What's New in SAS Information Map Studio 4.31

Overview

SAS Information Map Studio has the following new features and enhancements:
  • enhanced user interface
  • new bulk editing capabilities
  • enhanced data item features
  • enhanced filter features
  • enhanced prompt features
  • a new resource replacement feature
  • enhanced data source management features
  • enhanced information map management
  • application administration updates
  • deprecated features
  • documentation enhancements
Note: For the latest information about SAS Information Map Studio, see http://support.sas.com/software/products/ims.

Enhancements to the User Interface

The following enhancements have been made to the user interface:
  • The new Resources pane has the following tabs:
    • The new Information Map Folders (Icon) tab enables you to manage your information maps and provides a new Copy to Folder feature that replaces the Move to Folder feature for information maps and folders. This tab replaces the Metadata Repository pane.
    • The new Application Servers (Icon) tab enables you to add data sources and stored processes. This tab replaces the Insert Table, Insert Cube, and Stored Processes dialog boxes.
  • The Design tab (formerly called the Presentation tab) has the following enhancements:
    • The Selected Resources pane (formerly called the Physical Data pane) now displays the application server and libraries that data sources are associated with. This pane also displays the stored process (if any) that is associated with the information map.
    • The Information Map Contents pane (formerly called the Information Map pane) provides a new Copy to Folder feature that combines the ease of Move to Folder with the functionality of copy and paste. A standard drag-and-drop feature is also available for moving items.
  • The Relationships tab has the following enhancements:
    • You can use the new toolbar on the tab to resize or automatically rearrange the data sources on the tab.
    • You can reposition the updated Venn diagram icons along the relationship line to improve visibility.
    • You can view tooltips about the relationships when you position your mouse pointer over the relationships.
  • The new Properties pane enables you to view all of the properties of a selected item at a glance. Certain properties can be modified directly in the pane. You can also use this pane to simultaneously update multiple data items or multiple custom properties.
  • The Table Properties dialog box has been redesigned. You can now set aggregation options for a data source that references an information map table, view more information about the resources that a data source references, and manage the columns for a data source.
  • The application's icons have been redesigned and improved:
    • New icons have been added that distinguish between the following items:
      • non-calculated data items and calculated data items
      • numeric columns and date, time, and timestamp columns
      • STANDARD, TIME, and GEO dimensions and their associated hierarchies, levels, and members
    • Unresolved resources and unusable items are now marked with a red x (Icon).
    • The unique key indicator has been removed.
    • The icons in the user interface no longer indicate that you are denied WriteMetadata access to an information map or folder.

Bulk Editing

You can now simultaneously modify multiple data items and custom properties.

Enhanced Data Item Features

The following enhancements are available for data items:
  • Data values that are hyperlink tags can now be rendered as hyperlinks in query results.
  • Support is now available for the totaling of non-additive expressions.
  • In the second maintenance release for SAS Information Map Studio 4.2, you can designate that a data item be used in the default query for SAS Web Report.

Enhanced Filter Features

The following enhancements are available for filters:
  • You can now designate that a filter be hidden so that end users do not use a filter (for example, a prefilter) that you don't want them to use.
  • You can now select multiple (non-prompted) filters for a test query.
  • You can use the new browse-and-search feature to locate the values (or members) for any of the following items:
    • a character data item whose value-generation method provides a dynamically generated list of values
    • a character expression
    • an OLAP data item
  • You can use the new identity-driven property SAS.IdentityGroups to return the names of the user groups and roles that a requesting user belongs to.

Enhanced Prompt Features

The following enhancements are available for prompts:
  • Prompts have been redesigned to provide more functionality. For example, you can now create prompts that use dynamically generated value lists.
  • You can now establish dependencies between prompts in a filter expression.
  • You can create prompts for OLAP filters.
  • Prompts that are created for a stored process and made globally available (shared) can be used by filters. For more information about creating a shared prompt, see the Help for stored processes in SAS Management Console.
  • Unique unformatted values are no longer required for a prompt’s static (custom) list of values.

Resource Replacement

The new resource replacement feature enables you to replace resources that are unresolved or no longer relevant. This feature replaces the XML tab and the XML editor.

Data Source Management

The following enhancements have been made to data source management:
  • You can now add data sources and stored processes from the Icon tab in the main window. You can add an item by double-clicking it, using its pop-up menu option, or dragging it to the Selected Resources pane.
  • The new auto-arrange feature on the Relationships tab in the main window enables you to rearrange the data sources on the tab so that they more closely resemble a star schema. An undo feature is also available.
  • The new zoom feature on the Relationships tab in the main window enables you to see more of your data sources in a single view.
  • You can now select specific columns to use or omit from a data source by using the new Columns tab in the Table Properties dialog box.
  • You can now use information map tables as data sources.

Information Map Management

You can now store your personal copies of information maps in a personal folder (My Folder). For more information about the personal folder, see the section on working with SAS folders in the SAS Intelligence Platform: System Administration Guide.

Application Administration

The following application administration updates have been implemented:
  • You can now clear the default connection profile setting by clicking Clear on the General tab in the Options dialog box.
  • You can now specify what to use for a default data item description on the Data Items tab in the Options dialog box.
  • Log files and application property files have been moved to the following locations:
    • On Windows Vista systems: C:\Users\user-ID\AppData\Roaming\SAS\SASInformationMapStudio\application-version-number
    • On Windows XP systems: C:\Documents and Settings\user-ID\Application Data\SAS\SASInformationMapStudio\application-version-number
    Note: The CopyPaste.log file that is generated by the Copy to Folder feature is created in the following locations:
    • On Windows Vista systems: C:\Users\user-ID\AppData\Roaming\SAS\Logs
    • On Windows XP systems: C:\Documents and Settings\user-ID\Application Data\SAS\LOGS
  • You can access the Diagnostic Settings dialog box by adding the -loggingSetupDialog parameter to the application's .ini file.
  • The application now supports independent metadata repositories. For more information about SAS Metadata Repositories, see the SAS Intelligence Platform: System Administration Guide.
  • The application now supports Citrix servers.
  • If your metadata server runs on Windows, you can select Use Integrated Windows authentication in the Connection Profile wizard to seamlessly launch SAS Information Map Studio. For more information, see the section about single sign-on in the SAS Intelligence Platform: Security Administration Guide.
  • If your configuration supports server-side pooling for workspace servers, then queries against relational information maps will now run on those pooled servers. For information about using pooled workspace servers, see the SAS Intelligence Platform: Security Administration Guide.

Deprecated Features

The following features have been deprecated:
  • You can no longer export information maps as XML files. To import previously exported information maps, use the Open from XML menu option.
    Note: To import and export information maps as packages, use the import and export features that are available from the Folders tab in SAS Management Console.
  • When you create a prompt, you can no longer use a data item's value-generation method for that prompt. In SAS Information Map Studio 4.2, you can specify a similar method within the prompt itself. Any prompt that was created before that release and that relies on the value-generation method of a data item will be converted to use the prompt's own corresponding method.
  • SAS Information Map Studio 4.2 does not provide the ability to automatically convert prompt values to uppercase before a query is run. Any prompt that was created before SAS Information Map Studio 4.2 but that is saved in this release will also lose that ability.

Documentation Enhancements

SAS Information Map Studio: Getting Started with SAS Information Maps (previously SAS Information Map Studio: Creating Your First Information Map) was updated and reorganized. This document provides step-by-step instructions for creating an information map that uses SAS sample data.
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