CostPerform version 2023.1 is the first release of 2023. It introduces a couple of useful new functionalities. We’re highlighting some of the most important changes in this blog post.
ETL Enhancements
This version of CostPerform finally brings support for dates in ETL. You can format dates in columns in the Column Definition or let CostPerform detect them automatically. In Reader and Writer elements, you can specify the locale for reading/writing dates and optionally specify a particular format. Several functions have been added for handling dates, e.g. for adding a specific number of days to a date, checking if it’s before another date, or calculating the duration between two dates.
We’ve also introduced a new Scripting element to ETL. If the other elements can’t do what you need, the Scripting element allows you to create it yourself. It allows you to check and manipulate all records one at a time and even send them to a specific one of four output connections.
For the Datasource Writer element, CostPerform can generate the pre-query and insert query for you based on the Column Definition and tailor it to the dialect of the selected Datasource.
Automation
The options for scheduling server-side tasks have been greatly expanded, allowing you to schedule tasks weekly, monthly, or yearly:
User Spaces
You can now edit the Default User Space, making it easier to restrict all users by default to a specific subfolder in the Secure Sandbox. Speaking of Secure Sandbox subfolders, you can now select them from existing folders, rather than having to type the subfolder name which reduces the chance of entering an incorrect subfolder.
Data Transfer
If you’re gathering data from different sources, it could be that you’re getting numeric data formatted using different locales. Previously, this meant you had to change your number format for each data source. But not anymore. Now you can override the number format for importing data using Transfer File Tasks, Web Import Tasks, and WebService Readers in ETL.
Period Sets
We introduced Period Sets a couple of versions ago, making periods time-aware. We’ve enhanced their usability in several ways. When creating a new period in a Period Set, CostPerform will automatically pick the next free slot in the Period Set. CostPerform will also suggest a name and symbol for the new period based on the name and symbol templates in the Period Set and fill in the selected slot.
Modeling
CostPerform allows you to use the Parent attribute for filters and conditional drivers, but the value it matches is determined by the user’s display preferences. That means that a model could behave differently for different users. To prevent this ambiguity, we’ve added Parent Name and Parent Symbol options to filters and conditional drivers.
We’ve also introduced a new system attribute; Has Children (SA_112) indicates if an object has children (True, SA_43) or not (False, SA_44). This gives you even more options to make your models smarter and easier to maintain.
It’s now also possible to reference the first and second operands of calculated attributes from formula and reference attributes. CostPerform will determine the actual values of the operands of the calculated attribute, resolving the value when the calculated attribute uses Symbol 1 or Symbol 2. You can reference the operands using the syntax symbol:operand1 and symbol:operand2.
Reporting
We have renamed Dashboards to Scenario Analysis as it better describes the purpose and possibilities of this functionality. We’ve also introduced the option to give custom names to the steps in a scenario; you can even indicate that the steps represent a time unit (days, weeks, months, …), and CostPerform will automatically generate the names for the steps accordingly.
You can find the complete release notes here. Log in to get access.
