Designer release notes 2025

Q4 2025¶

9 December, 2025

New FIPS compliant virtual package processing¶

Virtual package processing in Designer now supports FIPS compliance by using SHA256 hashing instead of MD5. When you enable FIPS mode on your server, Designer automatically uses FIPS-compliant SHA256 hashing for virtual package operations.

New External browser for Salesforce OAuth¶

You can now obtain Salesforce OAuth refresh tokens using an external browser. This update adds support for the OAuth Client Credentials flow.

When you configure OAuth credentials, you can choose between refresh token authentication and client credentials flow.

New OAuth for SMTP connections¶

Designer now supports OAuth authentication for Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) connections, providing an alternative to basic authentication. Microsoft is deprecating basic authentication in Exchange Online services in April 2026.

This enhancement ensures continued email functionality for pre-load notifications, post-load notifications, and build error alerts.

New Microsoft.Data.SqlClient provider¶

Designer now includes the Microsoft.Data.SqlClient ADO.Net provider as a new built-in plugin called Microsoft.Data. This provider supports modern authentication methods such as OAuth, which enables connections to Microsoft Fabric and other cloud-based data sources.

New Optional extraction for dynamic data sources¶

You can now control whether the rebuild process extracts dynamic database sources. If the underlying data hasn't changed, you can manually prevent extraction and use previously extracted data instead.

For administrators¶

.NET Framework 4.8 required¶

FastStats Designer now requires .NET Framework 4.8. The installer validates that .NET Framework 4.8 is present on your system before proceeding with installation.

See Technical update for more information.

Bug fixes¶

• Removed invalid currency values from the currency symbol drop-down list in Designer.
• The FastStats Designer Refresh Package no longer incorrectly marks some definitions as impossible to refresh when handling complex dependency chains that include delete definitions.
• Fixed an issue preventing you from removing the Response property from a table.
• The variable scanner now correctly displays only the date in the creation date column.
• Resolved an issue that caused an exception when opening a design after copying a table and adding it to the table relationships diagram.
• Systems with tables containing more than 4.3 billion records now return correct counts when you define a primary selector.

Q3 2025¶

25 September, 2025

New Time zone customisation for date time fields¶

FastStats Designer now handles DateTime formats that include time zone information. You can choose a TimeZone for each DateTime variable:

• If the input data contains a specified time zone, such as 2009-06-15T13:45:30-07:00 or 2009-06-15 13:45:30Z, Designer converts the timestamp into the specified time zone
• If the input data doesn't contain a specified time zone, Designer assumes the data is in the build machine's time zone and converts it into the specified time zone
• If you change the time zone conversion to 'None', Designer performs no conversion

This feature is especially useful for data sources such as Salesforce and MS Dynamics, which store timestamps as Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). It helps when your users are in a different time zone.

Improved Leading and trailing currency character¶

Input data can sometimes contain currency characters either leading or trailing in the field itself.

This feature removes non-numeric characters from your data before parsing numeric fields in the enhanced build process.

Improved single-digit date format¶

This feature expands upon existing accepted date formats to include single digit day and month sections for date variables.

For example, both 3/2/2025 and 03/02/2025 are now supported, while previously 3/2/2025 wouldn't have been.

These single digit formats are already supported for datetime variables.

Improved scientific 'e' notation for numeric types in enhanced build¶

Designer already supports the scientific 'e' notation for floating point and double numeric types.

This feature adds further support for this notation when also using standard numeric variable types.

Enhanced build process only.

Improved Nested folders in dynamic database sources¶

The existing dynamic database data source feature lets you create a single level of folder structure.

For example: Folder1\Variable

This feature adds the ability to nest folders within other folders when defining dynamic database sources. It gives you greater organisation and flexibility in the folder structure you produce.

For example: Folder1\folder2\variable

New Sort by data source order in define variables¶

The define variables panel lets you sort by various properties, such as name and type.

This feature lets you sort the variables into the same order as your data source.

Right-click in the define variables panel to find the new option:

New OAuth for Snowflake¶

This feature provides a more seamless experience when using Snowflake data sources in Designer.

Designer now authenticates directly with Snowflake's OAuth mechanism, rather than relying on MS Entra as an external OAuth provider for Snowflake.

Improved System Summary HTML¶

The System Summary HTML now presents all variables in a single, consolidated table. A dedicated column makes it easy to see which table each variable belongs to.

The variable reference is now included in the folder structure section of the report.

Bug fixes¶

Exclude orbitresource paths from virtual package

On systems that can access Orbit and FastStats, Virtual Package .zip files are now built up correctly, as expected.

