Budibase now supports the automatic generation of nested schemas for REST queries that return arrays of objects. This functionality facilitates the display of related nested data in various formats, including tables. This feature is also designed for use with databases that utilize nested documents, such as MongoDB, Firestore, Elasticsearch, and DynamoDB.

A key improvement is the reduction in required network calls for nested data display. Instead of the previous two-query approach (one for top-level data, another for nested data), a single query now suffices, boosting application performance.

This functionality requires the creation of new queries for schema generation to apply. Existing queries will remain unaffected, preserving their current behavior.

Release Highlights:

• Leverage n8n's extensive library of 775 nodes to unlock a range of powerful automated workflows directly within Budibase.
• Streamline your data administration by managing Budibase-stored data seamlessly through n8n.

Read the launch blog to learn more about this release.

As of version 2.19.2, we've enhanced the functionality of the "Selected Rows Binding" for tables with "Allow row selection" enabled. This update provides users with an array of selected row data directly accessible through the bindings drawer beneath your table. This enhancement enables more versatile manipulations such as:

• Deleting Selected Rows: Easily remove selected rows from your table.
• Displaying Selected Row IDs: Utilize the pluck helper to display selected row IDs, enhancing readability.
• Calculating Sum Totals: Combine pluck with sum to calculate totals (e.g., total weight) of selected rows, with toFixed ensuring precision.

Deprecation Notice: Selected Row IDs
Please note, the previous version of selected rows binding, which provided only Row _ids, is deprecated as of this release. While it remains available for backward compatibility, it will be phased out in future versions. We encourage all users to transition to the new binding method to take full advantage of the improved functionality.

For detailed instructions on how to utilize these new features and prepare for the deprecation, please refer to our documentation.

You can now make your app logo into a clickable hyperlink. This enhancement is particularly useful for setting your logo as a quick and convenient link back to the home screen or any other pivotal area of your application.

For guidance on how to implement this feature, refer to the Navigation section in our documentation.

We've made a small yet impactful improvement to the user experience within the automation scripting action. This enhancement focuses on making the scripting action more intuitive and user-friendly, streamlining the process of creating and managing automation scripts.

The introduction of Global Bindings means you can now connect any data source to any component on the same screen, eliminating the need for complex nested component structures.

With this update, the components underlying bindings are built exactly as before, but global resolution means that they can be leveraged anywhere. This update is designed to integrate seamlessly with your existing setup.

Upgrade to the latest version of Budibase to try Global Bindings today.

Read the launch blog

In response to requests from our self-hosted users, we have introduced the SESSION_EXPIRY_SECONDS environment variable. This new configuration option allows system administrators to set a custom duration for user inactivity before automatic logout occurs. This enhancement aims to provide better security and control for managing user sessions. To implement this feature, simply set the SESSION_EXPIRY_SECONDS variable on your services.

Chain Automations
We've introduced a new feature that allows you to control the behavior of automations within your apps more finely. The "Enable chaining" setting can now be toggled on or off on a per-app basis. By default, this setting is turned off in the cloud environment and turned on in self-hosted environments. When enabled, this setting allows any automation that uses Row Triggers (Created, Updated, Deleted) to be activated by another automation's Row action (Create, Update, Delete).

This feature offers flexibility in how automations are triggered based on your specific needs:

• For scenarios where automations should only respond to direct user interactions with table rows, keep this setting disabled.
• To allow automations to be triggered by both user actions and other automations, enable this setting.

Read the Chain Automations documentation

Trigger Automation 🔒
We have expanded the ways in which automations can be initiated. Beyond the previously available triggers, it is now possible to initiate an app action automation directly from another automation.

This enhancement is designed to facilitate more complex workflows and increase the interoperability between different automations within your apps. Utilize the "Trigger an automation" step to integrate various automated processes.

Read the Trigger Automations documentation

We’re excited to introduce the new multi-step form block - an easier and faster way to create multi-step forms. Make form-filling feel effortless by breaking down walls of questions.

Key enhancements include:

• Streamlined experience: Drag and drop the multi-step form block onto your design, connect your data, and select form fields for each new step you add.
• Auto-generated buttons & actions: Button functions update automatically when new steps are added or removed, ensuring form coherence and functionality during modifications.

For more information, please refer to our launch blog.

Helm chart v3

This update fixes several bugs in the Budibase Helm chart, making it far easier to run Budibase in Kubernetes. If you have previously tried to run Budibase in Kubernetes and had difficulty, this update will have made the process much easier.

In this update:

1. We no longer bundle ingress-nginx. If you were relying on this to supply an ingress controller to your cluster, you will now need to deploy that separately. You'll find guidance for that here: https://kubernetes.github.io/ingress-nginx/.
2. We've upgraded the version of the CouchDB chart we use from 3.3.4 to 4.3.0. The primary motivation for this was to align the CouchDB chart used with the CouchDB version used, which has also updated from 3.1.1 to 3.2.1. Additionally, we're moving away from the official CouchDB to one we're building ourselves.
3. We've separated out the supplied AWS ALB ingress resource for those deploying into EKS. Where previously you enabled this by setting ingress.enabled: false and ingress.aws: true, you now set awsAlbIngress.enabled: true and all configuration for it is under awsAlbIngress.
4. The HorizontalPodAutoscaler that was configured at hpa.enabled: true has been split into 3 separate HPAs, one for each of apps, worker, and proxy. They are configured at services.{apps,worker,proxy}.autoscaling.