Articles 2025-07-07 2025-02-17 2024-10-31 2024-07-23 2024-01-28 2023-11-20 2023-09-06 2023-06-19 2023-04-03 2023-02-07 2022-12-30 2022-10-07

New platform version, 2025-07-07

Release of REI3.11

Another release, finally ready for prime-time. REI3.11 brings in new features but also improvements addressing some long-standing issues. Let´s take a look.

Global search

With a growing number of REI3 applications, finding stuff is getting harder. Some apps added search interfaces to cover important data. But this needed to be done in every app and users would need to go into these apps to reach the search.

That worked, but was a lot of effort - and cumbersome for users. So we thought: Wouldn´t it be awesome if there were a global search where a user can query the system and find data from all apps? Even if we do that, how could that work if each application has a different data structure?

Our solution: In REI3.11, every app can now define one or many search bars, which are presented to the user in a global search interface. Every search bar has its own data definition & filters - and can access anything that the application can.

For users it´s as simple as typing in a search query in the always visible search input and pressing enter. Depending on user permissions, search bars activate and start delivering results. App authors can control what these display and what forms are opened from the global search.

When an app is already active, the search is restricted to search bars from inside the app - as this is often what the user is currently interested in; this also avoids taxing the system by immediately querying all data from everywhere. Should the search results not be satisfactory, users can then extend the search with a click to every other available app.

The global search is a powerful new feature, especially when working in many REI3 applications simultanously. Type in a name and find all tasks, tickets, offers, assets and more - whatever is somehow connected with it. It is still up to the app authors to define what is searched. But because search bars use the same display and filter options as regular list fields, it´s simple to click to together one or more search bars for your own app.

OpenID Connect authentication

With this release, we introduce a new authentication option: OAuth2 OpenID Connect.

Once configured, users can choose to login via specified identity providers, moving the authentication outside of REI3. This makes seamless access possible, including single-sign-on. We´ve tested this feature with KeyCloak and Microsoft Entra, though it should work with a wide range of providers.

In contrast to the existing LDAP connector, new OpenID users are created during authentication instead of being regularly imported. User data can be updated via claims in the ID Token; role assignment is also possible by mapping the values of a claim to REI3 roles.

Central authentication via OpenID is a secure and user friendly way of handling application access and we are happy to now support it as well.

A new display option for relationship inputs

While relationships can be used in REI3 to allow for all kinds of use cases, our inputs can still be improved. Such as offering an input that displays the current state of something relating to a fixed progression. This is especially relevant when going through workflows. In REI3.11 we now offer a new 'flow' display option for relationship inputs.

As with all relationship inputs, it can be filtered to show different 'points' in a flow, depending on the state of the current record. It also makes it much clearer, that there is an order and what the next steps are.

Server file handling

This feature was requested multiple times by our community and we finally have it included. There are now 6 new file handling function calls, available in backend functions.

These new calls can import files to REI3, read text directly from files (such as CSV, JSON or XML), export existing files or create new text files from a function. We tried to make them as generic as possible, to support a wide variety of use cases.

Due to security concerns, file handling calls are limited to pre-defined paths; these are set in the config.json file via two new parameters: paths->fileImport & paths->fileExport.

New dropdowns

A moderate annoyance, but something that kept popping up: Our dropdowns are cut off by their parent elements in tab fields, sub forms and widgets.

This was a technical limitations due to the fact that these parent elements needed to be able to scroll. Over the years we´ve looked at different solutions but they always came with new problems. But we also did not want a JavaScript solution as this would be complex and would need to work perfectly or it be completely useless.

But alas, since we failed to solve this issue multiple times, we´ve bit the bullet and implemented a complex, global dropdown system with JavaScript. The good news is that it works and we can reuse it for all dropdowns in REI3. The bad news is that it´s even more complex than we feared and we had to find solutions for a lot of edge cases.

We´re happy enough with how it turned out - it works in all known cases, allowing for dropdowns in nested tab fields and on edges of sub forms. Please let us know if you stumble on cases that we´ve overlooked.

Faster data retrieval

While working on REI3.11, we´ve stumbled over a couple of optimizations. List retrievals, if they span to more than one page, can now be executed almost twice as fast as getting the total result count was optimized quite heavily.

In addition, with the new COST parameter for backend functions, app authors can heavily optimize query speeds by setting a high value for complex (ie. expensive) function calls. This is especially relevant for relation policy functions and can speed up data retrieval by orders of magnitude. This can be the difference of waiting 3 seconds and getting 'instant' results.

More smaller features and improvements

The relationship input was redesigned to be scrollable, with paging only appearing when there is a large result set.
Form states can now use 'is record editable' as condition. This enables forms to react to relation policies, significantly simplifying complex form states.
Users can now reset their field settings, should they encounter a breaking bug.
Gantt fields can now show empty group results, useful for showing an overview over all available groups (such as assets or vehicles) whether or not they have values in the current date range.
The relationship graph in the Builder can now be clicked through to go through the various relationship targets.
More field options are now available to variable input fields, including the category and new flow display options for relationship inputs.
Reworked the header lines for many input fields to be more visually consistent. This includes the iframe, drawing, richtext & file input fields.
Columns can now be set to 'not shrink'. This is useful for size-constraint views, where some columns´ visibility should take precedence.
Columns now also can decide to forego the thousands separator for integer values.

Upgrade notes

As always, these are the general upgrade steps:

On Windows: Run the installer.
On Linux systems: Stop the service, extract the latest release, replace the r3 binary, start the service.

Thank you all for your continued support and feedback. For the full list of changes, take a look at the technical change log.

New platform version, 2025-02-17

Release of REI3.10

It´s finally time to release our largest feature update so far - REI3.10. Let´s have a look at all the features and improvements, starting with...

Favorites

This feature allows users to store forms for fast access. But that´s just part of it. The same form can be stored as a favorite multiple times, allowing you to create named shortcuts to important records. Or have different filters active or columns visible on the same list - very useful to power users that regularly switch between views.

