This topic describes the latest updates to MaxCompute V2.0 documentation. These updates allow you to understand the new features, syntax, and permissions in MaxCompute and help you improve project development efficiency.

Updates in November 2020

Release date Feature Category Description Documentation
2020-11-30 Information of public datasets Updated description Information of public datasets is added to the International site (alibabacloud.com) for testing and trial use. Overview
2020-11-30 Query editor New feature The MaxCompute V2.0 console provides a query editor for you to execute SQL statements and analyze data. Query editor
2020-11-27 Configuration upgrade and downgrade Updated description Configuration upgrade and downgrade are performed in the MaxCompute V2.0 console. Upgrade or downgrade configurations
2020-11-26 Fields of audit logs Updated description Fields of audit logs are updated. Audit logs
2020-11-20 ORDER BY without LIMIT New description MaxCompute supports the execution of ORDER BY without LIMIT. SELECT syntax
2020-11-17 Instructions on how to reference third-party packages in Python user-defined functions (UDFs) New description Instructions on how to reference third-party packages in Python UDFs are added. These packages include NumPy packages, third-party packages that need to be compiled, and third-party packages that are dependent on dynamic-link libraries (DLLs). Reference third-party packages in Python UDFs
2020-11-04 Optional parameters for enabling MaxCompute Query Acceleration (MCQA) on the MaxCompute JDBC driver Updated description Optional parameters are added for enabling MCQA on the MaxCompute JDBC driver. Usage notes

Updates in October 2020

Release date Feature Category Description Documentation
2020-10-30 MAPJOIN hint supported by SEMI JOIN Updated description SEMI JOIN supports the MAPJOIN hint, which improves the performance of LEFT SEMI or ANTI JOIN and resolves data skew issues. SEMI JOIN
2020-10-30 SORT BY without DISTRIBUTE BY Updated description MaxCompute supports the execution of SORT BY without DISTRIBUTE BY. This resolves data reordering issues and improves the filtering performance during the execution of SQL statements. SELECT syntax
2020-10-30 ZORDER BY clause supported by INSERT New feature The INSERT statement supports the ZORDER BY clause, which can co-locate rows with similar data together. This improves the filtering performance during queries and reduces storage costs. INSERT OVERWRITE and INSERT INTO
2020-10-30 Deletion of multiple partitions at the same time by using conditional filtering New feature If you want to delete one or more partitions that meet a specific condition at the same time, you can use a conditional expression to delete the partitions that match the condition at the same time. Partition and column operations
2020-10-30 GBK encoding supported for OSS external tables in the CSV or TSV format Updated description The odps.text.option.encoding property supports GBK encoding. Access OSS data by using the built-in extractor
2020-10-30 DATETIME data type supported by time functions YEAR, QUARTER, MONTH, DAY, HOUR, MINUTE, and SECOND Updated description The time functions YEAR, QUARTER, MONTH, DAY, HOUR, MINUTE, and SECOND support the DATETIME data type. Date functions
2020-10-30 WIDTH_BUCKET function New feature The WIDTH_BUCKET function is added. This function returns the ID of the bucket into which the value of a specific field falls. Mathematical functions
2020-10-12 Commercial use of MCQA Updated description The MCQA feature is available for commercial use and charged. MCQA overview
2020-10-10 Modification of the clustering property of tables New description The description of how to modify the clustering property of tables is added. Table operations

Updates in September 2020

Release date Feature Category Description Documentation
2020-09-24 PyODPS module New description The description of PyODPS jobs is added. PyODPS
2020-09-17 Description of creating a RAM user New description The description of creating a RAM user is added. Create RAM users
2020-09-08 Description of the LOAD command New description The description of the LOAD command is added. LOAD
2020-09-03 Description of Tunnel Upload Updated description The description of the Tunnel Upload command is updated. Tunnel commands
2020-09-01 Best practice to migrate data from BigQuery to MaxCompute New practice A best practice is added to describe how to migrate data from BigQuery to MaxCompute. Migrate data from BigQuery to MaxCompute
2020-09-01 Best practice to migrate data from Amazon Redshift to MaxCompute New practice A best practice is added to describe how to migrate data from Amazon Redshift to MaxCompute. Migrate data from Amazon Redshift to MaxCompute

Updates in August 2020

Release date Feature Category Description Documentation
2020-08-07 Best practice to optimize costs New practice A best practice is added to describe how to optimize the computing, storage, data upload, and data download costs. Cost optimization
2020-08-06 Best practice to assign the Super_Administrator role to a RAM user for a MaxCompute project New practice A best practice is added to describe how to assign the Super_Administrator role to a RAM user for a MaxCompute project. It also describes how to manage members and permissions by using the Super_Administrator role. Set a RAM user as the super administrator for a MaxCompute project
2020-08-05 Best practices to segment Chinese texts by using Jieba in a PyODPS node New practice The following best practices are added: 1. Segment Chinese texts by using Jieba, an open source segmentation tool, and write the segmented words and phrases to a new table in a PyODPS node in DataWorks. 2. Use Jieba to segment Chinese texts based on a custom dictionary referenced by a closure function. Use a PyODPS node to segment Chinese text based on Jieba
2020-08-05 Best practice to grant access to a specific UDF only to a specified user New practice A best practice is added to describe how to set resources (tables or UDFs) to be accessible only to specified users. Grant access to a specific UDF to a specified user
2020-08-05 Best practice to migrate data from Oracle to MaxCompute New practice A best practice is added to describe how to use the data integration feature of DataWorks to migrate data from Oracle to MaxCompute. Migrate data from Oracle to MaxCompute
2020-08-05 Best practice to migrate data from a self-managed MySQL database on an Elastic Compute Service (ECS) instance to MaxCompute New practice A best practice is added to describe how to use exclusive resource groups for data integration to migrate data from a self-managed MySQL database on an ECS instance to MaxCompute. Migrate data from a user-created MySQL database on an ECS instance to MaxCompute
2020-08-05 odps.text.option.use.quote property supported by SERDEPROPERTIES New description The description of the odps.text.option.use.quote property is added. This property specifies whether to recognize a double quotation mark (") as the column delimiter in a CSV file. Access OSS data by using the built-in extractor

