Pilot Data Server 9.2.0

Release Date: 2025-03-27

These are the release notes for Pilot Data Server version 9.2.0. This document describes the user-visible changes that have been made to the software since release 9.1.0.

Release Highlights

This release introduces numerous endpoints and internal mechanisms needed to support new features in Template Builder 3.2:

  • Channels and Categories

  • Update Service

  • Adding and removing concepts

  • Import/Export

  • External ID

  • Custom Template Thumbnails

In addition, it contains several minor quality-of-life improvements and fixes.

New Features

  • The DataServerConfig app has a new UI aligned with the other web applications (PDS-1027).

  • Added endpoints to support export and import (PDS-1250, PDS-1251).

  • Added endpoints to add and delete concepts (PDS-1226).

  • Added endpoints for channels and categories (PDS-1141).

  • The Launcher Settings has a new page to configure Pilot Update Service (PDS-1142).

  • It is possible to start and stop Pilot Update Service from the Launcher (PDS-1145).

  • Support for HEAD requests in Crop Service when Media Sequencer checks for image availability (PDS-308).

Improvements

  • Quicker startup: License check does not delay the startup of the Pilot Data Server service (PDS-947).

  • Graphic Hub REST references in the master templates of the templates, are now dynamically served out according to the graphic_hub_url setting in the database (PDS-1117).

  • Adding a SSL/TLS certificate to a secure configuration is now done by selecting a pre-registered certificate from the Windows Certificate Store (PDS-742).

  • There is a new button to remove existing port bindings when configuring a SSL/TLS certificate (PDS-1119).

  • Pilot Data Server is more robust when handling old and invalid data elements (PDS-1128).

  • The License Settings page in the Launcher, groups similar licenses in a more understandable way (PDS-1201).

  • The MOS XML now contains element_uri with the URL to the original data element (PDS-1243).

  • Removed logging when a thumbnail cannot be generated by Preview Server, to avoid filling up the log file (PDS-1249).

  • Re-enabled the /dataelements/{id}/thumb endpoint for data elements (PDS-1238).

  • The parameter matchmode in the Open Search Description was removed. Now, all searches use substring match mode (PDS-1241).

Fixed Issues

  • Building the element index did not stop if it encountered an invalid element (PDS-1111).

  • Data element search returned matches for any sub string inside words in the title (PDS-1240).

  • Data element search returned more than one page of search results when a concept was selected (PDS-1224).

  • License check logged an error message if the license container had no relevant licenses (PDS-1218).

  • Pilot Data Server allows list fields to be bound to a feed (PDS-4115).

  • Older templates without a saved master template, now include merged scene data with preview points (PDS-1253).

  • The data_server_url in the database setting is now generated with the correct port (PDS-1271).

Recommended System Requirements

Pilot Data Server was tested with the following operating system:

  • Windows Server 2022

It should run on any supported Windows Server OS as long as it is supported by Microsoft. 

  • Visual Microsoft C++ 2015 packages.

Note: If the Visual C ++ 2015 Redistributable Package is not installed, some software, such as Director and Media Sequencer, may encounter an HTTP 500 issue when connecting to Pilot Data Server.

As Pilot Database, either of:

  • Graphic Hub 3.9.2 (with Graphic Hub REST 2.9.2)

  • Oracle 11g or newer (with schema version 8.4.0 or newer)

Recommended versions of other related products: 

  • Viz Pilot 8.9.3

  • Preview Server 4.7.1

  • Template Builder / Viz Pilot Edge 3.2.0

  • Media Sequencer 5.7.0

  • Oracle 19c

Authentication Compatibility

Identity Providers

Pilot Data Server uses the OpenID Connect Protocol (OIDC) to authenticate users. It can, in theory, be configured to integrate with any OIDC compliant identity provider.

The following providers have been tested and are supported:

  • Microsoft Entra ID (formerly Azure Active Directory)

  • Vizrt SSO (Keycloak)

Existing Vizrt Products

Pilot Data Server authentication can, for now, only be used to add user access to the web applications (Viz Pilot Edge, Template Builder and DataServerConfig).

Some Vizrt products already support SSO solutions, but:

  • NLE plugins do not support Viz Pilot Edge authentication. 

  • Current version of Viz Story (3.3) cannot be configured to use Pilot Data Server authentication. 

  • Although an existing Viz One installation of Vizrt SSO (Keycloak) can be configured as an identity provider for Pilot Data Server, the identity of Pilot Data Server users isn't re-used when the clients are connecting to Viz One. The current version of Viz Pilot Edge still uses the pre-authenticated hosts configured in the database settings when connecting to search providers.

Newsroom Systems

Any newsroom system hosting Pilot Edge in a modern, secure browser environment should be able to utilize authentication. This requires:

Documentation

Documentation for Template Builder is available at the Vizrt Documentation Center:

Support

Support is available at the Vizrt Support Portal.