Modern View Vs Classic View
The following table compares tools available in Designer Classic View with their Modern View equivalents. Use the comparison to identify tools that retain the same functionality, tools with updated names, and user-facing differences in Modern View.
Modern View also supports tools that use Classic configurations. When you select one of these tools, its Classic configuration opens in its own panel, and the canvas and Run button shift to accommodate the panel. This includes macros and tools built with the Python SDK.
Tool Category | Classic View Tool | Modern View Tool | What stays the same | What's different in Modern View |
|---|---|---|---|---|
In/Out | Text Input | Text Input | Same purpose: manually create a small dataset in the workflow. | No major functional difference identified in the source. |
In/Out | DateTime Now | DateTime Now | Generates the current date and time when the workflow runs. | No major functional difference identified. |
Preparation | Auto Field | Auto Column | Automatically optimizes data types and sizes based on the data. | The tool name changes from Auto Field to Auto Column. |
Preparation | Create Samples | Create Samples | Splits incoming data into random samples. | No major functional difference identified. |
Preparation | Data Cleanse Pro | Data Cleanse Pro | Cleans common data-quality problems. | Modern View needs support for filtering selectable columns by data type. |
Preparation | Data Cleansing | Data Cleansing | Performs common cleansing operations such as handling nulls and unwanted characters. | No major functional difference identified. |
Preparation | Filter | Filter | Filters records according to conditions. | Filter options vary based on the selected column's data type. |
Preparation | Formula | Formula | Creates or updates data using expressions and functions. | No significant functional difference is identified |
Preparation | Generate Rows | Generate Rows | Both experiences use an initial value/expression, a condition, and a loop expression to generate rows sequentially. | No major functional difference identified. |
Preparation | Imputation | Imputation | Both experiences support replacing values in numeric fields using average, median, mode, or a specified value. | No major functional difference identified. |
Preparation | Multi-Field Binning | Multi-Column Binning | Both support binning multiple numeric fields/columns using equal records/count or equal intervals/width. | The tool is renamed from Multi-Field Binning to Multi-Column Binning. No significant functional difference is identified |
Preparation | Multi-Field Formula | Multi-Column Formula | Both apply a single expression to multiple selected fields/columns and can update existing or create new columns. | The tool is renamed from Multi-Field Formula to Multi-Column Formula. No significant functional difference is identified. |
Preparation | Multi-Row Formula | Multi-Row Formula | Both experiences let you reference preceding and following rows, create or update a field, and define how to handle rows that don’t exist. | No major functional difference identified. |
Preparation | Oversample Field | Oversample Field | Both experiences let you select the field and value to oversample and specify the desired percentage of records for that value. | No significant functional difference is identified |
Preparation | Random % Sample | Random % Sample | Both experiences support randomly sampling the incoming data by a specified percentage of records. | No significant functional difference is identified. |
Preparation | Rank | Rank | Both experiences support ranking by one or more columns, selecting the ranking order/type, and optionally grouping records. | No significant functional difference is identified. |
Preparation | Record ID | Row ID | Both create a new column with sequential unique identifiers and support grouping to reset the sequence | The tool is renamed from Record ID to Row ID. No significant functional difference is identified. |
Preparation | Sample | Sample | Both experiences support limiting data to a specified number or percentage of rows and applying sampling by groups. | No significant functional difference is identified. |
Preparation | Select | Select | Both experiences support including/excluding, reordering, renaming, and changing the data type or size of columns. | No significant functional difference is identified. |
Preparation | Select Records | Select Rows | Both experiences let you specify individual rows and ranges of rows to return from the incoming data. | The tool is renamed from Select Records to Select Rows. No other significant functional difference is identified. |
Preparation | Sort | Sort | Both experiences let you sort by one or more fields/columns in ascending or descending order and prioritize multiple sort fields. | No significant functional difference is identified. |
Preparation | Tile | Tile | Both experiences assign records to tiles/groups based on data ranges and support specifying the number of tiles or ranges. | No significant functional difference is identified. |
Preparation | Unique | Unique | Both experiences let you select fields/columns to identify unique and duplicate records and return them through separate outputs. | No significant functional difference is identified. |
Join | Append Fields | Append Columns | Both experiences append fields from a smaller Source input to every record of a larger Target input. | The tool is renamed from Append Fields to Append Columns. |
Join | Find Replace | Find Replace | Both experiences let you find matching values in one dataset and either replace values or append columns using another dataset. | No significant functional difference is identified. |
