Release Notes - 4.2 - AO Platform
Intended audience: SOLUTION DEVELOPERS
AO Platform: 4.2
Release Date
April 2025
Overview
Release 4.2 builds on the previous 4.x release of the AO Platform. We continue to introduce many new features that will make the development and management of solutions much more effortless.
The 4.2 release continues with a strong focus on enhancing the Composers that support Easy Answers solution development directly, including Ontology/MSO, Solution, and Insights Composers.
This topic includes a high-level introduction to the enhancements made during this release.
New in Release
Ontology/MSO Composers
Ontology Discovery - More Data Source Types are now available for automatic discovery, including Microsoft SQL Server, Azure Data Lake Storage, Oracle, MySQL, and Databricks. See Step 2 - Data Source Type.
Ontology Sourcing - New Metastore Cache that allows caching of Schemas and Tables for faster retrieval of metadata from Data Sources in multiple areas of the Ontology and MSO Composers, including… - See Adding Schemas and Tables to Metastore Cache.
Ontology Discovery > Table Selection > Add Data Source.
Ontology Composer > Sourcing.
MSO Composer > Sourcing.
MSO Composer > Create MSO > Table Selection.
Ontology Sourcing - Federated Data
Added Spatial Support for existing Connectors when retrieving data via Trino.
Added new Connectors for Databricks and Elasticsearch (CDATA).
Ontology Options Menu - new options, including… - See Ontology - Options Menu.
Generate LLM Content - ability to auto-generate LLM-based Descriptions for MSOs and MSO Properties as well as provide a default Priority for MSOs. Generated content can be viewed on the MSO Composer’s LLM Content page.
Export Ontology - ability to download the full Ontology configuration into the following formats: Excel, RDF, and OWL.
Search Ontology - ability to search an Ontology for any given search term across Linguistics, MSOs, MSO Properties, and Prompts - supporting easier management and updates. See Search Ontology.
Index Search Store - ability to create index for the Search Ontology functionality.
Delete Search Store - ability to delete the index for the Search Ontology functionality.
Delete Cache - for easy housekeeping of Cached items relating to Easy Answers Queries, and Data Summarizations.
MSO Composer - Updated MSO Filters to make it easier to find MSOs that include/exclude available configurations. See MSO Composer - Home Page | On Page.
MSO Composer > LLM Content - new page that includes generated LLM Content (available in the Ontology Options menu) for MSOs, MSO Properties, as well as allows configuration of Prompt Instructions supporting optimization of question interpretations in Easy Answers. See MSO - LLM Content.
MSO Composer > General - new Upsert Key Properties supporting updating/inserting data into Data Sinks. See MSO - General Properties.
MSO Composer > Properties - ability to configure a Value Source for values in Easy Answers, including Auto, Linguistics, Database, Data Styles, and Pipelines.
MSO Composer > Sourcing - ability to add a SQL-based database expression for a DB Column when mapping to MSO Properties.
MSO Composer > Curation - See MSO - Curation.
New Preview functionality - ability to preview any curation configuration directly on the Curation’s page.
New MicroApps have been added, including a Server-side Pivot Table, Treemap Chart, Trend Cue Card, Box Plot Chart, and Quantitative Distribution Chart.
MSO Composer > Linguistics - new columns for properties to indicate Count of Words and Count of Synonyms. See MSO - Linguistics.
MSO Composer > Security - new App and Trait Permissions allowing Apps and Traits to be hidden for users of a given Role.
Ontology Composer > Settings - various updates to Text2SQL settings. See Ontology - Settings | Text2SQL.
MSO Composer > Settings - various updates to settings and a new Easy Answers > Miscellaneous and Parent MSO Views sections. See Settings > Easy Answers.
Optimization of viewing and selecting MSO Properties across all Composers.
Properties are now being easy-loaded to improve performance, and a number of new “decorators” have been added to signify not just data types, but also identifying properties, such as Key Field, Name Field, Description Field, Derived Field, and MSO Properties that have not been mapped to a Data Source field. See Configuring Properties for details.
Quick Insights and Insights Composer
New and updated Quick Insights are available for generation via schedule Insights Composer and appearing on Insights Feed page.
Survival Rate - includes Base Event Rate, Date Effect, Cohort Effect, and Covariate Effect. See Quick Insights for Survival Rate.
Time-Series (Single) - enhancement adding new exogenous variables impacting Forecast. See Quick Insights for Single Time Series (Exogenous Variables).
Spatial Correlation - ability to create Insight that will model the correlation of some variable (cluster of activity) relative to geographic distance and/or to other clusters of activities. See Quick Insight for Spatial Correlation.
Insights Composer > Quick Insights - new Preview Model Data with Exploratory Data Analysis (EDA) view of data values, including Categorical Charts and Histograms. See Model > Model tab | Preview Model Data Dialog.
Insights Composer > Rules for Adding to Insights Feed Page from Scheduler - options include Always Add, Add Only Significant Insights, and Do Not Add. See Model > Model tab | Rules for Adding Insights Feed Page from Scheduler.
Pipeline Composer
New Data Source and Data Sink for SFTP with ability to use either Username and PPK file or Username and Password for Authentication.
Admin Solution
UI enhancements in page panel - improved organization and more meaningful icons.
Multiple new pages in Admin for masterdata configurations, including… See Admin.
Connections > SFTP
Connections > Redis
Generative AI > Prompt Examples
Generative AI > LLM Function Prompts
Generative AI > LLM Models
Generative AI > Reserved Key Words
Ontology > Ontology Function Helper Mapping
Security > System Pipelines
Easy Answers > Data Indexing Cleanup
Configurations > Data Source Tenant Mapping
Other
New JDBC Ontology Connector - ability to connect from 3rd Party products and tools to Ontologies within the AO Platform. This is an initial preview release. Can be used in DBeaver and integrated into a Java application. See Access to AO Platform Ontology from 3rd Party Products (Preview).
Transport Tool - performance optimization and stability improvements.
Redis Cluster support for Caching.
Expression support for multi-tenant Data Sources.
Support for multiple projects in Google Big Query.
Documentation
Updated the Open Source Library list included with AO Platform and AO Easy Answers as of April 2025.
The product documentation can also be accessed from outside the software. However, the documentation is not publicly available, a token is required to access it unless accessed from within the AO Platform UI in the User menu. Use the following URLs:
AO Easy Answers: https://docs-easyanswers.apporchid.com
AO Platform: https://docs.apporchid.com
A new ChatGPT-based AO Knowledge Assistant is now available in Preview. The 400+ topics available in the combined AO Platform and Easy Answers documentation have been used to create a GPT that can generate summarized responses to practically any question about the functionality and use of the AO Platform and Easy Answers solutions.
Deprecations/Removals
None
System Requirements
For workstation system requirements, see System Requirements.