Previously, the .zip file packaging failed with an 'invalid characters in path' message.

Salesforce custom query error in Designer

Fixed an error generated when using a custom Salesforce Object Query Language (SOQL) query whilst retrieving data from a Salesforce data source.

With this issue, when using a custom SOQL query in FastStats Designer, including a field from a different table, for example: SELECT Id,Account.Id FROM Contact, Designer generated an error.

Unclassified code goes missing

Fixed an issue causing the single field delimited array variable to lose unclassified code on its second build.

With this issue, clearing the codes meant that the next build added the unclassified code back.

Attributes: unclassified category for selector variables

Boolean dynamic variable properties, such as ‘AddUnclassified’ or ‘Selectable’, in Dynamic Data Sources now accept additional true values. Previously, only ‘1’ counted as true. If the first character is any of ‘1TtYyXx’, Designer sets the property to true.

Combine categories pla has incorrect instant counts

Fixed an issue with the Combine categories post-load action causing incorrect instant counts when summary codes were incorrectly specified.

Q2 2025¶

16 May, 2025

Improved user-defined primary selectors in enhanced build process¶

A ‘user-defined primary selector’ is a Selector variable located on the master table of a FastStats system. Queries that have an 'and' clause with the primary selector run faster than other types of queries.

The enhanced build process now supports user-defined primary selectors.

Improved People table specification¶

When building ‘Core’ and linked systems, this feature lets you choose a table from the linked system for licensing purposes. This can override what you already specified in the Core system.

New Palantir Foundry connections¶

Designer now supports connections to Palantir Foundry using Open Database Connectivity (ODBC), via the ‘ODBC for Foundry’ data provider.

New Override Salesforce version number¶

Salesforce versions its APIs and regularly releases new versions. This new Salesforce data source functionality lets a system Designer choose which API version to use when exporting data from Salesforce. Setting this version number to the latest Salesforce API version retrieves the most recent data layout.

Improved Additional options for default unclassified codes¶

You can now set unclassified code settings (the Code, Description, and Alignment) to the System Default. Configure this default on the Advanced tab of the system configuration.

These properties are now exposed in the define variable property grid, making it easier to change these properties for multiple variables at once.

Improved KeepAlive for ODP.Net connections¶

The connection string parameter ‘KeepAlive=true’ is now added automatically for all Oracle ODP.Net connections. This setting improves extract reliability when connecting to Oracle using ODP.Net.

New Combine files pre-load action¶

You now have the optional action to shift multiple incremental extract files.

This pre-load action has 2 optional sub actions:

• Shift files
• Combine files

For administrators¶

Systems built with Q2 2025 Designer are no longer backwards compatible with earlier versions.

Bug fixes¶

Linked system fails to connect to core system

Fixed an issue that occurred when you tried to create a new linked system. This generated an error connecting to the core system when using the linked system dialog.

Writing build log to Oracle gives a warning

Writing the build log to Oracle isn't supported. Fixed an issue that caused the following warning message when attempting to write the build log to Oracle.

This warning appeared but didn't stop the build. If you now choose an Oracle provider for your database, this error or warning no longer appears.

Input values longer than 255 characters cause missing decodes

Fixed a missing decodes issue introduced in Q4 2024.

This bug prevented the AutoDiscovery process from finding new decodes once a value longer than 255 characters appeared.

Process priority not overridden when run as a scheduled task

Fixed an issue preventing process priority from being overridden when run as a scheduled task. Now, if you select the option, Designer overrides process priority and sets itself back to Normal priority, with log messages to indicate this.

Virtual package doesn’t refresh all variables if folders specified in design XML

Changing a virtual package post-load action from ‘Refresh variables by folder’ to All variables didn't clear the folders setting. Designer kept refreshing only the folder's variables instead of all variables.

Error if key sizes are longer than 255 bytes

Some users with unsupported key sizes greater than 255 bytes reported a crash when building a system. Designer now generates an error message in this case and limits the key size to 255 to avoid a crash.

Combine categories from database uses unclassified description as the code

Some users reported that the combine categories post-load action from a database used the unclassified description as the code. For example, if you specified the code as ‘!’ and the description as ‘Unclassified’, the code table was incorrect (see below). This issue is now fixed.

Extract dependency waits forever

Fixed an issue that caused Designer to wait forever for an extract dependency to complete, even if that extract wasn't specified for extraction.

