transformations 6.x-1.0-beta1

Git tag 6.x-1.0-beta1
New features
Bug fixes
Unsupported

Well I wouldn't say it's a completely different module now, but compared to the previous release (alpha3), Transformations has been vastly improved in a number of ways.

First, the API has been simplified. Most importantly, the notion of schema definitions for input and output slots has been dropped. Instead, Transformations now uses parameterized types to describe its slot values. This is less powerful, but also easier to handle and provide, and is sufficient for our purposes.

Input slots may now change depending on other input slots. I call this feature "variable input schemas", and it enables import-style operations for entities with input fields that are not known upfront. Amongst other nice things, this also makes it possible to get rid of the "type options" feature that previously provided similar (but much more limited) functionality. All data that an operation depends on is now a proper input slot, with all the implications (which are mostly changes to the better).

Furthermore, input changes triggered by an operation itself are now properly propagated to the pipeline, which can provide some automatisms and prevents orphan slot connections. For that purpose, Transformations now offers a proper API for input/output schema changes.

transformations 6.x-1.0-alpha3

Git tag 6.x-1.0-alpha3
New features
Bug fixes
Unsupported

Last snapshot release for now, because I need to finish the "prose" part of my thesis now. (Development of Transformations will be continued in mid May, or something.) Of course, I'll still review and apply patches if any are contributed.

This release sports a number of important improvements, which, combined, make it possible to import data from CSV files to Drupal nodes without any use of PHP code. I need to write up a tutorial on how to do that, but it becomes more and more clear that the concept and architecture actually works pretty well, given the right set of operations.

Anyways, here's the bulk of what improved since the previous beta was released:

  • The pipeline edit form now shows the actual set of operations as they appear in the pipeline - which means that the operation objects will know about their assigned input values and schemas, which in turn means that if the set of output slots depends on an input value then those will show up correctly and you can actually wire them up. (If that sounded too complicated, nevermind - just believe me that this is a good thing.)

transformations 6.x-1.0-alpha2

Git tag 6.x-1.0-alpha2
New features
Unsupported

Fast forward from last week's initial release: numerous bugs have been fixed, pipeline execution is now more robust internally (or should be), and it's now possible to assign values directly to operation inputs rather than hooking everything up to a pipeline. That last change makes Transformations remotely usable - it's still not as powerful as it could be, but it's a lot better when you can assign fixed values through a suitable widget rather than re-entering PHP code every time you execute a pipeline.

Further usability improvements and capabilities coming up this week!

transformations 6.x-1.0-alpha1

Git tag 6.x-1.0-alpha1
New features
Unsupported

Initial release, so that there's something downloadable on the project page. The module is still far from a 1.0 release and lots of stuff isn't yet implemented, but it works well enough to give people an idea what it's all about. If you're interested in trying out stuff and aren't afraid of unfinished features, give it a try!

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