New features and changes in GS-Base 22.6 include:
(1) CSV & TXT File Performance
Improved loading for .csv and .txt files with mixed content (text, numbers, dates). For example, with a popular sample file—the 1.8 GB yellow_tripdata.csv dataset containing numeric, text, and date/time data—loading is now about 3x faster and saving is around 5x faster.
(2) GSB File Performance
For the native .gsb file generated from the above .csv file, loading is around 2x faster and saving is approximately 6x faster.
(3) Excel XLSX Performance
For the corresponding Excel .xlsx file, loading times are around 30% faster, and saving is around 6x faster.
(4) Automatic Column Resizing
Automatic column width resizing for loaded text, xBase, and SQLite files is now up to a few times faster. You can also specify whether shrinking below the default size is allowed.
(5) Standard ISO Date/Time Formats
Standard ISO date/time styles (YYYY-MM-DD and YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS) have been added to the list of parsed and formatted styles. This ensures that when saving existing text files containing ISO dates, the original style is strictly preserved rather than converted to a close match.
For maximum portability across different region and language settings, dates in saved text files now default to the standard ISO (8601) format, and unformatted numbers use a decimal point. If you prefer to export values using your local regional settings, simply format the database fields and select “Save formatted numbers” in the “Save Text File” dialog box.
(6) UTF-8 BOM Option in Save Dialog
The “Save Text File” dialog box now lets you specify whether a saved UTF-8 text file should include a 3-byte BOM (Byte Order Mark) header. This header is required by Excel to correctly display international characters, though it can cause issues in applications that expect plain UTF-8 without a BOM.
(7) Formatted Numbers Option
In the “Save Text File” dialog box, you can now specify whether formatted numbers should be saved as displayed.
(8) Configurable Default Column Width
You can now modify the default table column width in the “Settings” dialog box within a range of 8 to 16 characters.
- New Default: Equals the width of 10 characters calculated using the default font (up from 9 characters in previous versions).
- Consistency: Once saved, this default width applies automatically across tables, ensuring a consistent layout across different GS-Base installations regardless of local configuration.
(9) Minor Improvements
Various minor enhancements have been added. For instance, when opening text, xBase, SQLite, and MySQL files, columns are now automatically resized to fit field names, even if automatic
full-table content resizing is turned off.