[db-wg] Database release 1.81 deployed to RC environment

Dear colleagues,

We are happy to announce the deployment of RIPE Database software release 1.81 to the Release Candidate (RC) environment.

This release extends and fixes some of the functionality changes that were part of the 1.80 release, especially with regards to authenticating and creating objects. This is why we urge you, again, to thoroughly test the RC environment to make sure nothing in your workflow breaks:

https://www.ripe.net/data-tools/db/release-notes/rc-release-candidate-environment 

Here are the most notable changes I'd like to highlight. When using the RC environment, please focus on using webupdates to test these features:

- We added auto-complete for attributes such as maintainers. This means you can start typing a maintainer name and webupdates will suggest existing maintainers, along with their associated authentication.

- Webupdates tries to be smarter about deleting objects. When, for example, you want to delete a person object, webupdates will suggest you also delete the associated maintainer, if it is not referenced anywhere else.

- "Create a new person and maintainer pair" (previously known as the New Organisation Startup Form) has been redesigned. After logging in with your RIPE NCC Access account, you just need to enter four fields to get going.

Because webupdates contains such fundamental user interface changes, gathering your feedback has been cumbersome at times. This is why we added the Usersnap feedback widget to the RC environment, so you can highlight and annotate the page you are providing feedback on. It will make it easier for us to process your comments and implement fixes and changes.

From all of us at the Database team, we are looking forward to your comments and we hope you enjoy this release!

Kind regards,

Alex Band
Product Manager
RIPE NCC