Skip to main content
Skip table of contents

Change History

This page describes major changes to the SuperSTAR suite from version 9.0 onwards. This is intended to assist customers who are upgrading to the latest version of the SuperSTAR suite.

Version 9.9.8

ProductAreaDescriptionMore Information
Audit Logging

Custom Data

Data Control/Dataset Changes

Job Queue Manager

A number of improvements have been made to audit logging:

  • The Job Queue Manager now supports audit logging (not activated by default).
  • Custom data actions such as saving tables and recodes are now recorded in audit logs.
  • Changes to data control methods, statistical functions and other dataset settings are now recorded in audit logs.

As a result of these changes, several new action types have been added: database.method.changed, database.statfunction.changed, database.setting.changed, userDataChange and jqmQuery.

Open Data APISingle UDFsA new setting (openDataApi.table.disableSingleUdf) has been added to the configuration.properties file that allows you to disable Single UDFs in API queries.
SuperCROSSTranspose Wafer and Row/ColumnNew options have been added to the Edit > Table menu that allow you to quickly swap the wafers with the rows/columns.
SuperWEB2Default Table

The default table behaviour has changed. A new button has been added to the Dataset catalogue, Default Table, that appears when a dataset has a default table. It allows users to choose whether to open the default table for that dataset or start with a new table (with any configured mandatory fields applied).

A configuration option (catalogue.openDatasetBehaviour) that provides additional control over this behaviour has been added to the configuration.properties file.

SuperWEB2DerivationsA new configuration option (table.derivation.allowCommaAsDecimalSeparator) has been added that provides support for using a decimal separator other than '.' when creating and editing derivations. Set this to true to allow the use of , in addition to ..
SuperWEB2Download Tables as TXD

A new configuration option (download.enableTxd) has been added that allows you to enable table downloads in TXD format. You can choose to allow this for all users, no users, or administrators. When enabled, users can select the Textual Table Definition (.txd) option from the Download Table drop-down list in Table View.

There are currently some known issues with loading the saved tables into SuperCROSS, including:

  • Display issues with summation labels.
  • Filters from SuperWEB2 that contain classifications will be converted to wafers (with a total) when the TXD is opened in SuperCROSS.
SuperWEB2Folder Expansion for Saved Table Lists

A new option has been added to the configuration.properties file that allows you to control the initial folder expansion of saved table lists. Previously, it was only possible to set this for the list of datasets.

The new option, catalogue.folderExpansionDepth, is a global setting that will apply to all lists of tables and datasets. The existing setting, catalogue.databaseFolderExpansionDepth, can be used to apply a different default expansion setting to the list of datasets (if databaseFolderExpansionDepth is not set, it defaults to the value of the new global setting, folderExpansionDepth).

SuperWEB2Graph ViewA new option has been added to the configuration.properties file that allows you to restrict access to Graph View if there are more than a certain number of fields in the table.
SuperWEB2Icon LinkThe SuperWEB2 logo is now a clickable link. By default it links to the Dataset catalogue but you can configure the destination for this link by editing the banner.image.link property in the configuration.xml layout file.
SuperWEB2Mapping

SuperWEB2 now supports the Web Feature Service (WFS) Interface Standard for mapping (previously, ArcGIS was the only supported mapping server).

When configuring mapping with a WFS server, there are some additional required configuration keys: type, outputformat and geometryField.

SuperWEB2Metadata IconsA new property (metadata.tableIcons ) has been added that controls the display of metadata icons in tables, Graph View and Map View.
SuperWEB2Percentages in Saved Tables

SuperWEB2 now supports saving tables with percentages. If percentages are turned on at the time the table is saved, then this setting will be saved with the table and restored when it is reopened.

For saved tables that were created in SuperCROSS in TXD format and have been loaded into SuperWEB2 (for example as system tables), SuperWEB2 supports percentages that were added using the SuperCROSS Replace Percent option only. Tables with percentages added in SuperCROSS using Append Percent cannot be loaded into SuperWEB2.


SuperWEB2Terms and ConditionsA new setting (login.requireTermsVersion) has been added that provides further control over the terms and conditions feature. You can now force users to accept the terms and conditions again if they change.
SuperWEB2Upload Tables in TXD Format

It is now possible to allow administrator users to upload tables into SuperWEB2 in TXD format.

This feature is not enabled by default. To activate it, set table.enableOpenTxdFile to true in the configuration.properties file. This will activate an Open TXD File button in Manage Tables.

Opening a TXD in this way does not save the table by default: you will need to manually save the table after opening it if you want it to be available in future SuperWEB2 sessions.

As part of this change, the TXDEncodingType setting has been moved from web.xml to configuration.properties and renamed to file.defaultTxdEncoding.

SuperWEB2WCAG

With this release we have begun working towards Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 compliance in SuperWEB2. As part of this work we have:

  • Added alt tags to most images.
  • Improved the tab order (logical left-to-right, top-to-bottom order).
  • Added support for screen readability (login and terms and conditions pages).
  • Ensured that there are no major parsing errors across all pages.

Version 9.9.7

ProductAreaDescriptionMore Information
SuperWEB2Saved Tables

It is now possible to access saved tables for the current dataset without leaving Table View: a new tab has been added to the Customise Table area that shows a list of all the accessible saved tables for the current dataset. Simply double-click to open any of these tables.

If you do not wish to show this tab, you can hide it by setting table.enableTablesTab to false in the configuration.properties file.

Version 9.9.6

ProductAreaDescriptionMore Information
Open Data APIWeighted Datasets

The Open Data API now supports weighted datasets.

As a result of this change, the SuperWEB2 option to download a table as an Open Data API Query is no longer greyed out if you are viewing weighted table results, and the /schema endpoint will now return details of available weighted summations.

