Merge pull request 'feed: add a support diagnostics post (browser_info, browser_url_vars)' (#24) from feed/support-diagnostics into main

Reviewed-on: #24

content/feed/support-diagnostics/index.md

@@ -0,0 +1,158 @@
+---
+title: 'Support Diagnostics: browser_info and browser_url_vars'
+description: Data Controller sends two input tables with the startup service and with every service that runs customer code - the browser context and the page URL parameters. A support ticket can be answered from the job log, and a hook can read them.
+date: '2026-09-27 09:00:00'
+author: 'Data Controller'
+authorLink: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/data-controller-for-sas
+tags:
+  - Announcements
+previewImg: './support-diagnostics.jpeg'
+---
+
+# Support Diagnostics: browser_info and browser_url_vars
+
+A support ticket usually starts with a round of questions. Which browser? Which timezone? Which build? What was in the URL? Data Controller now answers them itself. The frontend sends two input tables - `browser_info` and `browser_url_vars` - with the startup service and with every service that runs customer-provided code, so the context of a session is in the job log before anyone asks for it, and a hook script can read it.
+
+This ships with the next Data Controller release.
+
+## The two tables
+
+Both are ordinary input tables on the request: the adapter turns each array in the payload into a table in the service's WORK library, so they arrive as `work.browser_info` and `work.browser_url_vars`.
+
+### browser_info
+
+A single row, describing the client that made the request:
+
+| Column | What it holds |
+|---|---|
+| `url` | The URL of the Data Controller page itself (the iframe), not the document embedding it - so an embedded editor is distinguishable from a standalone one. |
+| `referrer` | The embedding document, from `document.referrer`. For an embedded report this is the report URL. |
+| `timezone` | The browser's IANA timezone, e.g. `Europe/Berlin`. |
+| `tz_offset` | The browser's UTC offset in minutes, as `Date.getTimezoneOffset()` returns it - positive west of UTC, so `Europe/Berlin` in summer is `-120`. |
+| `locale` | The browser locale, e.g. `en-GB`. |
+| `dc_version` | The Data Controller build, as `appinfo()` reports it. |
+| `adapter_version` | The `@sasjs/adapter` version the client was built with. |
+| `browser` | The browser family, parsed from the user agent. |
+| `browser_version` | The browser version. |
+| `platform` | The operating system. |
+| `user_agent` | The raw `navigator.userAgent` string. |
+
+### browser_url_vars
+
+One row per URL parameter:
+
+| Column | What it holds |
+|---|---|
+| `name` | The parameter name. |
+| `value` | The parameter value. |
+
+Parameters are read from both the search string and the hash query string, because Angular routes carry them after the `#`. Where the same name appears in both, the search string wins. The table is sent only when the page URL has at least one parameter.
+
+## Which services receive them
+
+| Service | When |
+|---|---|
+| `public/startupservice` | Once per session, so every job log carries the session context |
+| `editors/getdata` | The PRE_EDIT_HOOK |
+| `editors/stagedata` | The POST_EDIT_HOOK, through the loader |
+| `editors/restore` | The POST_EDIT_HOOK, through the loader |
+| `editors/getdynamiccolvals` | The dynamic cell dropdown programs |
+| `auditors/postdata` | The PRE_APPROVE_HOOK and POST_APPROVE_HOOK |
+| `editors/loadfile` | The POST_EDIT_HOOK - see the caveat below |
+
+Those are the services that run customer code. The viewer's `viewlibs`, `viewtables` and `viewdata`, the metadata services and `usernav` receive neither table, so the high-frequency calls stay lean.
+
+## Reading them in a hook
+
+A hook script is `%include`d into the running service, so it shares the service's WORK library and can read the tables directly. Take an embedded editor opened at:
+
+```
+https://datacontroller.io/#/editor/SASHELP.CLASS?labels=true&embed=va
+```
+
+`browser_url_vars` then holds a row per parameter - `labels=true` and `embed=va` - and a hook can read either by name:
+
+```sas
+%let labels=N;
+%let embed=N;
+
+%if %sysfunc(exist(work.browser_url_vars)) %then %do;
+  proc sql noprint;
+    select value into :labels
+    from work.browser_url_vars
+    where name = 'labels';
+    select value into :embed
+    from work.browser_url_vars
+    where name = 'embed';
+  quit;
+%end;
+```
+
+Or branch on what the user's browser reports:
+
+```sas
+data _null_;
+  set work.browser_info;
+  call symputx('dc_timezone', timezone);
+  call symputx('dc_locale', locale);
+run;
+```
+
+Note the `exist()` guard. A service called directly, or by a frontend older than this feature, has no `work.browser_info` at all, so an unguarded `set` or `select` would fail the job. Guard first, then read.
+
+## In the job log
+
+Turn debug on and the session initialisation writes both tables to the log, so a ticket can be diagnosed without a second round of questions:
+
+```
+NOTE: MPEINIT: work.browser_url_vars:
+name=embed value=va
+NOTE: MPEINIT: work.browser_info:
+url=... referrer=... timezone=Europe/Berlin tz_offset=-120 locale=en-GB
+dc_version=... adapter_version=... browser=Chrome browser_version=...
+platform=Linux user_agent=...
+```
+
+The debug value depends on the path - `&_debug=131` on the Compute API and SAS 9, `&_debug=128` on the Viya web (JES) path with `runAsTask` enabled, which is what the frontend sends there. Either way, switching debug on in the app is enough.
+
+## Worth knowing
+
+- The values are supplied by the client. Treat them as diagnostics hints, never as a security boundary.
+- `editors/loadfile` is reached through the adapter's multipart file upload, which carries no input tables, so in normal use that service - and the hook it runs - does not receive them. It is on the list for completeness.
+- Nothing else pays for the tables: they travel only with the services above.
+
+Full detail, including the column definitions and the log output, is in the [troubleshooting documentation](https://docs.datacontroller.io/dci-troubleshooting/).
+
+<!--
+Source LinkedIn post:
+
+A support ticket starts with questions. Which browser? Which timezone? Which build? What was in the URL?
+
+Data Controller now answers them itself.
+
+Two tables travel with the startup service, and with every service that runs your own code:
+
+→ browser_info - one row: browser and version, platform, timezone and UTC offset, locale, the DC and adapter builds, the page URL and the referrer
+
+→ browser_url_vars - one row per URL parameter, name and value, read straight into a macro variable
+
+Both land in the job log when debug is on, so a ticket can be diagnosed from the log instead of a round trip. Both are readable from a hook script - %include shares the service's WORK library, so a hook can branch on the user's timezone, or pick up a parameter from the URL.
+
+They are client supplied values: diagnostics hints, not a security boundary. Guard with %sysfunc(exist()) - a service called directly, or an older frontend, sends nothing.
+
+✅ Full detail in the Data Controller documentation - link in the comments.
+
+#sas #sasviya #datagovernance #datacapture #sasjs
+-->
+
+<!-- Image prompt:
+Generate a 16:9 landscape illustration for a B2B data-governance blog cover, 1200x627.
+
+Style: flat vector illustration, dark slate background (#314351) with a faint evenly spaced dot grid, brand green accent (#90c445), lighter slate panels (#2e4252), soft diffused shadows, subtle depth.
+
+Scene: two rounded panels side by side, each with a header bar in brand green and four rows of rounded cells. The left panel carries short uniform value blocks (the browser context); the right panel carries name-and-value pairs, drawn as a narrow block beside a wider one (the URL parameters), with a single row in the left panel highlighted in green. Between and below the panels a thin vertical connector line runs down to a wide, flat log strip of alternating short green rules on a lighter slate panel, suggesting the tables being written to a job log.
+
+Minimal text, no letters, no numbers, no logos, no watermark. Keep the subject inside the central square so a 1:1 crop is safe; the outer left and right thirds may be croppable background only.
+
+Output: save as ./support-diagnostics.jpeg at 1200x627 (matching the other feed covers, and doubling as the LinkedIn share card). Do not also embed the image in the markdown body.
+-->

