Increment only every X recordsAs of this version of FlowHeater you are able to establish a counter using the AutoID Heater that only increments when a specified number of records/rows have been processed. This makes it relatively straightforward to handle very large exports, for example, where the output must be split into multiple CSV files (every X records start a new export file). Naturally this option supports the use of FlowHeater Parameters. This way the maximum number of rows in a CSV export file can be dynamically set by a runtime parameter in Batch Mode.

e.g. FHBatch.exe /SetParameter MAX-REC=10000 export-csv.fhd

In order for this to function properly the counter generated must of course be saved in another FlowHeater Parameter and this Parameter is then used as a placeholder in the output filename of the TextFile Adapter.

e.g. export$FILEID$.csv

This will trigger the Textfile Adapter to output a new file automatically each time the AutoID counter value is incremented.

There is a short video example of this included in the AutoID Heater documentation.

This version adds another powerful function (Heater) to FlowHeater. With the new CMD Heater it is possible to not only dynamically execute external programs, but also run scripts (Perl, PHP, PowerShell, etc.) while an import/export is being run. The actual FlowHeater process will pause until the external processing is complete. Possible output from the external process can be redirected via FlowHeater Parameters for subsequent use by the FlowHeater Definition. If execution of the external program/script aborts with an error then the exit code of the task can be checked by an IF-THEN-ELSE Heater and if necessary the FlowHeater run also aborted using the Stop Heater.

The Excel Adapter has undergone a complete overhaul for this version and now sports a host of new features. For instance it is now possible to perform updates of Excel rows/records in a similar way to the database Adapters and you can choose whether data is inserted, updated or both options used in combination. According to key fields you define, the Excel Adapter checks whether the record exists for updating or else will insert it into the sheet. The target area of the sheet for imported data can optionally be cleared before the import starts. This makes sure that when the imported amount of data is shorter than a previous import, no redundant data is left behind in the Excel sheet.

XML Adapter - Export with groupingThis version includes an enhancement to the XML Adapter with a further powerful feature. It is now possible with an XML export to group XML data across XML nodes. This feature now enables much more complex XML files to be generated than was previously possible during an export run. Moreover, the Configurator popup of the Designer has improved creation and moving of nodes and subnodes.

This functionality was actually delivered with an interim release as Version 4.0.6.1. Since only a summary of changes is given for interim releases, we now offer a more detailed explanation of this new feature.

When on the READ side in the TextFile Adapter a UTF/Unicode text file is selected that contains an encoding that commences with a few special bytes called a BOM (byte order mark) then the corresponding code page is recognized automatically and set. This automatic recognition only works for Unicode/UTF files with a BOM (byte order mark). Unfortunately, for other types of file the code page must be manually selected as before. The default code page remains unchanged as the Windows ANSI code page defined in the system settings.