MG-SOFT YANG Explorer Professional Edition

Product History


This page provides information about the major new features introduced in the latest as well as in the past releases of MG-SOFT YANG Explorer Professional Edition.

What's New in MG-SOFT YANG Explorer Pro., Version 8.x

New, highly efficient validation engine in NETCONF Content Editor.
YANG Explorer now incorporates a new content validation engine, designed and implemented from scratch. It supports validating any type of NETCONF and RESTCONF instance document. The validation is no longer RFC6110-based and hence does not involve resource-consuming generation of DSDL schema files from YANG modules. It instead uses a pure YANG-based implementation, where compiled YANG files represent the final schema form that is kept entirely in memory. The new engine is optimized for using big data models and validating large configurations while utilizing only a fraction of time and memory resources required before. Validating a configuration or a RPC request containing thousands of nodes is now a breeze - it completes almost instantly. Similarly, editing a large document either in XML or JSON format is now considerably smoother and quicker than before, especially when real-time validation is enabled. Furthermore, due to increased validation performance, it is now possible to validate much larger configurations than before. By extending the scope of validation with additional checks, the new engine produces even more precise and easy-to-understand error and warning messages. All in all, the new validation engine makes the application more powerful and efficient by letting you save valuable time while catching even more errors as before.
Extended content generator in NETCONF Content Editor.
The content generator feature has been extended and enhanced to cover all types of NETCONF and RESTCONF instance documents. The content generator functionality built into NETCONF Content Editor window lets you now select any type of NETCONF or RESTCONF operation or document (e.g., edit-config, custom rpc/action, rpc-reply, notification, entire datastore, etc.) and generate its content based on the YANG data model. You can choose whether to generate only configuration data or both - configuration and state data (where applicable). In addition to creating the content manually (e.g., writing XML or adding nodes from the context menu), one can now generate the content automatically at any stage, e.g., at the document root or at any container or list node to create a certain subtree of data. The generated data nodes have predominantly valid, yet dummy values that can be easily edited as desired before saving the content to file (e.g., as edit-config rpc, custom rpc message, entire datastore, notification, rpc-reply, etc.).
"sx:structure" and "rc:yang-data" based instance document validation.
NETCONF Content Editor now supports validating XML instance documents that utilize two standard YANG extensions - "sx:structure" (RFC 8791) and "rc:yang-data" (RFC 8040). These extensions are used to model arbitrary data that is not part of a YANG datastore.
Improved application performance and stability.
All known issues in previous versions have been fixed and the overall performance and stability of the software has been improved.
Updated and enhanced documentation.
Updated and enhanced user manual and product documentation with numerous hints and usage examples will help you get the most from MG-SOFT YANG Explorer Pro.
Besides, a number of minor improvements have been implemented and all known problems occurring in older versions have been fixed for this release.

What's New in MG-SOFT YANG Explorer Pro., Version 7.x

Comparing YANG modules.
The new YANG Compare window lets you compare two YANG or YIN modules side-by-side in graphical form and explore the differences between the modules. For example, you can compare different revisions of a YANG module to quickly determine what has changed between revisions (e.g., added nodes, modified node properties, etc.). YANG Explorer lets you locate the next and previous difference in compared modules with a click of a button. Furthermore, you can use pre-configured comparison filters, for example, to display only the mismatching nodes or only orphaned nodes in both modules. Additionally, the software provides a set of options that let you compare also certain non-semantical differences, for example, module imports, includes, prefixes, etc. Last but not least, the tool can ignore certain differences if considered unimportant, like the differences in description text, etc. All in all, this convenient and effective tool lets you get acquainted with differences between YANG modules in a rapid and user-friendly manner.
Support for dynamic notification subscriptions in NETCONF Content Editor.
The built-in NETCONF Content Editor has been extended with dedicated targets for composing the establish-subscription and modify-subscription RPC requests used for dynamic notification subscriptions and "YANG Push" subscriptions over NETCONF and RESTCONF (RFC 8639-8641, RFC 8650). The existing "rpc" document target can be utilized for editing the content of the delete-subscription and kill-subscription requests used for terminating dynamic notification subscriptions. The DSDL schemas used for code completion and validation have also been extended to allow composing and validating the requests for managing dynamic notification subscriptions (creation, modification, deletion). In RESTCONF mode, both XML and JSON content editing is supported.
Improved application performance and stability.
All known issues in previous versions have been fixed and the overall performance and stability of the software has been improved.
Updated and enhanced documentation.
Updated and enhanced user manual and product documentation with numerous hints and usage examples will help you get the most from MG-SOFT YANG Explorer Pro.
Besides, a number of minor improvements have been implemented and all known problems occurring in older versions have been fixed for this release.