Menu tabs

When applications become large, making a navigable menu can become a challenge. In REI3.10 we introduce menu tabs. Every application menu can now be separated in multiple tabs - by topic, user role or whatever criteria you choose.

Tabs cleanly separate different areas of your application. They are visible when a user has access to at least one menu entry within a tab.

Barcodes & QR codes

Often requested and now finally part of the platform: Barcode & QR code handling. By adding barcode/QR code attributes to a relation, you can start scanning, generating and displaying these in REI3.

When scanning codes via camera, not only data but also the code format will be stored. Attributes and field inputs are able to work with different formats, allowing for a mix of different codes for things like serial numbers, EAN, UPCs and whatever else.

Codes can be displayed on forms and lists, printed when clicked on and, when processed for PDF generation, even added to complex documents.

Getter filters for APIs

A feature sorely missing for many API use cases: Being able to apply filters on GET calls. REI3.10 now allows for adding unlimited URL parameters, to be used as filter criteria.

New input display option for number inputs

While we do not have number inputs that would make a bookkeeper happy, we´ve introduced options to optimize our inputs. Aligning input fields together with the monospace option and numeric length settings from the last releases, numeric inputs can become much more readable.

New rating display option

A small but useful addition: Assign a value to a number attribute via a rating input. Especially nice for priorities or feedback scores.

Rating display options are available in field inputs as well as all general views.

New display option for booleans

So far, booleans were always displayed in lists as either true/false or an ok/not-ok icon. While this correctly displays their value, it looks rather ugly in some use cases - especially if multiple booleans are involved. While we have not completely redesigned boolean handling, we´ve added a column option to display a specific icon only if the boolean is set to TRUE.

This helps in cases where values are relevant only when positive and, together with specific icons, can give a much better understanding of what a boolean value is expressing.

Apply data settings via form states

Another important feature: You can now manage the data settings for many fields (lists, calendars, Gantts, etc.) via form states. This means that you can enable/disable things like the 'New' button on list fields, or the 'open record' shortcut on relationship inputs. No need to duplicate list fields just to have different data settings for different users.

Persistent field settings

An old limitation of ours was that all user choices regarding field settings were only ever stored in the browser cache. Change column order? Set new filters? Gone if you switched browsers or cleared the cache. In REI3.10 we´ve implemented a persistent storage system, which will store these kinds of choices permanently.

Two important notes: First, because this is a completely different system, the old choices will not be taken over. You will need to apply your choices once more to persistently store them. And second: Because views on mobile devices, with their smaller screen space, are so different to PCs, these choices are separately stored for mobile. What you do on one device type will therefore not affect the other.

Reworked list columns

Another technical limitation we´ve finally found a fix for: List column sizing. List columns so far could be defined with a max-size. This would however only be applied if there were other columns taking up enough space. This made it difficult to build good-looking lists, especially when their were only a few columns.

This is now changed. List columns will now respect their max-size, not growing larger but still able to shrink when necessary. Be aware that batched columns will use the total width of all included columns as their max-width.

This change will affect existing lists, so please take a look at your lists to see if they need some adjustment.

Making complex form states easier

On complex forms, handling states can be a hurdle with dozens of conditions and effects that can overlap. With REI3.10 we´ve added the option to use the result of one form state as the condition for another. This enables base-states (such as 'User has write permissions on current record') to be re-used in multiple, other states. This can significantly reduce the number of repeated state conditions and with that avoid potential errors.

Be aware however that there is the potential of creating loops, where one form state is the input of another, which is the input of the previous form state. To avoid potential system slow downs in these cases, we´ve limited the reference depth to 10.

Sub join filters

A good feature for people with SQL background: You can now apply filters on joins directly. This allows for some queries that were previously impossible. It also makes it much easier to join a 1:n relationship.

Filtering joins also can have an effect on performance, especially when relation policies are used. Filtering out results before they are being filtered again on the main query, can speed up lookups in some situations drastically.

More smaller features and improvements

A session start function is now available to initialize values when a user logs in.
Collections, when used as values in menus or the header, can now show the total sum of all rows instead of a single value. Removes the need to keep separate collections for values & totals.
A new option allows for hidding input elements for iFrame, drawing and the new barcode field inputs.
A new user setting allows to align form actions left, right or center.
Large image previews can now be enabled in list columns and other views.
Filters can now use Regular Expressions to filter out results.
Users can now set any list view to auto-renew. The Builder setting now serves as a default.
The instance function 'form_open()' now offers the option to replace the current browser history entry.
A 'file_unlink()' instance function was added to remove hardlinks to files attributes.
The amount of visible files/thumbnails is now controllable via a column option.
Field default values can now be set via dropdown in the Builder, such as the current date or TRUE/FALSE values.
The admin panel now displays a warning live, should the users name or email address already be taken.
The user UI in the admin panel will now display a preview URL for public logins.
Relation properties in the Builder were moved to their own pop-up form for easier handling and hotkey support.
Almost all frontend UI elements were updated to address known issues and make inputs feel more consistent.
Variable fields can now be set to readonly/required via form states.
Query inputs now offer an 'expert' toggle. This helps reduce the amount of visual clutter for seldom used options.
Portable versions of REI3 can now run on a fixed web server port, defined in the configuration file.
Field values are no longer loaded, if they are placed in a currently invisible tab. This reduces the amount of data requests, quite heavily in some cases.
Variable placeholders now show their input value type in the frontend function editor.
The richtext editor (TinyMCE) will now offer labels and help in supported languages, such as Italien, Hungarian, Simplified Chinese, and so on.
Form action buttons will now be collapsed if the screen space is insufficient.
Gantt groups will now be sorted by the query sort definition. Before they were sorted by the attribute values assigned to the group name.

Upgrade notes

As always, these are the general upgrade steps:

On Windows: Run the installer.
On Linux systems: Stop the service, extract the latest release, replace the r3 binary, start the service.

Thank you all for your continued support and feedback. For the full list of changes, take a look at the technical change log.

