The new version of CMDBuild 2.5 has been released. It includes the following main new features:

1) possibility to configure CMDBuild in “cluster” mode

It is possible to enable multiple independent Tomcat (application server) nodes, controlled by an Apache Load Balancer, in order to ensure:

• the availability of the system (in case a node stops responding, functionality is provided by active nodes, in a transparent way for the user)
• the scalability of the system (requests are distributed on multiple nodes, with faster response times, in the case of a large number of competing users)

Here below there is a schema of the resulting architecture:

2) New user password management, with the possibility to specify the expiration date (with notification) and the formatting rules

Legislations on the security of data processing and the confidentiality of personal data (including the new GDPR, General Data Protection Regulation - Regulation UE 2016/679) require greater attention to the issue of unauthorized access.

In this perspective, we have integrated new password management features, with the possibility of:

• specifying the password expiration date;
• sending a notification email about the expiration, with configurable advance time;
• defining composition rules, such as minimum length, presence of numbers, uppercase/lowercase letters;
• verifying that it is different from the previous password and from the username.

When the password expires, the user sees a customizable message, which redirects him to a page where the new password should be entered:

3) GIS Refactoring

The management of geophysical objects has been improved, loading them progressively as they are displayed on the map and then deleting the memory if necessary.

This has reduced the execution times, and the system is now about to operate with an almost unlimited number of objects.

Other improvements have also been implemented, including easier data navigation (automatic shift on selected object level, automatic shutdown of a floor if another one is selected in the same building), and the ability for the administrator to configure CQL filters to control navigation in the GIS tree.

4) Extension of the Task Manager with a new task type for an automatic scheduled sending of reports by mail

The CMDBuild Task Manager, configurable in the Administration Module, now includes a new type of task that can be used to schedule automatic sending of emails with a report attached.

Using the Configuration Wizard, it is possible to specify the mail recipient, the template to use, the scheduling criteria, to define context variables for the calculation of the report parameters, to value these parameters statically or with the help of defined context variables.

For example, it is therefore possible to send a report with content dependent from the time the task was executed, calculated automatically by the Task Manager.

5) Upgrading of BIM capabilities to support IFC4 format and redoing of the 3D visualization

CMDBuild now supports the latest versions of BIMserver (1.5.x), integrating support to the standard IFC4.

In the new version, the 3D viewer has been completely rewritten and is now based on the bimview.ws project.

A more realistic rendering of the displayed buildings is thus available.

6) Optimization of javascript file recovery policies from the browser, in order to reduce login waiting times

As the number (several hundreds) of javascript files that composed the CMDBuild user interface increased, the initial time of first access to the application progressively increased (then the cache improved the performance for later uploads).

The sources have now been reorganized into a much smaller number of files, with a great optimization of loading times.

Moreover, using Apache as a front-end allows to further optimize the transfer via additional modules (mod_gzip, mod_deflate) that compress javascript files to load.

For the complete list of changes, please check changelog.