LynxProfiler - Release Notes

Please click the links below to be taken to the relevant section of the release notes.

Version Number	Release Date
1.4.1	24 February 2009
1.4.0	20 March 2008
1.3.4	23 November 2007
1.3.3	27 September 2007
1.3.2	09 September 2007
1.3.1	31 July 2007
1.3.0	25 July 2007
1.2.11	27 June 2007
1.2.10	02 June 2007

1.4.1

Release Date - 24/02/09

Additional Features:

• A new 'Columns Detail Panel' has been added to the table display. This view allows for easy viewing of individual column details and profiling results without having to leave the overall view of the table statistics.

• There is now an inbuilt HTML Help system found under the 'Help' menu.

• Dictionaries now have a 'Re-Profile' button availible while viewing the Dictionary values.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed an issue where reprofiling a dictionary based upon a table which also hasn't been profiled fails.

• It is no longer possible to run the Dictionary Wizard for a Dictionary which had already been created manualy.

• Prevented an error message loop from occuring after pasting a table into a system that does not have the ODBC connection configured and then trying to work with that table.

• Prevented the 'Tree' from displaying an incorrect name after choosing 'No' to a 'Save Changes?' dialog.

• Profiling no longer crashes when creating pattern Dictionaries of very long data lengths.

• It is now possible to DrillDown into values which contain a '.

Known Issues

• Import / Export completes without informing the user if the task was successful.

• LynxProfiler cannot connect to Oracle when the LynxProfiler tool resides in a folder with ()'s in the name.

• RESOLVED: This has effectively been resolved from July '07 and no longer seems necessary to list this as a 'Known Issue'. It is not possible to produce reports for any object which contain characters not adhering to MS Windows naming convention I.e \ / : * ? < > | (It is nolonger possible to create new objects with these characters, however legacy objects may still contain these characters)

• RESOLVED: Copying a table into a system which has no ODBC connection details defined results in an error message loop the user cannot escape from.

• RESOLVED: DrillDown fails where the value being drilled into contains a '

1.4.0

Release Date - 20/03/2008

Additional Features:

• LynxProfiler is now capable of creating Pattern Dictionaries. In a Pattern Dictionary, all characters A-Z are replaced with the letter 'A' and all numbers with a '9'. Allowing easy identification the values format

• LynxProfiler is now capable of creating Length Dictionaries. In a Length Dictionary, the length of the data is calculated and returned as a Dictionary Value

• Profiling now has an Advanced page, allowing the user to automatically create Dictionaries at a column level, and change performance options

• Length, Pattern and Value Dictionaries can now be created at a column, or table level. Only Value Dictionaries can be created at a Project level

• Columns now have their own Profiling Results page

• Tables in the HTML Reports are now sortable by clicking on the Column Heading

• It is now possible to create Filters at a Table level

• The Tree has been updated to include icons

• LynxProfiler now remembers the window size from the previous run, and will start at the same size

• Dictionaries now warn if they are about to import a lot of data and offer the user the options of defining the dictionary now and leaving the profiling of it until next time the system is profiled

• Increased the maximum size of the row description in dictionaries from 512 to 2000 characters

• It is now possible to modify the SQL after a syntax error when creating dictionaries instead of an unusable dictionary being created

• Modified the error message given when the SQL Syntax in dictionaries is incorrect, to the same error message as used in the DataBrowser window

• Removed the Translation panel, as this had no use in a Profiling setting

• The Data Browser no longer applies a default sort if the user has not specified one. On large data sets this could be quite slow (LynxProfiler is dependant on the database performance) so it is left to the user to determine if they require sorting

• The Filter and Sort box has a larger area for typing into

• Dictionaries Are now Profiled from the 'Profile Data' menu

• After changing the Filters applied to the DataBrowser, only 20 new rows are displayed

• The behaviour of dictionaries has been improved so that if the user enters an invalid condition in the filter the wizard now reports the error politely and gives the user a chance to correct the filter

