It's been a while since our last blog post. However, in the background we are working hard to release the next version of StreamPipes which is currently in the final phase. In this post, we'd like to give you a preview of the upcoming StreamPipes version 0.60.0, which brings many new features and improvements.
Our first public release is now about 6 months ago. In the meantime, we gathered lots of feedback we got from users concerned with the installation, available pipeline elements and usability. We learned what users expect from the tool and really tried to implement feature suggestions from the community.
Here are the major things you'll find in the next version which will be released by the end of September:
Installation and first-time usage
We aim to make it as easy as possible for first-time users to try and test StreamPipes. Although we have provided Docker images and a docker-compose file from the beginning, we've learned that our target group looks for an easier way to install the tool, without the need to manually configuring things like ports or hostnames. For that reason, we have implemented an installer that is already on Github. With the next release, you'll find an even easier installer along with a dev-installer targeted at more advanced users that allows to configure the services and pipeline element containers you'd like to use in your StreamPipes instance.
In addition, we wanted to provide better support for users that are trying to build a pipeline for the first time. Although we provide a tour and a user guide, we are aware that nobody likes reading documentations ;-) Therefore, the next release includes an interactive product tour that guides you through the first steps with StreamPipes and explains how to build pipelines - right in the pipeline editor!
StreamPipes Connect
Although the SDK provides a developer-oriented way to connect new data sources, many users have asked us to provide an easier way to connect sources and data streams to StreamPipes. The next release includes a beta release of StreamPipes Connect. Connect is a major effort that integrates work we've done over the past year and provides an easy way to integrate your data streams right from the UI. A data marketplace contains a list of pre-defined adapters (which can be rather generic by selecting a protocol and a data format or quite specific as, e.g., an openSenseMap source). These adapters can be configured according to your needs and directly started on a set of worker nodes.
StreamPipes Connect also lays the foundation for some cool new features that make it even easier to connect sources and will be added over the next months. In addition, pre-processing features will be integrated that will support edge computing use cases.
Be aware that StreamPipes Connect will be released in a rather early version, so don't use it for production yet.
Pipeline Elements
Pipeline elements (data processors and sinks) are the part of StreamPipes that generate added-value. While the first release contained a set of around 10 pipeline elements, the next release will provide many new elements that are already integrated. New elements will include pattern detection algorithms, geospatial operators, image processing algorithms (e.g., a generic classifier) and even a Slack sink!
In total, the next version includes more than 40 pipeline elements and we will add many more during the next months. The new pipeline elements are already available on Github and will be released as Docker images by the end of September.
Other features and improvements
- A new wrapper for the Siddhi CEP engine
- various bug fixes and stability improvements
- many UX improvements
- many more, stay tuned for the next blog post!
Feedback
We are absolutely open to your suggestions for further improvements! Let us know (by mail, slack or twitter) and we'll consider your feature request in the next release!