Since its becoming evident that Knime is going to force KAP 5.x on us at some point, I’ve started to play with it. So far I’ve run into these issues.
Couldn’t install any extensions. Switched to the old UI to be able to install extensions.
Startup is substantially slower than 4.7.5. Usually get a message that antivirus may be interfering. Message doesn’t appear when loading 4.7.5. I have Knime whitelisted in my antivirus (Malwarebytes.)
If I try to open 5.1 with a workflow that wasn’t closed before, I get an error message that the workflow can’t be opened.
Installed Nodepit, but can’t find it anywhere in the 5.1 UI.
There’s no console which makes error analysis impossible.
Also can’t find log.
There’s no “save as”.
Install doesn’t provide opportunity to set memory usage (XMX.) You can edit the ini file, but this isn’t self-evident to new users.
The node output window is irritating at best. You have to continually resize it to make it usable and then resize again to increase area of workflow editor. The old UI produced a table that can be used in a windows split alongside the workflow or another file. That’s much more functional.
Can’t figure out how to add flow variable ports. Hovering over a node shows them, but I can’t find a way to add them.
Can’t change connector shapes which makes for messy workflows.
In the old UI if you click on a node in a workflow, the node description appears in the right panel. The 5.1 UI doesn’t have this capability. Its very helpful.
Can’t seem to save a workflow in a specific folder (workflow group.) Keeping similar workflows in a dedicated workflow group makes for much better organization.
Node font size is too small.
I recognize that many of these issues will probably be addressed in future releases. However, that doesn’t address the fundamental issue of functionality vs. a “modern” interface. Undoubtly, the old interface is much messier. However, I have ready access to everything I need in one space which isn’t true on 5.1. In my opinion, the old interface is much more efficient. There’s a learning curve with everything.
Thank you for your feedback. You have the possibility to switch back to the classic user interface by clicking the (i) button at the top right. The KNIME Analytics Platform will restart in the user interface you have closed the application.
Regarding your different points:
1 Install new extensions should be possible via the resource panel, reachable via the (i) button at the top right. Did you miss the option, or was there an issue on our side?
2 We will investigate this. Is it only slower until the loading screen appears or do you have the feeling that it is slower to start in general? Or, until the application is displayed inside the application window? Would be nice to get more insights on this.
3 Sadly I was not able to reproduce the issues. Are these the correct steps to reproduce, or am I missing something?:
3.1. Open a workflow
3.2. Make changes
3.3 Save the workflow
3.2. Open this workflow again without closing it
4 Currently there is no mechanism to extend Modern UI — so, extensions that add functionality to Modern UI won’t show up (e.g.the node pit extension, or the vernalis extension)
5 , 6 ,7. 9. It is not yet implemented, but we have this on our list for a future release.
8 Are you using the windows installer?
10 You are able to open them via the context menu. There will be an option in the future to change them directly in the new dialogs, but we need a bit more time to get this right.
11 It is not yet implemented, but we have this on our list for a future release.
12 The node description is displayed on the left in the first side panel “description”, if you select a single node.
13 I assume this might be related to the missing save as option?
14 Can you elaborate a bit more on this? Do you mean the node labels or the node names or something entirely differnt?
@schramm I still haven’t been able to add flow variable ports. If I open the context menu and click on configure flow variables, I get a popup window to configure flow variables but it won’t add a port. What am I missing?