• A New 'Include When Profiling' option has been included on Tables, Columns and Dictionaries. Unselecting this option stops profiling of all items under that object in the tree

• Provided greater feedback to the user when an item cannot be profiled

• Increased the size of the Value Filter pane on the Dictionary Properties tab

• It is now possible to change the Native Name of columns to provide a different view of the data. For example, substr( <FIELD_NAME>, 1,3)

• Smarter tab behaviour has been implemented when selecting items from the tree, when selecting a new item, the Properties tab is displayed. After data has been gathered the profiler defaults to a view of the data

• 'Translations' have been removed from the HTML reports

Bug Fixes

• Fixed a bug in the DataBrowser in which it could sometimes remove the option to 'Fetch all / Next' when there were still rows to fetch

• Fixed a bug which prevented the description of a system appearing in the Project Report

• Fixed a problem which caused dictionary creation to fail when including more than one field with a possible length of greater than 512

• Fixed an issue where running Import Schema and then not importing any tables would result in the software to lose the ODBC connection details

• Fixed an issue which could result in the DataBrowser returning only 1 row after applying a filter

• Fixed the problem which could prevent the DataBrowser from being re-sized

• It is no longer possible to delete a table if there is an open browser window for that table, previously this would cause an error

• Saving a Translation no longer results in a "duplicate name error"

• 'Translations' have been removed from the HTML reports

• The ODBC connection browser no longer requires you to change your username or password when changing which ODBC connection is being used before allowing you to save the changes

• It is no longer necessary to run 'Test Connection' when copying a Table to a new System before attempting to run the Importer or Profile.r

• It is no longer possible for users without the 'Create Project' role to circumvent the restriction.

• When a new Dictionary is automatically created it now appear in the tree, without the need of refreshing all the dictionaries.

• Pasting a table into a defined system, no longer requires 'Test Connection' to be run ro prevent errors during drill down.

• Under certain condition 'Import Schema' would offer to import tables which already exist in the System. This no longer occurs.

Known Issues

• Import / Export completes without informing the user if the task was successful.

• LynxProfiler cannot connect to Oracle when the LynxProfiler tool resides in a folder with ()'s in the name.

• It is not possible to produce reports for any object which contain characters not adhering to MS Windows naming convention I.e \ / : * ? < > | (It is nolonger possible to create new objects with these characters, however legacy objects may still contain these characters)

• RESOLVED: Occasionally "Import Schema" will offer tables which have already been imported. Re-importing the table(s) causes ODBC errors.

• RESOLVED: Pasting a Table into another System which hasn't had the ODBC connection tested, results in errors during attempted DrillDown. This can be resolved going into the System details panel and pressing 'Test Connection'.

• Copying a table into a system which has no ODBC connection details defined results in an error message loop the user cannot escape from

• DrillDown fails where the value being drilled into contains a '

1.3.4

Release Date - 23/11/07

Additional Features:

• Removed reference to non-profiling related objects in the HTML reports.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed an issue where drilling down on Dist.Vals & Mode Value, where the column name contains a ' / ' causes the tool to stop responding and consume 100% CPU

Known Issues

• Import / Export completes without informing the user if the task was successful.

• LynxProfiler cannot connect to Oracle when the LynxProfiler tool resides in a folder with ()'s in the name.

• It is not possible to produce reports for any object which contain characters not adhering to MS Windows naming convention I.e \ / : * ? < > | (It is nolonger possible to create new objects with these characters, however legacy objects may still contain these characters)

• Occasionally "Import Schema" will offer tables which have already been imported. Re-importing the table(s) causes ODBC errors.

• Pasting a Table into another System which hasn't had the ODBC connection tested, results in errors during attempted DrillDown. This can be resolved going into the System details panel and pressing 'Test Connection'.

1.3.3

Release Date - 27/09/07

Additional Features:

• Made significant improvements to the speed of importing schemas which was previously very slow on large Oracle systems.

Bug Fixes

• None.

