src/site/fml/whats_new_3.4.fml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<faqs xmlns="http://maven.apache.org/FML/1.0.1" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
	xsi:schemaLocation="http://maven.apache.org/FML/1.0.1 http://maven.apache.org/xsd/fml-1.0.1.xsd"
	title="What's new in MetaModel 3.4" toplink="false">

	<part id="features">
		<title>New features</title>
		
		<faq id="null_interpretation">
			<question>Clear interpretation of NULL</question>
			<answer>
				<p>
					We've made the interpretation of NULL consistent across MetaModel modules, in spite the fact 
					that it is not consistent across all backing datastores. This means that now you can safely 
					rely on MetaModel to adapt queries so that NULL values are always interpreted like they are 
					in Java and most other programming languages. This also means that the SQL way of interpreting 
					NULL is being handled by MetaModel, allowing you to not have to cross paradigms or port different 
					queries to different datastores.
				</p>
			</answer>
		</faq>
		
		<faq id="simple_update_api">
			<question>Simple update API</question>
			<answer>
				<p>
					To make it even easier to perform updates on MetaModel datastores, we've added a number of "simple update" classes that you can pass along directly to the executeUpdate method of an updateable DataContext.
				</p>
				<ul>
					<li>new InsertInto(..)</li>
					<li>new Update(..)</li>
					<li>new DeleteFrom(..)</li>
					<li>new CreateTable(..)</li>
					<li>new DropTable(..)</li>
				</ul>
				<p>
					Using these classes, you can avoid having to implement the UpdateScript interface yourself. Also some of the DataContext implementations use these classes to determine that only a single update is to be executed, and may optimize accordingly. 
				</p>
			</answer>
		</faq>
				
		<faq id="mongodb_locking_levels">
			<question>Ability to specify MongoDB locking levels</question>
			<answer>
				<p>
					It is now possible to specify a locking level advisor for MongoDB connections. 
					This way you can either select a constant locking level, or have a component 
					specify the locking level for individual actions.
				</p>
			</answer>
		</faq>
		
		<faq id="virtual_filesystem">
			<question>Virtualization of file references for CSV files, Excel spreadsheets and fixed width value files</question>
			<answer>
				<p>
					We've introduced a simple <i>Resource</i> interface which makes it possible to feed the CSV, Excel and Fixed Width DataContexts with not just a physical file, but any source of binary data. This way you can use MetaModel to read such data e.g. from FTP servers, HTTP or through other data transports.
				</p>
			</answer>
		</faq>
	</part>
	
	<!--
	<part id="api">
		<title>Changes to the existing API</title>
		
		<faq id="TODO">
			<question>TODO</question>
			<answer>
				<p>TODO.</p>
			</answer>
		</faq>
	</part>
	-->

	<part id="bugfixes">
		<title>Bugfixes</title>

		<faq id="aggregates_on_single_row">
			<question>Some aggregate queries yielded more than a single row</question>
			<answer>
				<p>A bug was fixed, which caused MetaModel to yield not a single, but a variable amount of rows containing aggregates, when the query also contained WHERE items.</p>
			</answer>
		</faq>
		
		<faq id="salesforce_table_serialization">
			<question>Serialization of Salesforce.com table issue</question>
			<answer>
				<p>A bug was fixed, which caused tables from Salesforce.com to not be properly serializable because of connection references.</p>
			</answer>
		</faq>
		
	</part>
</faqs>