October 28, 2024
Over the last two weeks, we have been working on improvements to the platform. This blog post provides a simple list of what has been changed and updated and what bugs have been fixed. You can read more about the release notes here.
Pages
New features
Display logic v2 - Enhanced functionality and bug fixes
Value: The display logic option is inside the condition and box components. The release of display logic v2 introduces significant improvements that address existing functional issues and expand functionality. This enhancement brings two key benefits:
-
Bug fixes: Display logic v2 resolves several runtime defects that currently affect the performance of display logic when used with data containers, improving reliability and behavior.
-
New functionality: It introduces the ability to use page variables within display logic filter rules (on both the left and right-hand sides). This allows for creating conditional logic (show/hide) based on application data provided by page variables rather than relying on data containers.
Impact: To benefit from the fixes in display logic v2, all you need to do is re-save your existing display logic filters after the release. Unchanged filters will continue to function as they did before, but to activate the enhancements, a save is required.
To take advantage of the ability to use page variables in display logic, simply integrate page variables into your filter conditions. Since this is a new feature, there will be no impact on existing filters—they will continue to operate as expected without modification.
New clear interaction for rich text editor component
Value: Rich text editor components within forms can now be cleared using the newly added "clear" interaction on the input component. This feature allows users to remove any persisting values in rich text fields effortlessly. Some example use cases are:
-
Clearing input when a "create new record" form is closed.
-
Clearing input when an end-user cancels the "create new record" form.
Impact: This new feature is only available in the latest version of the rich text input component in the default Betty Block component set. Existing components already in use on pages will not automatically receive this capability.
Improved error visibility in the display logic option
Value: Users are now alerted to missing references when model properties, model relations, page variables, or input variables used in display logic filters are removed. If these references are missing, the display logic option itself, along with the left and right sides (nuggets) of the filter rules, will enter an error state, clearly indicating where issues exist. Previously, these error states were absent, making it challenging to locate and resolve compile validation errors, as the UI did not indicate where these issues were occurring. This improvement enhances the intuitiveness of error resolution, helping users address validation errors more effectively.
Impact: Users do not need to take any additional steps to benefit from this.
Improvements & fixes
Set selected record interaction
Value: The set selected record interaction has been enhanced to resolve an issue when the interaction was positioned on a nested component inside either the Data table or Data list components. Previously, the interaction on nested components did not work at runtime as expected. It did not update the selected record state attribute of either the table or the list. You could only use this interaction directly on either the table or the list (with the event: on row click). This has been fixed now, ensuring accurate results when composing the interaction on a nested component in either the table or the list.
Impact: Users do not need to take any additional steps to benefit from this.
Limitation: Your data table or data list component may not yet support the selected record component state attribute. To verify this, open the entity browser, navigate to the components menu, and check if your data table or data list component appears in the list.
-
If the component appears: It supports the selected record attribute, and the "set selected record" interaction will function as expected.
-
If the component does not appear: It does not yet support this attribute. Using this interaction on this component is useless.
For more details on component states, refer to this documentation article.
Enhanced filter visibility logic in page design time
Value: We’ve introduced improvements to filter visibility logic across various areas in designing Pages, including data components, page variables, and display logic. The updates are as follows:
-
When using the operators “exists” or “does not exist,” the right-hand side input control is now hidden to simplify the interface.
-
For default model properties “created at” and “updated at,” the “exists” and “does not exist” operators are no longer available to use, as these properties always contain a value.
-
When selecting a checkbox model property, the “exists” and “does not exist” operators are no longer available to use, given that checkbox properties always contain a value.
Impact: Users do not need to take any additional steps to benefit from this.
Up next
Synchronizing form action create or update step when form changes
Value: This feature introduces automatic synchronization for create and update action steps when modifying the create or update form components. When changing a form - such as adding or removing inputs bound to model properties - it will be automatically reflected in the corresponding create or update action step, eliminating the need to manually adjust these action steps. This streamlines form updates and saves time.
Impact: The impact of this feature is twofold:
-
Newly added forms: This synchronization feature will be enabled by default for newly added create or update form components from the default component set after the release. Users can start benefiting from automatic updates without any additional setup.
-
Existing forms: For forms already added to pages after the release, this feature will be optional, allowing users to opt in if desired. Detailed instructions on how to enable synchronization for existing forms will be provided in the official release documentation.
Timeframe: November 2024
Data 
New features
Commitment to quality improvement
Currently, we are improving the quality of the data segment by improving our internal processes and codebases. All to service the builders on the platform better and give them a better builder experience.
Actions 
New features
Passing through authentication info when calling remote models
Value: We have addressed an important issue related to the transfer of current user/authentication information when calling a remote model action. Previously, when builders tried to perform a remote model action through a private action, the authentication info (such as the currently logged-in user) was not transferred. Soon, we will properly include the information when calling the action.
Impact: Users do not need to take any additional steps to benefit from these improvements.
200+ records in a collection in Actions (Beta)
Value: With this exciting update, we will simplify working with large collections in Actions. Soon, Actions will automatically handle the 200-records limit in collections. This means builders no longer need to manually create batches to process collections larger than 200 records. Builders can focus on their core tasks without worrying about batch setup, making the process much more efficient and accessible to all users.