New platform version, 2024-10-31

Release of REI3.9

We´re back with another update. REI3.9 addresses two major pain points we´ve had our eyes on for a while, makes large user bases more affordable and introduces some admin tools. Let´s have a look.

Redesigning the REI3 user management

Providing user management for a platform where authors can build applications with very different requirements, was never an easy task. The solution we´ve had so far, login forms, allowed varied user records to be created and managed in multiple applications at the same time - but it also required REI3 admins to manually connect these to logins in the system. This was tedious and a hurdle for new admins.

Not any more. With REI3.9 we simplified the whole thing. Admins can now simply create users in REI3, with applications now able to automatically create or update any user related records they need. Manual assignment no longer required.

REI3.9 introduces the user sync. A new optional function that will allow authors to update their user records, whenever a REI3 user is changed. The user sync can also handle additional user data like organization or contact details, which can be entered in the admin panel or imported via LDAP.

And don´t worry, the user sync is only there for authors that need to deal with their own user records. If you build on other apps, like REI3 Organizations, you do not need to do anything. Even if you want to implement your own user sync, we´ve prepared a template with an example implementation for you.

The old login forms are still available. But authors switching to the user sync, will make REI3 admins much happier. Especially with larger user numbers.

The complicated user management was the most commonly shared complaint from organisations using REI3. It took a good amount of work to address and we are very happy with the result. We hope you will be too.

Note: If you are running apps from Lean Softworks, like REI3 Tickets, Password Safe or Time Tracking, please upgrade to 'Organizations v169' to enable the user sync.

Variables - more flexibility in the frontend

With more and more people building REI3 applications, the scenarios and use cases continously expand. For some of these cases, we had to find workarounds. Now with REI3.9, we are happy to announce a powerful new feature - variables!

Variables can do many useful things:

They can be used as additional inputs on forms; these are then not connected to any relation or attribute. Very useful for pre-filtering inputs or implementing custom multi-field inputs.
Variables store data either globally or within the context of a form. Meaning you can use variables to store contextual data from within one form, to supply default values on another. Or proceed with a workflow on the same form.
Form states and filters can access variables to adjust fields or visible data based on previous events.

By being accessible as input fields, filters in queries, conditions in form states and as value stores in frontend functions, variables can serve many purposes.

Variables also replace the current value store functions; these will continue to work but should be replaced with variables going forward.

We are aware that there always more use cases to address and variables will not make everything possible. But it is a major step and will help us address even more scenarios in future releases.

Limited users - better support for large user bases

A common scenario: An organization wants to use REI3 for request handling or for simple workflows based on some form submission. You have a handful of people daily working in REI3 - and hundreds more just accessing REI3 sometimes to check on their tickets or other submissions.

This is a scenario, that many of our customers have, but our licensing model was ill equipped to address. Until now, you had to have 1 license per user, concurrently logging into REI3; regardless of whether they work with all the applications every day, or just need to access the public user portal of one app. With large user bases, this could become expensive fast.

We had to address this - but did not want to make our licensing more complicated or expensive. We think we found a good solution with our new feature: Limited users.

With every REI3 Professional license, organizations now receives 3 additional, limited users - free of charge. This means that if an organization has 20 licensed users, 60 additional users can log into REI3 concurrently to check their tickets or whatever they need to do. Even if 60 concurrent users are not enough, it is now much cheaper to solve, as every license now covers 3 additional, limited users.

There are some restrictions for limited users: They cannot be admins and can only have a single role assigned. As soon as a user needs to work in multiple applications or needs to be a REI3 admin, they count as a full user.

Limited users are meant to make REI3 Professional more affordable. They do not affect anyone choosing to run REI3 without support services.

System wide messages for admins

Another, often requested feature: Admins can now schedule messages, to be shown to their users. This can be helpful for scheduled maintenance or for informing users about important changes.

It can also be configured to automatically switch REI3 to maintenance mode when the schedule expires.

User session view

REI3.9 introduces a new user session view in the admin panel, showing who is logged in from where.

Useful, especially in larger instances.

More smaller features and improvements

The user management interface has been redesigned to better handle large user numbers.
Column and field setting UIs were cleaned up in the form editor.
The backend function editor now shows attribute content icons next to the relevant placeholders.
Number field inputs will now force the number keypad to open on mobile devices, instead of the full text keyboard.

Upgrade notes

As always, these are the general upgrade steps:

On Windows: Run the installer.
On Linux systems: Stop the service, extract the latest release, replace the r3 binary, start the service.

Thank you all for your continued support and feedback. For the full list of changes, take a look at the technical change log.

New platform version, 2024-07-23

Release of REI3.8

Hello again! We are happy to announce the next release of the REI3 application platform, version 3.8!

As always, we´ve not been able to put everything we want to into this release, but there are still a lot of new features to explore. Let´s begin with...

Form actions

More and more applications rely on function calls to execute complex changes on the frontend, often with the use of button fields. Now with 3.8, application authors can define so-called form actions.

Form actions appear as buttons on top of the form, next to the regular record actions like save or delete. They serve as a standardized way to add context actions to forms. They execute function calls and can be controlled via form states, just like regular fields.

Custom list columns

A long requested feature, in REI3.8 users can now hide, rearrange or show additional list columns. Application authors still define the default columns and which columns can be optionally enabled, both in general and for mobile devices.

This new feature also interacts with CSV imports/exports, which will take into account the updated list columns.

A proper code editor

Following a proposal from a REI3 community member, we´ve integrated a dedicated code editor into REI3. It will now be available in all code inputs, like frontend or backend functions, CSS inputs and JSON objects for chart fields.

The new code editor (Ace) makes working with functions much more convenient and we wouldn´t wanna miss it. We thank our community for the well-thought-out proposal.

Client events

The REI3 client was updated to enable deeper integration between REI3 and the local computer. Client events can be defined for REI3 applications to react to global hotkeys, read the user´s clipboard, type in keystrokes and more.

These features can be used to implement lookups in REI3 from inside other applications. They can also be used to type in text in other applications based on data in REI3. Client events require users to run the REI3 application and features like global hotkeys must be enabled by users as well.

