ODC V4.2.0

ODC V4.2.0 released in August 2023 improves the management of database changes to mitigate risks of changes. ODC V4.2.0 provides project-based management features for you to manage databases, members, and tickets of specific projects. This way, you can better organize and track database changes, thereby improving the collaboration efficiency of project teams. ODC V4.2.0 also supports SQL check. This feature helps you check and evaluate change requests to ensure that changes are compliant and secure. You can run an SQL check to detect potential issues and make necessary adjustments before you implement changes to minimize the risk. To protect your sensitive data, ODC V4.2.0 supports data desensitization. This feature allows you to process sensitive data so that you can protect user privacy and comply with data security regulations. ODC V4.2.0 also supports data cleanup and data archiving to help you improve data storage and database management. You can separate and clear data based on its usage frequency and importance to enhance database performance and efficiency. To ensure the stability of your production system, ODC V4.2.0 also supports lock-free schema changes on ApsaraDB for OceanBase. This feature involves key operations such as data synchronization, data verification, and traffic switching, which allow you to make schema changes with minimal business impact and less downtime. In addition to improvements in features, ODC V4.2.0 also provides better user experience. It integrates system capabilities into services, enhances PL debugging performance, and optimizes the layout of the SQL console.

Version information

• Current version: V4.2.0

• Previous version: V4.1.3

• Release date: August 18, 2023

• Supported upgrade path: You can directly upgrade ODC V2.0.0 and later to this version.

Supported OceanBase Database versions

This section describes the OceanBase Database versions supported by ODC V4.2.0.

• General ODC features apply in the following OceanBase Database versions:

  • OceanBase Database V1.4.x (mainly V1.4.7)

  • OceanBase Database V2.0.x

  • OceanBase Database V2.1.x

  • OceanBase Database V2.2.x (mainly V2.2.7)

  • OceanBase Database V3.1.x (mainly V3.1.2)

  • OceanBase Database V3.2.x (mainly V3.2.4)

  • OceanBase Database V4.0.0

  • OceanBase Database V4.1.0

  • OceanBase Database Community Edition

• The PL capabilities of ODC apply in the following OceanBase Database versions:

  • OceanBase Database V2.2.7, V3.0.x, and later support the compilation of PL functions, stored procedures, and packages, the debugging of PL functions and stored procedures, and the debugging of anonymous blocks. We recommend that you use OceanBase Database V3.2.3 BP4 or later for better debugging performance.

  • OceanBase Database V2.0.x and later support the running of anonymous blocks and PL functions, stored procedures, and packages.

Feature updates

• Change control

  • Project-based management features are provided. The execution of all processes in the team workspace is project-centric. You can create projects only if you have permissions on project resource management. When you create a project, you must specify members for each project role. Supported project roles are project administrator, project DBA, and ordinary member. Roles of project members can be configured in nodes of the approval process. By default, ODC grants members of a project the permissions to query databases involved in the project. To change the permissions, submit a ticket.

  • SQL check is supported. In the team worksapce, each environment uses a separate set of SQL check rules. This version of ODC provides 45 built-in rules. You can change the attributes of each check rule, such as its status, value, and improvement level. You can run SQL checks in an SQL window or a database change ticket.

  • SQL statements for rollback of database change processes are automatically generated. You can submit a database change ticket based on the statements for rollback.

• Security and compliance

  • Dynamic desensitization is supported. The owner of a project can configure the data desensitization rules of the project to ensure that sensitive data is desensitized when it is queried or exported.

  • More operations, such as dynamic desensitization, lock-free schema changes, data cleanup, and data archiving, are audited.

• Data lifecycle

  • Data cleanup is supported. You can delete expired data in business tables on a regular basis to reduce the size of online databases.

  • Data archiving is supported. You can separate hot and cold data based on flexible archiving conditions.

• Change stability

  • Lock-free schema changes are supported on ApsaraDB for OceanBase. This feature can be used in combination with the full data migration, incremental synchronization, and data verification capabilities of OceanBase Migration Service (OMS) to minimize the business impact of schema changes.

• Execution analysis

  • The end-to-end diagnostics of SQL execution is supported. In OceanBase Database V4.0.0 and later, you can view the end-to-end trace information by using the Plan tool on the result tab.

• Deployment and logon

  • If failed logon attempts due to incorrect passwords exceed the maximum number allowed, ODC displays a message indicating the time when you can retry. For example, you can retry 10 minutes later.

• SQL console

  • The SQL console is comprehensively upgraded.

• SQL execution

  • The date is displayed in the result set in the format specified by the nls_date_format parameter of the query session.

  • In Oracle mode, a zero is added before the decimal point of a floating-point number less than 1.

  • In an SQL window, you can right-click the editing area and paste the copied content. Note that this feature is supported only in a secure network environment or over HTTPS. Otherwise, the clipboard is disabled.

• PL lifecycle

  • The parameter passing interaction during PL debugging is comprehensively upgraded. You can specify the current time as an input parameter.

  • PL allows you to view return values of the sys_refcursor type.

• Data generation and migration

  • ODC allows you to import files exported by PL/SQL Developer. If you import a single file, ODC deletes the comments in the file and defines the delimiter character. If you import multiple files, ODC puts the files into a directory that can be recognized by OBLOADER.

  • The Planned Processing Quantity parameter is removed from the information about exported objects on the details page of an export task.

  • In MySQL mode, you can export sequence objects.

• Database objects

  • In Oracle mode, foreign keys can be disabled on the table object editing page.

  • You can set NULL as the default value of a field when you create a table.

• Permissions

  • Alibaba JST Titans accounts can be integrated to help identify administrators.