Known Issues

• Import / Export completes without informing the user if the task was successful.

• LynxProfiler cannot connect to Oracle when the LynxProfiler tool resides in a folder with ()'s in the name.

• It is not possible to produce reports for any object which contain characters not adhering to MS Windows naming convention I.e \ / : * ? < > | (It is nolonger possible to create new objects with these characters, however legacy objects may still contain these characters)

• Occasionally "Import Schema" will offer tables which have already been imported. Re-importing the table(s) causes ODBC errors.

• Pasting a Table into another System which hasn't had the ODBC connection tested, results in errors during attempted DrillDown. This can be resolved going into the System details panel and pressing 'Test Connection'.

1.3.2

Release Date - 09/09/07

Additional Features:

• Better error handling has been provided when trying to browse tables which are inaccessible.

• Better error handling of incorrect filters on Oracle systems.

• 'Change history' has been removed from the Projects panel.

• Creating dictionaries with value filters has been optimised and works much faster on large data sets.

• 'DB Exists?' has been removed from the Systems Panel on LynxProfiler.

• Handling of the SQL Server Uniqueidentifier datatype has been updated to allow profiling statistics to be gathered.

• If a Table has not been profiled the row count is left blank instead of a 0 to make identification of unprofiled tables easier.

• Improved handling of MS Access data types.

• Improved handling of SQL Server nvarchar(max), varchar(max), text and ntext fields

• Improved the error handling when attempting to browse, profile or create dictionaries from tables which do not exists in the source database.

• In the filters section of the DataBrowser the 'And / Or into Filter' box has been greyed out when there are not already rows in the SQL window.

• It is now possible to Copy data from the DataBrowser and the Dictionary Screen

• It is now possible to interact with the links on the 'Welcome' page.

• It is now possible to use CTRL + C / V to copy and paste objects within the tree.

• It is now possible to use the context menu to rename items in the tree. It is also possible to rename an item by clicking on it a second time.

• LynxProfiler now offers the option of 'OS Authenticated' for the ODBC Connection Details.

• LynxProfiler now provides better error messages after failing to profile either Dictionaries or Tables.

• LynxProfiler now works with Oracle's ODBC driver, and is significantly quicker at Importing the Schema and Profiling the data.

• On the Systems Tab, Overview has been relabeled Description and had the size increased. Additionally the System Type box has been removed.

• References to the missing icon in the HTML reports has been removed.

• Should profiling fail, all the profiling results for that table are reset instead of showing the legacy results.

• The 'Delete' key now deletes objects from the tree.

• The 2 greyed out DataLynx projects have been removed.

• The 'Apply' button on the Projects Tab has been moved to the bottom right hand corner of the tool to be more consistent with all the other windows.

• The 'Change History' has been deleted from the Projects Tab.

• The Dictionary Wizard has improved usability when selecting which fields are 'Codes' and 'Descriptions'.

• The File menu now sports a 'New ...' submenu for creating new objects (projects, systems, dictionaries etc). The options are context sensitive based upon the position of the cursor on the Tree.

• The LynxProfiler.exe has a new icon.

• The maximum length values in dictionaries has been increased from 256 characters to 512. Values longer than the maximum allowed length will be filtered out, and no longer cause the software to fail.

• The password management screen now works correctly.

• The Tables Tab has been updated to remove some of the unused ETL features.

• There is now a password confirmation box to prevent mistyped passwords, thus rendering the system inaccessible.

• Users and Roles has been re-implemented and now works correctly.

• Users without 'Administrator' rights, can no longer import projects.

Bug Fixes

• Attempting to drill into values within dictionaries that have been created using the 'Trim Whitespace' option now works correctly.

• Cancelling 'Import Project' no longer causes the tree to stop responding.

• Fixed a bug in which the wrong modal value was displayed when the Lynx repository was on SQL Server and the 'real' modal value is null

• Fixed a bug where trying to save users with very long passwords could cause a crash.

• Fixed a bug where when importing a schema using Oracle ODBC drivers the data type name was corrupted.

