Latest version of the Thinkwise Platform makes life even easier for low-code developers

Apeldoorn, 19 July 2022 – Thinkwise, vendor of a low-code platform for core applications, introduces a new product version. It includes several improvements, of which 26 percent were the result of votes from the Thinkwise Community. The innovations simplify the work of Thinkwise developers and also improve the performance and ease of use of the platform.

The Thinkwise Platform is continuously under development, resulting in two to three new releases every year. Numerous improvements have been made in version 2022.2 of the platform, both in the core as well as for the end users. What is remarkable about this release is that a large number of the ideas and suggestions originate from the Thinkwise Community. More than a quarter of all votes on ideas and suggestions from the Ideas section have been delivered. A general overview of the new features is given below. The full change log can be read here.

“For this latest platform release we have listened to the wishes of the Thinkwise Community more than ever,” says Jasper Kloost, Thinkwise CTO. “Development using our platform is becoming increasingly user friendly, certainly for ISVs (Independent Software Vendors). This helps simplify implementations, but also provides powerful capabilities for the end users with minimal manual effort.”

An improved end-user experiences

The Thinkwise Platform is extremely flexible in how it is applied, which is why it is used by an increasing number of ISVs to develop software products for their customers. A number of platform improvements focus specifically on this use case.

One example is the addition of OpenID provisioning for new users. New users could already log in to the Thinkwise Platform via an existing OpenID account but now, based on the available information, a new account can be created for them in Thinkwise without any prior administration.

More activities, which previously required some manual effort, have now been automated. Thinkwise applications are multilingual by design and are always displayed in whichever language the logged-in user prefers. Language is now also taken into account even before the user has logged in. Thinkwise applications now automatically apply the preferred language of the browser when displaying landing pages and login screens. Furthermore, time records can now be stored in the UTC time zone by default and automatically converted to the user's time zone. This is extremely useful for companies with foreign branches or partners.

Another noteworthy improvement is that it has now become much easier to send notifications to users from the Universal UI.

New flexible possibilities

Thinkwise developers will be very pleased with the newly added option to modify ad-hoc storage locations. Previously this had to be configured in advance, but now a product implementer or administrator can modify this themselves, for example, by switching from a file system to cloud storage.

It has now become much easier to allow users access to files in the platform. For example, you can now easily add attachments to process flows, regardless of their physical storage location. File downloads can be offered ad-hoc in the user interface, and even zipped or printed on demand. This makes printing summaries and reports much easier, and no longer requires prior manual configuration.

Another example of improved ease of use that has originated from the community is the centralization of the pictogram database. Because they are now stored at one central location, they are easier to find and more uniform in their application.

Additional encryption options have been added to improve security and privacy. Along with the encryption of data in transit and data at rest, many kinds of other interactions can now be encrypted in the background, for example, during the authentication with external platforms and services.

Performance improvements

Thinkwise is continually optimizing the development environment and improving the performance and system load of the low-code applications. The software generation process has become faster and more effective in this latest release. This was achieved by adding various enrichments and indexes while interpreting the low-code models. These were previously used just once, but they are now re-used and revised during this process. This results in a significant reduction in system load, which saves a great deal of time, especially for organizations with an extensive IT environment.

The implementation of Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery (CI/CD) has now become much easier, especially for cloud scenarios. Previously, implementation files had to be placed at disk locations, but can now be stored at any location, including (public) cloud locations and ftp servers. This is especially useful for ISVs, because it simplifies cloud implementations and CI/CD, without them having to modify their process.

Ideas from the Thinkwise Community

Something that stands out in the complete change log of Thinkwise version 2022.2 is that an increasing number of innovations are the result of votes from the Thinkwise Community. Users of the platform can find all available documentation, news and in-depth information in this online environment. There is also a forum to pose questions to Thinkwise experts and other users of the platform. Here they can also suggest changes or new platform features, which the community can then vote on. The highest rated suggestions will be scheduled for implementation in an upcoming Thinkwise release.

For more information about Thinkwise Platform 2022.2 please read the change log.