SQL Anywhere 12.0.1 WhitePaper - Sybase

Contents:Introduction .................................................................................................................................................. 2Out‐of‐Box Performance ............................................................................................................................... 3Spatial Enhancements ................................................................................................................................................ 3Developer Productivity ................................................................................................................................. 4Enhanced Database Management ............................................................................................................................. 4Improved SQL Language ............................................................................................................................................ 4Additional Driver Support .......................................................................................................................................... 5Java and .NET Improvements ..................................................................................................................................... 5UltraLite Enhancements ............................................................................................................................................. 5Advanced Data Synchronization ................................................................................................................... 6Performance .............................................................................................................................................................. 6Consolidated Database Support ................................................................................................................................ 6Synchronization Client Enhancements ....................................................................................................................... 6Additional MobiLink Enhancements .......................................................................................................................... 6SQL Anywhere 12.0.1New Features Summary – February 2011i

IntroductionSQL Anywhere is the leading data management and enterprise synchronization solution for applications thatoperate outside the traditional data center. From its inception, SQL Anywhere was designed to deliverenterprise caliber features, high out‐of‐the‐box performance, and robust synchronization enabling theimplementation of mission‐critical database solutions for networked, embedded, and mobile environments.The latest release, SQL Anywhere 12.0.1 continues to advance SQL Anywhere’s corner stone offerings withfeature enhancements and improvements in the areas of out‐of‐box performance, developer productivity,and advanced data synchronization. This white paper summarizes the new features available in SQLAnywhere 12.0.1 under these three areas of focus, including new features added to MobiLink, UltraLite,DBA tools and spatial data querying. To learn more about SQL Anywhere and the new features andfunctionalities of the latest releases, visit our SQL Anywhere homepage at: www.sybase.com/sqlanywhere.SQL Anywhere 12.0.1New Features Summary – February 20112

Out‐of‐Box PerformanceSQL Anywhere 12.0.1 further builds on one of the major features added to SQL Anywhere in the last decade,spatial data support. As with SQL Anywhere 12, SQL Anywhere 12.0.1 allows for the storage and querying ofspatial data, which is the data that describes the position, shape, and orientation of objects in a definedspace. The following enhancements have been made to spatial data support in the latest release of SQLAnywhere.Spatial EnhancementsSeveral improvements have been made which affect the overall performance and speed of the execution ofspatial queries. Performance enhancements include faster loading time for shapefiles and theimplementation of new constructs such as spatial set operations and predicates.The visual administration tool in SQL Anywhere 12.0.1 has also undergone improvements and now has theability to import ESRI shapefiles. This means greater efficiency and flexibility for you as it is no longernecessary to change file formats prior to importing the data.SQL Anywhere 12.0.1New Features Summary – February 20113

Developer ProductivityIn SQL Anywhere 12.0.1, new developer productivity features include several new stored procedures anddatabase options, SQL language enhancements, and the implementation of UltraLite support for Androidsmartphone and tablet devices.Enhanced Database ManagementSQL Anywhere 12.0.1 has implemented several new system stored procedures, server parameters, anddatabase options that control many aspects of the database behavior. For instance, you can now specify theserver principal used by the database server for Kerberos authentication. Another example is the ability toprovide each database with an additional set of directories or JAR files in which to search for whenexecuting Java objects in the database, a useful option when your application must provide the directoriesor JAR files.SQL Anywhere supports database mirroring and Veritas Cluster Server to provide high availability. This isdone through the configuration of either two or three database servers, running on separate computers,which co‐operate to maintain copies of the database and transaction log files. Database mirroringenhancements have been made to the PartnerState property and the MirrorServerState property to allowfor better management of a high availability environment. These properties now return the following valueswhen used with their corresponding Property functions:• Connected• Incoming only• Outgoing only• Disconnected• NULLImproved SQL LanguageImprovements to the SQL language have added additional functionality and flexibility within the program,letting you do more. The following are some of the new statements and clauses that can be utilized in SQLAnywhere 12.0.1:• IN parameters of data types LONG VARCHAR, LONG BINARY, and LONG NVARCHAR now allowedin remote procedure calls• USING clause of the CREATE SERVER statement can now contain variables• AT clause of the CREATE EXISTING TABLE statement and CREATE PROCEDURE statement can nowcontain variables• Enhancement to the RAISERROR clause of the MERGE statement and to the RAISERROR statement• VALIDATE TEXT INDEX statement• Extended syntax for TOP and LIMIT clausesSQL Anywhere 12.0.1New Features Summary – February 2011

