RenewCMS/docs/releases/v3.5.0-beta.md

This release adds a Relation field to custom content types, so an entry can point at entries of another type.

New

Relation field

• A content type can now have a Relation field that links to another content type. Three kinds are available: one to one (a target can be used by only one entry), one to many (one target per entry) and many to many (up to 50 targets per entry).
• Entries are linked through a searchable picker in the entry form. Chosen targets appear as chips labelled with the first field of the target entry, or "Entry N" when that field is empty.
• Entry lists and cards show the linked entries of each relation column.
• When a linked entry is deleted afterwards, the relation is shown as missing instead of breaking the page. A required relation with a missing target must be fixed before the entry can be saved.
• The schema builder previews the inverse side of a relation, and the schema review dialog explains the impact of adding or removing one.

Improvements and fixes

• Deleting a content type that another type points at is refused, and the delete dialog tells you which types depend on it.
• Adding a required relation to a type that already has entries is refused with the usual schema incompatibility message.
• The right side panel of the article editor no longer overflows vertically on short screens.
• The web app is split into smaller chunks, so the first page load transfers less code.

API

• Changed: every entry answer (POST, PUT and GET of one entry, and each item of a list) carries a top-level relations object keyed by relation field key. Each value holds id, content_type and first_field for an existing target, or id and missing: true for a deleted one. Many to many fields return an array.
• GET /v1/content-type/{key}/entry accepts q, a text search over the entries of the type, applied before pagination. total reflects the filtered count.
• POST /v1/content-type and PUT /v1/content-type/{key} accept type: "relation" fields with relation: {"content_type", "kind"}. A bad definition answers 422 invalid_field.
• Entry writes answer 422 invalid_entry: <key>: required or invalid_entry: <key>: type, and 409 invalid_entry: <key>: unique for a one to one target already taken.
• DELETE /v1/content-type/{key} answers 409 content_type_referenced while another type has a relation to it.

Under the hood

• New feature specs and tests cover the backend and the web app, in features/relation_field_type.feature and features/relation_field_spa.feature.
• Vendor chunk splitting is configured in web/vite/vendorChunks.ts and covered by a spec.

Upgrading

• Replace the binary, or pull the new image. Back up the database first as usual.
• No schema migration and no new environment variable. Existing content types and entries are unchanged.

Known limitations

• Relation search filters entries in memory, so it is meant for types with a moderate number of entries.
• The inverse side of a relation is only shown in the builder preview. The target type's form, list and API do not list the entries pointing at it.