December 2023
LFSC Announcement
Customer Action Required for Harmful Lock-free Schema Change (LFSC) Bug
The LFSC (Lock Free Scheme Change) feature replaced SUM (Single Update Mode) when Stibo Systems introduced Cassandra as a database. Cassandra database does not have a concept of locks like Oracle does.
After a recent unplanned outage / restart, we uncovered a bug in the Lock-free Schema Change (LFSC) feature. If an LFSC process was running at the time of the outage, and if the system was brought back online without the bugfix (outlined below), there was risk of data corruption.
To prevent the loss of data, users should apply the hotfix outlined below to their systems. It is applicable to the last maintenance patch version of each baseline version. For example, 11.1 systems should be on 11.1-MP4 to apply the hotfix. Those customers installing the newly released 11.2 (2023.2) do not need this hotfix since the fix is included in the baseline code.
to:hotfix/621/issue-621425-HOTFIX-6544.spr
Because you may not know what database your system is using, this hotfix is safe for Cassandra systems and non-Cassandra systems. For SaaS systems, the hotfix will be applied by Stibo Systems when it is time to do any additional hotfixing, upgrading, and restarts. Open an issue (i.e., ticket) in the Stibo Systems customer service portal if you would like to have this hotfix applied immediately. If you do not proactively open a new issue in the next few days, we will begin to reach out to each Stibo Systems SaaS customer individually (through a ticket) to schedule.
For all customers: we stand ready to move forward with updating your systems or helping you update your systems with the fix.
Additionally, we recommend the following:
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Do not engage the LFSC feature on your systems until step 2 (below) is accomplished. (i.e., do not attempt any of the actions that would have engaged a SUM process in Oracle).
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Update your systems to the latest maintenance patch for your STEP baseline version. Apply the hotfix. Your non-production systems (QA, DEV, and pre-prod) should also be hotfixed.
For more information about LFSC, refer to the Lock-free Schema Change documentation. Contact Stibo Systems Support with any questions.
PDX Announcement
STEP to PDX Integration
The new integration approach to integrating STEP and PDX moves the responsibility of converting multi-context STEPXML to PDX-native JSON from the STEP application to the PDX application. This change has been done to improve the overall throughput of product records transferred from STEP to PDX.
Currently, when the PDX component is added to STEP versions 10.1 – 11.2 (2023.2), the old JSON outbound integration is used. However, the new STEPXML outbound integration also works with these STEP versions. Starting with the STEP 2023.3 release in September 2023, ONLY the new STEPXML outbound integration will be supported, and the old JSON outbound integration will no longer be supported.
Users of PDX, regardless of their STEP version, will be required to set up the new STEPXML outbound integration and disable the old JSON outbound integration by the time 2023.3 is released. Existing customers on the JSON outbound integration must contact their Stibo Systems account manager or partner manager to discuss migration to the STEPXML outbound integration approach.
The documentation has been updated to reflect the upcoming changes. For more information, refer to the Product Data Exchange section of the Data Integration documentation here.
New PDX Syndication customers should only use the STEPXML outbound integration.
Bugfixes
ISSUE-572265 - Fix for a Web UI error message telling users to check the server log
Added localizable 'Item cannot be deleted due to {number} reasons. Check the server log for more details.' message to Web UI, when an item cannot be deleted after clicking on Delete Action button. This message will be shown in locales other than the default English locale, where the non-localizable reasons will be shown as it was before. There is also a hotfix available for this solution that is applicable to step-11.0-mp4 and 11.0-mp5.
ISSUE-603849 - Fix for displaying thousands separators in attribute values on the Web UI
Introduced a possibility to show the thousands separators on the Web UI Node Editor and Web UI Node List when displaying the Attribute Value components of numeric-based validation base types. To toggle this possibility, contact Stibo Systems Support. There is also a hotfix available for this solution that is applicable to saas-11.1, saas-11.2, as well as step-11.1-mp4, step-11.1-mp5, step-11.1-mp6, and step-11.2-mp1.
ISSUE-614734 - Fix for an error that occurred during updates to overridden products
When assigning an overridden product to a product override, STEP would reuse that relation if applicable. However, if the past overridden-product relation has been approved and then deleted, STEP would try to reuse the wrong past relation, which prevented assigning the overridden product, and gave an internal error 'Cannot subtract: Main.' This has now been fixed so that reuse is not implemented in cases where the relation cannot easily be found.