Client events allow for features, generally not possible with REI3 as a web application. We hope to add even more functionality to the REI3 client in the future.

More Builder cleanup duty

Multiple Builder interfaces received touch-ups, getting them in line with other UIs and easier to use in general.

More smaller features and improvements

List columns can now be aligned in the middle or to the right, especially useful for monetary values.
The form state UI has been improved in the form editor, making it easier to read form state effects and selecting affected fields, tabs or form actions.
The max. session time can now be overwritten for individual logins, coming in handy for special users like these used for accessing APIs.
Decimal attributes can now be set to a fixed length and decimal count, removing the need for manual rounding.
Complex user filters in lists now display columns as they are shown to the user; this addresses issues in lists with the same attribute being used multiple times. Previously, just the attribute names would be displayed, which made it impossible to differentiate the individual attributes in the filter selection.
Users can now decide, if they want to use icons or textual representation of boolean values in lists.
A new config option ('Force login before session end') has been introduced in the admin panel. This option helps avoid cases in which an active user session expires while the user is working. If set to a duration longer than the expected max. continuous session time, users will not need to login again to continue working.
Application schedules are now sorted and include the application icon for better readability in the admin panel.
The REI3 client application has been updated to be easier to install and update. The corresponding user interface has also been updated to help users manage the application.
The frontend function 'set_field_value()' can now take another argument to decide whether the new field value counts as 'changed'; this is useful for pre-filled or data based on previous inputs that should not trigger the 'changes exist on the form' state when done.

Upgrade notes

As always, these are the general upgrade steps:

On Windows: Run the installer.
On Linux systems: Stop the service, extract the latest release, replace the r3 binary, start the service.

During testing, we´ve found that we needed to clear the browser cache on mobile devices for REI3 to work correctly. If you find that you cannot get a connection on mobile devices, please clear your browser cache.

Thank you all for your continued support and feedback. For the full list of changes, take a look at the technical change log.

New platform version, 2024-01-28

Release of REI3.7

We´re back in 2024 with a new feature release, REI3.7 - let´s have a look!

Custom translations and caption maps

While REI3 always supported multi-language applications, authors had to provide and keep languages up-to-date. This now changes. In REI3.7, any admin can add new languages to existing applications and provide their own translations. Even better, these custom translations can then be exported, shared and imported by the original application author, if they want to officially support a language.

Custom translations are done in the admin panel with our new 'caption map', a overview of all titles, labels, help texts and so on. This caption map is also available inside the Builder for application authors to check and correct translated values from all parts of their applications.

Many days of work have gone into this feature. We hope that it provides a lot of value.

Triggers on steroids

Relation triggers are a very powerful tool, used to execute changes, apply business logic or limit actions. But they always had a key limitiation: They could only work within their own application.

With REI3.7, we´ve reworked triggers so that they can react to changes in built-on applications. This means that you can not only expand existing applications with data and user interfaces, but also apply your own rules & events. If something changes in another application, you can easily react to it with a trigger and then create a task or send a notification - or even block the action if you have a reason for it.

To create a trigger for a relation in another application, you create a new backend function of the type 'trigger' and then assign the trigger inside the new function.

Field sizing changes

The REI3 form layout engine is optimized for allowing large amounts of input fields on very different screen sizes. Because of this, sizing is done not for each field individually but for entire rows or columns. This works very well for horizontal sizing, but while some fields can easily grow vertically, many look off when not correctly sized.

Before this release, fields would take both horizontal as well as vertical size from their parents and grow automatically. In REI3.7, we´ve changed that behaviour so that only fields that benefit from vertical growth, actually do grow. This is a breaking change that does have some drawbacks, mostly that there is less control in how fields are sized and that some existing forms will look different after the change. However, in the vast amount of cases, it should make building forms easier and make unoptimized layouts look better, as vertical sizing does not need to be configured for many fields.

This is not a change we did lightly but we believe the benefits are much larger than the drawbacks. We hope you agree.

OAuth2 support for mailing

Many organizations running REI3, use cloud-services such as Office365 for mailing. We´ve now added the ability to register REI3 as an OAuth2 client, which can be used for authentication in email accounts. Templates for O365 are offered in the admin panel, a short guide on how setup works on the provider side is also available.

Redesigned application cache

We´ve redesigned the way REI3 manages application caches so that much less data needs to be reloaded and sent to clients when changes are done or updates are installed. This results in less bandwidth required and shorter loading times when working in the Builder. This also speeds up access to an updated REI3 instance on a mobile connection.

And more shiny things

With OAuth2 clients and expiring secrets, we´ve felt the need to add a notification system for admin contacts. It will send out email notifications when important system events occur. For now, it will react to upcoming expiration of OAuth2 clients and system licenses.
When sorting list batched columns, all column values are now used to sort with. Before, only the first valid column value would be used.
The REI3 platform can now apply proxy settings for update checks, repository updates and application downloads.
A new frontend function allows expert authors to apply custom ECharts options to chart fields. With this, authors are not limited by what options REI3 supports and can use all features of the ECharts library.
PDF files can now be uploaded to file inputs after creation. This option is available in the 'pdf_create()' frontend function and skips the document download that is otherwise offered.
For new installations, the integrated database engine is now Postgres 16.1 (standalone/portable deployments only). Existing installations will stay with the older version (Postgres 13.7) as we cannot safely automate the upgrade process. Because the integrated database engine is only used by REI3 and fulfills all requirements, an update is optional. A manual upgrade is possible and can improve system performance.
Reworked the user interface for the application management page in the admin panel.
... and many more small fixes and improvements.

Upgrade notes

This release does not need any special upgrade steps.

On Windows: Run the installer.
On Linux systems: Stop the service, extract the latest release, replace the r3 binary, start the service.

Thank you all for your continued support and feedback. For the full list of changes, take a look at the technical change log.

New platform version, 2023-11-20

Release of REI3.6

We are happy to announce that the next major release, REI3.6, is now ready. This release is a bit different then the last ones, focussing mostly on visuals and usability.

