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Experience in KNIME Analytics Platform Version 5
Unpacking the new UI and game-changing functionalities
A new version of the KNIME Analytics Platform has been recently launched (March 2023). What are the unique and interesting features?
Let’s explore and delve into it.
What is KNIME Analytics Platform?
KNIME Analytics Platform is a free open source software that features an intuitive and visual interface enabling users to construct analyses at any level of complexity. Users can easily access, blend, analyze, and visualize data without requiring any coding skills. Additionally, users can integrate their preferred tools and libraries as necessary to enhance their analysis.
For novice users, KNIME Analytics Platform does not require any coding knowledge and allows for easy creation of workflows using a drag-and-drop interface. The resulting data blending tasks, ETL processes, visualizations, and dashboards are still professional-looking and easy to understand.
For advanced users, KNIME Analytics Platform provides powerful parameterization and workflow control options, error-handling capabilities, and methods for REST APIs consumption, as well as a wide range of Machine Learning models for classification and prediction. With thousands of native nodes and authorized example workflows, users can build anything from scratch or simply build on top of existing workflows.
Great news for visual learners! KNIME Analytics Platform happily matches your aesthetic needs because Version 5 was just released with a brand new UI and more accessible functionalities. This new UI contains the same basic functions as the previous, allowing users to construct workflows from scratch, open existing workflows, and make alterations to them, but with a more user-friendly, visually appealing, and even more intuitively understandable interface.
The New UI of KNIME Analytics Platform Version 5
Let’s start with a disclaimer. KNIME Analytics Platform Version 5 is still in preview mode and not yet officially distributed. You can find all information and disclaimers in this article on the KNIME Blog. Nevertheless, I took a tour of the new version.
The visual programming approach has not changed with this version. What has changed is the UI, the overall structure of the workbench, and the introduction of a few powerful nodes. Today I will be focusing specifically on the new UI.
1. Downloading
As Version 5 is a preview release, you can only download this version from the KNIME Analytics Platform Version 5 page.
Here are the steps to download:
- Click on “Get Early Access”
- Enter your information and click on “Get Early Access”
- Download the suitable version for your system
- Follow the installer’s instructions
Notice that if you currently have a previous version of KNIME Analytics Platform installed, like for all major version updates, you need to install this new version anew in a separate folder instead of just updating your current KNIME Analytics Platform.
2. Home Page
You will notice the home page interface is a lot simpler and streamlined once you log in into KNIME Analytics Platform Version 5.
Here, you can already sign in on KNIME Community Hub. This might be useful to search for nodes, components and workflows, or connect on shared projects.
You can either create a new workflow in your local space or open an existing workflow from your local space. Just click on the respective frame to open/create a workflow. Let’s open an existing workflow. I have plenty.
3. The New Workbench
The modern UI of KNIME Analytics Platform Version 5 offers more than just a sleek design — it also includes a variety of user-friendly features.
Workflow tabs & left buttons
At the top, like in the previous versions, we find the workflow tabs, that allow you to move from workflow to workflow. Notice to the left the Home tab. This takes you back to the home page.
There are three buttons in the top left part of the workbench, named: Description, Node Repository, and Space Explorer.
- The “Description” button provides the description text of whatever is selected in the central work area: node, component, or entire workflow if nothing is selected.
- The “Node Repository” button opens the new node repository.
- The “Space Explorer” button takes you to the list of workflows in your workspace folder.
Description
Without selection on any nodes, the Description will present the information of the current workflow, including explanation, time edited, and additional resources for this workflow.
If a certain node or component is selected, this section will display the description of this selected node, such as its functionalities, inputs & outputs, and options.
Node Repository
To access the new version of the Node Repository, simply click on the “square” sign on the left side of the screen, where you can view previews of each node’s icon to easily find the appropriate nodes for your workflow.
Notice that just a handful of nodes are immediately visible from the Node Repository. Those are the most frequently used nodes and are more prominently displayed in different sections for ease of use. Do not worry, though! The old nodes are still there. You just have to search for them.
The modern UI offers “tags” to narrow down the nodes based on functionality, allowing you to quickly search through nodes to find the one you need. With thousands of native nodes imported, building workflows in KNIME has become even more efficient and simpler!
Space Explorer
The new Space Explorer has been redesigned with clean outlines for easy access. Unlike the older version, called KNIME Explorer, where users had to click through the small file icons with drop-down menus, the new space explorer allows you to view workflows in a folder-to-folder manner, making the file structure much clearer. The files you are currently working on in a directory will be indicated with a small gray dot, helping you navigate to the correct folder.