SuperWEB2Chart DownloadsA new configuration setting (chartcreditcolour) has been added to allow administrators to control the colour used for the chart credit text displayed at the bottom of chart downloads.
SuperWEB2Suppress Sum

The Suppress Sum feature is used to prevent users from adding the sum of a measure to the table. Prior to this version, when suppress sum was enabled for a dataset it also suppressed weighted counts.

This is no longer the case: setting suppressSum to true will no longer suppress weighted counts.

Version 9.9.5

ProductAreaDescriptionMore Information
Open Data APIRange and Quantile UDFsThe Open Data API now supports queries that include range and quantile User Defined Fields (UDFs).
Open Data APIRecord View

A new property (recordViewEnabled) has been added to the /schema endpoint that indicates whether Record View is enabled for a dataset. This will be set to true if Record View is enabled and false otherwise. Record View is automatically disabled for datasets that have confidentiality applied to them.

A future release will make unit record data available through an API endpoint in cases where the dataset has Record View enabled and the requesting user has appropriate permissions.

Open Data APIValuesetsIt is now possible to use str:valueset URIs in table queries, in addition to str:field URIs. This allows you to easily request a particular level in a hierarchy when constructing your table query.
Production SystemRecord View Offset

Production System now supports sorting of record view output as well as a record view offset. The offset can be used in conjunction with the existing limit setting to retrieve records in batches. To configure this, there is a new setting you can add to the Production System configuration file, and you can now also include the record view offset in your TXD-level record view configuration file.

SuperWEB2Add to Table Ordering

By default, when you select items from the field list and use the Add to RowColumn, and Wafer buttons, SuperWEB2 adds the items to the table in the order you selected them.

You can now choose to add the items in hierarchical order instead. This adds the items in the order they appear in the field list, regardless of the order you selected them. If you have selected items from multiple levels of a hierarchy, then items from a lower level in the hierarchy will be sorted according to their relative position in the hierarchy.

To apply this sorting when adding items to the table, select the Add in hierarchical order option from the drop-down list under the Row, Column, or Wafer buttons.

SuperWEB2CSV Input EncodingA new property, csv.inputEncodingPreference has been added. This specifies the encoding to use when uploading user recode files.
SuperWEB2Mandatory Fields and Summation Options

The mandatory fields rule now supports summation options, in addition to fields.

As a result of this change:

  • The Override Default Summation Rule (which allows you to change the default summation option for a dataset) has been deprecated. If you wish to change the default summation, you are recommended to use the mandatory fields rule instead.
  • The DB Summation Options Rule (which allows you to restrict users to a single summation option per table) can no longer be used in conjunction with the mandatory fields rule if you have configured any mandatory summation options.
SuperWEB2Mapping Cache ConfigurationSome mapping data is now stored in an in memory cache. By default, the size of the in memory cache is not restricted. If necessary, you can configure limits on the amount of memory that will be used for the cache, and the cache expiry time, by editing the new map cache properties that have been added to configuration.properties.
SuperWEB2PDF Template Configuration

The properties for configuring PDF downloads have been changed: previous each type of template (graph and map) had two properties, one to configure the template location and one to configure the template name. These properties have been merged into a single property for each download type that includes both the name and location.

In addition, the default templates have moved from <tomcat_home>\webapps\webapi to <tomcat_home>\webapps\webapi\WEB-INF\templates

SuperWEB2Percentages

It is now possible to configure percentages to be enabled by default for a particular dataset. You can choose to set the default to either row, column or total percentages.

As a result of this change, the percentage menu options are now available when the table is empty, and the total percentages option is now available when there is only one axis in the table (previously this option required at least two axes to be populated).

SuperWEB2Record View ConfigurationThe Record View configuration option has been moved from web.xml to configuration.properties . You must update your configuration accordingly when upgrading to version 9.9.5 or later.
SuperWEB2Select all for Summation OptionsA new option has been added to the filter list that allows you to quickly select all Summation Options (similar to the existing Select all at level option for field items).
SuperWEB2Table Download as Open Data API QueryThe option to download a table query in Open Data API JSON format is now automatically disabled if the table contains a weighted count, as this feature is not currently supported by the Open Data API. When the table contains a weighted count, the Open Data API Query (.json) option will be greyed out from the Download Table drop-down list.

Version 9.9.4

ProductAreaDescriptionMore Information
Open Data APISchema

The Open Data API Schema endpoint now supports some additional options that allow you to retrieve the entire schema with fewer requests. In previous releases retrieving the entire schema required users to submit multiple requests to traverse the different levels of the schema hierarchy.

This release adds the depth=folder option, which allows you to retrieve details of all datasets and tables in a single request.

In addition, there are new parameters for individual datasets that allow you to retrieve all fields, all valuesets, or all values.

SuperCROSSDataset SelectionA new setting (EnableLastOpenedDBSelection) has been made available in the super.ini configuration file. You can use this setting to configure SuperCROSS to automatically select the last opened dataset when displaying the Catalogue - Select Database or Table dialog.
SuperWEB2Confidentiality

New settings have been added to the configuration.properties file that are intended to help prevent the accidental release of datasets that do not have confidentiality applied:

  • confidentiality.requireConfidentialityModule
  • confidentiality.requireSpecificModules

These settings are intended for situations where all of your datasets should have confidentiality modules applied to them. By using these properties you can prevent the accidental addition of a dataset that does not have a confidentiality module applied to it.

SuperWEB2Localisation

The localised_config.properties file that was added in version 9.9.3 has been removed. Localised configuration settings can now be defined by creating additional copies of the standard configuration.properties file called configuration_<locale>.properties, where <locale> is the relevant 2 character lower case ISO 639 language code.

If you created a localised_config_<locale>.properties file in version 9.9.3 you will need to rename this to configuration_<locale>.properties.

Not all properties can be localised. Those that can be localised are identified in the comments in configuration.properties and in the documentation page for this file.