Buckets of fresh paint

With many new features and capabilities being added to REI3 over the years, its not been easy keeping a consistent look & feel. Some user interfaces have not been updated since 2020. We´ve postponed work on these things in the past to focus on features. But it was time to take a swing at it as feedback regarding our outdated interfaces grew louder.

This brings us to REI3.6. We put in many hours to redesign, update, test and generally make all visual elements more consistent. Here are some before and after screenshots:

We´ve also redesigned the login page:

... as well as some outdated Builder interfaces, like the roles UI:

Many changes cannot easily be shown with screenshots as they need to be felt. Relationship inputs are now much easier to use, especially on mobile devices. Calendar & Gantt fields were updated to be easier to read and use. Lists field now dynamically shrink and replace their actions and inputs, based on the available screen space, allowing for easier to access inputs in many cases. Many context dependent actions (like CSV imports or complex filters) were moved to their own hover menus, making interacting easier as well.

These and many more changes made it into REI3.6. We hope you like the new designs as much as we do.

Updated user options

We´ve always had many options to adjust the REI3 interface to each user´s preference. With the redesign of REI3.6, we had to cut some options, but added more.

For example, users can now customize, how lists are displayed:

They can also overwrite header & menu colors as well as choose decimal number separators.

They can also go back to some of the looks of older REI3 versions, if they prefer:

Widgets & customizable home page

Widgets allow application authors to provide small, useful forms or shortcuts for users to add to their home page. There is little new to learn, as form widgets work the same as regular forms - they are just smaller.

We´ve updated some of the applications in the repository to demonstrate possible use cases. Like list widgets showing pinned tasks, favorite tickets or a widget that allows for quick time tracking.

When migrating to REI3.6, each users home page will be filled with widgets showing application shortcuts that look very similar to how REI3 used to look. The difference now is, that users have control over these and can choose what to keep and how to arrange it.

Drawing inputs

We started with the need for a signature pad, but while looking at implementation options, we´ve decided to expand the feature a bit. Now in REI3.6, authors can add so called 'drawing inputs' - these can be used as signature pads, but just as well for meeting notes or small drawings.

When used as signature pad, a small drawing input is placed on the form and then set to readonly after save. Inside the data are both the drawing data (which can be updated later if desired) as well as a PNG version of the drawing, which can be sent via e-mail or placed in a PDF file.

This feature is not a replacement for visualization tools and is not meant to create complex drawings. But it comes with some basic tools to support different use cases, such as stroke options, zoom and panning.

More new stuff & improvements

Menu entries can now be colored, to help users easily navigate different areas of your application.
List and tab fields now also have their own field titles. This is mostly useful for smaller list/tab fields that need description.
The new login page now offers a range of background images, which can be configured in the admin panel. The old login background can also be re-enabled if desired.
Datetime inputs can now be toggled between month/week views.
List views can now be toggled by users between table and card layout for every list.
The Builder interface for form functions now includes context help to explain how and when form events trigger assigned functions.
The feedback dialog was updated to give more details how and where feedback is being sent. It now also includes details for system admins on how to configure the feature.
A new application navigation menu has been designed for mobile devices but can also be enabled in desktop mode, by switching off application menu entries in the user settings.
Some more customization options were added:
- The option to 'stay logged in' can now be disabled.
- The login background image can be overwritten.

Of course, this release also includes a range of bug fixes.

Upgrade notes

This release does not need any special upgrade steps.

On Windows: Run the installer.
On Linux systems: Stop the service, extract the latest release, replace the r3 binary, start the service.

Thank you all for your continued support and feedback. For the full list of changes, take a look at the technical change log.

New platform version, 2023-09-06

Release of REI3.5

Another release! REI3.5 is out with lots of new features, starting with...

Kanban fields

With the new Kanban fields, your data can be shown and managed as cards on a Kanban board. Easily view and then assign things to people, states or whatever you can think of.

Besides the classic Kanban layout, REI3.5 also supports two-dimensional boards, enabling fast multi-value assignment.

Just like lists or calendars, Kanban fields support the full range of filter options, from filter sets to collection inputs.

New calendar views

With REI3.5, users can now switch to 1-day, 3-day, work week and full week views in calendar fields. Especially relevant for partial day event planning, the new views greatly improve usability when working with calendar data.

Besides calendar fields, the new views are also used for date inputs. We also added a simple drag-to-input date selection feature to further speed up record creation.

Label fields

We´ve replaced the existing header fields with a new, extended version. Now called 'Label fields', these offer full HTML content on forms. Either via the richtext editor or directly with raw HTML, you can now add formatted text, images and other content to your forms.

The content of label fields is also specific to the current user language, enabling translatable context help with lots of styling options.

Dedicated mail traffic log

Useful for systems dealing with a lot of mail traffic: In REI3.5, every in- or outgoing message is being logged in a dedicated mail traffic log. In addition to the existing mail service logging, this feature provides a quick overview of mail traffic, regardless of system log settings.

Better handling of frontend functions

Frontend functions also got some love with this release. Instead of jumping back and forth through the Builder, frontend functions can now directly be created from where they´re needed. With contextual shortcuts and pre-filled inputs, creating a frontend function should be significantly faster.

Additionally, frontend function names now only need to be unique within their assigned form. No need to use prefixes for similar functions on different forms. The Builder UIs also have been updated to better show where frontend functions are used.

More new stuff & fixes

Forms can now define a field that should receive focus on load, helping with fast record creation. If a form does not have a defined field, the first available input field will be set active.
Icons and context help has been added to the container field options, to help better explain layout options.
CSV exports now use the translated column titles, if available. If not, they fallback to attribute titles and ultimately to attribute names, if nothing is else is available.
Added more instance functions: You can now overwrite the form title, close a form or change a field focus within frontend functions.
Cleaned up the log view in the admin panel.
Forms can now be opened with relations other than the base relation. This removes the need to recreate things like list fields, when a wrong base relation was chosen. It can also simplify some queries, as the base relation does not need to be the one used for opening forms.
Fixed iFrame fields not behaving correctly if opened while being invisible (inside hidden field/tab).
Fixed an issue with the integrated backup, which would fail if the database name did not match the database user name.
Fixed bulk edit options not being available if the delete option was disabled on a relation.
Fixed boolean values in column filters being shown as true/false.
Fixed colors being too dim in dark mode.

