27-Aug-2020 =========================== WPS ANALYTICS RELEASE NOTES =========================== Version 4.3-EA3-prerelease (4.3.0.3.5370-EA3-prerelease) Information about important fixes and enhancements delivered in the latest version of WPS. In this document, text shown between paired angle brackets is variable, and can be replaced by required text. For example, indicates that you should specify the required path-name to a device. ======================================================================= CONTENTS ======================================================================= - What's new - Known issues - Upgrade notes - Deprecated Functionality - Closed issues - Getting support ======================================================================= WHAT'S NEW ======================================================================= General ======= - A WPS Analytics installation can now be licensed either per-user or per-machine (for all users) on all supported platforms other than IBM Mainframe. Workbench ========= - Hub program run configuration. - SAS language programs located in WPS Hub can now be configured to run in workbench using the Local Server. - Parameters can be specified for program execution. - Results can be viewed once the execution is complete. Workflow -------- - New Workflow blocks have been added: - A Hub Program block. Enables a workflow to be published as a Hub program. - WPS Dataset Import block. Enables individual columns to be selected and properties modified on import. - WPS Dataset Export block. Enables a working dataset to be saved as a permanent dataset (.wpd). - Workflow canvas enhancements: - The number of observations in a dataset can now be displayed. - Connections to and from a single block on the canvas can now be displayed. - The Excel Import block and Text File Import block now enable individual columns to be selected and properties modified on import. - The Mutate block: - Lists all available SAS language functions that can be specified to create variable. - Includes a preview section that enables you view the mutated variables content. - Model report datasets can now be generated from modelling blocks. - The Decision Forest and Decision Tree blocks can now generate a confusion matrix. - The Analyse Models block can now output summary statistics and a confusion matrix. - The Chart Builder can now generate pie and radar charts. System options ============== - The following system options have been added at this release: - CHARTRANINVALID - NETEZZACHARCOLUMNTYPE - SETINITLOCATIONS - SITEINITSTMT - SITETERMSTMT - TCPMSGLEN - VARINITCHK ODS === - The ODS PACKAGE statement is now supported (not z/OS). - The NEWFILE option is now supported for the ODS EXCELXP, ODS HTML, ODS MSOFFICE2K, ODS PDF, and ODS RTF destinations. General procedures ================== - The following general procedures have been enhanced at this release: - IMPORT. Now supports the NAMEROW and ENCODING statements. - EXPORT. Now supports the ENCODING statement. Statistical procedures ====================== - The following procedure has been added at this release: - GLIMMIX - SURVEYMEANS - The following statistical procedures have been enhanced at this release: - GENMOD. Now supports the LSMEANS statement. - MIXED. Now supports the PARMS statement. - PHREG. Now supports the ASSESS and HAZARDRATIO statements. Data engines ============ - In this version, the following multithreaded engines are now the standard engines, and have the standard engine name. The non-threaded engine has the original name with OLD appended for example, MYSQLOLD. The multithreaded engines will now be used if you have the standard engine name specified. - The engine names are: Multithreaded version Legacy version MYSQL MYSQLOLD MARIADB MARIADBOLD - The following data engine has been added: - POSTGRESQLM TERADATA -------- - Now supports options to bulk insert data on the Library reference statement and through dataset options. ======================================================================= WPS Analytics known issues and getting support ======================================================================= This section contains information about known issues in this version of WPS Analytics and how to get technical support. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Critical known issues ----------------------------------------------------------------------- None ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Major known issues ----------------------------------------------------------------------- ODBC ==== - Updating or deleting rows using the ODBC engine now uses cursor-based updates via the "WHERE CURRENT OF" clause that is supported by some ODBC drivers. We currently only support this functionality for DB2 and SQL Server connections using the ODBC library engine. ======================================================================= Upgrade Notes ======================================================================= YEARCUTOFF Option ----------------- - The default value for the YEARCUTOFF system option is now 1926. The range of two-digit dates is, by default, 01-January-1926 through to 31-December-2025. As