ISSUE-615780 - Fix for when upgrade (11.0-MP4) makes the system behave incorrectly for special character combinations
Introduced a possibility to disable tag escaping in Attribute Validated Parameters for Run Business Action dialog. To use this possibility, contact Stibo Systems Support. There is also a hotfix available for this solution that is applicable to saas-11.0 and 11.2, step-11.0-mp4 / mp5, and step-11.2-mp1 / mp2.
ISSUE-619495 - Fix for a matching algorithm not creating a confirmed non-duplicate reference after a clerical reject of products
Changes made for 11.0 and potential duplicate relation include: removed confirmed non-duplicates of a workflow compatible node before processing by task updaters; and remove duplicates with existing potential duplicate relation to avoid creating a PDR task without duplicates. There is also a hotfix available for this solution that is applicable to saas-11.0 and step-11.0-mp4 / mp5.
ISSUE-623750 - Fix for issues deleting old Primary Product Hierarchy (PPH) objects
Introduced a possibility to skip counting the children when purging the node from recycle bin in workbench. To toggle this property, contact Stibo Systems Support. There is also a hotfix available for this solution that is applicable to saas-11.2 and step-11.2-mp1 / mp2.
ISSUE-625810 - Fix for a HealthCheck is still running after 4 days
Implemented a fix to make the admin portal refresh less aggressively when healthchecks are running. There is also a hotfix available for this solution that is applicable to step-11.1, step-11.1-mp1, 11.1-mp2, 11.1-mp3, 11.1-mp4, and 11.1-mp5.
ISSUE-628610 - Fix for special tags in the UI not showing as expected
Now, the tags formatting will be correctly displayed for the Web UI Node Editor Attribute Value component configured to display an LOV attribute with a checkbox or radio button override control type. There is a hotfix available for this solution that is applicable to step-10.3-mp4 / mp5 and saas-10.3.
ISSUE-630531 - Fix for an error configuring standard functionality in a workflow
Fixed NullPointerException that occurred in workbench when accessing a Bulk Update Trigger Workflow Event business rule. There is also a hotfix applicable to saas-11.1, saas-2023.3, step-11.1-mp3 to mp6, step-11.2-mp2, and step-2023.3.
ISSUE-632876 - Fix for when a user can not change an object type of an asset in STEP quality and production system
There was an issue where the user could not change an object type of an asset in a customer's STEP quality and production system. This has been fixed, and deletion of a staging workspace is allowed.
ISSUE-633784 - Fix for TecDoc Reference data import - Fatal error - Can't enter single mode update
Improved NsmStateReport to contain the information about RWLocks.
ISSUE-634073 - Fix for opening an attribute in the workbench leading to a stack trace
Attributes there were migrated to STEP 11.2 from an older STEP release could not be opened in the workbench if they had a language + country dimension. This has now been fixed.
ISSUE-636470 - Fix for when the submit button is greyed out after unchecking 'Lazy' functionality on the 'Main Information' tab
Fixed a problem when a mandatory value group component hidden under the 'Grouping Option' component caused the buttons of the Web UI Node Editor screen to be grayed out if it did not have a mandatory value populated.
ISSUE-637785 - Fix for when external users are not able to reset their password
Fixed a problem with the concurrent generation of JWT signing key on a clustered setup. There is also a hotfix available for this solution that is applicable to saas-11.1 / 11.2, step-11.1-mp1 through mp6, step-11.2, and step-11.2-mp1 / mp2.
ISSUE-640304 - Fix for inability to add a new line to a data container when attribute value contains greater than or less than characters
Fixed problem occurring when it was not possible to save an LOV value with less than / greater than characters in the Add Data Container dialog, invoked from Multi Edit Data Container of Globally Configured Data Container component in Web UI.
ISSUE-641616 - Fix for products added under classification not showing up sometimes
Fixed problem occurring when a selected item on a Tree Navigator on a Global Navigation Panel in Web UI did not have an expand indicator even though it does have the children underneath, after performing a search on a Global Navigation Panel. There is also a hotfix available for this solution that is applicable to saas-11.1, step-11.2-mp4 through mp6, and step-11.2-mp2.