Upgrade notes

This release does not need any special upgrade steps.

On Windows: Run the installer.
On Linux systems: Stop the service, extract the latest release, replace the r3 binary, start the service.

Thank you all for your continued support and feedback. For the full list of changes, take a look at the technical change log.

New platform version, 2023-06-19

Release of REI3.4

Its that time again - a new major update for REI3 is out, so let´s see what we got.

REST calls

Although REI3 could already offer APIs as a REST server, sending or pulling data from inside your REI3 apps was not supported. With REI3.4 we can now execute REST calls directly from backend functions. This enables regular data exchange based on schedules or event based updates via triggers or other function calls.

Because every REST API is different, you can freely define headers, request bodies and so on. A REST spooler attempts to execute your calls even when there is a temporary issue.

Function templates

REI3 offers a lot of freedom when it comes to functions and data processing - having a lot of options however inevitably leads to complexity. Especially with the new REST calls, we´ve found that there are so many ways to do things that regular documentation just was not practical.

So we decided to build function templates for the most common use cases. When attempting to build complex functions, templates can help you get started. Besides templates for REST calls, we´ve also added one for processing incoming mails from the mail spooler. Depending on feedback and how future features will look, we will extend the number of templates.

Bulk update forms

Introducing: Easily update hundreds of records at once directly through a list with our new bulk update forms. With REI3.4 you can assign a bulk update form to any list.

By default every field on a bulk update form is optional and only values of changed fields are updated. This just makes sense as you might not want to change certain values at all. But you can however still use form states to dynamically change this behavior, to make certain inputs mandatory for example.

Bulk update forms can be assigned in addition to existing forms, so you can open a specific record on one form, while using a another, simpler form for mass updating specific values.

Inline forms

Up until now, you could open records either directly (as a new page) or as a floating window. Now we have a third option - the inline form:

Especially useful for records with few inputs, the inline form keeps everything visible while you can create or update your record. Bulk update forms can also be opened as inline form.

Besides lists, calendar & Gantt fields also support this feature:

Inline forms generally need more space to work, so they are automatically converted to floating windows when using a mobile device.

Direct app access

There are many reasons, why you might want to directly open a specific app instead of the start page of the REI3 instance. Maybe your users only use one app - or maybe you want to install multiple apps on your mobile devices individually. This is now possible via direct app access.

Directly access and install individual apps

With access to customizing, you can now define individual apps, that can be accessed and installed individually. They are then shown as native apps on devices and can have their own title and icons. It does require sub domains and a wildcard certificate to work correctly however. But if your infrastructure supports it, this can make your apps feel even better than before.

Easier column batching

Batching columns together never was quite intuitive, with a batch number you had to assign and which had to match columns around it. With 3.4 we´ve redesigned the interface so that you can just drag and drop columns to create column batches.

More column options

In addition to easier column batching, you can now set some styles for your columns. When batching at least 2 columns, you can now also choose for your content to be vertically aligned - this means that lists like this are now possible:

iframe fields

Useful for integrating external resources, iframe fields are now available to access anything your browser can display.

Because iframe fields just show what value you assign to them, you can dynamically update a URL with getter parameters to show context specific resources. You can also simply use a default value on a readonly iframe field to provide access to an intranet login page.

Custom CSS

Don´t like how REI3 looks? No problem - with new customizing options in REI3.4, you can provide your own custom CSS. Make buttons rounder, colors pop or change styles as you desire.

Text indexing

We knew for a while that our regular indexing did not support larger text values. This was causing us headaches with apps we designed, especially in regards to our knowledge base and ticket system.

The plan was to address text indexing a while back... but we found that it was a more complex issue than we had anticipated. Besides that, solving text indexing would also enable other powerful new features. So the scope increased and it took a while to get it done. But here we are.

REI3 now offers a simple to use text index option that can be selected when creating new indexes. It only supports text values (obviously) and works on a single attribute. But when its enabled, the system can now find records over hundreds of thousands of large texts within milliseconds. And that is not all.

Together with very fast lookups, REI3 now also offers full-text search (FTS) capabilities for values that have a text-index. This means that you can scan for words or phrases, like you would googling something online. And even better: If you can know the language of a text, the full-text search can use language-specific features to improve your search even more, like looking for results with the same word stem. For this you need the new 'dictionary attribute' to select and store the appropriate language value of a text.

Text indexing is not something you will need for every app - but if you need it, these features will make things much better.

Some more things

When creating a new child record via a list or calendar field, n:m fields can now also be populated.
PWA options such as app title and icons are now available for individual applications.
The customizing UI in the admin panel has been redesigned, including more options & context help.
Relationship inputs in the Builder for n:m now use unique icons to differentiate themselves from other types.

Duplicate primary key references

REI3.2 introduced a bug in which applications being newly imported into another instance would duplicate index references for primary keys. Luckily this caused no issues besides looking weird. This bug is now fixed. To remove duplicate entries, have all affected applications in a REI3 instance <3.4 and then upgrade to 3.4 - duplicate indexes will be removed and you can re-export your applications.

Upgrade notes

REI3.4 does not need any special upgrade steps.

On Windows: Run the installer.
On Linux systems: Stop the service, extract the latest release, replace the r3 binary, start the service.

Thank you all for your continued support and feedback. For the full list of changes, take a look at the technical change log.

New platform version, 2023-04-03

Release of REI3.3

A new major update to REI3 is here with loads of new features & improvements. Let´s take a look.

APIs are here

With APIs (or Application Programming Interfaces) you can create, update and delete records. Any system, tool or script can now be connected with REI3 by simply executing REST calls. And the best part: All the features you know already still work as before. Some examples:

Do you have business logic for record updates? It does not matter if you use forms or an API, the same triggers and backend functions will execute.
Roles and relation policies that give or restrict access? Also apply to APIs.
Getting or updating records from multiple relations? Nothing new to learn here - works as before.

