.. _changelog:
=========
Changelog
=========
.. _v0_54:
0.54 (2021-01-25)
-----------------
The two big new features in this release are the ``_internal`` SQLite in-memory database storing details of all connected databases and tables, and support for JavaScript modules in plugins and additional scripts.
For additional commentary on this release, see `Datasette 0.54, the annotated release notes `__.
The _internal database
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As part of ongoing work to help Datasette handle much larger numbers of connected databases and tables (see `Datasette Library `__) Datasette now maintains an in-memory SQLite database with details of all of the attached databases, tables, columns, indexes and foreign keys. (`#1150 `__)
This will support future improvements such as a searchable, paginated homepage of all available tables.
You can explore an example of this database by `signing in as root `__ to the ``latest.datasette.io`` demo instance and then navigating to `latest.datasette.io/_internal `__.
Plugins can use these tables to introspect attached data in an efficient way. Plugin authors should note that this is not yet considered a stable interface, so any plugins that use this may need to make changes prior to Datasette 1.0 if the ``_internal`` table schemas change.
Named in-memory database support
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As part of the work building the ``_internal`` database, Datasette now supports named in-memory databases that can be shared across multiple connections. This allows plugins to create in-memory databases which will persist data for the lifetime of the Datasette server process. (`#1151 `__)
The new ``memory_name=`` parameter to the :ref:`internals_database` can be used to create named, shared in-memory databases.
JavaScript modules
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
`JavaScript modules `__ were introduced in ECMAScript 2015 and provide native browser support for the ``import`` and ``export`` keywords.
To use modules, JavaScript needs to be included in ``