Astera 8.5 – Release Notes

We have rolled out the first release of the year for Astera . The new Astera v8.5 comes packed with a full, production-grade rollout of Astera’s REST API Browser functionality, a native connector for Amazon Redshift databases, as well as full client release of Astera 8. Here’s a round-up of what’s new and improved in Astera 8.5.

REST API Browser

We have made several enhancements to the beta rollout of the REST API Browser functionality based on the feedback received from our users. The functionality has been actively tested and improved, and we’re excited to release its production-grade version in the latest Astera 8.5.

The REST API Browser in Astera enables users to make HTTP requests through a single-step authentication process compared to the REST client, which requires information and configuration every time you want to make a request. The new REST API client utilizes the shared connection functionality in a project, making it possible to reuse the connection and authentication data across different flows.

Using the REST API Browser, users can connect to open-source APIs and make various HTTP requests through a single browser panel, using an Open API Specification file.

You can read more on the REST API Browser in this document.

Connectivity to Amazon Redshift Databases

The beta rollout of the Amazon Redshift connector has been upgraded to a full, production-grade version in Astera v8.5. This is another addition to our built-in, out-of-the-box connectors and would help users provide fast and seamless connectivity to their Amazon Redshift databases to accelerate their cloud data integration projects.

The connectivity can be established at both source and destination and with other objects such as SQL Query Lookup, Database Lookup, and Database Write Strategies.

You can learn more about integrating Amazon Redshift databases in this document.

Astera 8 Full Client

We are excited to announce the release of the full-client, standalone version of Astera 8. The new Astera 8 is based on a rest-server architecture and has been actively improved in several aspects to deliver on our promise of providing an intuitive and hassle-free user experience. Here’s a summary of the improvements in Astera 8 Report Model functionality :

UI Improvements

• Compared to previous versions, we have now introduced a dedicated properties panel for Report Options, and Region, Pattern, and Field Properties.

• Each of these panels has a dedicated toolbar with relevant shortcut icons, making it convenient for users to specify and configure properties of a Report Model’s various components, such as data regions and fields, from within a single panel.

• The main toolbar too now features shortcuts that facilitate users in creating report models.

New Options for Raw Data Cleansing

Raw data cleansing is an essential part of the data extraction process, which brings the extracted data into a presentable, easy-to-comprehend, enterprise-ready format. We have added a couple of new options to the Remove options used for cleansing and scrubbing the extracted data in Report Models.

In addition to removing extra spaces inside the text, text qualifiers (surrounding quotes), and leading and trailing spaces, you can now remove all white spaces and punctuations from within the extracted data by simply checking the All-White Spaces and Punctuations options under the Remove section in the Field Properties panel.

Auto-Determine Field Names

While creating extraction templates for reports, you can automatically determine field names using the Auto Determine Field Name option. Once you have specified a data region, add data fields, right-click on a data field and select Auto Determine Field Name from the context menu. This will automatically identify and update field names as they appear in the report.

Prerequisites for Astera 8.5

VC++ is a prerequisite for Astera 8.5. Before migrating or updating to v8.5, users will need to install VC++ redistributable package on their machine. The bitness (32-bit or 64-bit) of Astera and VC++ redistributable package should be the same.

The minimum required version is Microsoft Visual C++ 2015-2019, v14.26.

VC++ redistributable package can be downloaded from here.

Migrating from Astera 7.x to Astera 8.3

If you’re using a pre-Astera 8 version and planning to upgrade to Astera 8.5, follow through with the steps mentioned in this document for a seamless migration and upgrade.

If you’re already using Astera 8, you will only need to download and update the product to Astera v8.5. You can download Astera 8.5 from our website. Users will also need to run the upgrade repository script since we have added new indexes in the repository.

Non-users who want to explore Astera firsthand can download a free 14-day trial from our website. The trial version does not require any authentication or licensing key.

Have any questions, suggestions, or feedback? Visit our website or contact [e-mail].