Also nice: If you need to make changes to your REST calls, you create a new API version with a single click and make changes to the new version instead. This way, you can make changes to your APIs while older calls still run as before.

APIs are important in many scenarios and we are happy to offer this feature now as a standard.

New attribute management

Every low-code or no-code tool needs to decide how much to abstract away to keep things simple. With REI3 we decided to use the least amount of abstraction, to allow authors to be flexible and build powerful applications; this is why attributes in REI3 always were quite technical.

With REI3.3 we looked at how we can make the life of application authors easier for the most common use cases, without loosing power and flexibility. So now with this release, we introduce 'attribute value types'.

Instead of choosing an attribute´s content (like integer, bigint, real, etc.) you now choose what your attribute values are going to be used for. Be it text, decimal numbers, dates or colors. REI3 will then offer you contextual options depending on your chosen value type.

In the same way, your frontend components (forms, fields, lists, etc.) can now automatically adjust their presentation without any additional inputs. Some display options are still there for edge cases, but overall it should take less time building your applications.

A new look

A friendly request in our new REI3 Community Forum suggested that we update our user interface towards a specific look. At first we were hesitant to add a such big change to an already large feature release - but then we got curious, and found we could actually implement this suggestion without much issue. So here we are now:

As the feedback from our testers was overwhelmingly positive, we decided to make it the default. The old look can be enabled by toggling 'Field backgrounds' in the user settings, for those who prefer it.

Tab counters

We introduced tabs with REI3.2 and found very quickly, that they help facilitate user-friendly and nicer-looking forms. So much so, that we ourselves can´t stop using them everyhwere. Putting more stuff in tabs has a downside however. A no-brainer in hindsight, the more we use tabs, the more we make stuff invisible as only one tab is ever active at the same time.

To mitigate this new issue, with REI3.3 you can now enable counters for each tab. A tab counter will show how many records are shown in lists & calendars or how many files are attached to a file input inside a tab.

This feature requires more performance, as even invisible fields and records must be processed to update the tab counters. You can decide where having counters is sensible and activate the option accordingly.

More Builder improvements

The Builder has again received some love. Following the new attribute value types (s. above), corresponding value type icons are now shown in many Builder interfaces.

This makes it easy to see, what you are dealing with. We found it especially useful in regards to relationships.

Speaking of which, the relation management interface for data queries has been reworked as well. Much cleaner and nicer looking (at least we think so), it is now easier than ever to see what relations are joined, what settings are active and what relationships are used.

Easier access to input fields

In large data forms, it can sometimes get difficult to find the one input field that you are looking for. REI3.3 introduces a new way to access data input fields without having to find them inside the form layout. Just choose 'edit fields' in the right panel and a list of all input fields can be accessed directly.

New login management interface

The login management user interface has not changed much since the first public release of REI3 many years ago. With more features coming over time it became harder to update - so we redesigned it.

It should be easier to use for admins as well as easier to add new features to in the future.

Login templates

This feature enables admins to set defaults for user settings, like the active language, region or display options. Login templates can be chosen at login creation or assigned to LDAP connections.

Improved list colors

A small but very welcome feature: List columns will now be filled by a background color if any color attribute is part of a column batch. Text color is automatically adjusted to contrast well with the column background to keep things readable regardless of chosen color.

Improved backend function editor

With the increasing number of options for the function editors, we had to streamline quite a bit to fit all options. For the backend function editor, the user interface became nice to look at, but time-consuming to use - especially when you needed to use many relation or attribute placeholders. With REI3.3 we reworked the UI again to give you very quick access to placeholders within the current context.

More help for new application authors

REI3 never was the easiest low-code tool to work with - but that does not stop us from making it easier with time. In this release we´ve added a 'first steps' page, which helps new application authors get up and running and avoid common mistakes.

We´ve also also added contextual warnings for common failings, like missing attributes in sub queries or undefined base relations for list views. We aim to further improve the usability of REI3 without loosing functionality.

Even more new things

New attribute type: Universally unique identifier (UUID). Very useful for data exchange between disconnected systems.
New date & time filter options. It is now very easy to filter for records changed in the last 3 days for example.
New form state condition 'field is valid' - you can now change your form depending on the validity of field inputs.
Directly execute backend functions from inside the Builder. Very useful for testing your functions.
Collection filters are now persistent during navigation - filtering for categories or tags is now kept just like any other filter.
File inputs now show placeholders for file types if no thumbnail is available.
New user option for always returning to the last active tab on a form.
Presets can now be referenced in front- & backend functions directly via instance calls.
Form state conditions can now be filtered by affected tabs.
Custom field error messages are now available, which you can set with frontend functions.
Removed the need to load list fields if they are not visible. Saves performance and bandwidth.
System captions are now loaded as cachable files - this results in less data needing to be loaded after login.
You can now reference presets from built-on applications in filters and form state conditions.

Upgrade notes

REI3.3 does not need any special upgrade steps.

On Windows: Run the installer.
On Linux systems: Extract the latest release and replace the r3 binary.

This turned out to be our largest release yet. Thank you all for your continued support and feedback. For the full list of changes, take a look at the technical change log.

Official REI3 forum, 2023-02-07

REI3 community forum

We are happy to announce that the official REI3 community forum is now live.

So far, people reached out to us via email, Github and our contact form. With this new forum system, requests can be seen and answered not just by us, but by all participants.

How to use it

We kept it as simple as possible - just go to community.rei3.de, choose your preferred username and confirm your account via email. Then you are in and ready to post.

This system is new, starting with basic categories and tags - we will use it for everything community related and expand as we go on.

Thank you for the time and effort you have shown us - we hope the new system works well for everybody.

New platform version, 2022-12-30

Release of REI3.2

Today we release a new major version, REI3.2. This release includes a long list of features, improvements and fixes, so let´s jump right into it.