Join | Fuzzy Match | Fuzzy Match | Both experiences support identifying non-identical duplicates using selected match fields, configurable match styles, and similarity thresholds. | No significant functional difference is identified. |
Join | Join | Join | Both experiences support joining 2 inputs by matching fields or record position and provide separate outputs for joined and unmatched records. | No significant functional difference is identified. |
Join | Join Multiple | Join Multiple | Both experiences combine multiple inputs using common fields and support controlling whether output includes only records that join across all inputs. | No significant functional difference is identified. |
Join | Make Group | Make Group | Both experiences use 2 related key fields/columns to assemble records into groups based on their relationships. | No significant functional difference is identified. |
Join | Union | Union | Both experiences combine multiple input datasets into one output and support aligning columns by name or position. | No significant functional difference is identified. |
Parse | DateTime | DateTime | Both experiences convert between string and Date/Time formats, support custom formats and languages, and let you specify the output column. | No significant functional difference is identified. |
Parse | RegEx | RegEx | Both experiences support Replace, Tokenize, Parse, and Match output methods and allow you to configure output columns and data types. | No significant functional difference is identified |
Parse | Text To Columns | Text To Columns | Both experiences split text into multiple columns or rows using delimiters and let you control the resulting output. | No significant functional difference is identified. |
Parse | XML Parse | XML Parse | Both experiences parse XML from a selected field and support returning child values or outer XML in the output. | No significant functional difference is identified. |
Transform | Arrange | Arrange | Rearranges data for presentation. | No major functional difference identified. |
Transform | Count Records | Count Rows | Both count the number of records in the dataset. | The tool is renamed from Count Records to Count Rows. Modern View can add the count to each row and calculate counts within groups |
Transform | Cross Tab | Cross Tab | Both pivot data by grouping values, creating new column headers, selecting values for the new columns, and applying aggregation methods. | No major functional difference identified. |
Transform | Make Columns | Make Columns | Both reshape the incoming data into a different structure. | Designer Desktop Make Columns arranges rows into multiple columns horizontally or vertically. But in Modern View, it pivots selected columns into rows while preserving key fields. |
Transform | Running Total | Running Total | Both calculate cumulative totals on numeric fields, support grouping, and add running-total fields to the output. | No major functional difference identified. |
Transform | Summarize | Summarize | Both support grouping and aggregation of data. | No major functional difference identified. |
Transform | Transpose | Transpose | Both reshape data from a wide/horizontal structure into rows by selecting Key Columns to preserve and Data Columns to transpose. | No major functional difference identified. |
Transform | Weighted Average | Weighted Average | Both calculate a weighted average using a numeric value field and a numeric weight field, support an output field name, and optionally calculate the result by groups. | No major functional difference identified. |
Developer | Field Info | Column Info | Both output field/column metadata, including name, data type, size, and source, as a data stream. | The tool is renamed from Field Info to Column Info. |
Developer | Dynamic Rename | Dynamic Rename | Both rename multiple fields/columns using rules, including formulas, adding or removing prefixes/suffixes, and using names from another input. | No major functional difference identified. Modern View lets you preview results before applying changes. |
Developer | Dynamic Replace | Dynamic Replace | Both replace values across fields using replacement data and support conditions/expressions to determine the replacement. | No major functional difference identified. Modern View lets you preview results before applying changes. |
Developer | Dynamic Select | Dynamic Select | Both dynamically select or deselect fields based on data type or a formula, including fields that change at runtime. | No major functional difference identified. |
Developer | JSON Build | JSON Build | Both build properly formatted JSON from tabular data and support hierarchical keys and grouping to create separate JSON objects. | No major functional difference identified. Modern View provides additional controls for arrays, null/empty handling, data-type preservation, and single-document or row-level JSON output. |
Developer | JSON Parse | JSON Parse | Both parse JSON text into structured tabular data and handle nested objects and arrays | In the Modern View, you can select a root path using JSONPath-style selectors and choose whether to keep raw fragments. |
Documentation | Tool Container | Container | Both let you group tools in a container, expand or collapse the container, disable or enable the tools inside, and customize the container for workflow organization. | No major functional difference identified. |
Documentation | Comment | Comment | Both let you add comments to the canvas, enter and format text, change text and background colors, and resize comments | Modern View also supports bold and italic text formatting, borders, and linking comments to nearby tools through connectors or alignment guides. |