Mode release notes mode.com

New

Mode is performing infrastructure upgrades for Helix, Mode’s in-memory database. We are changing our backing storage technology to modernize our platform, and as a result, a few of the details about how Calculated Fields and visualizations are displayed will change.

Please note: In testing & evaluation, these changes were observable in just 0.25% of customer visualizations. Any changes are likely very minor. If you have additional questions on the specific changes, please contact the support team.

These infrastructure upgrades will be rolled out starting on Wednesday, September 28, 2022 and all customers will be on the new infrastructure by Thursday, October 6, 2022.

Improvement

There are two new updates to Mode’s Edge environment.

1. Python 3.9 has been added to Edge.
2. Popular Python libraries such as pandas, NumPy, Matplotlib, and statsmodels have also been updated in Edge. See the full list of updated libraries on our help site.

Make sure to test your reports' and notebooks' compatibility before updates are rolled out to the standard notebook environment on October 25. Read this blog post for instructions on how to get started with Edge.

New

Top/Bottom N filters have been added as new filter types in Visual Explorer. Easily apply a top or bottom N filter to see the highest or lowest values in your dataset without writing additional code.

Applying a top or bottom N filter can help you understand a new dataset faster by loading a small batch of data instead of the entire table.

Read more about top/bottom N filters here.

Improvement

When applying conditional formatting, you can now add background colors to easily identify patterns and trends in pivot tables.

With this improvement, you have the option to either add color to text or background. Simply click the Color channel and select Apply to text or Apply to background.

Read more about this improvement on our help docs.

Improvement

You now have more control over how you prep your data with our enhanced Data View in the SQL editor.

We replaced our grid results with the new Data View. Here you can see your results, field information, and source SQL. In addition, you can now add calculated fields to prep your data before moving a visual exploration. Double click or drag on the navigation here to minimize or expand your results.

Read more about Data View here.

Improvement

This week we made an update to the PDF export loading modal.

• If you experience a failed PDF export attempt, you will see a new modal informing you of the generation error.

On Tuesday, July 5th, we will update the DATEDIFF function in Calculated Fields. The new functionality will more closely match the way this is calculated in common databases such as MySQL, Redshift, and SQL Server.

Currently, DATEDIFF uses complete partitions to estimate the date difference. It looks at the time difference between two dates in the specified time unit, and then returns the number of full units that have passed.

The new behavior will use incomplete partitions to estimate the date difference. It will count how many times the “clock” has crossed the threshold that increases the unit count for that specified time unit. For example, going from 23:59:59 to 00:00:00 will increase the day count by 1. See examples on our Help Site.

Please note: When this change is made, existing visualizations may change by one (1) unit, such as minutes, days, or weeks, if they were previously calculated using partial units. We recommend reviewing a few of your most commonly viewed reports that use DATEDIFF to see if the changes described above will impact the results.

If you determine that you need to make changes based on this updated functionality, you can do one of two things:

• Move the logic out of the Calculated Field and into your query. This can be done at any time.

• Wait until we roll out the changes on Tuesday, July 5th, and then make the appropriate adjustment to the Calculated Fields.

Please reach out to our Support team if you need help identifying potentially impacted reports.

Improvement

This week we released updates for the schema browser and Visual Explorer for improved performance and usability:

• Improved Performance for schema browser pagination. This update adds pagination to the schema browser that improves performance in the schema browser and the report. The schema browser now loads 50 schemas by default and allows the user to “see more” to load additional schemas. Previously this would load 1000 reports by default, which put a heavier load on both the schema browser and report.
• Usability improvement to the schema browser quick run feature. When running a table preview from the schema browser, this update now includes all fields in the schema, previously this only included “SELECT *”
• More granular control in Visual Explorer. You now have the ability to resize row headers and height through direct manipulation. This update will give you more control over your tables and chart and make them easier to view.

New

We have added manual and nested sorting in Visual Explorer. With these new sorting methods, you will have more control over how you sort your data and convey your findings.

Manual sorting allows you to sort values in whichever order you choose by dragging and dropping values into a customized order.

Nested sorting gives you the ability to sort values independently in each individual nest.

You can find more information about sorting on our help site.

Improvement

A new version, V.2, of Mode’s Slack integration is now available. V.2 includes updated integration permissions to be in compliance with Slack’s best practices, as well as usability improvements. Now, the Slack installer will no longer need to be in the destination channel, a specific improvement concerning private channels.

Our V.1 Slack integration will be deprecated on Sept, 21st 2022. To continue using your Mode / Slack integration, you will need to update your integration to the new V.2 version.

Read about how to upgrade your Mode Slack app integration on our help site.