Kourier Integrator Release 4.5
New Features and Enhancements Summary

Release Summary

Kourier Integrator Release 4.5 provides enhanced functionality and performance for integration and data warehousing in "Cloud" environments (e.g., Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure). Many other performance and product enhancements are included such as:

 

  • Cloud optimization including support for Microsoft SQL Server 2017.
  • Increased performance when exporting data from ODBC sources (non-U2) to Microsoft SQL Server.
  • Kourier REST enhancements to improve Swagger documentation and enhance JSON support.

 

See below for more detailed release notes.
 

What's New in Release 4.5

 

Optimized for the Cloud

Kourier Integrator includes improved functionality, increased performance and guaranteed data processing when integrating with Microsoft SQL Server databases hosted in cloud environments such as Microsoft Azure or Amazon Web Services (AWS). 

 

  • Microsoft SQL Server 2017 is supported using Kourier's maintenance-free SSIS packages.
  • SSIS packages will re-process files that are not available due to latency in cloud file storage systems.
  • Kourier will auto recover from system file locks caused by virus scans, windows indexing, etc.
  • Automatically detect if an instance of a SSIS package is still running and react appropriately.
  • New configuration options enable Kourier to be tuned for optimum performance in cloud environments.
  • SSIS packages can be configured to not send email notifications.

Improved Performance for ODBC Data Sources

Kourier Integrator is significantly faster when loading Microsoft SQL Server databases from non-U2 data sources via Kourier's ODBC adaptor.

 

  • Kourier's Net Change engine (aka change data capture) was redesigned for ODBC data sources:
    • Tracking net changes with deletes is more efficient when identifying which records were deleted from the source table.
    • Updating Microsoft SQL Server databases from ODBC data sources is up to two times faster.
  • Improved the workflow when running ODBC export services with related tables (e.g., year-based tables):
    • The user can select a single table or all tables to process.
    • This makes it much easier to aggregate a related table into a single table.

REST Improvements

Key enhancements extend Kourier REST's capability to quickly build REST APIs with enhanced support for JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) plus enhanced Swagger API documentation that is more interactive and comprehensive.

REST APIs

  • Provide more control of the serialized JSON generated output: 
    • Group MultiValue associated fields as either an object or an array of objects.
    • Implemented new formatting directives that require no additional coding.
  • Enhanced support for JSON with inbound REST APIs (POST, PUT, PATCH and DELETE).
  • Inbound REST APIs can process either XML or JSON without changing specification:
    • Simple XPATH expressions provide a consistent structure.
    • API consumers can choose their preferred response format.
  • Declare the default format (XML or JSON) expected to be processed by the inbound REST API.
  • API developers can control the HTTP status code returned to the API consumer.
  • Improved error handling for REST Subscriptions using Kourier's Event Notification system.

Swagger Documentation

  • Swagger output is more interactive and usable by API consumer.
  • Includes the response payload definition if a response export was specified.
  • Request and response payload formats now show the hierarchical structure.
  • Includes the "produces" property for each GET operation.
  • Includes the "consumes" property on each POST/PUT operation.

Other Updates and Improvements

This release of Kourier Integrator includes many other improvements and smaller enhancements as described below.

User Interface Changes

  • Enhanced the workflow when testing flat-file or REST Imports:
    • The updated record is now displayed and any application errors generated can be viewed.
    • When testing REST Import Specifications, the generated response payload can be viewed.
  • The Generate SSIS Package page only displays SQL Exports.
  • Improved the appearance of the SSIS configuration page.
  • The Match Datatype dialog in U2 to SQL exports now displays the case sensitive flag to ensure that joins work properly.

Other Improvements

  • Added a new message transfer protocol to support SAMBA file shares.
  • Increased performance on UniVerse systems by improving Kourier event logging.
  • Enhanced Kourier Export Conversion Codes:
    • Conversion codes are now case insensitive.
    • User defined date conversions allow for an optional delimiter to be specified.
    • Added conversion code UISODATE which produces a standard formatted ISO 8601 date.
    • Added conversion code UIFDATE that can be used to determine if a data value can be converted to a date.
    • Conversion codes that have optional parameters can be specified using single or double quotes.
  • Enhanced Kourier Import Conversion Codes:
    • Conversion codes are now case insensitive.
    • Added conversion code UISODATE which verifies that a data value is formatted as an ISO 8601 date.
  • New and enhanced administrator commands that make it easier to display and manage Kourier's Net Change information.

Learn More

If you are an existing Client using Kourier Integrator Release 4.x, you can view the detailed release notes from the online help. If you are using Release 3.x or lower, contact Kore to get more information and discuss an upgrade.

 

Please contact Kore Technologies if you would like to learn more about Kourier Integrator and how you can integrate your MultiValue system to other third-party products in real-time via RESTful Web Services. Kourier Integrator also automates the process of creating a near real-time Microsoft SQL Server data warehouse from your U2 database and other data sources.

MultiValue integration and data warehouse solutions that breathe new life into your enterprise applications. Contact Kore Technologies and let us know how we can serve you!

Other product names used herein may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.