SuperWEB2Suppress SUM SettingThe setting for preventing users from adding the SUM to a table has been moved from web.xml to configuration.properties.
SuperWEB2User Registration

It is now possible to configure SuperWEB2 so that users can opt in or out of email updates from you. To do this:

  • Add a check box to the user registration form with the key allowContact.
  • Enable a new setting that allows users to change their selection from the Account page.

Version 9.9.3

ProductAreaDescriptionMore Information
Data ControlConfidentiality RuleSince version 9.6 it has been possible to configure the confidentiality rule to only apply when certain fields are in the table. This functionality has been extended to also support only applying the rule when specific summation options are in the table.
SuperCROSSMandatory FieldsThe mandatory fields feature now supports summation options in addition to fields.
SuperCROSSOutput Format

Two new output formats have been added to SuperCROSS:

  • Flattened Tabular Macro-data. This output format flattens the table structure into a CSV file with one row for each combination of fields and the corresponding tabulation result values. It does not include headers, footers or annotations.
  • TXD and Macro-data. This output format downloads both a TXD file and the Flattened Tabular Macro-data file combined as a single ZIP file.
SuperCROSSRecodesA new setting (SetFieldCode) has been added to the cross.ini configuration file that can be used to configure SuperCROSS to output field IDs when representing recodes in TXDs.
SuperSERVERConditional Annotations

It is now possible to specify advanced rules for showing or hiding annotations. For example, annotations can be shown or hidden based on specific combinations of fields and field values appearing in a table.

SuperSERVERIPv6 SupportSuperSERVER, SuperCROSS and Production System now support IPv6 environments. See IPv6 Support for details on the additional configuration required when deploying on an IPv6 network.
SuperSERVERUpgrade

An additional step is now required when upgrading SuperSERVER: when restoring your existing settings, it is essential that you copy your entire backup of the SuperADMIN server config directory to your new installation. This directory will be located by default at C:\ProgramData\STR\SuperADMIN\server\config\ (Windows) or /STR/SuperADMIN/server/config/ (Linux).

This step is required for all upgrades to version 9.9.3 or later. If you miss this step, then SuperADMIN will fail to start up and will show the following error message:

CODE
Ignoring console output: Cannot load bundle [Stellar OSGI Integration] - org.osgi.framework.BundleException: Exception in au.com.str.superadmin.stellar.StellarActivator.start() of bundle stellar-osgi.
SuperWEB2Localisation

The localised_config.properties file, which was added in version 9.9.3, has been removed from version 9.9.4 onwards. See below for more details.

It is now possible to specify a different version of the online help and PDF download templates depending on the current language SuperWEB2 is displayed in.

This means you can provide translations in every language you need to support for your deployment. As a result of this change, a new configuration file has been added, localised_config.properties. Properties that can be localised, which were previously defined in configuration.properties, are now defined in this new file by default.

To set the relevant properties for each supported language, create a copy of localised_config.properties called localised_config_<locale>.properties for every language you want to support. Replace  <locale>  with the relevant 2 character lower case ISO 639 language code.

For backwards compatibility reasons, SuperWEB2 will fall back to the old properties in configuration.properties if the localised_config.properties file does not exist.

As part of this change, some properties have been renamed: the online help link properties have been renamed to more accurately reflect where they are used in SuperWEB2, and the property for controlling embedding of fonts in PDF downloads. However, you can continue to use the old property names.

Version 9.9.2

ProductAreaDescriptionMore Information
Open Data APICaching

The Open Data API now automatically caches data to make it more efficient to serve multiple requests for the same table or schema elements. This means that, for example, if multiple requests are received for the same table, the API will return the results from the cache, rather than re-querying SuperSERVER.

The API will also cache data from the metadata server (such as dataset labels).

Open Data APISaved Tables

It is now possible to query the API for tables that have been saved to the User Data Repository (as long as the account doing the query has permission to access the saved table).

The ID of the table can be retrieved from the /schema endpoint, and this can then be passed to the /table/saved endpoint to retrieve the table query itself.

Open Data APISchema ID Format for Groups

A change has been made to the format of the schema ID that is returned for groups within datasets (such as a group of classification fields or a group of measures).

The format has changed from str:folder:<dataset_id>:<group_id> to str:group:<dataset_id>:<prefix>_<group_id> .

The prefix indicates what type of group it represents:

G_
A general group.
X_
A group of classification fields.
M_
A group of measures/summations.
D_
A group of plain fields.

The general and plan group types are not typically used. The most common group types you will encounter are classifications and measures.

This change resolves an issue where previously it was not possible to distinguish between a group of classification fields and a group of measures if they both had the same name. For example, if there is a group of fields in your dataset called Customers and a group of measures also called Customers these would previously have returned the same ID.

For example:

Previous FormatNew Format
str:folder:bank:Customers
str:group:bank:X_Customers
str:group:bank:M_Customers
SuperCROSSDecimal Places in TXDs

It is now possible to choose whether to explicitly set the decimal places for a saved table (TXD or SCS file). This can be particularly useful when loading TXDs into SuperWEB2, as any TXD decimal place settings will take precedence over SuperWEB2's precision settings. This means that you can now easily choose whether to explicity set the precision for your saved TXDs, or use the default SuperWEB2 settings.

In previous releases, the decimal places setting from SuperCROSS was always saved in the TXD file.

This setting is controlled by the SetDecimalPlaces command in the super.ini configuration file, and can also be changed via Edit > Options > Format > Decimal Places > Specify in the SuperCROSS GUI.

SuperCROSSField Derivations

A change has been made to the default behaviour when a field containing a field derivation is removed from the table. In previous releases, field derivations remained in memory and could be added back to the table. The downside to this behaviour is that the Add Total With Default Recodes option did not apply in cases where a field with a recode was added back to the table.

The new default behaviour is that field derivations are automatically removed from memory when the field is removed, which means that the Add Total With Default Recodes option will now apply if selected when the field is added back to the table.

