BimlExpress 2018 Release Notes

Significant changes between BimlExpress 2017 and BimlExpress 2018 R1

New Features

  • Added the Import Packages window to enable users to import existing SSIS packages and projects and convert them to Biml. The window is prepopulated with settings that are highly configurable to produce the desired results.
  • Updates to BimlExpress VSIX for Visual Studio 2017 compatibility
  • Introduced new VSIX file for legacy Visual Studio 2010 installations
  • All new Biml files are now UTF-8 encoded, rather than ANSI encoded.
  • Improved error message for unlicensed features in BimlExpress.

Bug Fixes

  • Fixed an issue where exceptions thrown by user BimlScripts might not show up correctly in the BE preview pane
  • Fixed issue where Ctrl+S would not save Biml files in some cases
  • Fixed a potential race condition on file saving in BimlExpress which would cause the wrong file to save when rapidly switching files during a save command
  • Fixed an assembly resolution issue that was breaking script projects in BimlExpress OneDesigner scenarios
  • Added the ICollection<T> interface to TierFilteredVulcanCollection. This results in a larger number of extension methods working as expected in Live preview mode in BimlExpress.

SSIS

  • Added support for SSIS 2017.
  • Updated to support and build Script Components for SSIS 2017.
  • Added a checkbox to Import Packages dialog box to allow users to hide package creation metadata in the imported package.
  • Changed AutoAdjustBufferSize to autoAdjustBufferSize during SSIS 2016 emission.
  • Fixed bug where sensitive parameters were not getting saved to the Params file.
  • Fixed bug where sensitive parameters were not getting encrypted for OleDbConnections.
  • Fixed issue of missing default values that broke SSIS emission for some components such as CDC Splitter, which would fail to load in SSIS when some default values were supplied.
  • In imported packages, the tasks are ordered in a more logical and readable fashion that matches what the user would see in SSDT.
  • In imported packages, the contents of Data Flow tasks are organized in a more logical and readable fashion, one that follows the flow of information through the pipeline.
  • Exposed VersionGUID property on packages, so that user can specify a GUID, if it is not specified, then it is randomly generated as before.
  • Fixed Target Version issues on Script Project emission

Provider Support

  • Fixed data type mappings for Excel GetDatabaseSchema().
  • Added logging to GetQuerySchema() method.
  • Added compression to SQL Server GetDatabaseSchema().
  • Change the DB2 provider to reference SYSIBM system tables instead of the SYSCAT views, as they are sometimes missing.
  • Fixed Excel support in OLEDB connections in Biml.
  • Fixed date datatype mapping in ACE OLEDB provider.
  • Added custom type mappings to ExternalDataAccess.GetQuerySchema().
  • Fixed OleDb source and destination for geography, geometry, hierarchyid, and image data types.
  • Fixed data type mappings in Flat File Source around NTEXT versus nvarchar.
  • Fixed data type mappings in CDC Source.
  • Fixed issue where ACE OLEDB provider was not being used when the connection string called for it.
  • Fixed bug where setting “0” for MaxInsertCommitSize in OleDbDestination’s was defaulting to the default value.

Biml Language

  • Added ColumnStore and ColumnStoreArchive to TableCompressionType enumeration.
  • Fixed spelling errors in Biml documentation for ProcessionOrder.Sequential, ProcessingOrder.Parallel, and ContainerConstraintMode.LinearOnSuccess.
  • Added correct schema binding for TextQualifier to fix the misspelling in the Biml language.
  • Implemented ICollection interface for TierFilteredVulcanCollection to fix issue with Preview when using extension methods from codefile.
  • Eliminated unnecessary and potentially buggy code for finding schema names of items based on being referenced rather than definitions, resulting in items unexpectedly emitting as <AstNode> in XML.
  • Fixed Xml emitter for singleton references in Biml with multiple schema bindings, for example, in AstLookupNodes, all connection references were emitted as OleDbConnectionName, and now they are accurately emitted as either OleDbConnectionName, CacheConnectionName, or CustomSSISConnectionName.
  • Improved Json emission.
  • Fixed EncryptSensitiveWithUserKey emission issue.
  • Fixed Issue where annotations on certain elements were being duplicated in the object model.