Hi,
in 5.8 I was searching for the well know “Add Empty Rows” node:
However, to my surprise, that cannot be found even with the deprecated flag:
Upon drag & drop from the Hub the node appears to have been incompletely renamed to “Constant Value Row Appender“ which is rather confusing.
Best
Mike
Hi @mwiegand, that would have had me confused too!
I can (sometimes) understand the changing of node names over time but these can be equally confusing for both seasoned users and newbies, who look through the forum for a solution to a problem, but then the solution appears to make no sense on the latest version, because the mentioned nodes “don’t exist”
Having just looked at the 5.8 change log I see this appears
AP-25036: WebUI-Migration for Constant Value Row Appender (previously Add Empty Rows)
But it would be nice to have a more obvious section on the changelog (and in the KNIME help menu)that explicitly tells us of these node name changes.
I’ve long-since wanted some kind of lookup table for where node names have changed, as it can be a pain trying to mentally switch between versions, and today, I had a play with the Nodepit extension which can build a catalog of the KNIME nodes. I’ve chosen to search from 4.3 through to 5.9.
This is the resultant spreadsheet so far…
KNIME-VersionsNodeCatalog-sf.xlsx (920.7 KB)
Looking up Add Empty Rows in the “Changed Nodes” tab, which identifies where node names have changed across the selected versions, you will find this:
so it’s looking promising!
I’ll publish the workflow that generates this table soon.
Adding tags as a meta field to improve in-app search would be splendit. That workflow of yours might be a very good starting point for Knime as well!
I’m wondering if there’s a unified naming convention or guideline, so that when I can’t find the empty... node, I can guess its new name is constant....
I certainly don’t want to have to search through Excel to find node name mappings.
hi, @takbb , Could you please briefly explain the process of generating this Excel file? I don’t want to know the details; I just want to know the general flow. Thanks!
Another interesting point I found is that if I directly search for “Add Empty Rows” in NodePit without specifying a KNIME version, the first result is the renamed version. If I can’t find the node I originally had in mind, this search method might be the fastest way to find a replacement node.
The above is just a special case, because I found a counterexample….(So the easiest way is understanding the logic I described below)
FYI:
Changes to KNIME node names are not random; they follow a clear logic designed to improve the user experience, standardize the naming system, and reflect the platform’s ongoing development. By analyzing the history of these changes, we can categorize them into a few key types.
This is the most common type of change. By adding a “tag” to a node’s name, developers can provide important context about its status and function.
Logic:
(legacy) or (deprecated) are added to indicate that a newer or preferred version of the node exists.(Labs) suffix signals that a node is experimental and its functionality might change in the future.(Table), (Event Log), or (Apply) clarify what kind of data the node operates on or its specific role in a process.Examples:
'KNIME Server Connection' → 'KNIME Server Connection (legacy)''NoOp (Data)' → 'NoOp (Table)''Elasticsearch Connector' → 'Elasticsearch Connector (ES 8)'These changes do not affect the meaning of the name but are made to maintain a consistent style across the platform.
Logic: To standardize naming conventions, correct typos, or improve readability.
Example:
'Courts List' → 'CourtsList' (Space removed for consistency).These are often the most significant changes and can sometimes make it difficult to find a node using its old name. The goal is to make the node’s function more intuitive.
From Generic to More Specific Descriptions: The new name provides a more detailed explanation of what the node actually does.
'Add Empty Rows' → 'Constant Value Row Appender'From Technical Implementation to User Goal: The name shifts from describing how the node works to what the user achieves with it.
'Extract Column Header' → 'Column Name Extractor'Adopting More Standard or Common Terminology: Technical jargon is replaced with more widely understood terms.
'Auth Header' → 'API Key'Adding Context with Abbreviations: Well-known abbreviations are used to add context without making the name too long.
'Get Ask Stories' → 'Get Ask HN Stories'Thanks for sharing. Though, I belive the “Add Empty Row” node was perfectly named as it did exactly that.
In contrast, the Constant Value Row Appender adds much more funcitonality and even “rivals” these “veteran” nodes we all do know well:
Certainly there all three nodes have their distinct features but the new “Constant Value Row Appender” kind of doesn’t fit into in such a way that it simply feels unnecessary. What is your take on that?
Best
Mike
Hi @HaveF , my workflow automates what you showed in your nodepit screenshots - it looks up the name for each node on Nodepit for the different major KNIME versions, using the Nodepit extension. I’m working on refining it a little and then I’ll make it available.