive and maintain the history of a data record, so that data retains its correct context even when it changes in your source system.
STAR-it also provides a built-in feature to infer missing members in a dimension, so that if you are loading data from multiple systems you can ensure that your aggregate numbers add up, even when the data from the primary key system is not yet loaded. Once that data becomes available, STAR-it automatically backtracks it into your data, overwriting the temporary, inferred records.
Key New Features Included in Data Academy 5.4
Productivity:
- Data Loader Copy allows you to create a new Data Loader based on an existing template.
- Improved syntax checking pinpoints SQL errors at design time.
- JAIL-it rules are now fully integrated with GOVERN-it.
- Transformation and Star Space tables can be dropped from the Data Academy User Interface.
- Transitory Datasets can be built within a Transformation Space, but deleted after completion.
- A "Join Library" provides the ability for developers to re-use joins previously defined within Data Academy.
- Selection criteria in Transformation Spaces are now available via a combo box, prompting the developer with the available options.
- Orchestrations now have a new Movement Type which will check whether an alternative orchestration has successfully run.
- Orchestrations can now be run from the Data Academy User Interface site.
- When an orchestration is created or run an agent job is automatically created to ease the process of scheduling.
Usability: - An option can be configured to stop logged-on user sessions from timing out.
- Data Services now shows items that are queued waiting for processing.
- The Data Services event log automatically refreshes.
- Filter and Sort options have been added to the JAIL-it User Interface.
- Multi-Add list boxes now have a filter feature allowing the developer to quickly home in on the required tables and fields.
Performance: - Improved JAIL-it performance - up to 15% faster.
- Data is inserted into the data warehouse using the most efficient sort method.
Configurability: - The installer now starts Data Academy Data Services automatically.
- Windows and Form-based Authentication for the Academy website can be configured from the Site Configuration screen.
SQL Server Support: - Ability to point to a relevant instance of SQL Server for integration package generation (support for multiple SQL 2005 instances).
- Indexes on Data Loader tables and Datasets can be defined as Clustered.
- Support for GROUP BY... HAVING clause.
Analysis Services Support: - Support for Dimension attributes on cubes.
- Support for KPIs on cubes.
Administration: - Improved Data Loader Logging assists in problem identification and speeds diagnosis.
Development: - Developer Mode provides a fast and efficient method of setting Form Attributes interactively.
- The Form Builder has support for a pop-up memo control type.
- Form Builder supports list length and detail columns properties
- Form Builder supports re-ordering of sorted items within a list form