October 25, 2019
New features
New PIM for Retail Product Content Management business module
The first business module for Stibo Systems' PIM for Retail offering (formerly Product MDM / PMDM for Retail), Product Content Management, is now available. PIM for Retail is a ready-to-use, customizable starter pack that allows organizations to acquire, manage, and share product data from a variety of internal and external systems with their customers and value chain partners. The Product Content Management module implements this logic using a typical business process that covers frequently encountered market scenarios. To read the full release note, see the New PIM for Retail Product Content Management Business Module in the 9.2 Release Note set here.
LOV Translation baseline functionality change
The functionality for LOV translations that was introduced in 9.2 and activated with the installation of the ‘translation-extension-lov’ add-on component is now part of baseline functionality. No separate component installation is needed. For more information on LOV translation, see the Enhanced Translation Functionality release note (here) and the Structured Translation for Setup Objects topic within the Translations documentation (here).
New license for ‘Search’ screen access
The Search Screen described in the 9.2 New Search and Product Editor Screens in Web UI release note (here) is now enabled to display via the X.Elasticsearch license. If you are already using this Search Screen, to continue using it upon taking the 9.2-MP3 patch, you will need to have the license enabled. Contact your account manager to enable licenses for your system.
ISSUE-374504 - Disabling the LDAP group synchronization now possible
Added the possibility to disable parts of the LDAP group synchronization, namely the revocation of STEP groups based on the LDAP group membership. This means that if enabled, when a user is removed from a specific group in the LDAP server, this will not be reflected in STEP. This can lead to users having more privileges than intended. More information can be found in the LDAP (STEP Authentication Guide) documentation located within the STEP API Documentation.
BugFixes
ISSUE-320870 - Attribute export conversion fixes
There are a number of fixes for attribute export conversion (e.g., exporting Excel) in order to make it easier to import it again:
1. Previously, when dimension dependencies of an attribute were exported, they would be separated with a semi-colon and a space. The space prevented easy import, so now the dependencies are only separated with a semi-colon.
2. In the Mapping step, the option name for exporting attribute dimension dependency IDs has changed from 'Attribute Dimension dependencies' to 'Attribute Dimension Ref ID.' This enables easier auto-mapping of this column.
3. In the Mapping step, there is a new option for making mapping the attribute mandatory called 'Attribute Mandatory.'
ISSUE-328683 - InDesign metadata fix
When a PDF was generated by the InDesign server with the option 'Make Single PDF' enabled in the Generate PDF settings, some metadata for the PDF was missing. The solution has been to add metadata to the merged PDF, and there is a hotfix available for step-9.2-mp2.
ISSUE-352145 - REST call to allow slashes
The problem occurred when making REST calls using objectbykey. A slash may not be included in the key when using an Apache server. The solution has been to allow slashes in keys in the REST call.
ISSUE-352304 - Node List filtering on Attribute Group Management screen
Now, it is possible to filter values in the Node List on the Attribute Group Management screen of the Web UI.
ISSUE-354192 - Fix for the Golden Record Source Traceability Screen
In the Web UI Golden Record Source Traceability Screen, if the screen configured with the attribute group and the attribute did not have a value, the attribute will not be shown on this screen. This behavior has been fixed and all attributes from the configured attribute group will be shown on the screen.
ISSUE-358026 - Null names on unit attributes error fix
A exception was thrown when unit attributes with null names were used in the Node List cell editor in the Web UI. This has been corrected.
ISSUE-359123 - STEP'n'design cell height adjustment
Previously in STEP, when using STEP'n'design, a table with an image in a spanned cell could have too much unwanted white space in the cell with the image. The InDesign plugin now calculates what the optimum height of the rows within the span should be and adjusts the row heights accordingly, sharing space between the variable height rows when required. There is a hotfix available for step-9.2-mp2.
ISSUE-360182 - OIEP empty email fix
The email delivery plugin, when configured for an outbound integration endpoint, will no longer send empty emails when receiving an empty feedback.