• Fixed an intermittent bug, which could cause a crash when assigning users to projects.

• Intermittent fault which caused the wrong column values to be displayed when double clicking on a column value has been resolved.

• It is no longer necessary to refresh the tree to get LynxProfiler to use modified system connection strings.

• It is no longer possible to attempt to create objects with duplicate names. Previously this caused Lynx Profiler to display ODBC error messages.

• It is no longer possible to create objects with names that are not file-system safe.

• It is no longer possible to create users without a username or password.

• LynxProfiler no longer attempts to calculate average values for columns of type uniqueidentifier in a SQL Server database. SQL Server does not support any kind of average computation on this data type, and the results are meaningless anyway.

• LynxProfiler no longer crashes when extremely long passwords are entered during log in.

• LynxProfiler no longer creates its own Schema when the user selects 'No' to the 'Create Schema?' question on first run.

• LynxProfiler will no longer offer dictionaries not based on a table for re-profiling.

• Prevented LynxProfiler from crashing while importing a project when no other projects are visible in the tree.

• Prevented LynxProfiler from displaying 'Unable to locate source system for this dictionary after 'Allow Changes' has been set on a Dictionary and the user has attempted to drill into the data.

• Prevented the Dictionary Wizard from 'Remembering' Value and Statistic filter clauses after changing either the Source System or Table during Dictionary creation.

• Prevented the tool from creating a blank Dictionary after the user double clicks the distinct values column when the tool cannot connect to the source database.

• Profiling specification screens have been rewritten to allow specifications for multiple systems and dictionaries upfront

• Renamed the Upgrade DB window from 'Frame' to 'DataBase Upgrade Progress'

• The Mouse pointer now returns to a standard pointer instead of an hourglass after using the context menu 'Profile Dictionaries' option.

• The Profiling Specification window will now only accept numbers in the 'Max Length' field.

• Typing the ODBC connection name manually no longer prevents 'Test Connection' from being depressed.

• Users who have not been granted the ability to create projects can no longer do so.

• Very long usernames no longer crash the LynxProfiler tool while being created.

• When creating new dictionaries via use of drill down, LynxProfiler is now careful to choose a unique name for the new dictionary.

• When importing a project with the same name as an existing project, the imported project is renamed during the import process and message inserted into the description to advise the user. Prior to this fix the project would fail to import.

Known Issues

• Import / Export completes without informing the user if the task was successful.

• LynxProfiler cannot connect to Oracle when the LynxProfiler tool resides in a folder with ()'s in the name.

• RESOLVED: LynxProfiler cannot import the schema for Oracle tables when using the Oracle ODBC drivers.

• RESOLVED: Using the right click context menu it is possible to attempt profiling before any systems have been created.

• RESOLVED: Right Mouse / Rename in the tree doesn't work.

• RESOLVED: Users and Permissions is not completely implemented.

• RESOLVED: If a project is imported while there are no other projects displayed in the tree, LynxProfiler crashes and the import fails.

• RESOLVED: LynxProfiler produces ODBC errors when run for the first time, and Create Schema isn't allowed.

• It is not possible to produce reports for any object which contain characters not adhering to MS Windows naming convention I.e \ / : * ? < > | (It is nolonger possible to create new objects with these characters, however legacy objects may still contain these characters)

• Occasionally "Import Schema" will offer tables which have already been imported. Re-importing the table(s) causes ODBC errors.

• Pasting a Table into another System which hasn't had the ODBC connection tested, results in errors during attempted DrillDown. This can be resolved going into the System details panel and pressing 'Test Connection'.

1.3.1

Release Date - 31/07/07

Additional Features:

• None.

Bug Fixes

• intermittent crash / hang on exit has been fixed.

Known Issues

• Import / Export completes without informing the user if the task was successful.

• LynxProfiler cannot connect to Oracle when the LynxProfiler tool resides in a folder with ()'s in the name.

