Open Source BI Helical Insight 5.2 Release Walkthrough

We are releasing Open Source BI product Helical Insight version 5.2 (5.2.0.1473 GA) in May 2024. In this blog we are going to talk about what all are the new features which have been added as compared to version 5.1

(i) New Database support: With every new version of Helical Insight, we continue to add more and more support of databases directly out of the box. We are extremely proud that from version 5.2 onwards we have added support of the 6 more below mentioned databases directly.

  1. SAP HANA
  2. CelerData
  3. Cockroach DB
  4. DuckDB
  5. Firebird SQL
  6. Yugabyte

Open Source BI Helical Insight 5.2 Release Walkthrough

Open Source BI Helical Insight 5.2 Release Walkthrough

(ii) Import Export: We have added options of import export which can allow you to move files from one server to another server with import export utility options. There are options which can allow you to import export specific folder or entire file browser and importing into another location.

Open Source BI Helical Insight 5.2 Release Walkthrough

Open Source BI Helical Insight 5.2 Release Walkthrough

(iii) Cut / Copy / Paste: Just like we have cut copy paste operations in Windows, similar concept has been introduced in Helical Insight file browser. Now you can cut or copy resources (files/folders) from one location in file browser and paste in another location in file browser. You can read more about it here.

Open Source BI Helical Insight 5.2 Release Walkthrough

(iv) Recycle Bin: Introduction of recycle bin (similar to Windows) can allow an admin to recover any accidentally deleted resources (like datasource, report, dashboard, folder, user etc) or permanently delete it or recover any resource while changing the ownership level. You can read more about it here.

Open Source BI Helical Insight 5.2 Release Walkthrough

Open Source BI Helical Insight 5.2 Release Walkthrough

(v) Support of external JS visualization: With version 5.2 we have introduced concept of VF.
This will allow you to integrate and use any external JS visualization of AntD charts, muzeJS charts. Hence even if some visualization is not supported by default, it can be made to work within Helical Insight with this dynamic feature.

Open Source BI Helical Insight 5.2 Release Walkthrough

(vi) Support of Maps: With version 5.2, we have also introduced maps. Hence, it is possible to create and use Maps also within Helical Insight along with a lot of different kind of customization options. Mapbox support has been provided. Map supports all the options like drill down, drill through, exporting, inter panel communication as well as various marks options like color, size. Various other properties like color, formatting etc are as well supported.

Open Source BI Helical Insight 5.2 Release Walkthrough

(vii) New Customization Options: There have been support of additional customization options which includes

  1. Combine chart which can allow multiple measures in a grid chart sharing same axis

    2. Open Source BI Helical Insight 5.2 Release Walkthrough

  2. Crosstab now supporting one more feature allowing to specify collapse/expand functionality / behaviour

    3. Open Source BI Helical Insight 5.2 Release Walkthrough

  3. A property of line chart which is smooth in nature. By default line chart which gets generated is having sharp edges

    4. Open Source BI Helical Insight 5.2 Release Walkthrough

  4. Enhancements in relative date filtering as well as ability to pass relative date filtering in the URL of report/dashboard as well.
  5. A new property allowing to have’Horizontal scrollbar’ option inside Table property has been added. This is especially useful when you are adding lot of columns in a table because of which visibility of the tables gets affected.

    6. Open Source BI Helical Insight 5.2 Release Walkthrough

(viii) Grid Table: Grid table has been introduced. This visualization is similar to crosstab or pivot view and it supports all the options like drill down, drill through, exporting, inter panel communication as well as various marks options like color, size. Various other properties like color, formatting etc are as well supported.

Please reach out on support@helicalinsight.com in case of any questions, POC, demo or further questions. Register and download for free from here.

What’s next?

We have a very strong product roadmap which includes

– GenerativeAI : We are working on integrating generativeAI capabilities into our product. Hence with this a lot of advanced adhocanalytics can be built using simple chat interface. This is especially useful if you would like to expose the possibility of allowing to build analytics to a much larger (and mainly non technical) audience.

– Addition of canned report module. This would allow to create pixel perfect multi-pager paginated kind of reports also. Examples of canned reports are P&L sheet, bank statements etc. We had support of canned reports till version 4.1, which we are again going to re-introduce.

      – Tech upgrade: With the coming release, we are going to migrate to higher LTS version of Java and Tomcat.

