When version 5.9.7 was released back in September, I told you that it would be the last release for EasyMorph version 5 and that the next release would be version 6. With so many improvements and new features ready, we just couldn't wait any longer to release them, so we've decided to squeeze in one last release for version 5.
Version 5.9.8 of EasyMorph Desktop and EasyMorph Server are available to download from our website. Let's take a look at what's new and improved.
The new "Help me choose" dialog
There are currently almost 200 actions which can be added to EasyMorph workflows. Many of these actions also contain multiple capabilities. For example, the Email command action has 6 possible commands, such as moving an email to a specific folder or deleting an email. If we take into account all of these commands, we're talking about several thousand capabilities.
To add to the complexity, some capabilities are also available in different actions dependant upon which specific system we want to interact with. All of this means those new to EasyMorph can sometimes find it difficult to identify which action to use and how to implement it within their workflow. Even those highly experienced with EasyMorph might not be aware of all of the capabilities EasyMorph has with a specific system.
To help, in EasyMorph Desktop version 5.9.8 we’ve introduced the “Help me choose” dialog. When adding an action to a workflow, a new button at the bottom of the left-hand settings panel can be used to open the dialog.
The dialog allows us to look at all of the capabilities of EasyMorph actions from 2 different angles. Firstly, by searching for a specific capability and selecting it, EasyMorph will show us the systems or data sources which have that capability. We can then choose the one which is relevant to our organization or use case and EasyMorph will advise us of the steps needed to use the capability.
As can be seen above, if I wish to generate a list of all folders in my email inbox, I can search and find the "List email folders" capability. When I click on it, EasyMorph shows me a list of systems (in this case supported email protocols or providers) and I can choose the one that is relevant to me. When I select "Gmail", EasyMorph shows me the steps needed to implement this capability. In the example above, I first need to select an existing email connector or create a new one if I don't already have one configured. I then need to add the Email command action to my workflow and configure it as needed.
And the best bit - if I click on the big blue Let's do it button, EasyMorph will walk me through the steps, taking me directly to the create connector dialog if needed, followed by adding the command for me and even pre-selecting the List folders command.
The Help me choose dialog also allows us to look at all of the capabilities of EasyMorph for a specific system or data source. Within the dialog, if I select "Systems/data" at the top, I can search for a specific system instead. If I click on a system then EasyMorph shows me all of the capabilities it has to work with that system. And as before, if I select a specific capability, EasyMorph will guide me through the required steps to implement it in my workflow.
Raise Issues directly from Analysis View
Also in EasyMorph Desktop version 5.9.8, it is now possible to raise an Issue on an EasyMorph Server Explorer Board directly from within the Analysis View. This can be great for raising issues about data quality problems you discover whilst exploring and profiling the data. And best of all, we can automatically attach the problem rows of data to the issue we create.
Whilst in Analysis View, we can raise an issue by clicking on the “Send/Save to” button on the menu bar, selecting that we want to use our filtered dataset so that we only attach the problem records, and then selecting the “Raise issue” option.
We can fill out all of the usual information about the issue, such as the type of issue, the description and who it should be assigned to. If we then look at our EasyMorph Server Board, we can see the issue has been created and the offending records have automatically been uploaded to the server and attached as an EasyMorph Dataset.
Listing folders within email accounts
As you might have picked up on above, the Email command action has a new command allowing us to list all of the folders within a selected email inbox. This is particularly useful when we want to fetch all emails from an account, including those is folders. We can use this new command to list all of the folders and then dynamically iterate through them loading emails from each.
Python Integration Improvements
When we introduced the EasyMorph Python integration we promised it was just the beginning and that we planned to continue adding improvements with the goal of making Python an "first class citizen" in EasyMorph. In this release, the EasyMorph Python library has 2 new native functions for converting EasyMorph datasets to and from Pandas DataFrames.
Although it was possible to convert between the two data formats previously, these new to_dataframe() and from_dataframe() functions offer vast speed improvements. In our testing, these new function were often more than 100 times faster than other methods previously used.
TIP: If you want to know more about the EasyMorph Python integration and what can be done with it, check out the replay of our recent webinar.
The Dropbox Cloud Task Trigger
Of course, we can't forget about EasyMorph Server! Continuing the trend of recent releases, in version 5.9.8 we’ve added another new task trigger. The Dropbox folder trigger works much like the File event trigger, monitoring a specific folder for new or modified files. Unlike all other triggers, the Dropbox folder trigger is the first cloud trigger and requires the EasyMorph Gateway service to handle the communication between your EasyMorph Server and Dropbox.
NOTE: Don’t worry, if you have EasyMorph Server Team or Enterprise edition, you already have the starter plan of EasyMorph Gateway included in your existing license. More information can be found on the pricing page of the EasyMorph website.
When adding the trigger to a task, you’ll first need to authorize access to the required Dropbox account. Once authorized, don’t forget to enable the trigger and set the folder path and additional options as required.
The Dropbox trigger is just the first of many planned cloud triggers and more will be coming in future releases.
What's coming next?
DISCLAIMER: The below is for informational purposes only. It does not guarantee that any mentioned features will be implemented in the software or included in a specific version. Plans and priorities may change at any time.
This time, hopefully I won't be proven wrong and the next release will indeed be version 6 of EasyMorph. To recap what I said in the last release post, there are a few main themes we're focusing on for version 6:
- Eliminating the gap - Continuing to close the gap so that everything that can be configured in the Catalog in EasyMorph Desktop can also be done directly in the EasyMorph Server web interface.
- Modernize - EasyMorph Server is getting a brand new and updated user interface bringing a more modern look and feel and making it easier to navigate and work within, whatever a users technical ability or experience with EasyMorph. We might even allow you to change the look and feel to match your organizations branding.
- Foundations - We're upgrading the underlying technology behind EasyMorph which will not only bring some performance improvements but will also lay the foundations for some of the exciting new features we have planned for next year.
- Marching forward - And of course, we'll continue to bring new and exciting features and improvements to both EasyMorph Server and EasyMorph Desktop so that it continues to be the data engineering, automation and collaboration platform you all love.
Having had a sneak peek at what the team have been working on, I can tell you that the new look and feel for EasyMorph Server really is a big leap forward. Oh, and I almost forgot - we'll be renaming EasyMorph Server to EasyMorph Hub, to better reflect how it's purpose has changed from simply scheduling and running workflows to the data collaboration hub it has become today.