A new configuration option, RemoveFieldDerivationWhenFieldRemovedFromTable has been added to the cross.ini configuration file. You can adjust this setting if you wish to revert to the previous behaviour.

SuperCROSSSingle Sign On

The setting to enable Single Sign On is now stored in the ssii.ini configuration file. Previously it was stored in the Windows Registry.

If you are upgrading from an earlier version and you use Single Sign On you will either need to add this setting to the ssii.ini file manually, or reselect the single sign on option in the SuperADMIN Connection dialog.

SuperSERVERAudit Logging

SuperSERVER audit logs now record a tabulation.query event for every query event. This can contain any or all of the following details of the query:

  • Fact Tables
  • Fields
  • Value Sets
  • Values

By default, the event will include details of the fact tables and fields involved in the query. You can use the server command in SuperADMIN to configure this.

SuperWEB2Job Queue ManagerAn update has been made to the Job Queue Manager so that it is now possible to run multiple instances of Job Queue Manager.
SuperWEB2Tomcat Settings

The Tomcat startup parameters in the sw2.bat file that is provided with the full SuperWEB2 installation have been updated to more closely reflect our recommended RAM settings. This batch file now starts Tomcat/SuperWEB2 with 4GB RAM. In many cases you are recommended to increase the available RAM where possible, see Installation Requirements, Compatibility and Supported Platforms for more details.

In addition, some changes have been made to the batch file to remove some unnecessary error messages that were previously output to the SuperWEB2 log.

If you are using the supplied Tomcat installation and batch files to run SuperWEB2 then you may wish to consider applying the changes from the latest version supplied with this release.


Version 9.9.1

ProductAreaDescriptionMore Information
Open Data APIRate Limiting

It is now possible to configure different rate limits for the /schema and /table endpoints.

As a result of this change, the openDataApi.schema.numberOfRateLimitPerPeriod property in the configuration.properties file has been replaced with three new settings:

  • openDataApi.rateLimit.global
  • openDataApi.rateLimit.schema
  • openDataApi.rateLimit.table

In addition, there are two new endpoints for checking the individual rate limits: /rate_limit_schema and /rate_limit_table.

SuperWEB2User Interface

New navigation options have been added to Table View, Graph View and Map View:

  • The database name that is displayed at the top of the screen is now a clickable link that can be used to return to the info page for that database.
  • If the user is viewing a saved table, the table name is also now displayed at the top of the screen (with a link that returns to the info page for this database with the relevant table selected from the list of tables).

If you do not wish to show table names, then you can prevent this by setting the table.showCurrentName property to false in the configuration.properties file.


Version 9.9

ProductAreaDescriptionMore Information
Data Control APIFunctions

The following new methods have been added to enable Data Control plugins to obtain additional weighting information: GetWeightedTableIdentifiersT(), GetDefaultMainWeightFieldIdentifierT(), and GetDefaultReplicateWeightFieldIdentifiersT().

SuperADMINDisplay Options

For performance reasons, the displayoptions settings are now stored in the configuration server. Previously, these settings used an XML file (DisplayOptionsCatalog.xml).

Existing settings will be migrated automatically when SuperADMIN is upgraded, and no user action is required.

The command used to set and check these settings remains the same, although as part of this change, display options settings can now be set for record counts (previously they could only be set for measures).

SuperADMINMax Attempts and Account Locking

As a result of changes to the user catalogue (see below), there has been a minor change to the behaviour of the account locking feature.

Previously, changing the global settings for maxattempts and locktime only applied to new accounts. Now, changes to the global defaults will apply to all accounts unless you have specifically applied custom settings to individual accounts.

In addition, it is now possible to configure individual groups or users whose accounts cannot be locked.

SuperADMINPort UsageAs part of the implementation of user registration, SuperWEB2 communicates with SuperADMIN via a new REST API. If you want to deploy the user registration system then you must ensure that port 9001 is accessible.
SuperADMINUser Catalogue and Data Storage

For performance reasons, SuperADMIN now uses a relational database to store all user data (previously, it used an XML file). When you upgrade to version 9.9 SuperADMIN will automatically convert the existing user data to an H2 database.

It is possible to switch to another RDBMS, although this change should only be made before going into production. Please contact STR for advice if you wish to change the RDBMS for a production system.

SuperADMIN also uses H2 to store the configuration server data and data related to user registrations. Switching to another RDBMS will move all of this data in addition to the user data.

SuperSERVERAudit Logging

Some additional details are now recorded in the audit logs:

  • The SuperADMIN logs now record the client that generated the event.
  • SuperWEB2 now records the user's IP address on login events.
  • A unique job ID is now recorded for all events relating to a specific tabulation request. The same ID will be recorded in the SuperWEB2 and SuperSERVER log files.
  • The structure of the SuperWEB2 logs has been modified slightly: event types have moved to an action element and the query.part event type has been removed.
SuperSERVEROutput Scaling and Precision

The outputscaling data control module now supports:

  • Custom precision for individual measures.
  • Negative values for precision (negative values round values to the left of the decimal point; for example -1 will cause all values to be expressed as multiples of 10).

As a result of this change, an additional column (precision) has been added to the measures scale file.

SuperWEB2Direct URLs

The direct URLs feature has been extended. Previously if you wanted to link directly to a dataset you could construct a link that opens that dataset in Table View (/opendatabase?id=<dataset_id>). There is now an alternative option for linking to a dataset, which will take users to the dataset's info page (/openinfopage?id=<dataset_id>).

In addition, a new URL parameter (#db=<dataset_id>) has been added to allow you to link to other dataset info pages from within info pages.

SuperWEB2Graph ViewIt is now possible to configure specific colours for specific fields to be used in Graph View.
SuperWEB2Guest Access

A new configuration setting (global.enableGuestAccess) has been added to the configuration.properties file that allows you to disable guest access for a SuperWEB2 instance.