• LynxProfiler cannot import the schema for Oracle tables when using the Oracle ODBC drivers.

• After Dic Wizard has run and values populated, "Cancel" still opens a "Save Changes?" dialog.

• Using the right click context menu it is possible to attempt profiling before any systems have been created.

• Right Mouse / Rename in the tree doesn't work.

• Users and Permissions is not completely implemented.

• If a project is imported while there are no other projects displayed in the tree, LynxProfiler crashes and the import fails.

• LynxProfiler produces ODBC errors when run for the first time, and Create Schema isn't allowed.

• It is not possible to produce reports for any object which contain characters not adhering to MS Windows naming convention I.e \ / : * ? < > | (It is nolonger possible to create new objects with these characters, however legacy objects may still contain these characters)

• Occasionally "Import Schema" will offer tables which have already been imported. Re-importing the table(s) causes ODBC errors.

1.3.0

Release Date - 25/07/07

Additional Features:

• "Show Count" on the Dictionary Wizard has been relabeled "Show Statistics"

• It is now possible to drill Into the data via the data browser on double clicking a dictionary row.

• Insert / Append / Delete on the Table/Columns tab didn't do anything and has been removed.

• It is now possible to drill down into the data for Min Value, Max Value, Distinct Values, Percentage Populated and Mode by double clicking on the cell and the data browser will return the relevant rows.

• It is now possible to restrict the Dictionary Wizard to only import values that have more occurrences than a user supplied parameter, or a subset of the values. I.e only values which start with the letter 'A'.

• LynxProfiler now checks the version of the repository and will not run if the repository is of a later version.

• Passwords are now case sensitive on Microsoft SQL Server.

• Passwords throughout LynxProfiler are now stored using 128 bit encryption using a rotating key.

• Percent Populated is now calculated for NCHAR, NVARCHAR2 and TIMESTAMP on Oracle and NTEXT, NCHAR and NVARCHAR on MS SQL Server.

• Profiling now calculates the Mean Value.

• Profiling now calculates the Median Value.

• Profiling now calculates the Modal Value.

• Sorting now implemented in the dictionary panel.

• The Dictionary Wizard now remembers the last System and Table selected.

Bug Fixes

• Clicking on the RowID in the Dictionary Browser no longer acts as if CTRL is being depressed resulting in multiple selected rows.

• Fixed a bug in the SortBy expression builder where the desc" indicator is not removed from the field names when "Clear Sort" is pressed."

• It is no longer necessary to refresh the entire projects list after profiling in order to see the profiling results.

• It is no longer possible to manipulate the LynxProfiler tool to disclose the system password in plain text.

• It is now possible to select tables after using the right-click "Profile Data" option on the Projects tree.

• Passwords are no longer stored in plain text within the .ERR files

• Reports are no longer created in the original LynxProfiler installation directory after an update has been installed to a different directory.

• The "Cancel" button on Import Schema now cancels instead of importing the schema.

• When manually adding columns to dictionaries it is no longer possible to created columns without a name or of a length longer than the maximum allowed length.

• "Select Objects to Import" Dialog box now has the correct mouse pointer type when attempting to resize the window.

Known Issues

• Import / Export completes without informing the user if the task was successful.

• LynxProfiler cannot connect to Oracle when the LynxProfiler tool resides in a folder with ()'s in the name.

• LynxProfiler cannot import the schema for Oracle tables when using the Oracle ODBC drivers.

• After Dic Wizard has run and values populated, "Cancel" still opens a "Save Changes?" dialog.

• Using the right click context menu it is possible to attempt profiling before any systems have been created.

• Right Mouse / Rename in the tree doesn't work.

• Users and Permissions is not completely implemented.

• If a project is imported while there are no other projects displayed in the tree, LynxProfiler crashes and the import fails.

• LynxProfiler produces ODBC errors when run for the first time, and Create Schema isn't allowed.