Additional Driver SupportSQL Anywhere 12.0.1 offers improved support for JDBC. JDBC is a call‐level interface for Java applications,providing you with a uniform interface to a wide range of relational databases, and a common base onwhich higher level tools and interfaces can be built.The JDBC driver now supports the following PreparedStatement.setClob methods for improvedperformance and memory usage when working with large strings and large character streams:PreparedStatement.setClob( int parameterIndex, Clob x )PreparedStatement.setClob( int parameterIndex, Reader reader, long length )Java and .NET ImprovementsThe SQL Anywhere Java VM ClassLoader which is used in providing Java in the database support now allowsapplications to install shutdown hooks. These shutdown hooks are very similar to the shutdown hooks thatapplications install with the JVM Runtime. When a connection that is using Java in the database supportexecutes a STOP JAVA statement or disconnects, the ClassLoader for that connection will now run allshutdown hooks that have been installed for that particular connection prior to unloading.The .NET SetupVSPackage application now performs several installer functions such as updating the GlobalAssembly Cache and the Windows Microsoft.NET machine.config file. In addition, if SQL Server 2008 or lateris installed on the system, .NET SetupVSPackage also installs mapping files to import and export datato/from SQL Anywhere.UltraLite EnhancementsThe UltraLite database now supports Android smartphone and tablet devices. You can use the Androidimplementation of the UltraLiteJ API to create feature rich applications that use UltraLite databases. Datasynchronization is also enabled between a consolidated database and an UltraLite database running on theAndroid device.SQL Anywhere 12.0.1New Features Summary – February 20115

Advanced Data SynchronizationSQL Anywhere 12.0.1 also offers new improvements to MobiLink, SQL Anywhere’s feature rich datareplication and synchronization tool. The latest improvements to MobiLink offered in SQL Anywhere 12.0.1include: performance advancements, additional database support, and client enhancements.PerformanceThe MobiLink synchronization server monitors performance and automatically adjusts the number ofconcurrent database worker threads as necessary. This feature allows deployments to achieve betterthroughput with less load testing. Given a wide enough range when launching the synchronization server,MobiLink automatically finds the number of database worker threads providing the best throughput.Consolidated Database SupportThe MobiLink server now supports Sybase IQ as a consolidated database. To set up Sybase IQ to work as aMobiLink consolidated database, you must run a setup procedure that adds MobiLink system tables, storedprocedures, triggers, and views that are required for MobiLink synchronization.The MobiLink server on a Windows or Linux platform also supports consolidated databases running onSybase Adaptive Server Enterprise 15.5.Synchronization Client EnhancementsSQL Anywhere 12.0.1 has also integrated the following improvements to MobiLink Clients:• Automatic resumption of HTTP sessions ‐ When an HTTP connection is lost, MobiLink clientsautomatically attempt to reconnect to the MobiLink server and continue the synchronization.• DER encoded keys are now supported for end‐to‐end encryption• Support for public keys from x.509 certificates ‐ End‐to‐end encryption now supports public keysfrom x.509 certificates.Additional MobiLink EnhancementsThe MobiLink Agent for central administration of remote databases now supports two new variables fortask conditions {is_online} and {network_conn_name}. The variable {is_online} can be used to checkwhether the client device is connected to a network on which the MobiLink server of the agent can bereached. The variable {network_conn_name} evaluates to the name of the network connection that is usedby the Agent for communication with its MobiLink server.The MobiLink Agent can now be configured interactively on a remote device through a series ofconfiguration windows.MobiLink Relay Server has also received additional features. The Relay Server Outbound Enabler (RSOE), forexample, now supports HTTP authentication (Basic and Digest) against web servers and HTTP proxies. Thefollowing new (optional) network connection options have been added to the Outbound Enabler:• http_userid ‐ Userid for authentication.SQL Anywhere 12.0.1New Features Summary – February 2011

• http_password ‐ Password for authentication.• http_proxy_userid ‐ Userid for proxy authentication.• http_proxy_password ‐ Password for proxy authentication.• proxy_host ‐ Specifies the host name or IP address of the proxy server.• proxy_port ‐ Specifies the port number of the proxy server.SQL Anywhere 12.0.1New Features Summary – February 20117

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