Dear MySQL users,

MySQL Connector/Python 8.0.6-rc is the first release candidate version
of the MySQL Connector Python 8.0 series. This series adds support for
the new X DevAPI. The X DevAPI enables application developers to write
code that combines the strengths of the relational and document models
using a modern, NoSQL-like syntax that does not assume previous
experience writing traditional SQL.

To learn more about how to write applications using the X DevAPI, see
http://dev.mysql.com/doc/x-devapi-userguide/en/. For more information
about how the X DevAPI is implemented in MySQL Connector/Python, and its
usage, see http://dev.mysql.com/doc/dev/connector-python.

Please note that the X DevAPI requires MySQL Server version 5.7.12 or
higher with the X Plugin enabled. For general documentation about how to
get started using MySQL as a document store, see
http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.7/en/document-store.html.

To download MySQL Connector/Python 8.0.6-rc, see the “Development
Releases” tab at http://dev.mysql.com/downloads/connector/python/

Enjoy!

Changes in MySQL Connector/Python 8.0.6 (2018-02-01, Release
Candidate)

Functionality Added or Changed

* A new bdist_wheel distutils command was added to build a
Connector/Python wheel package.
A new –static option was added that enables static
linking for the C extension variant.

* X DevAPI: In the process of refining the definition of
the X DevAPI to cover the most relevant usage scenarios,
the following API components have been removed from the X
DevAPI implementation for Connector/Python:

+ API components that support session configurations.
The mysqlx.config namespace and all members of the
namespace.

+ The create_table, drop_table, create_view,
drop_view, and alter_view methods from the Schema
class.

* A Pylint test was added for the mysqlx module.

* A new Modify.patch() method was added to the X DevAPI as
a way to change several document attributes in one
operation; otherwise known as a JSON Merge Patch via RFC
7386.

* The create_index() method was added to the Collection
API.

* The transaction API was extended to allow setting
savepoints. The following methods have been added to the
Session object:

+ set_savepoint([name]): executes the SAVEPOINT name
SQL statement to generate a savepoint. If a name is
not provided (or None), one is generated.
The SAVEPOINT statement sets a named transaction
savepoint with a name of identifier. If the current
transaction has a savepoint with the same name, the
old savepoint is deleted and a new one is set.

+ release_savepoint(name): executes the RELEASE name
SQL statement to release a savepoint.
The RELEASE SAVEPOINT statement removes the named
savepoint from the set of savepoints of the current
transaction. No commit or rollback occurs. It
returns an error if the savepoint does not exist.

+ rollback_to(name): executes the ROLLBACK TO name SQL
statement to rollback a savepoint.
The ROLLBACK TO identifier command reverts the state
of the transaction back to what was when executed
the command SAVEPOINT identifier.
Names passed to these functions are checked to make sure
that the name is not null or an empty string. Names such
as ”, “”, “, and so on, are not allowed even though
they are allowed by the server. For more information, see
SAVEPOINT, ROLLBACK TO SAVEPOINT, and RELEASE SAVEPOINT
Syntax
(http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.7/en/savepoint.html).

Bugs Fixed

* On Enterprise Linux 7, SSL connections could fail due to
the Python 2.7.9 or higher requirement. Since EL7
backported the SSL module from Python 3 (PEP466) into its
default Python 2.7.5, SSL connections are now enabled on
EL7. (Bug #27368032)

* MySQL Server 8.0 utf8mb4 collations were missing from
Connector/Python. (Bug #27277964)

* The LICENSE and README files were missing from the C
extension ( “cext”) builds. (Bug #26912787)

* Python 3.6 is now officially supported and tested.

On Behalf of Oracle/MySQL Release Engineering Team
Prashant Tekriwal