- The Pyramid Decision Intelligence Platform
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- Releases
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- Pyramid 2020.10
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- Release Notes
Pyramid 2020.10—A Perfect 10
Feature Listing & Notes
Pyramid 2020.10 is the latest release from Pyramid Analytics—representing a follow-up release to Pyramid 2020 in September 2019. In total, Pyramid 2020.10 adds more than 150 new enterprise-grade features and capabilities to 2020—allowing your organization to improve the way it makes data-driven decisions.
Discover & Queries
| Feature | Technical Details | What It Means For You |
|---|---|---|
| New Asymmetric and Ragged Queries | Users can now eliminate combinations of elements and measures within reports. This results in an asymmetric or ‘ragged’ query where specific combinations are excluded from both display and total calculations. | Complicated reports designs (and model selections) are now possible through a simple point and click menu that are not normally possible or otherwise require complex coding. |
| New “Current Member” Logic | The “current member” function allows calculations to access the current data point in a report. This enables BI developers to solve more complex analytic logic scenarios and include elements with logical relationships (like parent, child etc.) - greatly expanding the scope of calculated solutions. | This technical feature makes it both quicker and easier for analysts to create complex calculations like rolling averages and percentage of parent logic. |
| New Calendar Slicer | The Calendar slicer for SQL data sources allows date selections based on a calendar visual and allows multiple dates selections, range and formula based (YTD etc.) selections without complex setups or code. Various date time granularities of dates may also be used (year, month, week, date etc.) without first creating the columns in the data model. | Users can now quickly and powerfully filter reports and dashboards using a specialized date-time slicer. An intuitive front end enables quick and easy filtering using many combinations of date selection criteria without any setup or code. |
| New Data Catalog Viewer | Pyramid now provides a printable document of the data catalog behind a data model with all details of its dimensions and measures. | Automatic self-maintaining documentation and data catalogs for data models in the system provides users with up-to-date documentation on the system – making their use and understanding clearer and more transparent. |
| New Shape Drop Zone | A new Shape drop zone has been created for graphs with data points – to differentiate data points using shapes (like color and size). | The use of shapes provides an additional visual cue for users to better understand visualizations and data. |
| New Add and Swap menus to complement “Dice” | New context menu options to “add” and “swap” hierarchies on the fly directly off visuals without using drop zones or the Analyze Further functionality. | Giving users even more control over the point-and-click process of changing queries greatly expands the self-service capabilities for even non-technical users to ask the next question and “surf” their data. |
| New formatting options: background fill gradients & patterns, outline colors and settings. | New abilities to customize the colors and fill options of all visualizations – including gradient colors, patterns and stroke (outlines) | New options for formatting content can make visualizations both more attractive and easier to use for many users. |
| Upgrade Advanced Filter Wizard | The full filter wizard has been extended to support statistic, numeric and label filter functions. Statistic functions include average and standard deviation. Numeric functions include above, below etcetera. Labels can be filtered by text functions including contains, start with and end with. | Powerful new filter options for queries greatly enhances flexibility and extends the analyst’s ability to discover and analyze data. |
| New Drag-and-Drop Background chips | Background chips now have the functionality of other drop-zone chips and can be dragged and dropped onto other drop zones. | By giving more objects the ability to have drag and drop capabilities, users will find it easier and quicker to manipulate reports and dashboards. |
| New Visuals: Lollipop chart & measure pie/donut charts | New lollipop charts and multi-measure Pie and Donut Charts have been added. | Enhanced graphic and formatting options provide more flexible and visually attractive graphs and charts. |
| New ‘Blank’ maps and map labels | A new map type offers a “blank” map to show just the relevant data shapes on a map. Also new options to hide and show mapping data labels. | Additional map capabilities extends map functionality by providing more ways to views. Geospatial information. |
