Semarchy xDM 2.1 release notes

Feature highlights

Semarchy xDM 2.1 introduces new features to make the life of business users and data stewards easier and more productive: As they browse the data, then can perform quick records checkouts and immediately start authoring and managing data in newly organized editors. While working on this data, which now can includes errors and rejects, the are assisted with features such as automated ID generation and inline and bulk data validation. They can also take advantage of the improved data import/export in Excel and CSV and work with their favorite data editor.

With this release, developers and administrators are also invited to use the new design options for entity matching behavior and create retention policies and scheduled purges to enforce data governance and compliance policies.

Entity-matching behavior

This release introduces a new naming convention for entity types that replaces the Primary Key Type (SDPK, UDPK).
Entities are now identified by their Matching Behavior:

  • ID Matching (formerly known as UDPK): Records in entities using ID Matching are matched if they have the same ID. This matching behavior is well suited when there is a true unique identifier for all the applications communicating with the MDM hub and for simple Data Entry use cases.

  • Fuzzy Matching (formerly known as SDPK): Records in entities using Fuzzy Matching are matched using a SemQL expression defined in a matcher.

The matching behavior is defined when creating the entity and is modified using the Alter Entity action.

Automated ID generation

Entity primary keys (IDs) can now be automatically generated in the data entry forms. The method for generating IDs is configured in the entity definition and may use a sequence or built-in UUID generator.

This feature facilitates data authoring through applications for business users and data stewards and they no longer need to enter ID values.

Error processing workflows

Contributions via data entry workflows now include fixing rejects, in addition to authoring or modifying data.
Model designers can define whether golden data, master data and/or rejects can be brought into the workflow that they create.

Using this feature, data stewards can now address data issues detected in the golden data certification process using regular data manipulation workflows, which are managed in the Semarchy xDM platform.

Improved experience for data authoring and stewardship

The data entry and duplicate management activities are now made easier to use through subtle improvements of the data entry and duplicate management editors.
This includes a complete reorganization and renaming for the actions. The are now grouped in a single Actions menu. Users can flag frequently used actions as Quick Actions to make them available in the editor toolbar.

Quick records checkout

Users can now quickly select and check out records as they browse them. This operation adds these records to an existing workflow or creates a new workflow with these records. This workflow automatically opens and the user can immediately start working on these records.

With this feature, users can naturally and quickly trigger activities as they see the data, dramatically boosting their productivity.

Workflow data validation

Data modified or entered in the context of a data entry activities is now be validated at two levels:

  • Form Data Validation: Within data entry forms, information not compliant with the data quality rules defined in the model is detected and errors are raised to the user.

  • Bulk Data Validation: All the data modified or entered in the context of a data entry workflow can be validated against the data certification rules in bulk using the new Validate action.

Using these two features, data authors can now pro-actively fix issues that may cause data rejection before saving each data record and before completing a task.

Improved data import/export in Excel and CSV

The import/export feature available to extract data from the hub or bulk import data is now improved with the following capabilities:

  • CSV Files Support: Data import and export now support CSV files in addition to Microsoft Excel workbooks.

  • Reusable Import Settings: Import settings, including file format specification and columns to attributes mappings can be saved and reused for subsequent imports.

  • Advanced Export Settings: The format of the exported files (list of values, references, complex attributes and header columns) can be customized through advanced options.

These new capabilities help business users and data stewards manage customized exports and import for data viewing and bulk changes.

Retention policies and scheduled purges

Preserving the lineage and history of the golden data is a frequent master data governance and regulatory compliance requirement. To make sure that the data lineage and history are preserved according to the governance and compliance requirements, model designers can now define Data Retention Policies for the model and for individual entities.

For example:

  • The hub is configured to retain no history at all. This is the general policy.

  • Employee data is retained for 10 years.

  • Product and Financial data is retained forever.

However, keeping this information may also create a large volume of data in the hub storage. To keep a reasonable volume of information, administrators can now schedule Purges for this data. These schedules are handled by a Purge Scheduler, accessible from the administration view. These purges respect the retention policies defined in the model design.