ISSUE-641906 - Fix for improved healthcheck safety
A stability fix was made for these two healthchecks: 'Duplicated History Entries' and 'Value missing content.' There is also a hotfix available for this solution that is applicable to step-11.2-mp2.
ISSUE-642268 - Fix for when image previews were not working after an upgrade to 11.2
Fixed a problem when assets with conversion info set as image conversion configuration were not displayed on the Web UI Node Editor's referenced asset representation component. There is also a hotfix available for this solution that is applicable to step-11.2-mp2.
ISSUE-643069 - Fix for an unhandled exception when accessing completeness score with max value
Fixed a problem when the completeness score component with a max score for subscores was not loading on the Web UI Node Editor in a non-English locale, causing an unexpected exception to appear. There is also a hotfix available for this solution that is applicable to saas-11.2, step-11.2, and step-11.2-mp1 / mp2.
ISSUE-643098 - Fix for when an export product in the Web UI is not working if the data container is included in export configuration
When an export configuration contains mapping for nested objects, sorting rows will be skipped in the XLS output. This will be consistent with export behavior when triggered from the workbench.
ISSUE-643143 - Fix for a failed deleted content file
Auto-deletion of files in the 'Save' and 'Failed' folders in a hotfolder integration endpoint could delete files not in the save or failed folder, if either save or failed folder was not present. This has been fixed. There is also a hotfix available for this solution that is applicable to saas-11.1, as well as step-11.1-mp3-6, and step-11.2.
ISSUE-643708 - Fix for when attribute is set mandatory with business condition, business actions are disabled
Changed errors to warnings for missing mandatory attributes. Warnings work with enforce validity for: Node Selector, Value Component, Globally Configured References, and Rich Text. Source of the missing mandatory is irrelevant.
ISSUE-645657 - Fix for SaaS Migration Hypercare: exported metadata are not in order
When exporting products with multiple product to classification links with metadata, the order of the links and metadata was not consistent. This has been fixed.
ISSUE-646214 - Fix for when no unique key is visible in the dropdown of the Advanced Search option: 'Search from list'
A problem with the select type ID options dropdown coming up empty in Search From List in the Web UI Advanced Search has been fixed. There is also a hotfix available for this solution that is applicable to saas-11.1 and step-11.1-mp2 through mp6.
ISSUE-646872 - Fix for SaaS - 'Swap User' not working work on IIEP
Fixed a problem where the Swap User functionality from the File Loading Widget in Web UI did not work for business rules called during the IIEP execution, which were retrieving the current user from manager bind.
ISSUE-648396 - Fix for Mapping config causes stacktrace
Fixed unexpected exception on the Mapping step in workbench Import Manager when trying to map a column to the attribute with default unit.
ISSUE-648500 - Fix for SaaS migration issue: business rule getting null pointer exception
Fixed a problem when LFSC 0bits.legacy shadow copies could have been retrieved by attributeGroup.getAttributes() invocation via a business rule with 'Run Privileged' checkbox enabled.
ISSUE-649425 - Fix for when 'Hide Equal' was not working correctly on the Revision screen of the Web UI
Fixed a problem when 'Hide Equal' action did not work on the Web UI Multi Revision screen. There is also a hotfix available for this solution that is applicable to saas-11.1 and saas-2023.3, as well as step-11.1-mp4-6, step-11.2, and step-2023.3.
ISSUE-649432 - Fix for parent reference being deleted when deleting inherited asset reference from Multi Context Editor screen
Now, when deleting the inherited reference / classification to product link on a Web UI Node List's Reference Table Header, an error message will be shown: 'The link/cross reference is inherited and thus cannot be deleted.'
ISSUE-649501 - Fix for when collection refresh is not working for OIEP
Fixed the refresh of collections when running a business rules based outbound processing engine.
ISSUE-649514 - Fix for BMEcat export: Referenced objects are added
Fixed the issue with too big STEPXML files being generated when creating BMECat exports with the product reference type mapping. There is a hotfix available for this solution that is applicable to saas-11.1, saas-2023.3, step-11.1-MP3 through MP6, step-11.2-mp2, and step-2023.3.
ISSUE-650606 - Fix for when an inconsistent scroll bar appears inside a table
Fixed a problem when an unnecessary scrollbar was showing for long cell values on the Web UI Node List Table Display mode cells.