| New text parameters and ‘quick’ parameters | The addition of free-text parameters enables users to dynamically apply free-text to filters. Users can also now add parameters directly within most relevant functions using “quick parameter” wizard. | Parameters can be used to drive powerful runtime changes to both the environment and queries. Text parameters allows free-text data entry while the quick parameter wizard greatly simplifies the process of adding and using them. |
| Upgraded PQL functions: MTD, QTD, WTD, YTD, ParallelPeriod, Caption, AllMembers, | These updated PQL functions can now be applied to Regular hierarchies on SQL data source as well as standard attributes. | New methods for creating sophisticated, hierarchical calculations make sophisticated analytics easier and quicker to create. |
| New PQL functions: Cousin, Uniquename, Levels, Level, Ordinal, Ancestor, Rank, Loop and LoopVector | New PQL functions to expand the options of creating and using both formulas and logic in the system. | New methods for creating sophisticated, calculations. |
| Added support for Named Measure Sets | Extended capabilities for Microsoft Analysis Services allowing the use of named measure sets. | This functionality continues to make Pyramid a first-class analytic front-end for Microsoft Multidimensional and Tabular models. |
| SAP BW Info-areas and technical names | New options to show SAP BW Info Areas to better organize BW models and cubes. Separately, the ability to toggle BW hierarchy and measure technical names and captions. | SAP users are used to seeing their data models organized in the Area trees and to see technical names that match the internal BW designs. These features will make it easier to find and identify content from within Pyramid. |
| Upgraded handling of SAP BW/Hana Parameters | Additional options for saving SAP BW and HANA parameters have been added. This includes report specific settings. | The increased support for SAP BW and HANA continues to make Pyramid a first-class analytic front-end for SAP. |
Model
| Feature | Technical Details | What It Means For You |
|---|---|---|
| New Datavard Glue Integration (For SAP | Pyramid now integrates seamlessly with Datavard’s “Glue” - a 3rd party tool that allows users to trigger and extract raw SAP ERP data. The data can then be ingested into Pyramid by end users for further analysis and reporting. | With the Glue, Pyramid now enables non-technical users to extract raw data from SAP with a few clicks in an uncomplicated fashion to drive custom data models and subsequent analysis. |
| New Data Flow tools: multi-select and lasso; node duplicate and copy/paste. | New tools inside the Data Flow to allow users to select multiple widgets (either point and click or via lasso) for layout or editing purposes. Also the ability to duplicate widgets and copy/paste them between data flows. | Enhanced editing of many components simultaneously simplifies and speeds up design and modification of data modelling |
| New Data Sources: Exasol, Greenplum, MemSQL, MariaDB, Netezza and Impala | Pyramid has added support for 6 new data technologies that are prevalent in Enterprise Analytics: Exasol (high-scale in-memory database); Netezza (MPP database); Greenplum (MPP database); Impala (Distributed SQL query engine for Hadoop); MariaDB (enterprise open-source database); MemSQL (cloud-native operational database built for speed and scale); All 6 data sources are available for both read AND write operations. | Pyramid continues to focus on providing in-place analytics that can work directly on key data sources WITHOUT requiring duplication into other engines. Support for writing models to the new engines also increases the range, flexibility, and user options for high-speed analytic data management using existing enterprise technologies. |
| Improved capabilities on Azure Blob and AWS S3 | Pyramid now supports reading of multiple files from AWS S3 Buckets and Azure Blobs. It also adds the ability to write files back to both destinations. | With enterprises moving to "Data Lake" architectures for storage, Pyramid continues to add advanced support for content stored in AWS and Azure. |
| New Unpivot tool | This new widget in Model converts cross-tabulated data into a structure that can be used for driving analytical analysis in tools like Pyramid using a point-and-click wizard. | Many Excel data sheets are formatted as pivot or crosstabs (Stores by Month). This data layout style can now be quickly and easily converted to a data table for loading into a target database, simplifying, and speeding up the data preparation process. |
| New Date Table Builder | This new Date Table widget in Model generates a set of dates for given a start and end period. This can be used alongside the Time Intelligence widget to create Time Dimensions with no missing values. | Creating a clean Date - Time table can be messy. This new source widget allows users to build Date / Time Dimensions without missing values quickly and easily. |
