This topic describes the latest updates to MaxCompute documentation in 2021. These updates allow you to understand the new features, new syntax, and permission updates in MaxCompute and help you improve the project development efficiency.

Updates in June 2021

Release date Feature Category Description References
2021-06-07 Data integration import and export data content rectification. Updated description Refactored data integration to import and export data content.

Updates in May 2021

Release date Feature Category Description References
2021-05-31 Descriptions related to preparation items Updated description The preparation procedure and related descriptions are modified. Prepare
2021-05-31 Quick start Updated description The quick start for each tool is provided. Quick Start

Updates in March 2021

Release date Feature Category Description References
2021-03-25 MaxCompute error codes Updated description New information is added to the MaxCompute error code list.
2021-03-16 NOT NULL attribute for a specific column in the CREATE TABLE syntax Updated description The NOT NULL attribute can be configured in the CREATE TABLE syntax to specify that the values in a specific column cannot be NULL. Table operations
2021-03-16 FROM_JSON and TO_JSON functions New description The FROM_JSON and TO_JSON functions are added. You can use the FROM_JSON function to convert data in the JSON format to data in a data type supported by MaxCompute. You can also use this function to extract information from data in the JSON format and return data in the ARRAY, MAP, or STRUCT type based on the jsonStr and schema information. You can use the TO_JSON function to convert data in the ARRAY, MAP, or STRUCT format to data in the JSON format. String functions
2021-03-16 Atomicity, consistency, isolation, durability (ACID) semantics for transactional tables New feature New ACID semantics for transactional tables are added based on the ACID semantics for concurrent write jobs. ACID semantics
2021-03-12 Periodic check for scheduled tasks that are continuously run with empty output and scheduled tasks with continuous full table scans New feature Top-level scheduled SQL tasks that are continuously run with empty output and top-level scheduled SQL tasks with continuous full table scans can be periodically checked in MaxCompute. If such a task is found, the ID of the instance on which the task runs the last time is displayed. In this case, we recommend that you check and optimize the related jobs to reduce resource consumption. Use MaxCompute Management
2021-03-12 Column-level access control Updated description Column-level access control is supported. Authorize users
2021-03-12 Enabling and disabling of download control based on property settings Updated description A property can be configured to enable or disable download control. To enable or disable download control, you must configure a property at the project level as the project owner or a user who has been assigned the Super_Administrator role. Policy-based access control and download control
2021-03-01 Lakehouse solution New feature A lakehouse solution is provided to build a data management platform that combines the flexibility and diverse ecosystems of data lakes with the enterprise-level deployment capability of data warehouses. Lakehouse of MaxCompute

Updates in February 2021

Release date Feature Category Description References
2021-02-23 Example of how to use a Python 2 UDTF to read resources from MaxCompute New example An example of how to use a Python 2 user-defined table-valued function (UDTF) to read resources from MaxCompute is added. Python 2 UDFs
2021-02-23 Example of how to use a Python 3 UDTF to read resources from MaxCompute New example An example of how to use a Python 3 UDTF to read resources from MaxCompute is added. Python 3 UDF
2021-02-23 External files referenced by Spark jobs New description The description that Spark jobs reference external files is added. Set up a Spark on MaxCompute development environment
2021-02-20 An example of how to use a UDTF with LATERAL VIEW is added. New example An example of how to use a UDTF with LATERAL VIEW is added. UDTF usage
2021-02-09 Deletion of user permissions New description The description of deleting user permissions is added. Manage users
2021-02-07 Removal of the limit that only constants can be used in VALUES Updated description The limit that only constants can be used in VALUES is removed. VALUES
2021-02-07 Multipart upload of Object Storage Service (OSS) external tables New description The multipart upload feature of OSS is supported. This feature allows you to perform the INSERT operation to write data to OSS external tables. Export data to OSS
2021-02-07 ARRAY_INTERSECT and SORT_ARRAY functions New description The ARRAY_INTERSECT function is added to calculate the intersection of two arrays. The isAsc parameter is added to the SORT_ARRAY function. This parameter specifies whether to sort the given arrays in ascending or descending order. The default value of this parameter is True, which indicates that given arrays are sorted in ascending order. Other functions
2021-02-07 Filter expressions and the COUNT_IF function New description Filter expressions are supported. You can specify filter conditions for an aggregate function in a SELECT clause. This helps you separately control the data range of the aggregate function in an aggregate statement. The COUNT_IF function is added to count the number of data records that meet the IF condition. Aggregate functions
2021-02-07 Support for the DATE and TIMESTAMP data types by date functions DATEADD, DATE_ADD, DATEDIFF, DATEPART, and DATETRUNC New description The date functions DATEADD, DATE_ADD, DATEDIFF, DATEPART, and DATETRUNC are enhanced to support the DATE and TIMESTAMP data types. Date functions
2021-02-07 BASE64, UNBASE64, and PARSE_URL functions New description The string function PARSE_URL is added to parse URLs. The BASE64 and UNBASE64 functions are added to implement conversions between binary strings and Base64-encoded strings. String functions
2021-02-07 Disabling of header display in the MaxCompute command line to facilitate shell calls New description In a shell window or in the Windows command line, you may need to use the dynamic return value that is obtained by executing the odpscmd -e SQL statement. The variable of shell can obtain this dynamic return value and run subsequent jobs in shell. In this scenario, only field values are required. Other information, such as runtime information and headers, must not be returned. You can run set odps.sql.select.output.format={needHeader:false,fieldDelim:""}; to disable header display and export the standard output from the calculation result to the destination handle. MaxCompute client
2021-02-07 Data export from MaxCompute to OSS by using UNLOAD New feature MaxCompute allows you to export data to OSS by using the UNLOAD command. This way, you can use OSS to store structured data and use other computing engines in OSS to process and analyze the data exported from MaxCompute. UNLOAD
2021-02-07 SKEWJOIN HINT New feature If two tables that you want to join contain hot key values, a long tail may occur. In this case, SKEWJOIN HINT can be used to automatically or manually extract hot key values from the two tables, separately calculate the join results of the hot key values and non-hot key values, and then join the calculated data. This accelerates the JOIN operation. SKEWJOIN HINT
2021-02-07 Reading and writing MC-Hologres data by using the JDBC driver New feature You can use MaxCompute external tables to access data of MC-Hologres data sources by using the Java Database Connectivity (JDBC) driver. You can create an MC-Hologres external table in MaxCompute to query the data of MC-Hologres data sources by using the JDBC driver provided by PostgreSQL. This method prevents redundant data storage and allows you to obtain query results at a fast speed without the need to import or export data. Reading and writing data of MC-Hologres external tables is in the public preview stage. Data computing is free of charge but the Service Level Agreement (SLA) is not guaranteed. MC-Hologres external tables
2021-02-01 Change records of Mars V0.6.3 New description Change records of Mars V0.6.3 are added. Version updates

Updates in January 2021

Release date Feature Category Description References
2021-01-21 Change in the return behavior of the GET_JSON_OBJECT function Updated description For new MaxCompute projects, the GET_JSON_OBJECT function retains the original strings instead of escaping JSON reserved characters when it returns a value. GET_JSON_OBJECT
2021-01-19 Content adjustment and optimization of the SELECT syntax Updated description The content of the SELECT syntax is adjusted, and sample statements are optimized. SELECT syntax
2021-01-05 Description of data migration New description The Data migration topic is added, and the content related to data upload and download and the migration tool is moved to this topic. Data upload and download