Release Date:
Summary
This release focuses on strengthening the electronic Data Use Certificate (eDUC) workflow and polishing the account creation and file viewing experience on the Synapse platform. Work spanned data governance tooling, entity page usability, and behind-the-scenes reliability and security maintenance.
Key areas of work in this release include eDUC preview and quota tracking, entity page download controls, account onboarding, and platform infrastructure cleanup.
A total of 6 tickets were completed in this release.
No breaking changes or required user actions are included in this release.
Affected Users & Systems
|
Who/What |
Impact |
|---|---|
|
Data Access Committee (DAC) reviewers and DAR creators |
New ability to preview and track eDUC signature quotas |
|
New users creating an account |
Fixed an issue where the pledge page appeared blank during signup |
|
Users viewing files on Entity pages |
PDF files now open in the browser's built-in viewer; download menu behavior refined for files with unmet access requirements |
|
Platform infrastructure |
Internal cleanup with no visible impact to end users |
Deprecated or Breaking Changes
None in this release.
New Features
eDUC Preview New
Users creating a Data Access Request (DAR) can now preview exactly how the electronic Data Use Certificate will look, populated with their DAR details, before it is sent out for signature. This reduces surprises for signers and helps requesters catch errors ahead of time.
Who benefits: Researchers and data access administrators managing the DAR and eDUC signature process.
eDUC Quota Tracking New
The platform can now report a user's remaining quota for electronic Data Use Certificate signature requests, and reject new signature requests once that quota is reached. Administrators also have a way to reset a user's quota when needed.
Who benefits: Data governance administrators overseeing eDUC usage limits, and users participating in the signature process.
Fixes & Improvements
Fixed Blank Pledge Page During Account Creation
New users completing account setup were sometimes shown a blank pledge page instead of the expected content, which could interrupt the signup flow. This has been resolved so the pledge page now displays correctly for all new accounts.
Who benefits: Anyone creating a new Synapse account.
Switched to Native Browser PDF Viewer
PDF files on Entity pages now open using the browser's built-in PDF viewer instead of a separate, self-hosted viewer component. This reduces the platform's exposure to third-party software vulnerabilities and takes advantage of the faster, more consistent viewing experience modern browsers already provide.
Who benefits: Anyone viewing PDF files stored in Synapse.
Refined Entity Page Download Behavior
On the redesigned Entity page, the Download dropdown menu now stays available even when a user hasn't yet met the access requirements for a file, while the specific "Download File" option remains disabled until those requirements are satisfied. This makes it clearer that other download-related actions are still accessible.
Who benefits: Users browsing and downloading files with access requirements on Entity pages.
Infrastructure Cleanup: Shared Resources Stack Deletion
Fixed an issue that prevented a retired internal infrastructure stack from being fully deleted due to a lingering security group reference. This is a backend maintenance fix with no user-facing impact.
Who benefits: No direct user impact; improves internal infrastructure hygiene.