• Error messages

  • Additional information such as requestId and request url are added to an error message.

• System integration

  • Single sign-on (SSO) is supported.

  • Integration with external approval systems is supported.

  • Integration with external SQL review systems is supported.

Limitations

• Data archiving

  • A cluster instance (specified by the cluster name) must be configured for a data source.

  • A data source must be connected through a proxy. Direct connection is not supported.

  • The sys tenant must be configured in a public cloud environment other than Alibaba Cloud.

  • OceanBase Database V4.1.0 does not support data archiving.

  • Data archiving is supported only for OceanBase Database in MySQL mode.

  • Only tables with a primary key can be archived.

  • Data of the BIT, ENUM, or SET type cannot be archived.

  • Data archiving is not supported if the filter condition contains the LIMIT clause.

  • Tables with a foreign key cannot be archived.

• Automatic generation of SQL statements for rollback

  • SQL statements for rollback can be generated only for UPDATE and DELETE operations.

  • In MySQL mode of OceanBase Database, no SQL statement for rollback can be generated for an UPDATE or DELETE operation performed on a table without a primary key or unique key.

  • No SQL statement for rollback can be generated for a change operation performed on a table with LOB fields.

  • If more than 1 million rows are affected in a database change task that requires a backup rollback plan, the plan will fail to be generated.

  • The size of a backup rollback plan file cannot exceed 256 MB, which is also the maximum size of an SQL script that can be uploaded by a database change task.

  • When you execute an UPDATE statement in OceanBase Database in Oracle mode, if the fields specified in the SET and WHERE clauses are the same, the generated statement for rollback is invalid.

• Dynamic desensitization

  • Groovy supports only the Objects and String classes in Java.

  • Groovy closures and inherent closure functions are not supported.

• SSO integration

  • Only the authorization-code mode is supported.

  • After a user logs out, only the logon state in ODC is cleared. The logon state in the SSO system is not cleared.

  • The name of a mapped column must be of the String type.

Considerations

• Data sources

  • The concept of connection configuration is replaced with data source.

  • The creation of an OceanBase Database Proxy (ODP) data source is not supported in ODC V4.2.0.

  • Private connections are migrated to the individual workspace and exist as data sources.

  • Public connections are migrated to the team workspace and exist as data sources.

  • For the read-only and read/write accounts in original public connections, only the read/write accounts are retained after the upgrade.

• User privileges

  • The private_connection and apply_connection roles are unavailable. The privileges of the two roles referenced by users no longer take effect after the upgrade to ODC V4.2.0.

  • The resource group feature is obsolete.

  • Connection access privileges are obsolete. In ODC V4.2.0, database access control is implemented through project management.

• System settings

  • This feature is obsolete in ODC V4.2.0.

• Ticket module

  • You can view only tickets that were initiated by yourself.

• Partitioning plans

  • This feature is not supported in ODC V4.2.0, and will be supported in later versions.

  • Historical partitioning plan tasks will stop running after the upgrade to ODC V4.2.0.

• SQL plans

  • Historical SQL plan tasks will stop running after the upgrade to ODC V4.2.0.

• Task process

  • This feature is obsolete. ODC V4.2.0 provides the risk level module for equivalent effects.

• Data desensitization

  • This feature is upgraded in ODC V4.2.0. Historical data desensitization settings no longer take effect.

• Bastion host integration

  • This feature is unavailable in ODC V4.2.0, and will be supported in later versions.

• Session history

  • This feature is obsolete. In ODC V4.2.0, the usage status of an SQL window is saved by default.

Bug fixes

• Database changes

  • Fixed the issue where the execution of time-consuming SQL statements contained in a database change task is not canceled when the task is terminated.

  • Fixed the issue where the download of results of a database change task may fail if the database is deployed in multi-node mode.

• SQL execution

  • Fixed the issue where the autocomplete options become unavailable in OceanBase Database in Oracle mode if the table name is a keyword and the SELECT statement contains an alias column.

  • Fixed the issue where spaces are automatically added in the middle of =>during formatting.

  • Fixed the issue where the execution of the CREATE USER xxx IDENTIFIED BY ""; clause fails in OceanBase Database in Oracle mode.

  • Fixed the issue where a query returns an error if the binary number column contains INF or NaN.

• PL objects

  • Fixed the issue where the parsing of a subprogram in a package fails if the subprogram contains the a mod b expression.

• Tables

  • Fixed the issue where the task of uploading a large table object fails and an error message indicating poor readability is reported.

  • Fixed the issue where an UPDATE statement cannot be generated to edit table data in OceanBase Database in Oracle mode.

• Client ODC

  • Fixed the issue where a Java process of a version later than Java 9 unexpectedly exits without providing the error information.

  • Fixed the issue where Client ODC cannot be quickly started.

• Security hardening

  • Eliminated the risk of file traversal attacks on Alibaba Cloud Object Storage Service (OSS).

Known issues

• Client ODC cannot be installed in a directory whose name contains Chinese characters.

• The exported data file and content are incorrectly displayed when the table contains virtual columns.

• In Web ODC, the maximum size of schemas or data imported in a batch cannot exceed 2 GB. Otherwise, the upload cannot be performed.

• In Web ODC, the maximum size of schemas or data exported in a batch cannot exceed 2 GB. The excess part will be lost after the export.

• In the details of an export task, the total number of records of the exported objects is not accurate but depends on the views of OceanBase Database.

• If you do not set the ob_enable_trace_log parameter to on, only the execution plans of the SQL statements executed for the first time are displayed.

References

• ODC Community Edition

• ODC Enterprise Edition