Combine categories unc path issue (.dat file doesn't get created)

Fixed an issue when building a Combine Categories virtual variable with the virtual directory on a UNC path. Designer didn't create the .dat file, only the .val files.

Load statistics always zero for lookups when using the enhanced build process

Fixed an issue when using the enhanced build process, causing load statistics to always display as zero for lookups. This issue occurred when using the enhanced data builder.

Database log credential reverts to default even if cleared

Fixed an issue causing the database log credential to revert to default, even when cleared.

Although you specified the credential as default, it now stays blank, as expected.

Q1 2025¶

13 February, 2025

New Query support for extended text fields¶

FastStats now supports storing and querying text data up to 32,000 characters, which is a significant increase from the previous 255-character limit. This improves data handling and also enables more comprehensive text analysis.

Key enhancements:

• Increased text storage capacity

  FastStats text fields can now store up to 32,767 bytes.

  • For ASCII systems, this corresponds to 32,767 characters
  • For UTF8 systems, characters may consume between 1 & 4 bytes

• Text block size increased

  To support extended text fields and improve text field compression, the text block size now reaches 1MB, up from 32,760 bytes. As a result:

  • Removed the configuration option for virtual text block size and compression type from the FastStats Configurator
  • Applied overrides in the FastStats Service and Designer Virtual Package
  • Removed the configuration option in Designer and set it to 1MB

• Improved performance for text variable processing

  Extended text blocks improve compression ratios and reduce I/O operations, leading to better performance, particularly on file systems with high latency. Testing has shown reduced compressed text .dat file sizes and fewer I/O calls.

• User interface and build process updates

  • AutoDiscovery now automatically detects extended text fields
  • The standard and enhanced build processes now support extended text fields

New DuckDB data provider¶

This release introduces support for the DuckDB data provider in Designer. You can browse tables, use the ' placeholder, choose tables or views, and run custom queries on a DuckDB database.

This update also supports reading the following file types directly via custom queries, alongside DuckDB's native functionality:

• JSON
• JSON.gz
• Parquet

For more detail, see Reading Parquet and JSON files with DuckDB and DuckDB’s documentation.

Improved generate partial index¶

Designer now generates partial indexes in parallel, offering a significant reduction in generation time for large systems. You can generate up to ten partial indexes simultaneously, alongside the existing sequential option.

Key updates:

• Added UI to support generating multiple partial indexes at once
• Designer can now generate up to ten partial indexes in parallel, reducing generation time on large systems
• Partial Indexes help speed up multi-table queries and optimise system performance

New Environment variables in FastStats scripts¶

You can now use environment variables in the post-load action ‘Run Script’ in Designer. This makes it easier to set up duplicate systems by allowing scripts to use parameterised values rather than fixed ones.

New UInt join key type¶

The enhanced build process in FastStats Designer now supports a 32-bit UInt (unsigned integer) join key type. This is useful for systems with keys between 2.1 billion and 4.2 billion, letting you use efficient non-hashable join logic. This expands on the existing Int64 and GUID join key types and lets parent tables support larger datasets.

New Hide sensitive data in build logs¶

Build logs in Designer now have an option to hide sensitive data, such as environment variable values and full directory paths. Designer enables this option by default on Apteco Cloud servers, improving security by preventing exposure of sensitive information.

New Delete .dat files during sort¶

Designer now includes an option to delete .dat files during the sort phase of the build process. This can free up significant temporary disk space during the build on large systems, particularly once the merge processing has started.

However, if the build uses a delta strategy and an error occurs, you need a full rebuild. The deleted .dat files are no longer available.

Bug fixes¶

• Fixed a bug that caused a crash when creating a Dynamic Virtual Variable while applying Global Filters. Previously, this left behind invalid .val and .dat files that could cause the service to crash on start-up.
• Running a post-load action from the command line now correctly finds and executes actions located within groups.
• The standard build process no longer creates invalid $ftoSORTED$ files with NUL characters when you clear Use Optimised Temporary Sort Files.
• Improved the efficiency of retrieving large job results from the FastStats Web Service. Previously, the full compressed results were repeatedly retrieved and decompressed for each chunk request, causing high resource usage. Now, Designer optimises retrieval to reduce unnecessary processing and improve performance.
• The Preview Categories query in Combine Categories post-load actions now correctly applies environment variables, preventing errors when resolving table names.
• Environment variables are now correctly applied to the Answers query in Dynamic Database Data Sources.
• When copying a lookup table in Designer, array field names now retain their original references and don't revert when added to the Relationships page. This prevents unintended renaming issues across copies.