ISSUE-651166 - Fix for issue with LOV display on Web UI
Fixed a problem occurring when selecting a read-only value on a Web UI LOV Management Screen Values tab caused it to disappear.
ISSUE-653235 - Fix for unexpected error on Advanced Merge screen
Fixed problem occurring when the Table Header Data Container Value on an Advanced Merge screen was causing an unexpected exception to appear if one of the displayed records did not have a data container of the configured type.
ISSUE-655336 - Fix for LOV Cross Validation not working in Web UI after 11.1 Upgrade
Fixed a problem occurring when LOV cross validation stopped working on the Web UI Multi-Reference screen.
ISSUE-656157 - Fix for missing library on latest STEP patch
Added dependency to com/zaxxer/sparsebits/SparseBitSet used by Apache POI, which is used for Excel exports / imports. There is a step-11.2-mp2 hotfix also available for this solution.
ISSUE-656770 - Fix for bug in Grouping component
The problem seen was that the fields for the Attribute Value Group component are not visible to the user when it is used within the Grouping component in Web UI. A fix has been implemented to make those fields visible to the user in order to manage the content for each attribute. A hotfix applicable to step-2023.3 and saas-2023.3 is also available for this solution.
ISSUE-657079 - Fix for error when adding new record with multiple values in a data container
Fixed a problem occurring when multi values, chosen on the Add Data Container popup for Globally Configured Multi Data Container, caused an uncaught exception to be thrown. A hotfix for this solution is available and applicable to saas-2023.3, step-11.2-mp2, and step-2023.3.
ISSUE-657499 - Fix for Multi Reference not working in split panel
Fixed a problem when the Multi Reference component, configured as a right component of a Split Panel, was not being shown in Web UI.
ISSUE-657805 - Fix for account REST Reciever not processing files
Fixed a problem with hotfolder implementations causing a five-second delay between processing each file (backported to 10.2). Also, fixed a problem occurring when the Purge revisions process threw an exception when purging entities from a list with the IDs.
ISSUE-658255 - Fix for when editing an LOV value in the Web UI destroyed inline formats
Introduced a possibility to disable the less than / greater than tags escape when saving the changed LOV values on LOV Management Values screen in order to prevent removing the STEP style tags from the values. The screen does not support displaying and adding the tags, but a solution was created so that the tag formatting will be preserved, if needed. To implement this solution, contact Stibo Systems Support.
ISSUE-658686 - Fix for unexpected error in Advanced Merge in Customer MDM Web UI
Fixed a problem occurring when a Table Header Data Container Value on an Advanced Merge screen was causing the unexpected exception to appear if one of the displayed records did not have a data container of the configured type.
ISSUE-658956 - Fix for upgrade to 11.1-mp6 not preserving transparency in transformed assets
Previously, a transparent background was replaced by white color. Now, converted images are keeping their transparency for png files.
ISSUE-659424 - Fix for post-hotfix issue with chosing a checkbox
Fixed a problem where it was not possible to change and save a multi-value LOV, represented by checkboxes, on a Web UI Node Editor, if LOV values contained formatting tags. There is a hotfix for this solution that is applicable to the following baselines: saas-10.3, saas-11.0, saas-11.1, saas-2023.3, step-10.3-mp4 / mp5, step-11.0-mp4 / mp5, step-11.1-mp4 through mp6, step-11.2-mp2, and step-2023.3.
ISSUE-659574 - Fixed NullPointerError for Simple Import
Fixed an issue with temporary collections and the export functionality in Web UI.
ISSUE-660238 - Fix for collection name being messed up from the Collection Content Screen in upgraded Production system
Fixed a problem occurring when collection names were updated to BGP_tmp_input when starting a bulk update of a collection content in Web UI. Instead, only the temporary collection should be renamed this way.
ISSUE-660269 - Logging added to identify reason for inability to create temp file
Added more logging to IO exception that occured when creating a temp file when uploading an asset.
ISSUE-661188 - Fix for the Remove Attribute Link button not working after certain operations in the Attribute Link Editor screen of the Web UI
Remove Attribute Links toolbar action did not work when selecting more than 50 items with the 'Select All' action. This is now fixed.
