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Astera’s data management platform has grown by leaps and bounds over the past couple of years, and things are no different this time around. The 10.0 release for Astera is focused on improvements and fixes to further enhance user experience. Moreover, we have added some key new features to the platform, including cloud functionality and a beta version for Auto-Generate Layout (AGL). Read on for more details!
The Report Model component in Astera 10.0 has introduced, modified, and enhanced some new and existing features to make the data extraction process even more flexible and user-friendly. The highlights of this release include an AI-enhanced feature of Auto-Generate Layout (Beta) which allows users to create a report model with a single click without having to create data regions or fields manually. Moreover, we’ve also introduced improved options and functionalities for field and region properties. These new additions have made the experience of capturing unstructured data easier than ever before.
Here’s what is new and improved.
Auto-Generate Layout (Beta)
Report Models now provide the functionality of auto-creating the data regions and data fields with just one click. This feature automatically recognizes name-entity pairs and tabular data regions and captures fields in the respective regions. This option makes the extraction process much more efficient as it minimizes the effort of designing report models from scratch. Additionally, to make the extraction template more robust and customized, users can further tweak the auto-generated layout option to fit their requirements.
The following sub-components help in the further customization of the auto-generated layout:
Auto-Generate Table (Beta): Users can now create a tabular data region by selecting the area on the report model’s designer and clicking on this option. The tool automatically identifies the pattern and auto-creates fields within the data region.
Auto-Create Fields (Single Instance) (Beta): Users can create single instance fields by selecting the values on the designer and clicking on this option to automatically create the fields.
Defining Comma Separated Values in Start Position
Users will now have the ability to specify multiple strings to define the Start Position of a data field in the Field Properties panel. This feature is particularly useful when the unstructured document does not have a consistent format or a fixed pattern.
Note: This option is only available when the Follows String In Current Line or the Follows String In Previous Line option is selected.
Case Sensitive and Regular Expression Checkbox
We have introduced two new checkboxes under the Size and Position section of the Field Properties panel:
Case Sensitive: To make the searching for the start position string case sensitive.
Regular Expression: To specify a regular expression as the starting position of the data field.
Note: These checkboxes appear only for the Follows String In Current Line and Follows String In Previous Line options.
Remove Specified String
We have introduced a new checkbox for Specific Strings under the Remove section of the Field Properties panel. Here, you can specify a string that you want to remove from the data field. You can also define multiple strings separated by commas to remove them from all the records for a particular field.
Calculation Box
The UI for the Formula Field has been improved. You can now see the calculation box in the Field Properties panel. You can also make any changes to the expression written inside the box by clicking on the ellipses option on the left. This will take the user to the Calculate Field Properties window where they can choose from the built-in library of functions.
Reorder Field Position
You can re-arrange the positions of data fields within a region under the Model Layout tab using a simple drag-and-drop functionality. This allows users to manage the order of the fields/columns while previewing data or when writing to a destination.
Region End Type - Till Regular Expression/Specific Text
Users can define the endpoint of a region by specifying a particular regular expression or a specific string text. The tool ends the region (by searching the position) on the line where the text/regular expression is found. This allows the user to capture specific areas within an unstructured document in a more robust and flexible manner.
The following is an overview of what is being rolled out in the new and improved version of Astera’s platform, including all of its components. This includes features related to cloud accessibility, security, the user interface.
Users can now browse files from the cloud and write to files that are stored in a cloud destination. 10.0 supports two kinds of cloud connectors, Amazon S3 and Microsoft Azure Blob. There are several ways of connecting to the cloud, such as, by using the Cloud Storage Connection object in a Shared Action (.sact), or by clicking on the Browse Cloud Files option available in certain objects/tabs when selecting a source file.
To learn more about creating cloud connections and browsing files from cloud storage, click here.
In case a user forgets their password, they can now utilize the password recovery feature. After verifying an admin email, users can click on the Forgot Password option at the time of login. An OTP is sent to their verified email, allowing them to reset the password.
We’ve made some enhancements to the look and feel of the product. Since it is entirely UI-based, it is of the utmost importance that the UI makes the user feel the ease of access that they expect from it.
Here’s a list of the UI components that have been improved:
Wizards
Job Monitor
Server UI
Job Progress Window
Scheduler UI
Verification Errors/Messages
The Security and User Management area has also been upgraded:
Issues regarding User Roles have been fixed.
User Credential security has been upgraded.
Server configuration and deployment, specifically cloud deployment, was a big focus of this release. We’ve fixed several issues that users were encountering when deploying the server on cloud.
Microsoft has recently introduced a new email authentication method called Modern Authentication that uses the Microsoft Identity Platform to access emails.
This is a newly added feature within the Email Source object. Emails can now be read in Astera Data Stack using this new method.
This concludes the round-up of new features and improvements in Astera’s 10.0 line-up.
If you have any suggestions or feedback or would like to request a new feature, visit Astera Support or email at support@astera.com.