What's New in MG-SOFT YANG Explorer Pro., Version 6.x

Dark theme.
The application graphical user interface now features also dark theme using darker color tones. Dark theme offers a modern look and feel and may reduce eyestrain. One can switch between the dark and classic (light) mode at any time in the program preferences.
Exploring dependencies between YANG modules.
MG-SOFT YANG Explorer lets you explore the dependencies between loaded YANG modules in form of a dependency graph and dependency tree. In other words, the software lets you select one or more YANG modules and quickly determine which modules and submodules the selected modules import and include (this is done recursively). Furthermore, the software provides also the reverse functionality, i.e., it lets you quickly see which modules, from the list of all loaded modules, import the given module. In both cases, the dependencies are presented in form of a dependency graph or dependency tree. The latter view displays also the module set summary, i.e., the minimum set of modules and submodules that satisfy all imports/includes.
Exporting YANG modules to HTML format.
YANG Explorer lets you select YANG modules and export them to JavaScript-driven HTML format, featuring an expandable and clickable YANG tree view of selected YANG modules, as well as the complete YANG definition of all modules with hyperlinks between the referenced nodes. The resulting HTML files let you effectively explore the YANG modules by expanding the YANG tree and viewing the definition of clicked nodes in a Web browser application, such as Chrome, Firefox, Edge, etc.
YANG profiles.
The software features YANG profiles that facilitate quick loading of data models. YANG profiles are configurable and can contain a number of YANG and YIN modules (e.g., YANG modules that describe a data model implemented by a specific device, etc.). You can switch between the YANG profiles to quickly load the entire set of YANG/YIN modules included in the selected profile.
Updated graphical elements for perfect HiDPI experience.
All application icons, buttons and other GUI components have been revised to properly support high pixel density (HiDPI) displays. This means that when using YANG Explorer with Java 9 and later that supports HiDPI, the program windows, graphics, and text are scaled automatically according to the system settings, which enables YANG Explorer user interface to look perfect also on modern HiDPI displays (e.g., 4K/UHD).
Improved application performance and stability.
All known issues in previous versions have been fixed and the overall performance and stability of the software has been improved.
Updated and enhanced documentation.
Updated and enhanced user manual and product documentation with numerous hints and usage examples will help you get the most from MG-SOFT YANG Explorer Pro.
Besides, a number of minor improvements have been implemented and all known problems occurring in older versions have been fixed for this release.