Node Guide
The modern UI also has an exciting feature that can help users who are uncertain about which node to incorporate in their workflow. By dragging the output arrow, the modern UI can predict the next suitable node the user’s needs. This predictive capability can greatly enhance the speed and efficiency of the workflow building process by accurately identifying potential nodes (up to 12) that the user may be looking for.
Node Monitor
The Node Monitor in KNIME Analytics Platform Version 5 has been completely redesigned and includes some new helpful features. One of the most noticeable changes is the size — the new version of Node Monitor is larger and easier to view, even for large tables that contain many/large columns. Another improvement is that it no longer takes up the same space as the Console, which eliminates the need to keep switching back and forth between the two. If a node contains multiple table outputs, such as the Partitioning node, you can easily switch between outputs by clicking the bar with different table names on the top.
In addition, the new version of Node Monitor also enables you to view tables based on the order of a specific column by simply clicking the arrow in that column.
Furthermore, you can explore numerical columns from a different perspective by clicking the Data Renderer drop-down and choosing the desired view. These alternative ways of viewing columns will allow you to quickly gain an initial understanding of the dataset.
Configuration & Execution Buttons
Are you tired of constantly right-clicking every time you need to make modifications to nodes in KNIME? The new modern UI includes some convenient shortcuts for making node modifications. Simply hover your cursor over a node and four icons will appear: “Configure Dialog”, “Execute”, “Cancel”, and “Reset”. Additionally, the red dots for flow variables no longer disappear entirely. You can connect flow variables with visible red dots without guessing their place. These features help you work more efficiently through your projects with fewer clicks.
My Take on the new UI
The modern UI is addictive with its new functionalities. Using the new functionalities of the modern UI has given me the impression that I didn’t realize what I was missing until I started using them. It made several adjustments that significantly improve workflow efficiencies and enhance user experience. The interface is now clearer, more intuitive, and easier to navigate. Finding nodes and analyzing datasets has never been simpler. In addition to the features and improvements that I’ve highlighted in this blog post, there are numerous other hidden gems waiting to be discovered by KNIME users.
With its modern UI and user-friendly functionalities, KNIME Analytics Platform Version 5 represents a significant step forward for this popular data science tool. As someone who has been using KNIME for a while, it’s exciting to think about the possibilities for future updates and enhancements to this powerful software. If you haven’t already, I highly recommend giving KNIME Analytics Platform Version 5 a try and seeing for yourself the difference it can make for your data science projects.
KNIME Resources
If you’re interested in learning more about KNIME version 5, you can view it on this KNIME blog for official documentation. Here, you can find a range of resources such as cheat sheets, sample workflows, and getting started guides to help you get up to speed. Additionally, there’s the recording of a webinar [1] [2] aired on March 22nd, 2023 that will be particularly helpful for users who are new to this version. Be sure to check it out if you want to learn more!
If you are interested in learning more about data science, KNIME, as an open-source platform, is actively fostering a community to aid individuals in learning, improving, and mastering data science skills.
To begin learning KNIME, you can enroll in self-paced courses that are beginner-friendly for both data science and KNIME. The courses begin with explanations of relevant concepts and subsequently teach their implementation using KNIME. Upon completion of the courses, you can obtain a certification by taking the examinations, and display your achievement on LinkedIn as additional skills. You can read this Medium blog for other’s experiences of taking the L1 and L2 courses.
As data scientists, we have all encountered moments where we got stuck on a particular problem and cannot seem to find a solution. Fortunately, the KNIME Community Hub serves as a platform where users can share problems and find solutions. The community is open to resolving a broad range of issues, from simple problems to domain-specific data science challenges. The community is composed of users from diverse backgrounds, and all queries, suggestions, and knowledge are welcomed here.
In addition to the self-paced courses and community forum, KNIME provides a broad range of educational resources for data science. These resources include articles, webinars, and books that cover various topics related to data science. You can find articles on Low Code for Data Science on Medium, where KNIME users share their use cases. To review KNIME’s webinars or quickly gain knowledge in data science and KNIME, you can visit the KNIME YouTube channel. Furthermore, KNIME has published books that cover beginner to advanced topics, which can be found on KNIME Press. These resources aim to help individuals understand data science systematically in their respective fields of interest.
As always, happy KNIMEing!