content/feed/who-is-data-controller-for/index.md

@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ How about a business friendly, no lock-in software licence? The price list is pu
 
 Data Controller for SAS® is a robust solution for secure data uploads into any SAS-connected database, with full audit trail and approval mechanism. Configuration is quick, installation is easy, and everything runs on your own SAS platform with no external calls.
 
-Multiple load types are supported (composite and retained keys, SCD2, bitemporal, format catalogs), data can be validated at the point of entry, and Excel end-user computing files can be dragged straight into SAS. Data Lineage, Data Catalog and Data Viewer come as standard.
+Multiple load types are supported (composite and retained keys, SCD2, bitemporal, format catalogs), data can be validated at the point of entry, and Excel end-user computing files can be dragged straight into SAS. Data Rollback, Data Catalog and Data Viewer come as standard.
 
 Data Control.
 
@@ -46,23 +46,23 @@ Want to see it working on your own data? [Book a Discovery Call](/contact).
 <!--
 Source LinkedIn post:
 
-Data Administrators - would you grant self-serve data updates in SAS, if there was no risk to the data model?
+Data Administrators → would you grant self-serve data updates in SAS, if there was no risk to the data model?
 
-Data Auditors - do you require oversight of who made a particular data change, what that change was, when it was made, and who signed it off? And to review the original excel, if used as a source?
+Data Auditors → do you require oversight of who made a particular data change, what that change was, when it was made, and who signed it off? And to review the original excel, if used as a source?
 
-Data Managers - do you prefer to load / modify / delete production data WITHOUT writing repetitive code, saving sensitive data to shared filesystems, building & deploying jobs, or crafting long-winded change requests?
+Data Managers → do you prefer to load / modify / delete production data WITHOUT writing repetitive code, saving sensitive data to shared filesystems, building & deploying jobs, or crafting long-winded change requests?
 
-Data Owners - do you like to review data changes before they are applied? How about receiving email alerts or the ability to set up job triggers after tables are updated?
+Data Owners → do you like to review data changes before they are applied? How about receiving email alerts or the ability to set up job triggers after tables are updated?
 
-Purchasers - how about a business friendly, no lock-in software licence?
+Purchasers → how about a business friendly, no lock-in software licence?
 
 Data Controller for SAS® is a robust solution for secure data uploads into any SAS-connected database, with full audit trail and approval mechanism.
 
-Installation is easy and configuration is quick. Multiple load types supported (composite / retained keys, SCD2, Bitemporal, Format catalogs). Perform data validation at point of entry. Drag & drop Excel EUCs straight into SAS.
+Installation is easy and configuration is quick ⚡ Multiple load types supported (composite / retained keys, SCD2, Bitemporal, Format catalogs). Perform data validation at point of entry. Drag & drop Excel EUCs straight into SAS.
 
-Data Lineage, Data Catalog, Data Viewer.
+Data Rollback, Data Catalog, Data Viewer.
 
-Data Control.
+Data Control. ✅
 
 #sas #sasviya #sasusers #datagovernance