What's New in MG-SOFT YANG Explorer Pro., Version 5.x

Extended NETCONF Content Editor supporting RESTCONF.
The -based DSDL schema generation and validation in the NETCONF Content Editor has been extended by MG-SOFT to support also RESTCONF protocol. It now allows you to easily compose any type of NETCONF XML or RESTCONF XML or JSON document and validate it using the DSDL schemas, which are automatically generated from the selected YANG modules. The integrated RESTCONF toolbar provides an easy way to select the desired operation (GET, POST, PATCH, etc.) and to create a target resource URI using the resource auto-completion feature. All this lets you create an arbitrary RESTCONF message in no time.
Generating configuration from YANG model (NETCONF and RESTCONF).
MG-SOFT YANG Explorer now lets you select, e.g., a subtree node in the YANG tree and generate a NETCONF XML instance document or RESTCONF XML or JSON document for an <edit-config> or PUT/PATCH request, respectively. The generated content contains at least one instance of all config=true data nodes (leaf, leaf-list, list, container, anyxml, etc.) from the given subtree. The generated leaf and leaf-list elements have valid, yet dummy values that can be easily edited. This powerful feature allows you to quickly create a (part of) configuration from scratch.
Generating RPC operations and actions.
The software lets you select an arbitrary "rpc" or "action" type of node in the YANG tree and generate the corresponding RPC (NETCONF) or POST (RESTCONF) request with all required input elements as defined in YANG. You can review or edit the auto-generated RPC or action content to match your preferences and save the content to a file.
Find facility built into the Log window panel.
The software now incorporates the Find tool also in the Log tab in the main window and lets you search the application log, e.g., to determine if there were any error or warning messages generated, etc. Besides the normal text search mode, the tool supports also regular expressions that can be used to find complex text patterns. This feature lets you quickly find and view the data you are interested in, without having to scroll through and examine the entire (potentially large) output.
Support for Java versions 9-13 and HiDPI.
YANG Explorer now successfully runs also on Oracle Java version 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13 on all supported platforms: Windows, Linux and Mac. Starting with Java version 11, both Oracle JDK (commercial version) and OpenJDK (open source build) are supported. Using Java 9 or later also adds proper support for HiDPI displays (e.g., UHD/4K). The latter means that the application windows, graphics, and text are scaled automatically according to the system settings, which makes YANG Explorer perfectly usable also with modern high pixel density displays.
Improved application performance and stability.
All known issues in previous versions have been fixed and the overall performance and stability of the software has been improved.
Updated and enhanced documentation.
Updated and enhanced user manual and product documentation with numerous hints and usage examples will help you get the most from MG-SOFT YANG Explorer Pro.
Besides, a number of minor improvements have been implemented and all known problems occurring in older versions have been fixed for this release.

What's New in MG-SOFT YANG Explorer Pro., Version 4

Complete YANG 1.1 support.
In addition to the original YANG data modeling language version 1 (RFC 6020), MG-SOFT YANG Explorer now fully supports also the new YANG version 1.1 (RFC 7950). The software's GUI has been extended and the built-in YANG validation engine has been rewritten to fully support all YANG 1.1 syntax and semantics, including the new statements ("action", "anydata"), new "XPath" functions, modified rules for "notifications", changed lexical rules and the new submodule scoping rules, to name some of the more important changes in YANG 1.1. The software now lets you load any set of valid YANG 1.1 and YANG 1 modules (as well as YIN 1.1. and YIN 1 modules).
Extended NETCONF Content Editor with complete support for YANG 1.1.
The built-in DSDL schema generator and the NETCONF validation engine have been extended and re-written to provide full support for YANG 1.1 (in addition to YANG 1). NETCONF Content Editor and Validator lets you easily compose or load any type of NETCONF XML instance document (e.g., edit- config, get-config, rpc, rpc-reply, etc.) and validate it using the DSDL schemas, which are automatically generated from selected YANG 1.1 and YANG 1 modules. This enables you to validate if the actual content (payload) of NETCONF requests, responses and notifications comply with definitions in the selected YANG modules.
Extended UML Class Diagram module with support for YANG 1.1.
The UML Class Diagram feature has been revised and extended to enable visualizing also YANG 1.1 modules in form of a UML (Unified Modeling Language) class diagram.
GUI enhancements and improvements and initial HiDPI support.
A number of GUI enhancements and improvements have been implemented in order to make the application even more intuitive and user-friendly. Furthermore, the entire GUI has been revised to properly support large font sizes in order to make the application text easily readable also on modern high pixel density displays (e.g., 4K/UHD). The application text scales properly with the system scaling setting on Windows and one can further tweak the appearance of the text and tables by using several startup parameters.
Updated and enhanced documentation.
Updated and enhanced user manual and product documentation with numerous hints and usage examples will help you get the most from MG-SOFT YANG Explorer Pro.
Besides, a number of minor improvements have been implemented and all known problems occurring in older versions have been fixed for this release.

