--- title: Data Controller - 2025 Recap description: A recap of the features delivered in Data Controller for SAS over the 34 releases of 2025 date: '2025-12-31 12:00:00' author: 'Allan Bowe' authorLink: https://www.linkedin.com/in/allanbowe/ previewImg: './releases2025.png' tags: - Data Controller - SAS - Recap --- 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 is Data Controller? 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**. 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). ![](./dc_dataflow.png) ## 2025 at a glance Across calendar year 2025, [releases](https://git.datacontroller.io/dc/dc/releases) moved from **v6.12.2 (27JAN25)** to **v7.2.5 (09DEC25)**. Key themes: - **Viya deployments became dramatically simpler**, including "streaming app" deployment improvements (frontend in SAS Files), 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. ## 1) Viya: from "deployment project" to "quick start" A major through-line of 2025 was reducing the friction of getting DC live on SAS Viya: - **Content Security Policy (CSP) hardening & UI refactor** 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** 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** 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) Extending the Data Catalog: SAS catalogs + objects 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: - **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. - **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). - **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 - Metadata navigation sorting improvements using linguistic sort sequences ## 5) A 2025 customer story: AFA Insurance During 2025 we also [detailed the Data Controller use case with AFA Insurance (Sweden)](https://datacontroller.io/afa-insurance). 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. ## 2025 Release Highlights ![](./releases2025.png) ------------ We would like to thank all of our customers for their continued support and feedback. > Our mission is for Data Controller to be secure, simple, and fast - when loading ad-hoc data into SAS. If you'd like to try it out, just go ahead and perform an [installation](https://docs.datacontroller.io/dci-requirements/) - the base product does not require a paid license. We're also happy to provide complementary deployment support, just [reach out](https://datacontroller.io/contact/).