Impact: Since this is a Beta feature, you need to apply a feature flag to enable the auto batch functionality. Soon, we will publicly release the feature.
Want to try it out? Contact Lisanne Steenis (lisanne@bettyblocks.com).
Improvements & fixes
Conditional native function
Value: We’ve fixed the bug in the ordering of the conditional native function. Previously, attempts to reorder condition paths by moving them up or down caused an error that closed the side panel and blocked further interactions with action steps, requiring a page refresh to continue. Now, this is fixed.
Impact: This improvement is fixed for all conditional functions.
Up next
Enhanced debug logging experience
Value: (Debug)logging of an action is currently a very time-consuming effort. To check where an action fails to execute or if information about the execution is needed, the builder currently needs multiple log steps after every action step to check the action flow. By enabling logging the whole action at once and optimizing the logs page to display the information of the action execution, we enable the builders to debug their action within minutes instead of hours.
In the upcoming months, we are rolling out a series of updates to enhance the debug logging experience, broken into four key milestones:
-
Milestone 1: Turn logging on/off
-
Feature: Toggle to enable or disable logging for each action, available in the action settings.
-
Value: Provides control over logging, allowing builders to enable it only when needed to reduce clutter and focus on critical information.
-
-
Milestone 2: Log page optimization
-
Feature: Expand/collapse logs by action step for easier navigation and links to specific actions/steps directly from the log page for quick access.
-
Value: Improves readability and accessibility, making it easier to pinpoint and resolve issues.
-
-
Milestone 3: Advanced filtering options
-
Feature: Search and filter logs by timestamp and type and sort columns, with the default sort set to date and time (latest log first).
-
Value: Allow builders to quickly locate relevant logs, reducing time spent searching for specific events
-
-
Milestone 4: Loop step logging
-
Feature: Enables logging for the loop steps
-
Value: Provides a clear overview of the logs for the loop steps.
-
Impact: Users do not need to take any additional steps to benefit from these improvements.
Timeframe: The first two milestones are expected mid-December 2024
My Betty Blocks 
New features
Application end-user activity tracking (Beta)
Value: See the number of active end-users of an application so that the company manager can get an idea of the value created by the associated applications within the company.
Impact: Navigate to the application overview within the company overview in My Betty Blocks and view the new column in the table. Currently, this is behind a feature flag; please let us know if you want to check out this feature.
Rollback production application permission
Value: Organization admins can manage the permissions of its members to be able to perform a rollback on the production application to improve the governance of release management.
Impact: Available on the Roles and Permissions page of the organization under the release management category.
Up next
Master Templates (Beta)
Value: As a organization admin, I want have a master template, so that applications created based on this template can receive updates after changes have been made.
Timeframe: Date to be decided.
Updated design for the company overview
Value: Display the company overview tabs menu in a sidebar to improve the user experience.
Impact: Updated design of the company overview.
Timeframe: Within the next 2 weeks.
Education 
New content
Support the actions team in their new batch action feature
Explain the new automated batch action feature for users with access to the feature flag to use. See the action segment for more info, users with access to the feature will also be able to see our document.
Enable builders to use the autofocus feature.
Explain the new ‘Autofocus for input components” feature, allowing users to reduce unnecessary clicks in workflows.
Improvements & fixes
Business technologist styling guidance
Value: As a builder, I want to learn about the best ways to design my page so that I can create stylish and brand-appropriate applications.
-
Updated theme builder reference to include all current features
-
Updated the usability best practices, assisting users in re-using their awesome designs
-
Updated Styling best practices to cover more usability heuristics
Updated interaction reference
Our page builder interaction feature recently has gotten a visual update, and some phrasing has been redone. Therefore, we updated the interaction article to display all current interactions, allowing you to optimally create dynamic pages.
Relative data/time filtering
Added a remark to our filtering reference that referred to relative data/time and added timezone behavior.
Up next
Business technologist styling guidance
Value: As a builder, I want to learn about the best ways to design my page so that I can create stylish and brand-appropriate applications.
Due to the wide amount of features that can offer styling, we will continue to work on the styling guidance articles.
Improvements to the Betty Blocks learning management system (LMS)
Value: as a Betty Blocks platform trainee, I can test my skills via a Betty Blocks-supported test environment and get graded on level-based tests.
We have decided to work together with the HubLMS team to bring our LMS to a higher level and keep your eyes open for wonderful and exciting environmental changes.
Timeframe:
-
Knowledge base transfer, early Q4
-
New LMS enabled, end of Q4
If you would like to leave feedback regarding our content and way of learning the platform, please reach out to odin@bettybocks.com
Platform roadmap
Want to know more about the upcoming features and functionalities of the Betty Blocks platform? Visit the platform roadmap of our community, where you can find most of the topics that we are currently working on and are planning to work on. Let us know your thoughts by upvoting the topics you believe are the most valuable!
That was all for now. Your feedback allows us to continuously improve the Product. So please let us know what