a result of this change, any WPS Analytics functionality to which a two-digit year value is specified - for example, the MDY() DATA step function - might output different results. To return to the behaviour of previous versions of WPS Analytics, specify the YEARCUTOFF system option value of 1920. ======================================================================= Deprecated Functionality ======================================================================= The following functionality is deprecated at this release and the features will be unavailable in future versions of WPS Analytics. Any SAS language programs using these features should be modified to use the recommended alternative: - ODS OLDHTML statement: - Use the ODS HTML statement. - LIBNAME ORACLEOLD statement: - Use the LIBNAME ORACLE statement. - LIBNAME DB2OLD statement: - Use the LIBNAME DB2 statement. - Support for the SQLSRV32 ODBC Driver is to be removed. You should install and use the Microsoft ODBC Driver for SQL Server in preference. ======================================================================= Closed Issues ======================================================================= General ======= - A message is now displayed in the log if data step options for input datasets are used with output datasets, or options for output datasets are used with input datasets. - YEARCUTOFF system option is now applied to two-year date values in all circumstances. - Use of Missing values in DATA step arithmetic is now consistently reported. - The _INFILE_ option to the INFILE statement can now be used when accessing a VSAM dataset. - The number of records replaced using the modify statement is now correctly reported. - WPS Analytics no longer runs indefinitely when a macro is called with an undefined named parameter. - The CleanWork utility on Windows now supports the force (-f), verbose (-v) and list (-n) options. - The %INCLUDE message now uses the file path as encountered in the source and qualifies the path with 'is file' if the resolved path is meaningfully different to the location specified in the %INCLUDE statement. - The derivatives of functions are now computed correctly in nested IF ELSE statements. - A note is now created in the log when a missing value is either the numerator or denominator in a division calculation. - The validity of one-part and two-part dataset names is now checked to ensure they conform with the value specified in the DATASTMTCHK system option. - Self-recursive text macro definitions are now correctly expanded. - WPS Analytics can now be used with R version 4. Core ==== System options -------------- - ERRORABEND and input with stop over now outputs the variable list and input buffer dump. - The WPSCOMPR alias can now be used for the WPSCOMPROTOCOL system option. DATA step functions -------------------- - The CALL MODULE routine now correctly handles whitespace surrounding supplied arguments. - The HTMLDECODE function now correctly decodes the   HTML entity. - The HOLIDAY function now returns the correct date when UKEASTERMONDAY is specified. Formats and informats --------------------- - When using the INPUT DATA step statement, a warning is now generated if the $VARYING format is applied to a variable with an inferred numeric type. Data engines ============ ODBCM ----- - Can now be used to connect to a MySQL database. NETEZZA ------- - When bulk-loading data, CHAR, VARCHAR and LONG VARCHAR column types now use the internal encoding of Latin 9; NCHAR, NVARCHAR and LONG NVARCHAR column types now use the internal encoding of UTF-8. Library engines =============== XML --- - Now correctly supports square bracket notation to select a specific element in a list. ODS === General ------- - Style options specified to the ODS MARKUP statements now determine whether white space is output with data. Leading spaces are controlled by the ASIS style option; trailing spaces by the WHITESPACE style option. EXCELXP ------- - Now correctly processes the SHEET_INTERVAL=PAGE option. - now supports NSSPACE characters in ODS ESCAPECHAR. General procedures ================== CATALOG ------- - The NEW statement now functions correctly when the target catalog already exists. - The EXCHANGE statement now functions correctly with newly-created catalogs. DELETE ------ - An error is now generated if an unknown MEMTYPE is specified to the DATA option. IMPORT ------ - The NAMEROW option in the PROC IMPORT statement is now supported for delimited files. FREQ ---- - Now correctly utilises user defined formats on output. MEANS ----- - CLASS variables that contain leading spaces are now processed as expected. - Computing the mode statistic of a class variable containing no valid observations no longer causes the processing engine to fail. OPTIONS ------- - The LONG DEFINE VALUE option now prints the correct value for the maximum number of characters in a string. SQL --- - The HAVING statement now rejects invalid arguments. - The SYMGET function in the CONNECT TO statement is now supported. - The ALTER TABLE now correctly sets the sort option information. - Using the LIKE and ESCAPE options in the WHERE statement with a CREATE VIEW table now works