ISSUE-363131 - Attribute value length message details
If the user inputs an attribute value with a length that exceeds the maximum, the error now contains information about the current length. The error message will now say '[{truncatedValue}] with {length} characters is not valid as it exceeds the configured maximum character count, which is {maxLength}. Please reduce the character count.'
ISSUE-364619 - Tool tip popup window text now visible
In the workbench, there is a tool tip popup window that is often used to show extra information about something when the user moves the mouse pointer over an element. In Windows 10 with screen scaling enabled, there was a problem with the text inside the tool tip window not being fully visible. This has been fixed.
ISSUE-365808 - JavaScript business rule exception fix
Previously, when a business rule was used as a referenced business rule, the values from user-defined messages in the JavaScript business rule exceptions were not being displayed correctly. This has been fixed.
ISSUE-366056 - Insert Referenced Objects '&' character fix
In the workbench, when export configurations containing the 'Insert Referenced Objects' data map are created, the reference type IDs containing the character '&' are now processed correctly.
ISSUE-366344 - Fix for setting dimension dependencies on attributes
Creating new dimension-point combinations hit a bug on systems with more than 4,290,000,000 objects in the database. This has been fixed and the limit is now around 1e20. A hotfix is also available for the following versions of STEP: 9.1-mp3 / mp4 / mp5 / mp6.
ISSUE-366789 - Assign action now enabled
The Assign action was not enabled on a Web UI Task List when the user selected all nodes on a screen by clicking the Select All button. This has been fixed, and a hotfix is available for step-8.3-mp3.
ISSUE-366860 - NPE fix for duplicate nodes
Fixed a possible NullPointerException (NPE) in the duplicate node error handling when creating a new classification, asset, entity, or product to add a reference to. Now, the user will get a duplicate node error message indicating what ID is already in use.
ISSUE-367447 - 'Fine' log level for skipped attributes in XML translation
During XML translation in the workbench, information about skipped attributes will be available on a 'fine' log level instead of 'warning.'
ISSUE-369006 - Fixing access to the plus button on classification links in Web UI
A fix has been implemented for the system to check the create asset link privilege when using the classification links component to display assets.
ISSUE-371189 - Golden record matching fix
A customer-specific fix / change was made to accommodate their specific scenario.
ISSUE-371435 - Sufficiency event processor attribute update fix
Previously, invoking the sufficiency event processor to update a sufficiency score would generate additional revisions if certain attributes of the product were updated by another user before the sufficiency score was generated. This issue has been fixed. Note that in systems where sufficiencies have already been installed and implemented, all sufficiency data containers must be deleted, and all attributes used in the sufficiency data containers have to be deleted as well. It is safe to delete both the data container types and the attributes as these are recreated automatically when a new score is calculated. Both the data containers and the attributes used within the data containers can be found in the Data Sufficiency Attribute Group. A hotfix is available for step-9.2-mp2.
ISSUE-372085 - Fix for incorrect output of table with condition in template
A problem was seen in InDesign when using a product template with a STEPCOND tag containing a STEPTABLE tag and the table had a header repeating plugin enabled. If the table was placed in a column without sufficient space for the table and it was moved to the next column, then only the rows that were placed in the first column were moved to the new column even though there was space for all of the table. The solution has been to place all rows from the table in the new column (if sufficient space). Hotfixes are also available for step-9.1-mp5 / mp6.
ISSUE-372876 - Date attribute sort exception fix
If the user sorted date attribute values on the Multi Reference screen with the Enable Locale Formatting parameter enabled, an exception was thrown. This has been fixed.
ISSUE-373136 - Matching algorithm SQL error fix
When running the Matching Algorithm, there will no longer be a SQL exception when handling attribute values which exceed 400 characters. There are hotfixes available for step-9.0-mp5 and step-9.2-mp2.
ISSUE-373207 - Business rule error message includes more details
In the workbench, when some business rules were invoked, a 'Bindings have not been configured properly.' exception could be thrown. The user was unable to determine what parameter was invalid or what business action was causing this error. The following information has been added to parse the error code: ParamAlias (used parameter), BindType (used bind type), IsFunctionParameterType (if function parameter has been used) and BusinessRuleId (used business rule ID).
