10.24.2023 Release Notes

These are the release notes for October 24, 2023

📰 NEWS 📰

• Dive into two standout changes in this release:
  • Our new Replication Mode feature - for MySQL only, but coming soon to other database/warehouse platforms also!
  • Important updates about the display of our Connection catalog, and availability of connectors.

🚀 FEATURES 🚀

• Introducing Replication Mode for MySQL Read Connector Replication Strategies:
  • You can now replicate changes from a MySQL table to your data plane with a single Read Connector.
  • This new feature is enabled for BOTH the CDC and Incremental Replication Strategies with 2 Replication Modes:
    • "Current" - On every refresh, replicate the latest version of every record from the source table to a table in the data plane. Only the latest version of every record is preserved.
    • "History" - Replicate every version of every record as it changes. This effectively keeps a history of every record version, with the addition of timestamp metadata to indicate the period of validity for each record version.
  • When Replication Mode is combined with:
    • ...the CDC Replication Strategy, you can now track historical changes to records, including record creates, updates, and soft or hard deletes.
    • ...the Incremental Replication Strategy, you can now track historical changes to records, including creates, updates, and soft deletes.
  • This is the first release of this feature and we expect to enhance and expand support for other platforms. Keep an eye out for more updates:
    • We built this directly in response to your feedback - and more feedback is welcome - especially on enhancements you'd like to see or platforms you'd like to see us support with this feature!

✨ ENHANCEMENTS ✨

• All environments (Gen1/Gen2)
  • Major refinements and improvements to the Connection catalog:
    • The Connection categories were simplified, reordered and greatly improved.
    • If you've encountered numerous "disabled" Connections and wondered about their purpose, we've heard your feedback.
      • We understand that the vast number of Connection types was overwhelming.
      • We aimed to showcase the full catalog of possibilities, but understand this might have been confusing.
      • We've improved our Connection lifecycle management processes internally.
        • You will now see connectors that we will gradually roll out through Private Preview, Public Preview, General Availability and Deprecated rollout stages, based on popularity and customer demand.
        • If a Connection you require is labeled as Deprecated, rest assured. For many of these, we're updating their foundational framework, ensuring their continued availability, with enhanced versions on the horizon.
        • Need a Connection to a specific platform? Let Ascend Support know and we'll determine if it can be supported, is a feature request, etc.!
      • We introduced filters for the rollout stage beside the Connection search. You'll see a "Filter" option with "Default" (showcasing commonly used Generally Available connections), "Preview" (listing connections in Private or Public Preview), and "All" (displaying all currently available connections, including deprecated ones).
    • We're continuing to enhance this feature, so stay tuned for updates. Contact us with any questions!
  • Add multiline and encoding option for the JSON parser to handle non-utf8 files.
  • Release SDK version 0.2.62:
    • This is part of updates we are making to support new features in the Ascend CLI related to lineage tracking, so stay tuned to the CLI page on PyPI for a new release.