as expected. - Using a WHERE clause to query a VIEW now functions correctly. - The FEEDBACK option now correctly reports the original table and column names used to create a view. - When using implicit passthrough, ORDER BY clauses added to queries can now be passed to the database engine for processing. Ensure the collation orders of the database and your WPS session are compatible to avoid potential problems later in the program execution. TABULATE -------- - ODS NEWLISTING now functions correctly when outputting tables spanning multiple pages. Machine Learning procedures =========================== OPTIMALBIN ---------- - WOEADJUST is now only used in bins where the predictor variable takes a single value. Statistical procedures ====================== General ------- - Comparison adjustment calculations have been improved in the ESTIMATE statement of the LIFEREG, LOGISTIC, PHREG, and PROBIT procedures: - The two-sided adjusted p-value and confidence intervals for the ADJUST=SIMULATE method. - The adjustment results for the ADJUST=SCHEFFE method. - The adjustment results when there are non-estimable entries in contrast matrix L. - The SYSERR variable is now correctly set if there is a syntax error when parsing the SEVERITY, GENMOD, GLIMMIX, NLIN and PHREG procedures. CANDISC ------- - CLASS variables that contain leading spaces are now processed as expected. DISCRIM ------- - CLASS variables that contain leading spaces are now processed as expected. GENMOD ------ - The test for Hessian convergence using a Hessian matrix from a previous iteration rather than the one associated with the current parameter estimates. GLM --- - The ADJUST option of the LSMEANS statement now works as expected when the contrast matrix has non-estimable entries. LIFEREG ------- - Now displays the correct confidence limits in the output plots. LIFETEST -------- - The ProductLimitEstimate table format censored column now matches the format of the time column. LOGISTIC -------- - Now notifies a user if the input dataset contains no observations. - The equation in the linear dependency tables is now limited to 2000 characters. MIXED ----- - The ADJUST option of the LSMEANS statement now works as expected when the contrast matrix has non-estimable entries. - Now produces correct LSMEANS results when a WEIGHT statement is specified. TREE ---- - Cluster labels are now correctly assigned in an OUT dataset when HEIGHT=R is specified. TTEST ----- - The TTEST statement now supports the PLOTS option. Workbench ========= - Output to ODS NEWLISTING containing Unicode characters is now correctly paged. z/OS ==== - A new installation process is introduced with this release. - The FILE INFILE message now reports DSORG and DSNTYPE (for DSORG=PO) and ISPF stats if present. - If an error is encountered when reading input, the input buffer and variable list are now output before ABEND. - The TSOWPS CLIST now binds the output DD cards when in DMR mode. - Messages and EXIT statements in RINST REXX installer have been renumbered. - The LRECL correction factor is now properly applied for a RECFM=V dataset. - A B37 I/O abend in a DATA step is now handled as expected when closing a DATA step. - Filename SFTP is now supported. - The FILENAME file location is now correctly reported. - ODS LISTING now works as expected and no longer causes a CEEDUMP error. - The SYSJESJOBID macro variable is now set correctly when WPS is run from USS. - The sashelp.vextfl table of file references to locations now correctly shows file references defined using a DD reference or member name. - Improved the reporting of library and member locations from the CONTENTS procedure. WPS Hub ======= - The latest supported Hub package specification is 1.3 - A new Invocation interface has been added to enable programs to be submitted as asynchronous jobs. General ------- - Host monitoring in Hub installations now begins when the Hub starts up. - Authentication domains defined in Hub can now be specified as a case-insensitive name in SAS language programs. - Extra Hub configuration options are now supported. Available configuration options are described in the Hub User Guide. Installation ------------ - When installed, a firewall rule is now created to control access to Hub functionality on Microsoft Windows platforms. - The Hub installation process now writes configuration data to the programdata folder on Microsoft Windows operating systems. ======================================================================= Getting Support ======================================================================= How you access technical support for WPS Analytics software depends on how you purchased your software. All WPS Analytics users are able to use the user-to-user forum available at https://support.worldprogramming.com. You are welcome to use the forum to ask questions, post answers and share advice and best practices with other users. If you hold a commercial Standard Edition annual license for WPS Analytics, you are also able to use the technical support ticketing system available at: https://www.worldprogramming.com/my-account/support/tickets. 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