In addition, the username and password for guest access are now configured in the configuration.properties file, rather than web.xml.

SuperWEB2Large Table Mode

The thresholds for large table mode are now configured in configuration.properties. Previously these settings were configured in CubeCatalog.xml.

In addition, the default total cell threshold for large table mode has been increased from 10,000 to 100,000.

SuperWEB2Mandatory Fields

Mandatory fields are now indicated in the field list by a small red * image that appears on top of the field icon and the field item icon.

A new configuration option has been added that allows you to specify whether mandatory fields will be automatically tabulated when opening a dataset.

SuperWEB2MetadataThe default metadata template supplied with SuperWEB2 has been renamed from sa-metadata.xhtml to metadata.xhtml. If you wish to continue using the default template you will need to update the settings in your configuration.properties file to match the new location (please also note that, as documented above, the path to this file changed from  /webapi/help/  to  /webapi/jsf/help/ in version 9.8).
SuperWEB2PreferencesThe Preferences page has been renamed to Account and now has additional options for users to change their password and delete their account. New settings have been added to the configuration.properties file that allow you to turn off these settings.
SuperWEB2Saved Tables and DatasetsSuperWEB2 now displays a tool tip when you hover the mouse pointer over a saved table on the dataset catalogue page. This can be particularly useful if you have tables with very long names, as it is no longer necessary to use the horizontal scrollbar to see the full table name.
SuperWEB2Table Download as Open Data API Query

A new download format has been added to the Download Table drop-down menu in Table View: you can now download the table as an Open Data API query.

Selecting this option will download a text file containing JSON that you can pass in to the API in a table query. This feature is designed to make it easier to set up your API queries, as you can now use the SuperWEB2 drag and drop interface to design your queries and then easily reuse these in the application you are building with the API.

Some table features are not supported by this download option. Learn more.

SuperWEB2User Registration

SuperWEB2 now has an automated user registration system, designed to make it easy to allow users to sign up for an account on your SuperWEB2 deployment, set their own password, and change or reset their password.

As part of this change, users can now change their password and delete their account from the Account page (accessible from the top-right menu).

Version 9.8

ProductAreaDescriptionMore Information
SuperCROSSExcel Downloads

Since version 9.0 SuperCROSS has been using a particular formatting function from a third-party library when generating Excel files. This function adjusts the row height in the downloaded Excel file to fit the text in the row. This function has been found to cause performance issues when downloading very large tables.

SuperCROSS now runs the function only once per row when downloading very large tables, so in some cases it may be necessary to manually adjust the row height in the downloaded Excel file in order to see the full heading text.

A new setting has been added to the super.ini configuration file: AutoFitCellLimit=90

This setting controls the threshold for the new behaviour. Its value is the table cell count in millions.

For example, when this is set to 90:

  • Any table under 90 million cells will use the auto formatting option on every header cell.
  • Any table above this size will not have any custom row heights applied. You may need to manually adjust the row heights in the downloaded Excel file.
SuperWEB2Derivations

SuperWEB2 now allows users to create derivations within tables.

Derivations are automatically enabled by default, but you can disable them globally by changing the table.enableDerivations setting in the configuration.properties file.

As part of this change, a new property (externalLink.helpDerivationURL) has been added to the configuration.properties file to provide a link to context-sensitive help within the Define Derivation dialog.

SuperWEB2Duty of CareAn issue has been resolved with the Duty of Care rule that prevented this feature from operating. The bug was originally introduced in version 9.0. In addition, the Duty of Care feature is now disabled by default.
SuperWEB2Excel Downloads

It is now possible to control the formatting of annotations in Excel downloads. This is particularly useful if you have long annotations as you can now control how the text wraps beneath the table.

In addition, the default Excel download templates have been updated to match the current default SuperWEB2 branding.

SuperWEB2Fields

A new setting (schemaTree.schemaFolderExpansionDepth) has been added that allows you to choose how many levels of folders to expand in the list of fields when opening a dataset.

In previous releases, the list of fields was always fully collapsed when opening the dataset (so only the names of the top level folders would be visible initially). Now you can choose how many levels to expand.

By default, all folders will now be expanded when you open a dataset.

SuperWEB2Graph View

The configuration setting for specifying the PDF template for downloads from Graph View has changed. Previously this used a single setting (externalLink.pdfTemplateURL) that specified the full path to the template PDF file.

This setting has been replaced by two individual settings in the configuration.properties filegraph.graphPdfTemplateLocation and graph.graphPdfTemplateName.

SuperWEB2Graph ViewIt is now possible to configure the abbreviations used to shorten large numbers in the axes in Graph View.
SuperWEB2Info Pages

The location of the HTML info pages (which are displayed on the right of the database catalogue screen) has changed.

Previously these pages were located in <tomcat_home>\webapps\webapi\WEB-INF\resources\info\

Now, they are located in <tomcat_home>\webapps\webapi\info\

SuperWEB2MetadataThe files supplied for configuring metadata have been renamed from not-configured.jsp and sa-metadata.jsp to not-configured.xhtml and sa-metadata.xhtml. In addition, the default path to these files has changed from /webapi/help/ to /webapi/jsf/help/. You will need to update the settings in your configuration.properties file to match the new location.
SuperWEB2TourA new interactive tour has been added to guide new users through the basic operations of SuperWEB2. 
SuperWEB2User Interface

A number of usability changes have been made to the SuperWEB2 user interface:

  • Some on screen elements have moved or been renamed.
  • New icons have been added to help users distinguish between datasets, tables, folders and fields.
  • By default, the logo in the top-left of SuperWEB2 is now displayed within the navigation bar, rather than above it. This change is fully backwards compatible, so you can choose to continue to display the logo above the navigation bar if you prefer. Your existing branding customisations can continue to be used with this version of SuperWEB2.

Version 9.7

ProductAreaDescriptionMore Information
SuperCROSSGrand Total

Grand totals are now calculated using recode totals by default. This means that they now correctly handle non additive tables without double counting.

