Persistent editable datasets in projects
This is supposed to be a very significant change to what EasyMorph is. At this point no data is stored in EasyMorph projects -- they load it from files and databases and output processed data into other files and databases. Once processing is done no data is saved in project. We're going to change that. Similarly to spreadsheets, EasyMorph will be able to have both data AND calculation logic in one file. From a technical standpoint it will be implemented as follows:- Sandboxes will be able to keep datasets permanently -- i.e. data in sandboxes will be stored in projects and survive re-opening projects.
- Sandboxes will be editable -- it will be possible to edit data in sandboxes like in spreadsheets (but without formulas).
- All import transformations will get the ability to remember (cache) the last loaded dataset, which means that a project can be sent to someone without access to the project's data sources.
While it might be not immediately obvious what the benefits are, they are actually quite significant:
- Portability -- no need to keep mapping tables and reference tables in external files. They can be stored and edited right in project.
- Shareability -- EM projects become a means to share data. Like with spreadsheets, it allows sending not just some calculation results to someone, but also the source data and the logic that produced the results.
- Versatility -- the ability to edit datasets right in EasyMorph means that you can mix manually entered data with calculated data. For instance, edit planned numbers and compare them with actuals in one project. Or update planned numbers based on some actual data. Or perform what-if analysis for different scenarios.
The change would effectively make EasyMorph a hybrid between a spreadsheet and an ETL, or a relational spreadsheet, if you will.
Querybooks
We're going to keep improving queries which will transform into querybooks. A querybook is a set of queries that answer particular questions (one query per tab). Querybooks will be portable, meaning that a querybook can be sent to another user with all necessary data connectors embedded for the queries to work.
Queries themselves will become multi-table, supporting joins and unions (won't be available in the free edition).
Application data sources
So far EasyMorph has been able to import data from databases, files and spreadsheets. However, a new category of data sources will be added -- applications, including cloud applications like Google Analytics, Twitter, Wikipedia, etc.
Application data source won't be available in the free edition.
Financial and statistical transformations
With the release of version 3.6 EasyMorph has 80+ transformations that cover almost all possible basic calculations. But we're not done yet! We will be adding special transformations for financial calculations (payment schedules, compound interest rates, bond yields, etc.) and statistical calculations (e.g. variances, deviations, clustering) with elements of predictive analytics (e.g. linear regressions, extrapolations).
Visual conditions and business rules
Visual conditions that were first introduced for queries in v3.5 will make their way into transformations with conditions that currently use expressions -- Rule, Filter by condition, Trim by condition, Halt and a few more transformations.
PS. Lots of things are planned for EasyMorph Server, but that's a subject for another post.
PPS. All written above is subject to change without notice.