| Upgraded OData authentication | OData support has been extended to include basic and custom authentication | By providing authentication support for OData, users have an extended ability to query and update data using standardized protocols. |
| New Data Flow Documentation Tool | Documentation for all elements within a data model can be exported into a pdf document with URL links that link all components to their destination. | Automatic documentation of data flows enhances system documentation, enabling easy traversal of the data model. |
| New support SalesForce SOQL and custom domains | SOQL scripts can now be used to drive data extractions from SalesForce. Pyramid also now supports custom domains for Salesforce. | Salesforce analysts and developers can use SOQL to better access the data inside the CRM system. All code is elegantly housed and executed from within the Pyramid ecosystem. |
| New Excel named table support | Excel named tables and ranges can be individually addressed in the Pyramid data model. | Excel structures are individually addressed by Pyramid, enabling simplified and more efficient ETL processes. |
| New Command line support | Developers can execute commands from a shell-like feature from within the master flows of a data model project. | The ability to call and execute external code and applications from Pyramid’s master flow system greatly expands the options for automating the analytic data pipeline. |
| New “ALL” level support for SQL data source hierarchies | New ability to enable an “ALL” level for SQL based regular hierarchies. | Matching a staple function of OLAP systems, the ALL level makes use of regular hierarchies easier and simpler for users. |
Formulate
| Feature | Technical Details | What It Means For You |
|---|---|---|
| New Text parameters and Quick parameters | The addition of free-text parameters enables users to dynamically apply free-text to filters. Users can also now add parameters directly within most relevant functions using “quick parameter” wizard. | Parameters can be used to drive powerful runtime changes to both the environment and queries. Text parameters allows free-text data entry while the quick parameter wizard greatly simplifies the process of adding and using them. |
| Upgraded Function menu and search with intellisense. | Upgraded functions menu allows users to now see and search through all functions grouped and organized into their logical categories together with multi-lingual tooltips and usage instructions and context sensitive help. Improved Intellisense also allows functions to be used more easily in scripting mode. | Making the different functions of PQL and MDX easier to find and use greatly improves the accessibility to these functional components. |
Illustrate
| Feature | Technical Details | What It Means For You |
|---|---|---|
| New Dynamic tooltips | The new tooltip editor allows static and dynamic text messages to be shown with pop-ups in presentations. Dynamic text can be used to inject context sensitive data from existing content. | Displaying dynamic tooltip text highlights and enriches the contextual understanding of data in an unobtrusive and user-friendly manner without the need to write reams of code to achieve this. |
| New Dynamic text functions for injecting HTML markup | The inclusion of new mark-up functions greatly expands the breadth and depth of content that can be created using data in Illustrate. This includes dynamic web links; dynamic lists; dynamic images to name a few concepts. | Analytic content goes well beyond standard visualizations of data. The new mark-up functions greatly extend the capabilities of dynamic text logic and function, offering a huge foray into new capabilities. |
| Upgraded formula editor | The dynamic text editor has been enhanced to use the new function trees while also exposing better tools for creating more advanced logic and testing. | Improved formulate layout and additional tool components provides a more efficient and user-friendly development environment. |
Content Manager
| Feature | Technical Details | What It Means For You |
|---|---|---|
| New Content Migration Wizard | Users can easily migrate content from one Pyramid instance to another using the Migrate wizard – rather than manually export/import content or use the APIs. | By providing tools to assist in migrating development work, users can benefit from an easily maintainable environment with efficient processes to ensure governance and security. |
| New Content Audit Trail | A new comprehensive audit trail framework has been added - listing dates, time, users and the action performed for all content items. | An audit trail improves the understanding of who is creating what and provides a log of events that can be followed when something goes awry. |
| New Jump to folder via URL | Folders can now be accessed directly from a unique URL. This means that you can direct your users to a folder of content using a link. | The ability to immediately access content located in folders increases efficiency and end-user experience |