• It is not possible to produce reports for any object which contain characters not adhering to MS Windows naming convention I.e \ / : * ? < > | (It is nolonger possible to create new objects with these characters, however legacy objects may still contain these characters)

• Occasionally "Import Schema" will offer tables which have already been imported. Re-importing the table(s) causes ODBC errors.

1.2.11

Release Date - 27/06/07

Additional Features:

• Data Browser has improved sort functionality.

• Data Browser has improved query functionality.

• Profiling Specification Dialog has "Select All" & "Unselect All" Buttons.

• Data Browser, Column Display and Dictionary screens support long character strings more intelligently. The user can double click on the column header to see the entire field. Double clicking on the right edge of the column will resize the column to the column-label width.

• More efficient use of memory to store column meta-data.

• LynxProfiler can now upgrade it's data repository when a new version is executed for the first time.

• New fields added to the LynxProfiler database in readiness for storing additional statistical data (which will be implemented in the next release).

• Drill down from min & max values in the Table Columns Panel has been implemented. Double clicking on the cell will launch a Data Browser with an appropriate filter.

• A 'Known Issues' section has been added to the Patch Notes.

Bug Fixes

• Sorting the data occasionally caused only a single row of data to be displayed in the data browser.

• Improved the error handling when attempting to sort in the data browser where sorting on that data type is not supported by the underlying database.

• Sorting in the Data Browser and Column Display no longer resizes column widths if the user has altered them.

• Prevented the Data Browser from fetching more rows than required.

• Prevented the "Fetch All" button on the Data Browser from being greyed out when there are still un-fetched rows in the table.

• Prevented the Dictionary panel from automatically resizing columns when "Allow Changes" has been selected.

• The Dictionary Wizard no longer crashes when using the keyboard to select Tables.

• Fixed a problem in the Dictionary Wizard which could cause crashes when creating a new Dictionary.

• Fixed a bug which caused LynxProfiler to crash if the user attempted to create a new project when no other projects were displayed in the tree.

• Fixed a bug in the Data Browser where sometimes sorting using a right click caused all the rows to be removed from the Browser.

Known Issues

• Import / Export completes without informing the user if the task was successful.

• LynxProfiler cannot connect to Oracle when the LynxProfiler tool resides in a folder with ()'s in the name.

• LynxProfiler cannot import the schema for Oracle tables when using the Oracle ODBC drivers.

• After Dic Wizard has run and values populated, "Cancel" still opens a "Save Changes?" dialog.

• Using the right click context menu it is possible to attempt profiling before any systems have been created.

• Right Mouse / Rename in the tree doesn't work.

• Users and Permissions is not completely implemented.

• If a project is imported while there are no other projects displayed in the tree, LynxProfiler crashes and the import fails.

• LynxProfiler produces ODBC errors when run for the first time, and Create Schema isn't allowed.

• It is not possible to produce reports for any object which contain characters not adhering to MS Windows naming convention I.e \ / : * ? < > | (It is nolonger possible to create new objects with these characters, however legacy objects may still contain these characters)

• Occasionally "Import Schema" will offer tables which have already been imported. Re-importing the table(s) causes ODBC errors.

1.2.10

Release Date - 02/06/07

Additional Features:

• Contact details for Datalynx has been added to the Welcome page.

• A clearer error message has been added when the ODBC connection to the DataLynx repository either hasn't been created or cannot connect.

• When creating the DataLynx Tables a Progress Bar is now displayed.

• The display tree now remembers which panel was selected while browsing the list of tables i.e. if you were viewing the columns and profiling results and you select the next table in the list it now remain on the columns panel.

Bug Fixes

• Resolved an issue which could causes problems with copying/pasting and exporting projects.

• 'Text' fields on Sql Server Columns are now calculating the %Populated again.

• The Mouse pointer now returns to a standard pointer instead of an hourglass after re-profiling dictionaries.

• Improved the behaviour of the splitter window when the splitter bar is double clicked, if the datalynx screen is wider than 400 pixels the tree panel will be allowed 1/4 or the screen width, otherwise it is set to 100 pixels.