RELEASE:1.4.0 (#456)

### Work Item / Issue Reference  
<!-- 
IMPORTANT: Please follow the PR template guidelines below.
For mssql-python maintainers: Insert your ADO Work Item ID below 
For external contributors: Insert Github Issue number below
Only one reference is required - either GitHub issue OR ADO Work Item.
-->

<!-- mssql-python maintainers: ADO Work Item -->
>
[AB#42855](https://sqlclientdrivers.visualstudio.com/c6d89619-62de-46a0-8b46-70b92a84d85e/_workitems/edit/42855)

<!-- External contributors: GitHub Issue -->
> GitHub Issue: #<ISSUE_NUMBER>

-------------------------------------------------------------------
### Summary   
<!-- Insert your summary of changes below. Minimum 10 characters
required. -->

This pull request updates the package to version 1.4.0, introducing
several new features and bug fixes aimed at improving performance,
compatibility, and developer experience. The most important changes are
summarized below:

Version bump and release notes:

* Updated the package version to `1.4.0` in `setup.py`, `__init__.py`,
and the documentation, reflecting the new release.
[[1]](diffhunk://#diff-60f61ab7a8d1910d86d9fda2261620314edcae5894d5aaa236b821c7256badd7L176-R176)
[[2]](diffhunk://#diff-d95f3a67986de29f30453416b1b4c34e6a43207e9a33e2b1b80ef0c378b0a538L18-R18)
[[3]](diffhunk://#diff-5236254592b2fea0773f17424b16acf82e3aa351ad8bae33871de5c98eb76eedL38-R53)

New features:

* Added bulk copy support with a high-performance data loading API for
large-scale ETL workloads, including configurable batch sizes and column
mappings.
* Introduced spatial type support for geography, geometry, and
hierarchyid types.
* Upgraded to `mssql-py-core` version 0.1.0 with enhanced connection
string parameter support.
* Added `py.typed` marker for improved type checking, and included Azure
SQL Database in the PR validation pipeline matrix.

Bug fixes and improvements:

* Fixed issues with VARCHAR encoding for non-ASCII CP1252 characters,
segmentation faults during fetch operations, date/time type code
mappings, and updated pipeline configurations.
<!-- 
### PR Title Guide

> For feature requests
FEAT: (short-description)

> For non-feature requests like test case updates, config updates ,
dependency updates etc
CHORE: (short-description) 

> For Fix requests
FIX: (short-description)

> For doc update requests 
DOC: (short-description)

> For Formatting, indentation, or styling update
STYLE: (short-description)

> For Refactor, without any feature changes
REFACTOR: (short-description)

> For release related changes, without any feature changes
RELEASE: #<RELEASE_VERSION> (short-description) 

### Contribution Guidelines

External contributors:
- Create a GitHub issue first:
https://github.com/microsoft/mssql-python/issues/new
- Link the GitHub issue in the "GitHub Issue" section above
- Follow the PR title format and provide a meaningful summary

mssql-python maintainers:
- Create an ADO Work Item following internal processes
- Link the ADO Work Item in the "ADO Work Item" section above  
- Follow the PR title format and provide a meaningful summary
-->

Author: gargsaumya

PyPI_Description.md

@@ -35,11 +35,22 @@ PyBind11 provides:
 - Memory-safe bindings
 - Clean and Pythonic API, while performance-critical logic remains in robust, maintainable C++.
 
-## What's new in v1.3.0
+## What's new in v1.4.0
+
+### Features
+
+- **Bulk Copy Support** - High-performance bulk data loading API is now publicly available with support for large-scale ETL workloads, configurable batch sizes, column mappings, and identity/constraint handling.
+- **Spatial Type Support** - Added support for geography, geometry, and hierarchyid spatial types.
+- **mssql-py-core Upgrade** - Upgraded to mssql-py-core version 0.1.0 with enhanced connection string parameter support.
+- **Type Annotations** - Added py.typed marker for improved type checking support.
+- **Azure SQL Database Testing** - Added Azure SQL Database to PR validation pipeline matrix.
 
 ### Bug Fixes
 
-- **Segmentation Fault Fix** - Fixed segmentation fault in libmsodbcsql-18.5 during SQLFreeHandle() (#415).
+- **VARCHAR Encoding Fix** - Fixed VARCHAR fetch failures when data length equals column size with non-ASCII CP1252 characters.
+- **Segmentation Fault Fix** - Fixed segmentation fault when interleaving fetchmany and fetchone calls.
+- **Date/Time Type Mappings** - Aligned date/time type code mappings with ODBC 18 driver source.
+- **Pipeline Updates** - Updated OneBranch pipelines for new 1ES images and pool selection.
 
 For more information, please visit the project link on Github: https://github.com/microsoft/mssql-python
 

mssql_python/__init__.py

@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@
 from .helpers import Settings, get_settings, _settings, _settings_lock
 
 # Driver version
-__version__ = "1.3.0"
+__version__ = "1.4.0"
 
 # Exceptions
 # https://www.python.org/dev/peps/pep-0249/#exceptions

setup.py

@@ -173,7 +173,7 @@ def run(self):
 
 setup(
     name="mssql-python",
-    version="1.3.0",
+    version="1.4.0",
     description="A Python library for interacting with Microsoft SQL Server",
     long_description=open("PyPI_Description.md", encoding="utf-8").read(),
     long_description_content_type="text/markdown",