ISSUE-373368 - Workflow Designer characters fix
Now, special characters in workflow transition names and IDs will be escaped correctly and not cause any errors in the STEP Workflow Designer in the workbench.
ISSUE-373533 - Test Only Import flag fix in Web UI
The Test Only Import flag now correctly passes from the Import Configuration to the BGP, created by the Data Import Component in the Web UI.
ISSUE-373523 - External validation script message fix
Fixed a bug that caused the script response message to not be included when using the External Validator option on the Attribute Value component of the Web UI.
ISSUE-374117 - Custom icons now display correctly on toolbar
Previously, custom icons were not displaying on the toolbar component on a Node List in the Web UI due to the custom icons servlet not working correctly on Linux servers. This has been fixed.
ISSUE-374149 - Fixed bug with exporting multi-level references
There was an issue in domain exporter in exporting multi-level references in products when user export products from classifications hierarchy. This has been fixed. There is also a 9.1-mp5 and mp6 hotfix available.
ISSUE-374385 - Read-only attribute double-click fix
Fixed a problem when an exception was shown on a Web UI Node List when the user double clicked on a read-only attribute value cell that was not valid for the shown product.
ISSUE-374437 - Matching algorithm export fix
Now, when performing a matching algorithm export, the DuplicateType element will be correctly shown in the decoded Matching Algorithm Configuration XML. A hotfix is available for step-9.2-mp2.
ISSUE-374523 - Value Criteria typeahead fix
There was an error in the typeahead functionality in the Web UI Value Criteria search component. If the Value Criteria was configured to do Power Search and typeahead, and if the user was a vendor / supplier user, then the resulting query against the database was incorrect. This would not only potentially result in wrong typeahead suggestions, but also result in the query taking a long time to complete, causing performance problems for the database and thus for STEP. This has been fixed, and hotfixes are available for step-9.1-mp5 and step-9.1-mp6.
ISSUE-374552 - Parsing tag in values fix
Fixed a problem with parsing tags in values. The data profile truncates values in order to avoid the values from getting too large. If the values were truncated in the middle of a tag, it caused a problem in certain situations. This has been fixed.
ISSUE-374562 - Performance fix for the Web UI Multi Reference component
A customer-specific performance fix was made for the Web UI Multi Reference component when used with a Node List with table headers of type value group for attribute groups that are very large.
ISSUE-374777 - ISO Date and Time error message fix
Fixed an incorrect ISO Date and Time attribute validation error message occurring when user inputs a date and time in daylight saving time format (e.g., 2018-03-25 02:12:12) in the workbench. A hotfix is available for step-9.2-mp2.
ISSUE-374778 - IIEP Match and Merge multi-value attribute fix
In the IIEP Match and Merge Importer, if the importing XML contained Reference Meta-Data with several multi-valued attributes, the import process failed while processing this data. This error has been fixed.
ISSUE-374823 - GraphQL endpoints available
Now, Web UI GraphQL endpoints will be available by the relative '/graphql' path.
ISSUE-375432 - Web UI Multi Reference screen read-only popup fix
On the Multi Reference screen in the Web UI, the read-only popup will be displayed correctly for the Attribute Value Header.
ISSUE-375626 - REST API asset conversion error message fix
The REST API asset conversion endpoint will now show the correct error message when it is not possible to download an asset with provided conversion.
ISSUE-376245 - Multi Reference context-specific values now save
Fixed a problem on Multi Reference screen in the Web UI where users were not able to save context-specific values for Reference Metadata attributes.
ISSUE-376322 - Date and time exception now shown
Fixed a setback when an incorrect date and time was entered, and the ISO Date and Time validation exception was not shown.
ISSUE-378406 - Fixed exception thrown when doing manual translation
Fixed UnableToStoreTranslation exception, thrown when user tries to do a manual Excel translation of LOV attribute without IDs.
ISSUE-378467 - Fixed error on Save & Approve enablement
Error that Save & Approve button is enabled when product is fully approved is now fixed. When there is no changes on product since the last approval, the button is disabled.