Tab fields

For larger forms that struggle to contain all their inputs, fields can now be placed in tabs. The new tab field can contain multiple named tabs, which each can contain as many fields as desired. With container fields and nested tabs, even complex layouts are possible within tabs.

Tab fields come with many usability features. For one, they are marked if any required input is hidden within a tab and the record could not be saved. Additionally, tabs themselves can be hidden and managed via form states.

When a single input field is placed inside a tab, it will take all available space, making it feel seemless.

Multi-factor-authentication (MFA)

With REI3.2, users can increase their account security by adding an additional authentication factor to their account. Register an authenticator app by scanning a barcode in your user settings and your good to go. Any modern authenticator app can be used that supports TOTP, like Microsoft or Google Authenticator.

To protect against loosing access, multiple authenticators/devices can be added. If nothing else works, an REI3 administrator can reset your multi-factor-authentication.

Redesigned Builder

We´ve been adding new features to the Builder for years now, finding it harder and harder to stuff them into the existing user interfaces. Sometimes this caused the UI to suffer...

This had to change at some point. This point is now. We went a little nuts and reworked most user interfaces in the Builder. New navigation, new entry points, loads of moving stuff around and so on. It will take a bit of time to get used to, but we are very happy with the results.

Especially the form editor now keeps the important form layout as is, while form states, functions, field options and form properties stay in the sidebar.

Flexible help articles

Something for the good people updating documentation: You can now create help articles that are reusable in different contexts. Instead of creating a large documentation and copying parts of it to different form context help pages, you can now create short articles and assign them to the main application help or to multiple forms.

Articles can be placed in any desired order - with a table of content automatically being generated if more than 1 article is available. You can even reuse articles from applications that you build on.

Better integrated backups

We´ve had integrated backups for some time for smaller stand-alone systems running on Windows. With REI3.2 we now support other environments as well, allowing integrated backups to run on non-stand-alone instances, on Linux, on ARM systems or wherever you run REI3 from. The only requirement is that you have the Postgres client utilities installed on the REI3 server (for database backups).

Additionally, you can now view existing backup sets inside the admin user interface.

Upgrade notes

REI3.2 does not need any special upgrade steps.

On Windows: Run the installer.
On Linux systems: Extract the latest release and replace the r3 binary.

For integrated backups on Linux systems, make sure to install the Postgres client utilities, such as:
apt-get install postgresql-client

Small fixes and improvements

List filters are now cached for the user session, meaning they stay active when returning to a form.
Collection values shown in the header, are now combined into a notification bell on mobile devices.
Collection values are now updated when assigning records (like a contact) to a login. This makes a page refresh after assignment unnecessary.
Improved file inputs, making them take less space by default and show better image galleries.
The portable version of REI3 can now be started by just double-clicking the executable. This is enabled by default for new versions. For existing portable versions, add "portable":true' to the config file or continue using the start script.
Most database entities (applications, relations, attributes, backend functions) can now have longer names, up to 60 characters (from 32 before).
Fixed issue in the form editor where it would not alert the author if a referenced field was deleted.
Fixed application import issues that could cause the server to hang or the import to fail in some edge cases.
Fixed form state conditions not being always updated by relationship input fields.
Fixed CSV export ignoring column filters.
Fixed invalid column aggregation being shown after a list was updated in the same instance.
Fixed multiple issues with the form copy functions.
... and more smaller fixes and improvements.

That´s it for this release. For the full list of changes, take a look at our change log.

New platform version, 2022-10-07

Release of REI3.1

We are happy to announce that REI3.1 just released. In addition to a redesigned file management, many new functions are included for operators and users of REI3. Please be aware that this version requires an additional upgrade step - read on below for details.

New file management

Until now, file management was a small part of REI3 - good enough to be useful but limited in functionality. This changes now.

Lets start with the new file input: It works as before, allowing you to easily attach files to any record; but it can now also grow and support much larger file sets. Including options for sorting, filtering and copying files - the new file input makes it possible to handle many more files at once.

We also got a new client application to support quick and easy access to files from within REI3. After setting up the app (on Windows, Linux or MacOS), it syncs to the REI3 server and receives requests to open files on your local computer. You can then directly work on your files, save your changes and the client will sync everything back

Additionally, application authors can now parse files and also create hardlinks to them, allowing access to the same files in different contexts.

We plan to release a file management application on the platform to enable teams to work on REI3 files together. In the meantime, authors can use the new features to build stronger file management into their own applications.

Column filters & aggregators

A small but universal feature: Users can now select filters based on all values within a list column. Together with a redesigned column management UI, these filters will be available on all lists automatically. Additionally, aggregation functions can also be used to build sums, averages and so on.

Builder improvements

The Builder has received some love as well. Interfaces that handle single entities (like forms, functions or roles) can now use the CTRL+S hotkey to save changes. In general, actions in the Builder have been redesigned to be more consistent with other UIs.

As a safety feature, the Builder now automatically defaults to a read-only mode for applications from other authors. You can still change these applications by disabling read-only mode inside the applications panel in the admin UI. As before: You can build on other´s applications safely; but direct changes to these applications are overwritten when a new version is installed.

ARM64 support

Get your Raspberry Pis out - REI3 now officially supports ARM64 processors on Linux systems. Requirements and installation steps are the same as for any other Linux operating system. For more details, check out our admin documentation.

Upgrade notes

REI3.1 can now create thumbnails for common file types, including images and PDFs.

Windows releases include most dependencies, but Ghostscript must be installed separately on the server for PDF support.

On Linux systems, both ImageMagick (for images/text files) as well as Ghostscript (for PDFs) must be installed separately. This can be done on most systems with the included package manager, such as:
apt install imagemagick ghostscript

Small fixes and improvements

Large lists now scroll their content instead of the entire form.
Multiple new messages and warnings help authors but also admins to avoid common mistakes.
Platform logs were cleaned up and are now in color.
Expert filters are now also available in smaller fields given the field size is sufficient.
Fixed an edge case, in which PWA do not reload their cache, when the server is updated. Hopefully, after 3.1, you never need to manuelly reload your browser cache again.

For the full list of changes, take a look at our change log.