As with previous Fraxses releases, Springbok, Wildcat and Chameleon, Turaco takes its name from the animal kingdom. The Turacos are a family of fruit-eating birds that are endemic to sub-Saharan Africa, and are commonly referred to as loeries in South Africa. The family comprises several species, which can be divided into two groups – those that inhabit the open savanna, and those that prefer forests and woodland areas. The species in the latter group are predominantly green with red flying feathers. It is this group of tree-dwelling birds, which includes the magnificent Knysna and Purple-Crested Turacos, from which the new Fraxses release takes its inspiration.
The Turaco is a standout creature in every respect, from its distinctive colours, unmistakable call and the manner in which it hops along tree branches, to its exceptional longevity and ability to adapt to changes in habitat. Its characteristics speak to Fraxses’ unique capabilities, staying power and versatility, making it a worthy inspiration for the new release.
Object Versioning
Data Objects are key to the connect, not collect concept that underpins Fraxses. The introduction of Object Versioning enables organisations to get even more out of Data Objects, by implementing a controlled development and deployment strategy and a formal release process. With Object Versioning, developers are required to check a Data Object out of the live environment in order to work on it. When they have made the requisite changes, the Data Object is submitted for approval, and only once it has been approved does it get deployed to the live environment. Users can tell at a glance if a particular Data Object is currently checked out or whether it has been published, and can access and compare previous versions of Data Objects with ease.
Within Object Versioning, the new concept of Role Types allows for users to be granted access to specific functionality within the system. Some examples of Role Types include Developers, who can develop Data Objects but cannot approve their own work; Owners, who have the ability to view, review and approve Data Objects; and Superusers, who can approve bulk packages on behalf of all the associated owners.
Object Versioning allows developers to work on Data Objects without impacting production and eliminates the risk of Data Objects that contain errors being published. It is a game-changing feature of the Turaco release and will impact many aspects of data management, reducing errors, improving efficiencies, and ensuring alignment across teams.
Enhanced User Experience
The primary objective behind the design of the refreshed Legoz user interface and the enhanced process flows that form part of the Turaco release was to create an intuitive, frictionless user experience. All the functions Fraxses users are familiar with are present in the new UI, but can now be completed with fewer clicks. The new UI facilitates inline editing, meaning that processes that previously required users to navigate buttons and tabs can now be executed by simply hovering over a field, editing it and clicking out to save. Extensive usability testing has confirmed that the new interface and process flows are considerably more user-friendly.
Workspaces
The new release includes an exciting new feature called Workspaces, which enables users to work on multiple Data Objects at the same time. Workspaces allow for developers and business users to work with Data Objects independently and make provision for multiple users to work simultaneously on a specific topic or Data Object. This is achieved by checking the Data Object out to a Workspace to which all the relevant users have access. The Workspaces feature presents greater possibilities for collaboration between IT and business within organisations.
Data Pedigree
In previous versions of Fraxses, Data Pedigree was a view-only function that only enabled users to see the Data Objects used to build a particular Data Object, and the Data Objects consuming it. Turaco improves on this with a fully interactive Data Pedigree that allows users to see a holistic view of Data Objects and their related metadata. It includes a download option, which exports the Data Pedigree as a fully interactive HTML page. Users can elect to save this as an HTML file, or as a PDF that can be printed at large sizes.
Source Control
Turaco offers the ability to download the metadata from a Data Object or grouping of Data Objects as a JSON file. This can then be uploaded to source control systems such as GitHub, GitLab, Perforce, etc, or to a different instance of Fraxses.
And there’s more…
Other improvements users can expect in Turaco include real-time saving capability, pre-filtered records per data source, enhanced search functionality, the segregation of Data Object configuration and management functions, and improved Caching Schedules functionality. These are just some of the features the new release offers.
Turaco’s combination of powerful new features and the enhanced user experience it offers result in an exceptional product that represents an important leap forward in the evolution of the Fraxses platform. Just as the Turaco’s startlingly beautiful wing feathers – which happen to be a very similar shade to the red of the Fraxses logo – are only revealed when the bird takes flight, so users must experience Turaco in order to appreciate its outstanding qualities.
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