Updates in July 2020

Release date Feature Category Description Documentation
2020-07-29 Best practice to migrate data from MaxCompute to Tablestore New practice A best practice is added to describe how to migrate data from MaxCompute to Tablestore. Migrate data from MaxCompute to Tablestore
2020-07-29 Best practice to migrate data from MaxCompute to Object Storage Service (OSS) New practice A best practice is added to describe how to use the data synchronization feature of DataWorks to migrate data from MaxCompute to OSS. Migrate data from MaxCompute to OSS
2020-07-24 Data encryption New feature The description of the data encryption feature is added. MaxCompute uses Key Management Service (KMS) to encrypt data for storage. This way, MaxCompute can provide static data protection to meet corporate governance and security compliance requirements. Data encryption
2020-07-23 Aggregate functions New description The description of aggregate functions APPROX_DISTINCT, ANY_VALUE, ARG_MAX, and ARG_MIN is added. Aggregate functions
2020-07-23 New data types supported by Python UDFs New description New data types are supported by Python UDFs.
2020-07-23 SQL functions New feature The description of SQL functions that allow you to reference SQL UDFs in SQL scripts is added. SQL functions
2020-07-23 Code-embedded UDFs New feature The description of code-embedded UDFs is added. Code-embedded UDFs allow you to embed Java or Python code into SQL scripts.
2020-07-20 Audit logs New feature The description of the features, scenarios, scope, and fields of audit logs is added. Audit logs
2020-07-15 Best practice to use Tunnel to upload log data to MaxCompute New practice A best practice is added to describe how to use Tunnel to upload log data to MaxCompute. Use Tunnel to upload log data to MaxCompute
2020-07-15 Best practice to use DataHub to migrate log data to MaxCompute New practice A best practice is added to describe how to use DataHub to migrate log data to MaxCompute. Use DataHub to migrate log data to MaxCompute
2020-07-15 Best practice to use the data integration feature of DataWorks to migrate log data to MaxCompute New practice A best practice is added to describe how to use the data integration feature of DataWorks to synchronize data collected by LogHub to MaxCompute. Use DataWorks Data Integration to migrate log data to MaxCompute
2020-07-08 CLONE TABLE New feature The description of the CLONE TABLE statement is added. MaxCompute supports the CLONE TABLE statement that allows you to clone data from one table to another. This statement facilitates data migration and replication. CLONE TABLE

Updates in June 2020

Release date Feature Category Description Documentation
2020-06-03 Tunnel OVERWRITE command New description The description of the Tunnel OVERWRITE command is added. Tunnel commands
2020-06-01 Optimization of access to instances in a VPC from Spark on MaxCompute New description and example The following content is added:
  • Limits on VPC whitelists and regions
  • Examples of merged JSON text when Spark on MaxCompute is used to access different instances
Access instances in a VPC from Spark on MaxCompute
2020-06-01 Policy-based access control and download control New example Examples on how to use policy-based access control and permission revocation are added. Policy-based access control and download control

Updates in January 2020

Release date Feature Category Description Documentation
2020-01-14 Improved SQL compatibility New description The execution rules of the GET_IDCARD_AGE, CONCAT_WS, and LIKE functions are modified.
2020-01-09 Parameter description New description The parameters in examples are described. Project data protection

Updates in December 2019

Release date Feature Category Description Documentation
2019-12-25 Open source geospatial UDFs New feature The description of open source geospatial UDFs is added. You can register open source geospatial UDFs with MaxCompute and use them as open source Hive UDFs. Open source geospatial UDFs

Updates in November 2019

Release date Feature Category Description Documentation
2019-11-06 Description of whether MaxCompute supports partition pruning New description The description of whether MaxCompute supports partition pruning is added. Comparison of functions built in MaxCompute, MySQL, and Oracle

Updates in October 2019

Release date Feature Category Description Documentation
2019-10-09 New SQL syntax New feature
  • The syntax to merge partitions is added.
  • The syntax that uses a pair of parentheses to specify the priorities of operations in JOIN and SETOP statements is added.
  • The built-in function JSON_TUPLE is added.
  • The EXTRACT function is added.
  • Two flags are added.
  • The LIMIT and OFFSET clauses are supported.
  • Default values can be specified for columns in a table.
  • The NATURAL JOIN statement is supported.
  • New operators are supported.
  • The syntax to delete partitions is added.

Updates in July 2019

Release date Feature Category Description Documentation
2019-07-12 odps-sql-reshuffle-dynamicpt added to the SET command New command odps-sql-reshuffle-dynamicpt is added to configure dynamic partitions. This prevents excessive small files from being generated when dynamic partitions are split. SET operations

Updates in June 2019

Release date Feature Category Description Documentation
2019-06-17 Description of the VALUES statement New description The description of how to create data for simple business testing is added. VALUES