diff --git a/content/blog/2025-data-controller-for-sas/dc2025.jpg b/content/blog/2025-data-controller-for-sas/dc2025.jpg new file mode 100644 index 0000000..bd7e0d9 Binary files /dev/null and b/content/blog/2025-data-controller-for-sas/dc2025.jpg differ diff --git a/content/blog/2025-data-controller-for-sas/index.md b/content/blog/2025-data-controller-for-sas/index.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..ddefa12 --- /dev/null +++ b/content/blog/2025-data-controller-for-sas/index.md @@ -0,0 +1,98 @@ +--- +title: Data Controller - 2025 Recap +description: A recap of the features delivered in Data Controller for SAS over the 34 releases of 2025 +date: '2026-02-15 12:00:00' +author: 'Allan Bowe' +authorLink: https://www.linkedin.com/in/allanbowe/ +previewImg: './dc2025.jpg' +tags: + - Data Controller + - SAS + - Excel +--- + +In 2025, Data Controller’s theme was **making governed, auditable data change easier to roll out** — especially on SAS Viya — while continuing to invest in metadata/catalog capabilities and accessibility. + +## What Data Controller is (quick refresher) + +Data Controller is a SAS-powered web application for **adding, modifying, and deleting data** in target tables—while keeping control with data owners via a **review/approve workflow** and a **full audit trail**. ([docs.datacontroller.io](https://docs.datacontroller.io/dc-overview)) + +Under the hood, it’s designed for multi-user, production-friendly operation (locking, security, approvals, and repeatable update logic), and it supports multiple SAS environments (including SAS 9 and Viya). ([datacontroller.io](https://datacontroller.io)) + +## Data Controller 2025 at a glance + +Across calendar year 2025, [releases](https://git.datacontroller.io/dc/dc/releases) moved from **v6.12.2 (Jan 27, 2025)** to **v7.2.5 (Dec 9, 2025)**. + +Key themes: + +- **Viya deployments became dramatically simpler**, including “streaming app” deployment improvements (frontend in SAS Drive), sensible defaults, and compute-context-aware setup. +- **Data Catalog expanded** to include SAS catalogs and associated objects / entries, with corresponding storage changes and migrations. +- **Accessibility work accelerated**, culminating in high Lighthouse scores, improved screen reader support, and CI checks to keep it that way. s + +## 1) SAS Viya: from “deployment project” to “quick start” + +A major through-line of 2025 was reducing the friction of getting DC live on Viya: + +- **Content Security Policy (CSP) hardening & UI refactor (May 28, 2025 — v6.14.8)** + The UI was refactored to comply with Viya’s default (and strict) CSP, with deploy-flow improvements targeted at Viya. + +- **Better defaults for single-user installs (June 2, 2025 — v6.14.9 / v6.14.10)** + DC began defaulting the physical deployment path and SAS Drive location in ways that reduce the need for pre-provisioned shared directories in straightforward scenarios. + +- **Compute-context-aware installs & streaming deploy maturity (June 2025 — v6.15.x / v6.16.x)** + Releases in early June focused on ensuring deployment actions happen with the selected shared compute context, and then delivering a **streaming Viya version** that can self-configure key deployment choices during setup. + +## 2) Data Catalog got deeper: SAS catalogs + objects (v7.0.0) + +On **June 11, 2025**, **v7.0.0** introduced a major upgrade to cataloging: + +- Explore **SAS catalogs** and their **objects**, including created/modified attributes +- Store catalog + object data alongside existing catalog entities (libraries/tables/variables) +- UX improvements like additional counts and reducing the need for manual refresh steps after table configuration changes + +This aligned well with DC’s broader approach to metadata: DC’s **optional** data + catalog scan is designed to track how your SAS estate changes over time (including storing history using SCD2 patterns). + +## 3) Accessibility + UX: measurable improvements (and staying power) + +2025 saw repeated, explicit investment in accessibility: + +- **March 24, 2025 — v6.14.5:** “significantly improves accessibility (lighthouse) scores” and also included a practical SAS hook-related robustness fix (`%GLOBAL SQLRC;`) for embedded DI Job usage. +- **July 23, 2025 — v7.1.0:** a frontend-only release focused on accessibility (Lighthouse 100%) and screen reader support, plus a small grid interaction improvement (Excel-like deselection). +- **August 8, 2025 — v7.2.0:** introduced a **Lighthouse accessibility check pipeline** to keep accessibility from regressing. + +## 4) Internationalisation + “real world” data correctness + +A few 2025 changes were about getting the “last mile” right in global SAS estates: + +- Handling national-language datetime formats (early March 2025 releases). +- Metadata navigation sorting improvements using linguistic sort sequences (Feb 26, 2025 — v6.14.0). + +## 5) A 2025 customer story: AFA Insurance (production approvals, end-user owned control tables) + +During 2025 we also detailed the Data Controller use case with AFA Insurance (Sweden). They describe using Data Controller primarily for **steering/mapping/control tables**, where: + +- End users perform the mapping themselves in DC +- Approvals are done directly in production without needing fixed programs +- Filters are used so users focus only on "new signals" that need mapping + +They call out the **approval workflow** and **history/audit** as standout features, and also mention value from dropdowns, hooks, and lineage. Source: [datacontroller.io/afa-insurance](https://datacontroller.io/afa-insurance/) + +## Selected 2025 release timeline (highlights) + +| Date (UTC) | Version | Theme | What changed (high level) | +|---|---:|---|---| +| 2025-01-31 | 6.13.0 | Quality | CSV upload/editor fixes + related tests | +| 2025-03-24 | 6.14.5 | Accessibility | Lighthouse/accessibility improvements; hook robustness in DI-job contexts | +| 2025-05-28 | 6.14.8 | Viya hardening | CSP-compliant UI refactor + Viya deploy flow improvements | +| 2025-06-06 | 6.16.2 | Viya deploy | Streaming Viya deploy with self-configuration improvements | +| 2025-06-11 | 7.0.0 | Data Catalog | SAS catalogs + objects captured/stored; reduced manual refresh steps | +| 2025-07-23 | 7.1.0 | Accessibility | Frontend-only: Lighthouse 100%, better screen reader support | +| 2025-08-08 | 7.2.0 | Engineering | CI pipeline for Lighthouse accessibility checks | +| 2025-12-09 | 7.2.5 | Reliability | Dependency bumps, improved testing, restore-check flexibility| + + +------------ + +We would like to thank all of our customers for their continued support and feedback. Our goal is to make sure that Data Controller is one of the most secure, simple, and fast ways to load ad-hoc data into SAS. + +If you'd like to kick the tyres, [reach out](https://datacontroller.io/contact/), or just go ahead and perform an [installation](https://docs.datacontroller.io/dci-requirements/) - the base product is completely free to use, with [premium features](https://datacontroller.io/pricing/) / support plan available on request. \ No newline at end of file