Grand totals can also now be added to tables that have multiple summation options and return correct results for the total Relative Standard Error (RSE) as well as the RSE of percentages based on the grand total.

If you wish to keep the behaviour from previous releases, set UseRecodeTotalsForGrandTotal to 0 in the super.ini configuration file.

If you load a saved table, it will use the behaviour it was created with, until the grand total is switched off.

As a result of this change, when using the new functionality if you select any of the total options from the Calculations menu your table results will be reset and you will need to run the cross tabulation again.

If you have weighted databases and you are using the SuperSERVER weighting option, then you must use the new grand total behaviour.

SuperCROSSQuantilesFor weighted databases, it is now possible to display the Relative Standard Error of the range in the labels of quantile user defined fields. You can also choose to show the minimum and maximum RSE values in each label.
SuperCROSSQuantiles (Precision)

It is now possible to configure the precision used when displaying quantile range boundaries and RSE values in the labels of quantile user defined fields.

The precision of these values is controlled by two new settings that you can add to the [Preferences] section of the cross.ini configuration file: Quantile Label Value Precision and Quantile Label Rse Precision.

SuperCROSSRelative Standard Error

When using weighted databases:

  • Relative Standard Error for user defined fields is now calculated correctly and added to tables in the same way as standard measures.
  • Relative Standard Error values are now recalculated correctly if perturbation is turned off in SuperCROSS.

SuperCROSSSummation Options

The statistics.xml file defines the statistical formulas used by SuperCROSS for its summation options.

  • Prior to version 9.7 the formulas in statistics.xml applied to unweighted summations only.
  • From 9.7 onwards, if you are using SuperSERVER weightings then statistics.xml is now used for both weighted and unweighted functions.
  • From 9.7 onwards, if you are using SuperCROSS client weightings then the unweighted functions will be loaded from statistics.xml and the weighted functions will be loaded from the formulas.xml file (this is consistent with the behaviour in previous releases).

As a result of changes to the statistics.xml file that is provided with SuperCROSS, the default set of functions available for some summation options has changed.

In previous releases, the Define Recode window displayed a number of functions for counts, such as Mean and Standard Deviation, even though these are not meaningful calculations for a record count (for example, the mean of a record count will always be 1). Sum is now the only function available by default for counts. If you wish to revert to the previous behaviour, you can modify the statistics.xml file.

SuperCROSSWeighting

It is now possible to display both weighted and unweighted values in the same table when using SuperSERVER weightings in SuperCROSS.

In previous versions, changing between a weighted and unweighted option in the Weight By drop-down list in the Define Recode window would change all of the functions in the Recode Values list to be either weighted or unweighted. Now, you can add a combination of weighted and unweighted functions to the Recode Values list.

SuperSERVERPerturbation (Quantiles)

Quantile perturbation requires three configuration files. In previous releases these had to be located in the same directory as the SXV4 file.

New properties have been added to the data control modules so that it is now possible to configure the location of these files.

SuperSERVERRelative Standard Error

Prior to version 9.7, it was necessary to configure a data control plugin to calculate RSE values. From 9.7 onwards this now runs automatically for all SuperSERVER weighted databases, and will use the jackknife formula for calculating the RSE. You can still configure the plugin if you wish to change some of its other settings, such as the formula, thresholds and unreliable table message, although if you just want to change the formula used then you can do this by editing a setting in the weightings file (if both are configured then the plugin settings take precedence).

As a result of this change, RSE values are now available for SuperSERVER weighted databases in SuperCROSS when confidentiality has been turned off using the padlock button.

SuperSERVERWeighting

New configuration options have been added to enable consistent weighting configuration across SuperCROSS and SuperWEB2.

Version 9.6

ProductAreaDescriptionMore Information
Data ControlConfidentiality Rule

Additional configuration options have been added to the confidentiality rule data control module:

  • You can now configure the confidentiality rule so that it only applies when specific fields are in the table.
  • You can now set different thresholds and frequency rules for totals and non totals.

Version 9.5

ProductAreaDescriptionMore Information
Open Data APINew ProductThe Open Data API is now available. This is an additional component that provides programmatic access to SuperSTAR data using a JSON REST API.
SuperWEB2configuration.properties

The following settings have been added to the configuration.properties file:

  • externalLink.helpCatalogueURL
  • externalLink.helpGraphViewURL
  • externalLink.helpMyTablesURL
  • map.mapArcGISEndpointPattern
  • openDataApi.schema.pageSize
  • openDataApi.schema.numberOfRateLimitPerPeriod
  • openDataApi.table.maximumResponseCellLimit
  • openDataApi.table.maximumRequestItemLimit
SuperWEB2MetadataA new file, metadataRedirect.html, is now supplied with SuperWEB2 to make it easier to configure static metadata. This file contains the code for redirecting to a static HTML page based on the dataset or field that the clicked metadata link relates to.
SuperWEB2User Interface

A number of usability changes have been made to the SuperWEB2 user interface.

Some on screen elements have moved or been renamed. For example:

  • The Catalogue option on the SuperWEB2 menu bar has moved from the top-right of the screen to the top left, and has been renamed to Datasets).
  • The My Tables tab has been moved to the drop-down menu in the top-right of the screen.
  • The Custom Data tab has been moved to a button at the bottom of the field list in Table View.

If you have added your own UI languages, then some translation changes may be required.

Version 9.3.2

ProductAreaDescriptionMore Information
SuperSERVERPerturbationNew functionality has been added for propagating zero across fact tables when using perturbation.

