March 8, 2023

[lizlynch]

Deployment Time: 3:30 PM PST

Features & enhancements

None

Bug fixes

Item	Description
Bug	For desktop UI, fixed a bug for drawing input that was getting clipped off when the column is narrow and the display labels are configured as side-to-side. ![Screenshot 2023-03-09 at 9.49.43 AM.png
Bug	When defining an update mode expression for the Are updates allowed? field in a table, the Expression Assistant now correctly indicates that column values are not available because the expression will not be evaluated in a specific row context. Previously it was possible to write update mode expressions that reference column values. However, the update mode expression is not run in the context of any particular row, so in practice any column references always resolve to blank values. The Expression Assistant now shows a warning and flags column references in update mode expressions as invalid. Note: Pre-existing column references in update mode expressions of existing apps are not affected and will continue to work as before (but since the columns always appear blank, they may not be working as intended).

Rollout changes

None

Preview announcements

Preview feature releases enable you to try out new app features that are not yet fully supported. See Product launch stages.

• No new preview features were released today.

What’s currently available in Preview?

The following tables summarize the preview features that are currently available.

Item	Description
Feature	AppSheet databases (Preview) The new AppSheet database feature is now in preview release. An AppSheet database is a first-party, native data source for organizing and managing data powering AppSheet apps. An AppSheet database provides an easy and efficient way to build data models for any AppSheet app without needing to use an external data source solution such as cloud-based spreadsheets or databases. For more information, see: - Community announcement - AppSheet databases
Enhancement	Navigation improvements in AppSheet app editor (Preview) The app editor includes navigation improvements, currently in preview, to facilitate the configuration of specific features. For example, the new Settings section in the left navigation gathers together all app-wide settings and makes it more intuitive for all app creators to find these types of settings. For more information, see: - Community announcement - Summary of navigation improvements in the app editor (Preview).
Enhancement	Additional usability improvements in AppSheet app editor (Preview) The app editor includes navigation and app setting improvements, currently in preview, to facilitate the configuration of specific features. The navigation improvements now include a secondary navigation panel that lets you quickly scan all of your components. In addition, there are more direct links in your View component to the table, column, or action that you want to check or edit. Finally, error and warning messages are more prominently displayed in the app. For more information, see: - Further usability improvements: Simplifying the navigation in the editor - Summary of improvements in the app editor (preview).
Feature	AppSheet apps for desktop users (Preview) The new desktop design, currently in preview, is optimized for desktop browsers, presenting a more complete view of information with a consistent organization and structure. The new desktop design lets users navigate their apps more easily and access information in context, and provides an efficient way to edit existing records without losing context. The legacy desktop design, enabled by default, provides an experience similar to the mobile and tablet device. For more information, see: - Community article - Optimize the user experience using the new desktop design (Preview)

The following features require opt-in to the AppSheet preview program. The AppSheet Preview program lets app creators try out new app features that are not yet fully supported.

Item	Description
Feature	Chat apps with AppSheet (Preview) Create and publish Chat apps using AppSheet. Chat apps are web applications or services that run in Google Chat. By creating a Chat app with AppSheet, you enable users to interact directly with your app in Google Chat rather than clicking out to view the AppSheet app in a separate window. See: - Community announcement - Chat apps
Feature	Table view Table View now supports freezing the first column while scrolling horizontally. For details, see Freezing the first Column of a Table View - in Preview Program.
Feature	Chart Editor App Creators can now make use of our new chart editor and the new and improved charts it can create. Learn more.
Feature	Detail views Rich text formatting is now available in Detail views. For details, see this announcement in the community.

[dbaum]

@lizlynch

Pre-existing column references in update mode expressions of existing apps are not affected

What does it mean that they’re not affected if the new functionality is just a warning anyway and you’re still able to save even a new expression? Does the warning not appear for pre-existing Are updates allowed? expressions?

I reviewed some of my pre-existing expressions in this table property. I see the warning–even though the columns referenced are not from the same table. (Also, the formatting of all the text above the Expression Assistant is distorted.)

[Adam-google]

Maybe I can clarify:

• The yellow warning is just meant to inform that this limitation applies to the update mode expression. It will always appear here now, and doesn’t indicate a problem with the preexisting expression.

• “Columns are not available” refers to ‘column in the current row’ references like [Column] that presuppose a ‘current row’ (so references to columns in some other table via things like lookup or select are still fine). Maybe we need a better way to describe this. The message that shows up here now is the same one we’ve been using elsewhere for things like this where the expression is run without being associated with a specific row (display names of views is another example).

• If you write an expression with [Column] here, it will now show a red error and prevent saving the expression. If you had a pre-existing expression like that, it should show the error when you open the expression assistant. If you want to make a change to the expression it will require removing the column references, however you can close the assistant without making a change.

• “Pre-existing column references in update mode expressions of existing apps are not affected” meant the app would still be runnable, it doesn’t put the whole app in an error state.

I should emphasize, there’s no runtime behavior change involved here. It’s always been the case that update mode was evaluated without a row context. It was meant to enable dynamic write permissions at the granularity of the table or slice (based on something like UserEmail(), for example), not as a row-level filter. However, the editor behavior was misleading because this limitation was not indicated, and expressions that do reference columns were shown as valid and could be saved. The problem with that is such expressions would likely not work as intended, because in practice any [Column] reference would always resolve to a blank value. The change here is just to make the editor consistent with the existing runtime behavior.