What's New in KNIME 2.12

Check out the video on YouTube about all new features in KNIME 2.12: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TD0iqWVVuA4

Analytics

Decision Tree to Rule Set

This new node converts (a single) Decision Tree model to a PMML-formatted Rule Set model and also to a data table containing the rules in a textual form.

Rule Handling

The Rule Engine (Dictionary) applies rules from a rule table to a data table. Rules follow the same syntax as in the Rule Engine node. The antecedents are stored in one column and the consequents in another column in the same rule table. The rule table is then input at the lower port of the node. Rule syntax is verified during configuration. A similar node, Rule Engine Variable (Dictionary),  is available for working on flow variables.

Statistics Measure as Aggregation Methods in GroupBy node

Statistics Measures are now available as aggregation methods in the GroupBy, Pivoting, and Column Aggregator node: Percentile, Correlation, Kurtosis, Median Absolute Deviation,  Second Moment, Skewness, and sum of logs/squares.

Extended PMML Support

The Missing Value node now exports a PMML model and can feed a Missing Value (Apply) node. It also supports more options such as "previous" or "linear interpolation". Another new node allows columns to be filtered that have more than a specified fraction of missing values.

Data Generation

There are two new nodes for numerical data generation under IO/Other/Modular Data Generation.

Visual 2D Data Generator creates a two dimensional data set by manually adding/clicking points in a coordinate system. Quasi-Random Sequence Generator (Apache) generates a quasi-random sequence to cover all parts of a high dimensional space.

More Statistics Nodes

We have started to add more statistics nodes (many more to come in future releases) under KNIME Labs/Statistics: Rank Correlation, Linear Discriminant Analysis, Cronbach Alpha and Standardized Cronbach Alpha, Odds and Risk Ratios, Wilcoxon Signed-Rank, Kruskal-Wallis test, Wilcoxon-Mann Whitney test.

Tool Integration

New MongoDB Integration

In KNIME Labs, there is a new category that is dedicated to interacting with MongoDB. A number of nodes is available in order to read, remove, save, update, and write data from and to a MongoDB database.

JavaScript Integration

There are many new Javascript D3-based interactive  visualization nodes under KNIME Labs/Quickforms and Interactive Nodes/Views and Interactive Nodes. These nodes allow View Controls, among other settings, to be enabled during configuration. View Controls make the node view interactive allowing you to zoom, select, and make other changes on the fly. These nodes also produce a static image at the output port to be embedded in reports.

Extended JSON Processing

Many new additional nodes are now available in KNIME Labs for processing JSON structures: compose from table, JSON to table and  vice versa, combine & write, and more. In addition, the JSON Reader node now supports remote URLs.

XML XPath Interactive Extraction

New XPath node! This node shows the XML structure of the selected column.

Syntax highlighting and interactivity help to build the correct XPath query. Double-clicking an element or an attribute in the XML structure automatically generates the corresponding XPath query. The Add XPath button adds it to the list of existing XPath queries. Automatically generated XPath queries can always be manually modified.

Extended Python Integration

A few new nodes for Python Integration:

• Python Edit Variable
• Python Script (DB) with DB input / output ports
• Python Script (Hive) with Hive input / output ports
• Improved Python View

Utility Nodes

CASE Switch

Two new switch blocks: CASE Switch Variable and CASE Switch Model. These blocks behave similarly to the already existing CASE Switch (now renamed CASE Switch Data), but take / produce Flow Variables and a Model at the input / output port respectively. These nodes were originally developed by Vernalis and are currently maintained by KNIME.

Sleep / Pause / Timer

GUI Improvements

• Drag&Dropping nodes from the Node Repository over a node or over a connection respectively replaces the old node with the new node or inserts the new node into the connection.
• Hotkeys are now available in the Context (right-click) menu
• KNIME Explorer View Search Box now supports Copy & Paste

KNIME Server & Automation (license required)

REST Interface

The KNIME Server now implements a REST interface. This means that a workflow can be exported as a REST service.

WebPortal Branding

The WebPortal look & feel can now be customized to include the company branding.

Call Local/Remote Workflow

Call Local Workflow and Call Remote Workflow: two new nodes to call for the execution of local and remote workflows from within another workflow. Notice that the Call Remote Workflow is available under KNIME Server Space.

New Product: KNIME Local Automation

This new product includes an enhanced batch executor with additional options and the parameterization of quickform nodes, the Call Local Workflow node, and the REST interface. It allows for better orchestration of dependencies in an application system.

Free Partner Extensions

Streaming Execution (DataFlow) by Actian

KNIME partner Actian has made available freely the DataFlow Streaming Execution engine to speed up execution of KNIME nodes on a parallel architecture.

You can use Actian dedicated nodes from the Actian DataFlow category in the Node Repository panel or you can select DataFlow as execution engine under the Job Manager Selection tab in the node configuration window.