Version 9.3.0

ProductAreaDescriptionMore Information
SuperADMIN
SuperADMIN now runs an embedded H2 server, listening on port 9092 but only on localhost. In a standard configuration, only the SuperADMIN server itself needs to access this port. This database is now used to store the data for the configuration server. In a new installation it will also be used to hold Field Level Security settings.
SuperADMINField Level SecurityIt is now much easier to allow or deny access to all values in a value set. Previously, each value had to be configured individually.
SuperADMIN / SuperWEB2Saved Tables

This release adds the ability to load TXDs into the User Data Repository through SuperADMIN. This means you can save a TXD from SuperCROSS and then load it into the SuperADMIN catalogue so that SuperWEB2 users can access that table (in previous releases this required you to save the TXD file to a location within SuperWEB2 itself).

Once you have loaded a TXD into the catalogue, you can use the cat command in SuperADMIN to manage that table (for example you can move it to a folder, rename it, or delete it).

SuperADMINServer CommandThe server command now lists SuperWEB2 instances that are registered with SuperADMIN. SuperWEB2 will automatically register itself when it starts up. The list of registered SuperWEB2 instances are used to determine which User Data Repository to apply table commands to.
SuperCHANNELPerturbationFrom 9.3 onwards, SuperCHANNEL can automatically generate R Keys for perturbation.
SuperCHANNELTDD Driver Encoding

A new option has been added to the config.txt configuration file allowing you to set the encoding to use when channelling with the TDD driver.

You may need to change this setting if you are channelling data that contains characters that are not supported by the current system codepage.

SuperCROSSLogging

Additional logging is now available when SuperCROSS is running in server mode. SuperCROSS will now log the following events to the Super.logs.txt file (located in C:\ProgramData\STR\SuperCROSS\logs):

  • Errors loading a TXD:
    • Invalid dataset ID.
    • Missing dataset ID.
    • Invalid column name.
    • Invalid value sets.
  • Saving output:
    • Invalid Output Module defined in SuperModule.ini.
    • Invalid Function in the Output Module.
    • Save failed.
SuperCROSSSave Table FormatsA new configuration option has been added to SuperModule.ini for configuring the order that the different download formats appear when saving tables.
SuperSERVERDefault SettingsSome default settings have been changed for performance reasons: the default number of threads per cross tabulation is now 4 and the default number of processors is now 2.
SuperSERVERLogging

Some changes have been made to audit logging:

  • SuperSERVER now logs additional events: tabulation.requesttabulation,started and tabulation.retrieved.
  • All SuperSERVER audit events now log duration in milliseconds (this includes tabulation.complete, which previously logged duration in seconds.
  • SuperSERVER audit logging is now enabled by default.

Some changes have been made to SuperSERVER and Metadata Server logging:

  • The logs are now configured to roll to a new file every day, by default.
  • The log settings are now configured in an XML file, rather than a .properties file.
SuperWEB2configuration.properties

The following settings have been added to the configuration.properties file:

  • catalogue.infoPanel.displayDatabaseMetadataDescription
  • schemaTree.selectAtLevelShowsValuesetName
  • table.useSavedTableLanguage
  • table.displayMetadataAsAnnotations
  • metadata.scanForDescriptions
  • udr.maxQueryParams
SuperWEB2Default TableThis release adds the ability to configure any table in the user data repository to be a default table. Previously, default tables could only be saved system tables (TXDs created in SuperCROSS and saved in the txd directory within SuperWEB2).
SuperWEB2Information Pages

The information pages that are displayed on the dataset catalogue screen in SuperWEB2 now support more options:

  • It is now possible to create static HTML pages for different languages, by including the language code in the filename of the HTML page.
  • It is now possible to configure SuperWEB2 to retrieve the information page from the metadata server, rather than using static HTML pages.
  • It is now possible to display metadata links (retrieved from the metadata database) on the dataset information pages.
SuperWEB2Mapping

Some settings in the basemaps.properties file have changed. This file that is used to configure the base map images (the map imagery itself, such as the street map images or the satellite view).

  • The urllist property is now two related properties: url and subdomains
  • An additional option, BLANK, is now available for the type property.
  • The order of the map types has changed, so that satellite imagery is now the default type of map (previously the street map was the default).
  • The default base map image for street maps now uses imagery from ArcGIS online (previously the default street map imagery was provided by Map Data Services).
SuperWEB2MappingThe plugin used to display Map View in SuperWEB2 has changed to ESRI leaflet. As a result of this change, the buttons that allow you to edit the table from within Map View have changed: the Freehand button is now Polygon, and works in a slightly different way.
SuperWEB2Metadata

A number of new features have been added to metadata:

  • There is now a configuration setting that instructs SuperWEB2 to automatically scan for metadata descriptions in the metadata database, and display metadata links in the field list against fields that have descriptions in the metadata database.
  • There is now an option to automatically retrieve descriptions from the metadata database for any fields in the current table, and display them as annotations below the table.
  • A new REST endpoint has been introduced to enable administrator users to flush SuperWEB2's local metadata cache.
SuperWEB2Precision

In some cases, precision settings in TXDs now override the SuperWEB2 precision settings.

In previous releases, the summation options precision setting (defined using the displayoptions command in SuperADMIN), and SuperWEB2's global dataprecision setting took precedence. Now, custom decimal place settings in TXDs saved from SuperCROSS that are loaded into SuperWEB2 will take precedence.

SuperWEB2Select All At Level Drop-DownIt is now possible to display the label of the first item in a valueset in the Select all at level drop-down. This new setting makes SuperWEB2 more closely match the behaviour of SuperCROSS, which displays the first item in a valueset when displaying hierarchies in the Define Recode window.
SuperWEB2Sorting

A new configuration option has been added that allows you to prevent users from sorting a field alphabetically in SuperWEB2.

By default, when a field has been added to the table rows, SuperWEB2 allows users to sort it into ascending and descending alphabetical order. In some cases, this will not make sense (for example, a date field where it does not make sense to sort the months alphabetically).

Version 9.2.7

ProductAreaDescriptionMore Information
SuperWEB2Mapping

A new property has been added to the mapping configuration: localFeatureUrlHostName.