      – We will continue to support additional data sources as an ongoing activity

            – Support of new charts and customization options as an ongoing activity

            – Support of in-memory (akin extract) and cubes

            – Directly supported advanced statistical and scientific algorithms

            – UI-driven workflow method

            – Data pipelines

You May Also Like

Helical Insight’s self-service capabilities is one to reckon with. It allows you to simply drag and drop columns, add filters, apply aggregate functions if required, and create reports and dashboards on the fly. For advanced users, the self-service component has ability to add javascript, HTML, HTML5, CSS, CSS3 and AJAX. These customizations allow you to create dynamic reports and dashboards. You can also add new charts inside the self-service component, add new kind of aggregate functions and customize it using our APIs.
Helical Insight’s self-service capabilities is one to reckon with. It allows you to simply drag and drop columns, add filters, apply aggregate functions if required, and create reports and dashboards on the fly. For advanced users, the self-service component has ability to add javascript, HTML, HTML5, CSS, CSS3 and AJAX. These customizations allow you to create dynamic reports and dashboards. You can also add new charts inside the self-service component, add new kind of aggregate functions and customize it using our APIs.
Helical Insight, via simple browser based interface of Canned Reporting module, also allows to create pixel perfect printer friendly document kind of reports also like Invoice, P&L Statement, Balance sheet etc.
Helical Insight, via simple browser based interface of Canned Reporting module, also allows to create pixel perfect printer friendly document kind of reports also like Invoice, P&L Statement, Balance sheet etc.
If you have a product, built on any platform like Dot Net or Java or PHP or Ruby, you can easily embed Helical Insight within it using iFrames or webservices, for quick value add through instant visualization of data.
If you have a product, built on any platform like Dot Net or Java or PHP or Ruby, you can easily embed Helical Insight within it using iFrames or webservices, for quick value add through instant visualization of data.
Being a 100% browser-based BI tool, you can connect with your database and analyse across any location and device. There is no need to download or install heavy memory-consuming developer tools – All you need is a Browser application! We are battle-tested on most of the commonly used browsers.
Being a 100% browser-based BI tool, you can connect with your database and analyse across any location and device. There is no need to download or install heavy memory-consuming developer tools – All you need is a Browser application! We are battle-tested on most of the commonly used browsers.
We have organization level security where the Superadmin can create, delete and modify roles. Dashboards and reports can be added to that organization. This ensures multitenancy.
We have organization level security where the Superadmin can create, delete and modify roles. Dashboards and reports can be added to that organization. This ensures multitenancy.
We have organization level security where the Superadmin can create, delete and modify roles. Dashboards and reports can be added to that organization. This ensures multitenancy.
We have organization level security where the Superadmin can create, delete and modify roles. Dashboards and reports can be added to that organization. This ensures multitenancy.
A first-of-its-kind Open-Source BI framework, Helical Insight is completely API-driven. This allows you to add functionalities, including but not limited to adding a new exporting type, new datasource type, core functionality expansion, new charting in adhoc etc., at any place whenever you wish, using your own in-house developers.
A first-of-its-kind Open-Source BI framework, Helical Insight is completely API-driven. This allows you to add functionalities, including but not limited to adding a new exporting type, new datasource type, core functionality expansion, new charting in adhoc etc., at any place whenever you wish, using your own in-house developers.
It handles huge volumes of data effectively. Caching, Pagination, Load-Balancing and In-Memory not only provides you with amazing experience, but also and does not burden the database server more than required. Further effective use of computing power gives best performance and complex calculations even on the big data even with smaller machines for your personal use. Filtering, Sorting, Cube Analysis, Inter Panel Communication on the dashboards all at lightning speed. Thereby, making best open-source Business Intelligence solution in the market.
It handles huge volumes of data effectively. Caching, Pagination, Load-Balancing and In-Memory not only provides you with amazing experience, but also and does not burden the database server more than required. Further effective use of computing power gives best performance and complex calculations even on the big data even with smaller machines for your personal use. Filtering, Sorting, Cube Analysis, Inter Panel Communication on the dashboards all at lightning speed. Thereby, making best open-source Business Intelligence solution in the market.
With advance NLP algorithm, business users simply ask questions like, “show me sales of last quarter”, “average monthly sales of my products”. Let the application give the power to users without knowledge of query language or underlying data architecture
With advance NLP algorithm, business users simply ask questions like, “show me sales of last quarter”, “average monthly sales of my products”. Let the application give the power to users without knowledge of query language or underlying data architecture
Our application is compatible with almost all databases, be it RDBMS, or columnar database, or even flat files like spreadsheets or csv files. You can even connect to your own custom database via JDBC connection. Further, our database connection can be switched dynamically based on logged in users or its organization or other parameters. So, all your clients can use the same reports and dashboards without worrying about any data security breech.
Our application is compatible with almost all databases, be it RDBMS, or columnar database, or even flat files like spreadsheets or csv files. You can even connect to your own custom database via JDBC connection. Further, our database connection can be switched dynamically based on logged in users or its organization or other parameters. So, all your clients can use the same reports and dashboards without worrying about any data security breech.
Our application can be installed on an in-house server where you have full control of your data and its security. Or on cloud where it is accessible to larger audience without overheads and maintenance of the servers. One solution that works for all.
Our application can be installed on an in-house server where you have full control of your data and its security. Or on cloud where it is accessible to larger audience without overheads and maintenance of the servers. One solution that works for all.
Different companies have different business processes that the existing BI tools do not encompass. Helical Insight permits you to design your own workflows and specify what functional module of BI gets triggered
Different companies have different business processes that the existing BI tools do not encompass. Helical Insight permits you to design your own workflows and specify what functional module of BI gets triggered