What's New in MG-SOFT YANG Explorer Pro., Version 3

Significantly Enhanced NETCONF Content Editor.
In addition to the built-in full-fledged XML Editor, NETCONF Content Editor now supports also visual editing of XML documents. Simply right-click a node in the tree view and add/remove elements and set their values by choosing commands from the context menu. This feature is DSDL schema aware and will allow adding only constructs that are defined in enabled YANG modules.
Furthermore, the new quick options panel for edit-config now lets you specify the most common options (target configuration, default operations, test options, error options) by simply selecting the desired entries from drop-down menus and checkboxes.
UML Class Diagrams.
MG-SOFT YANG Explorer can now visualize the selected YANG modules in form of a UML (Unified Modeling Language) class diagram. UML class diagram displays different types of YANG nodes as classes, with their attributes, methods and relationships (e.g., dependency, composition, inheritance, etc.). You can explore the classes and their relationships either within the scope of a single or several associated YANG modules. Furthermore, YANG Explorer lets you focus on the desired elements of YANG modules by specifying excludes (excluding specific, user-selected classes) and by setting various display options (to toggle displaying certain types of classes globally, etc.). You can zoom in and out of the UML class diagram, pan the diagram, reposition classes and connections in the diagram, print the diagram to a printer and save it as an image file for external use.
Exploring Cross-References in YANG Modules
(Find Usages, Go to Definition, Find Leafrefs, Find Leafref References, Go to Target, etc.).
YANG Explorer now implements a wealth of new features that let you effectively explore references between YANG statements within one or more YANG modules and submodules. While exploring YANG modules, it is vital to be able to quickly navigate between a reference of a definition and the definition itself, for example, to be able to select an "if-feature" statement and quickly locate the definition of a matching "feature" statement. YANG Explorer now offers such navigation whenever a reference exists. The software also provides a reverse functionality that lets you quickly find all usages of a definition in the loaded YANG/YIN modules, for example, to find all "if-features" that reference a specific "feature" definition. This is supported for "typedef", "grouping", "identity", "feature" and "extension" statements. 'Leafrefs' (YANG statements with the "leafref" type) are also an important concept in YANG, and the software now offers a quick way to find all 'leafrefs' and their target schema nodes in a module. Furthermore, you can also select any "leaf" or "leaf-list" node in the YANG tree and search for 'leafrefs' that reference it by using the "Find Referencing Leafrefs" functionality.
Source File View.
Besides displaying YANG or YIN modules' contents in a visual manner, where module elements are represented in a hierarchical tree structure, YANG Explorer now also features a view that displays the content of the YANG source file (i.e., YANG code). You can click any node or sub-node in the YANG Tree panel to view the corresponding section of the YANG source file that defines the node/statement. In addition, the built-in Find toolbar lets you quickly find a specified text phrase in the YANG source file.
Textual Data Tree View.
Since YANG may be quite complex to read and understand, it is useful to examine the data tree defined by YANG statements in form of a concise textual tree. YANG Explorer now provides this functionality by utilizing the notation which is often used in IETF discussions and publications. The contents of this view changes with current selection in the YANG Tree, so you can quickly obtain the textual tree representation of an arbitrary data tree branch.
Extended and Improved Find Nodes Functionality.
The Find Nodes feature now lets you search through all loaded YANG/YIN modules for nodes of a specific type (e.g., a "container" or "leaf" or "description" or "config" or "base", etc.). Furthermore, you can combine the regular text search condition with the node type search condition in order to find a (sub)node of a certain type, whose argument contains a user-specified string.
Updated and Enhanced User Manual.
The bundled user manual has been significanlty revised and extended with numerous hints and usage examples that will help you get the most from MG-SOFT YANG Explorer Pro.
Besides, a number of minor improvements have been implemented and all known problems occurring in older versions have been fixed for this release.