REST API V2 dimension dependent multi-value attribute fix
In the REST API V2 component, when setting dimension dependent multi-value attributes in a non-global context, an 'Operation attempted on deleted instance' was thrown. This has been resolved. There is a hotfix available for restapiv2-7.0.2.
GDSN Datapool Receiver file processing fix
When the GDSN Datapool Receiver was processing files from the hotfolder, only around 50 percent of them were moved to the 'Processed' folder. The rest of the files stayed in their original location, with "#" appended to their name. This was caused by faulty implementation of handling processed files, which has now been fixed so that all files are moved to the 'Processed' folder after successful processing. A hotfix is available for gdsn2-7.0.51.
Nested References Editor now honors read-only flag
The Nested References Editor in the Web UI has a read-only setting. This can either be used to make all tables in the editor read-only, or applied to specific levels of references. However, the setting was ignored so that only individual column read-only settings would apply. This has been fixed.
Embedded Analytics Platform widget fix
There was an issue when adding the Embedded Analytics Platform widget in the Web UI's design mode, where the typeahead feature did not work properly. This has now been fixed.
Inbound Business Rule Based Message Processor file size fix
Fixed a problem when the config property for changing an Inbound Business Rule Based Message Processor file size was not available to be set via SPOT commands. A hotfix is available for business-action-processor-7.0.3.
Broadened subscription GPC codes allowed in GDSN subscriptions and receiving messages
When creating GDSN subscriptions and receiving messages, subscription GPC codes other than the classification ID are now allowed. The new default is the classification 'GPCCategoryCode_GDS' attribute. There is a hotfix available for gdsn2-receiver-7.0.40.
Performance fix for In-Memory systems
Fixed a performance issue when loading LOV filters on attributes, which made the loading of products slow on In-Memory systems. Hotfixes are available for step-9.1-mp5 and step-9.1-mp6.
Performance Enhancements
ISSUE-357307 - Auto classification Rule Set Editor optimization
Fixed a problem with Rule Set Editor in the workbench when a lot of automatic classification rules would cause the editor to take a long time to open. This has been optimized so it opens faster.
ISSUE-372475 - Performance improvement for Completeness Metric
A fix was done in order to improve performance in opening the Completeness Metric editor in the workbench.
ISSUE-374155 - Performance optimization for importer
When running the importer in database mode, the maximum sequence number for a parent node would be calculated even though the children were not manually sequenced. This could result in performance degradation if there were 100,000+ children. It is necessary to calculate the sequence number only if the children are manually sorted. In the case of having manually sequenced children, it does not make sense to have so many children, as it is impossible to manually sort 100,000+ children. Performance has been optimized.
ISSUE-375340 - Performance optimization related to Product Variants
The code to get info about product variants code took a long time - especially if the variant product had many attribute links and some of the variant attributes were linked to list of values with a large number of valid values. This in particular caused performance problems in the Web UI, as a special styling is used for product variant attributes. Performance in the Web UI was affected when getting info about product variant attributes constantly. A step-9.2-mp2 hotfix is also available for this solution.
Support Notification / Documentation Updates
Support for version 8.3 ending November 2020
The purpose of this notification is to officially communicate desupport / end of life for these systems and request that customers update as soon as possible to the latest release of the platform. Please contact your Stibo Systems account manager or partner manager, or the support department, to receive help and guidance on how to update to a supported release.
Software errors reported on version 8.3 may be rejected after November 1, 2020. Application support issues in progress for the releases being desupported will be closed on the desupport date. It is not possible to extend the support services for desupported versions.
If you have any questions or would like to be contacted to receive help on updating the STEP application, please reach out to your Stibo Systems account manager or your partner manager.
Patch Recipe
The 9.2-MP3 baseline patch can be installed with the following recipe:
spot --upgrade=step:9.2
Use the SPOT --upgrade command to also find compatible components that can be added at the same time as the baseline patch. See the SPOT Program documentation for more information here.
For assistance, contact Stibo Systems Technical Services.