This property sets the host name of the Tomcat instance that mapping will use when it needs to make a request to another of the REST endpoints.

Version 9.2.6

ProductAreaDescriptionMore Information
SuperWEB2configuration.properties

The following settings have been added to the configuration.properties file:

  • download.formatNumbers
  • login.requireTerms
  • map.mapCacheLocation
SuperWEB2MappingIt is now possible to change the directory that is used to store mapping cache files.
SuperWEB2PrecisionIt is now possible to disable number formatting in downloads, which can improve the performance when downloading large tables.
SuperWEB2Table DownloadsSuperWEB2 can now be configured to add a warning/disclaimer when tables are printed.
SuperWEB2Terms and ConditionsSuperWEB2 can now display a terms and conditions screen during log in.

Version 9.2.2

ProductAreaDescriptionMore Information
SuperWEB2configuration.properties

The following setting has been added to the configuration.properties file:

  • table.enableDrillUpAndDrillDown

Version 9.2.1

ProductAreaDescriptionMore Information
SuperWEB2configuration.properties

The following settings have been added to the configuration.properties file:

  • catalogue.databaseFolderExpansionDepth
  • table.totalsInitialState

Version 9.2

ProductAreaDescriptionMore Information
SuperCROSSFact Table RelationshipsIt is now possible to see a visualisation of the relationship between fact tables in the SXV4. This is particularly useful if you have a complex dataset that has lots of interconnected fact tables.
SuperWEB2configuration.properties

The following setting has been added to the configuration.properties file:

  • graphView.maxCells
SuperWEB2Graph ViewThe cell limit for accessing graph view can now be modified. Previously, this limit was fixed at 1,000 visible table cells.
SuperWEB2MetadataSuperWEB2 now uses the metadata server when connecting to a metadata database. Prior to this release, SuperWEB2 connected to the external database directly.

Version 9.1

ProductAreaDescriptionMore Information
SuperCHANNELTotalsThe Totals Appropriate setting has been added to SuperCHANNEL. This allows you to disallow totals for specific classification tables. It currently applies to SuperWEB2 only.
SuperWEB2User Defined FieldsThis release adds the ability to import user defined fields from SuperCROSS into SuperWEB2.

Version 9.0

ProductAreaDescriptionMore Information
AllUnicodeSuperSTAR now features full Unicode support. In some cases you may need to update existing SXV4s, TXDs and macros to ensure they work with version 9.0 and above, although in the vast majority of cases this change will be completely transparent and no action will be required.
Data ControlRecord Count and PerturbationA new Record Count data control module has been added. In addition, the perturbation module now has the ability to perturb other results.
Data Control APIFunctionsA new function (PreJob) has been added to the Data Control API to allow for processing that needs to run before the cross tabulation.
Java
Java 7 or later is now required. Java is included with the SuperSTAR installation.
SuperADMIN / SuperWEB2Configuration Server

This release introduces the configuration server. This is a JSON configuration system that stores a number of internal settings. Most of these settings are used by SuperWEB2, and were previously configured in XML and .properties files within SuperWEB2 itself. These settings can now be set and checked using the cfg command in the SuperADMIN console.

If you are upgrading from an earlier release you will need to check the list of settings that have moved to the configuration server and manually reapply any that are required for your deployment.

The configuration server communicates on port 9000, so you will need to ensure your network firewalls are properly configured to allow this communication: this port must be accessible by SuperWEB2 and any machines running the SuperADMIN console.

We recommend you do not make port 9000 publicly accessible, even if your SuperWEB2 server is publicly accessible.

SuperCHANNELBatch ModeSuperCHANNEL batch mode now supports the skip and stop cleansing rules, as well as null columns.
SuperCROSSColourMatrixThe ColourVIEW feature has been replaced with ColourMatrix.
SuperSERVERUpdate DatasetSuperSERVER now supports live updates of compatible SXV4s. As long as there have been no changes to the SXV4 schema, you can live swap to a new SXV4 with no downtime.
SuperWEB2Bulk SelectionA new feature has been added for cases where a field has a large number of valueset items. SuperWEB2 now displays a bulk selection option allowing users to search for and select the items they want.
SuperWEB2CatalogueIt is now possible to choose the sort order for the dataset catalogue.e
SuperWEB2Configuration

A new SuperWEB2 configuration file, configuration.properties, has been added, and many settings have moved to this file. When upgrading from an earlier release you will need to manually reapply any required settings by editing the new configuration.properties file.

SuperWEB2Default TableIt is now possible to configure a default table for each of your datasets.
SuperWEB2Drag and DropUsers can now build tables quickly by dragging and dropping fields.
SuperWEB2Graph ViewGraph view has been completely updated with new look interactive graphs.
SuperWEB2Hierarchies

It is now possible to navigate up and down the levels of a hierarchical field from with the table.

In addition, the default settings have been changed so that it is now possible to mix items from different levels of a hierarchy within a table (for example adding both Victoria and Melbourne from an Area hierarchy to the table at the same time). In previous releases, this behaviour was disabled by default. You can revert to the previous behaviour by editing the rules in the RulesEngine.xml configuration file.

SuperWEB2Mandatory FieldsMandatory fields are now defined on a per-dataset basis only. Previously it was possible to define global mandatory fields.
SuperWEB2MappingSuperWEB2 mapping configuration has been moved from an XML file to the configuration server.
SuperWEB2Multilingual SupportSuperWEB2 now supports multilingual datasets. In addition, users can select their preferred user interface language from the SuperWEB2 menu. Prior to this release, SuperWEB2 automatically set the user interface language based on the user's browser settings.
SuperWEB2Ranges and QuantilesThe range and quantile options now support translations based on the current dataset language.
SuperWEB2Zero SuppressionSuperWEB2 now supports zero suppression.
JavaScript errors detected

Please note, these errors can depend on your browser setup.

If this problem persists, please contact our support.