| New Save All | With a single click, users can now save all open content items. New items will automatically save to the user’s local folder. | Quick and efficient functions that execute many tasks in a single click increase the speed of development. |
| Major Performance improvements | Performance improvements have been made to the Data Source Changer, Structure Analyzer, Copy/Paste and Import/Export. Import/Export has also been upgraded to allow users to keep folder structures. | Improved performance means a more productive environment, especially for bulk tasks that can take a long time to perform. |
Admin
| Feature | Technical Details | What It Means For You |
|---|---|---|
| New audit trail for tracking events for all objects in the system. | A new comprehensive audit trail framework has been added - listing dates, time, users and the action performed for all key objects in the system (including content and deleted items). | An audit trail improves the understanding of who is creating what and provides a log of events that can be followed when something goes awry. |
| New Custom Fonts and Manager | Administrators can now add and register “web fonts” or upload custom fonts to the application. This makes these new fonts accessible throughout the app – including the themes designer. The fonts can be secured by tenant if needs be. | Allowing organizations to select and deploy their own or preferred corporate fonts allows the system to deliver a visual experience of analytic content that can fully match the branding standards of customers. |
| New options for Custom Maps | Enterprise administrators can now select a non-secure option for custom shape maps that will allow all users from all tenants to use those map shapes without having to upload the map shapes multiple times. | Vast improvements in performance are achieved by avoiding multiple loads of map shapes for maps that do not require further user security |
| New options to configure and use R and Python in an offline server environment | Developers working on R and Python in an offline server environment can now access and use their code. | Extending the work environment for R and Python developers, making development work possible in offline environments. |
| New Resource Alert engine | The ability to notify enterprise administrators via email or mobile when the Pyramid server(s) is low on memory, disc space, and/or CPU resources. | This allows administrators to be proactive in monitoring the performance of the Pyramid cluster by notifying them of any impending resource utilization issues. |
| New SAML authentication for SAP Hana connections | New ability to authenticate to SAP HANA sources using SAML assertions. | Many HANA implementations use SAML for security. This new functionality allows developers to authenticate users using the same common SSO system for Pyramid and HANA data. |
| SAML and Azure Proxy login options for Mobile | Mobile analytics for Pyramid was inaccessible if the underlying infrastructure is using SAML or Azure Proxy Login. The new mobile client provides a solution to both these authentication issues. | Universal access to analytics, including via mobile, is a key facet of Pyramid’s solution. Handling the various types of authentication models removes more roadblocks from end-user mobile access. |
Infrastructure
| Feature | Technical Details | What It Means For You |
|---|---|---|
| Upgraded SAP BW engine options (SAP BW 7.2 onwards only) | New options to switch to the underlying SAP BW query framework to alternate engines. | There are many scenarios where the new optimized query options run significantly faster than the regular engine previously released. |
| Upgraded mobile apps for iOS and Android | New upgraded mobile phone clients to support new login options for mobile | The mobile clients will match the new server-side capabilities supporting SAML and Proxy authentication options |
Embedding
| Technical Details | What It Means For You | |
|---|---|---|
| New Embed API interface for JavaScript, React, and Angular - available direct and via NPM | New JavaScript library to present a more object-oriented approach to using Pyramid's embedding capabilities. Available as a direct link or via NPM | A cleaner API library for embedding will make it easier to use Pyramid's powerful embedding options for including content DIRECTLY on a host page (withou iframes). React andAngular components, together with compat |
Help
| Technical Details | What It Means For You | |
|---|---|---|
| Major upgrade to online help for Discover, Admin Console, PQL/MDX functions, and the new Embed API library | As the third stage in building "Help 2.0" the topics related to Discover, the Admin console, function library, and Embed APIs have been fully rewritten and restructured complete with many more details and more examples. | As Discover is the heart of the analytical functions of the application, the new Discover help will greatly improve users' ability to understand and learn how the application and its features work. It covers all four angles of Discover |