Retention policies and scheduled purges guarantee ease of administration, data volume control as well as compliance with data retention policies for regulatory compliance.

Changelog

Version 2.1.1

  • 898 - Fixed slower opening of data editions in 2.1 compared to 2.0

  • 889 - Submitting a workflow while a record is displayed in a form view generates an AssertionFailedException

  • 888 - A model validation is added to have at least one output for plug-in enrichers

  • 895 - End of record error with CSV files

  • 906 - Filters do not seem to apply correctly to data editors opened twice

  • 896 - Editable table cells containing SemQL expressions incorrectly keep the focus on exit

  • 890 - Documentation export on a model using inheritance and attribute privileges generates an IllegalArgumentException

  • 905 - The overview page does not appear when the engine is stopped

  • 892 - AssertionFailedException: assertion failed: Getter called on disposed observable is logged when closing a data editor

  • 891 - A NullPointerException appears when checking rejects out if the table view contains attributes using SemQL expressions

Version 2.1.0

  • 432 - Count query to display the total number of rows in tables are computed on demand

  • 471 - New Batch Poller option Plugin Tasks Feedback Interval defines row count refresh interval for long running plugin tasks

  • 520 - Session Timeout Window has a broken layout

  • 572 - Refresh button in Data Entry View does not correctly refresh the table content

  • 586 - Semarchy workbench incorrectly freezes on Loading page if the repository database is unavailable.

  • 609 - No scrollbar on the workflow editor with small browser windows

  • 612 - Excel Import resolves formulas while importing data

  • 620 - Excel import mapping suggestion is not case insensitive

  • 625 - A new dialog show the number of records imported successfully or failed

  • 641 - Scripts in the bin folder do not have execution permission on after uncompressing the distribution

  • 655 - The initial focus is not correctly set in the wizards with Firefox

  • 658 - Home Dashboard fails to load with a DataAccessPermissionDenied exception if user has row-level security defined

  • 684 - Certain actions are incorrectly enabled for multiple-selections in the duplicate management editor

  • 686 - Dialog for selecting candidate values (for example in a filter) incorrectly allows multiple values selection

  • 692 - ORA-00001: unique constraint (XXX) violated if the same complex type is used twice in the same entity and if both attribute are in error.

  • 693 - A value selected in the selection dialog is ignored for Date types in criteria filter definition

  • 695 - Finish button is now disabled on the first page of the Open Data Edition wizard

  • 697 - A zero rows sample raises an exception when clicking Next in the Excel Import Wizard

  • 698 - Export button should be disabled when list of records is empty

  • 701 - Default validation is now pre-consolidation for newly created validation elements

  • 705 - Reference validation scope is not exported in Model Documentation export for References that are not mandatory

  • 707 - Excel Import fails with an Excel file with lines that have been emptied.

  • 716 - Incorrect display type used for complex attribute’s definition attributes in form and tables views.

  • 718 - ORA-30926: unable to get a stable set of rows in the source tables error occurs on the Consolidate singleton master records into GI table task.

  • 727 - Erratic layout behavior of the sections in the Home Dashboard

  • 730 - Folder Names instead of labels incorrectly shown in the model tree view

  • 739 - Getting Started Actions are now hidden if user does not have the semadmin role

  • 740 - Changing the name of an object does not change the editor’s tab label

  • 741 - It is no longer possible to remove all the displayed columns from a data table

  • 743 - Business Object Views are not ordered alphabetically by label in the Structure of a Data Entry Workflow

  • 746 - New Display Format and Export Format options for List of Values in User Preferences and Export Dialog

  • 747 - Integration Job incorrectly validates mandatory attributes existing only in child entities (inheritance)

  • 749 - Better error message when a multi-LOV value cannot be stored due to the attribute size

  • 750 - Missing Remove button for Embedded Content display type during Data Entry

  • 754 - Image are displayed too large in the Data Entry workflow table

  • 756 - Wrong label for BO views selection step in the Data Entry workflow creation wizard

  • 776 - Invalid SQL generated when using BETWEEN in SemQL

  • 787 - Job Remains Running after a repository crash