ISSUE-661263 - Fix for inability to import translation STEPXML
Fixed a problem occurring when an attribute, present in the translation import XML, but missing on a system where the translation import was initiated, was causing the exception during translation import when attempted to be created. In such cases, missing attributes should be skipped instead of being created.
ISSUE-661970 - Fix for OIEP disabled using REST API V2 cannot be enabled (by REST API) or resumed (in workbench)
The following problems were fixed:
- Fixed a setback when failed endpoint cannot be resumed
- Fixed an issue, when stopping an endpoint via REST API caused a multiple pollers problem to appear, if the endpoint was rescheduling at the same time when it was about to stop.
ISSUE-663029 - Fix for unresponsive Asset Push sidecar
Stibo Systems implemented some code changes that will keep the connection between asset push and the STEP server alive while the assets are handled by the STEP server. Furthermore, additional logging has been added.
ISSUE-665268 - Fix for monitors showing 'Unknown' and 'Critical' for services which are up and running before a STEP upgrade
Fixed a problem occurring when sidecar monitoring was reporting the wrong Java version even though Java 11 was installed. A hotfix is available for this solution and is applicable to saas-2023, step-11.2-mp2, and step-2023.3.
ISSUE-669976 - Fix for Supplier Portal user risk issue
Introduced a possibility to disable the typeahead suggestions of user groups outside the current user's supplier hierarchy in Web UI. To enable this possibility, contact Stibo Systems Support.
ISSUE-670457 - Replacement of an asset creates a new asset
Fixed a problem when replacing an asset with the existing asset in the Web UI on a Node Editor screen added the picked asset instead of replacing the selected one. There is also a hotfix available for this solution that is applicable to saas-2023.3, step-11.2-mp2, and saas-11.2.
ISSUE-671510 - Fix for when no events are generated when values update from 'EMPTY' to 'YES'
Fixed a problem occurring when setting an LOV from null value to non-null value queued event with previous (null) value, instead of the new (non-null) value.
ISSUE-671816 - Fix for save button not being enabled for LOV attribute value change
Fixed the way radio buttons are matched with LOV values. Now, save is enabled after changes.
ISSUE-672268 - Fix for very long runtime for small imports of STEPXML
A performance fix to the 'feature' batch log was made to related to imports.
ISSUE-673086 - Fix for export not working for a user group after recent 11.2 upgrade
Fixed a NullPointerException that appeared in a very corner case, when supplier privileges were checked before checking any other attribute privileges during the export.
Fix for In-Memory - Insufficient documentation
Introduced a property to set a limit for InMemory.OffHeapMemory sensor in percentage before a critical sensor status is reported. To set this property, contact Stibo Systems Support. There is also a hotfix for this issue that is applicable to inmemory-7.0.62, inmemory-7.0.66, inmemory-7.0.68, inmemory-7.0.69, saas-10.3-2023, saas-11.0-2023, saas-11.1-2023, and saas-11.2-2023.
Patch Recipe
The 11.2-MP3 baseline patch can be installed with the following recipes:
./spot --apply=to:step/platform/step-11.2-mp3.spr
—OR—
./spot --upgrade=step:11.2*
*Before installing the recipe, review the baseline and component versions that the system will be upgraded to before applying. Verify that the baseline and/or components are the correct versions to be applied (i.e., the versions you did testing on—and not a higher, untested version).
For on-premises systems, refer to the SPOT Program documentation for more information, including how to use the SPOT --upgrade command to also find compatible components that can be added at the same time as the baseline patch (--upgrade=all) in the SPOT Program topic of the System Administration Guide found in Downloadable Documentation. For assistance, contact Stibo Systems Technical Services. For SaaS systems, contact Stibo Systems. For customers that have custom add-on components and/or if Stibo Systems Support is deploying your system upgrades and patches, submit an upgrade request via the Service Portal.
Note: Customers may want to search the Stibo Systems Service Portal for their Maintenance Patch Issue Numbers. To do so, while in the Service Portal, navigate to Issues (in the header bar) and then select 'Search for Issues.' Click on the 'Advanced' option on the filtering bar, and then type in 'issue=' and the Issue number from the Maintenance Patch Notes. Press Enter or click the magnifying glass icon to run the query. Users will only be able to view Service Portal issues for Maintenance Patch Issue Numbers that they have privileges to access. If the issue is not applicable to the user searching, then a 'No issues were found to match your search' message will be displayed.