Pega 7.2 uses client-side technologies for some design-time and run-time user tasks. This information provides an overview of how the following client-side technologies are used in Pega 7.2:

• Adobe Flash
• Microsoft ActiveX
• Microsoft Silverlight

For tables that summarize this information and provide a product roadmap for the use of these technologies, see Summary.

Adobe Flash

Adobe Flash is optionally used at design time. Developers can use optional Flash controls in Designer Studio for the Referencing Rules viewer and the Declarative Network Analyzer (DNA) tool.

To open the Referencing Rules viewer, from any Designer Studio rule form click Actions > View References. The viewer displays a list of rules that reference the currently displayed rule.

​

Referencing Rules viewer

Another Flash control displays the DNA tool. The DNA tool is useful for Lead System Architects who want to trace and debug the evaluation of complex declare expressions. You can access the DNA tool when unit testing a declare expression by clicking Declare Expression > Actions > Run. You also can access this tool from the Designer Studio menu by clicking Process and Rules > Business Rules > Declarative Network.

Declarative Network landing page

The Declarative Network landing page provides a list of all declaratives that are defined in your application with a link to open the DNA tool for each instance. Clicking the network link opens the DNA viewer that is associated with the declarative.

Microsoft ActiveX

Microsoft ActiveX controls (OCX) work with Internet Explorer and provide a number of optional integrations to the Windows desktop. Use of these controls is not required for other Pega 7 development.

In Pega 7.2, ActiveX controls within the application support the following use cases:

• Screen captures
• Open authoring
• PegaOutlook

Screen captures

A screen capture ActiveX control is used in the optional Pushpin feedback feature and the optional feature to take a screen capture and attach it to a case. If you have a business requirement to attach screen captures to cases but do not want to use the screen capture ActiveX control, you can use third-party software to take the screen capture, and attach the .png file to a case.

Open authoring

In several locations in Designer Studio, application developers can edit a rule (or fragments of rule logic) by using an external application, such as Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, or another external editor. These areas include:

• Modifying the contents of an activity Java step in an editor
• Modifying logic in a decision table directly in Microsoft Excel
• Modifying logic in a Map Value directly in Microsoft Excel
• Modifying a Rule-Template-Excel instance directly in Microsoft Excel
• Modifying a Rule-Template-Word instance directly in Microsoft Word
• Converting a case attachment to a PDF file (ConvertAttachmentToPDF flow action)

The Open Authoring control is also instantiated when you use the following local actions for email and attachment interactions:

• AttachAndHold
• CreateMergedWordDoc
• EditWorkAttachments
• SendEmailCorr

PegaOutlook

The PegaOutlook control allows Pega 7 applications to optionally interact with an operator’s Microsoft Outlook calendar. The control is loaded only if the GetAppointmentList or SendMeetingRequest flow actions are referenced in a case.

Microsoft Silverlight

Microsoft Silverlight is optionally used during design time and run time. Silverlight is an application framework that enables cross-browser interaction with rich media and desktop applications. There are Silverlight plug-ins for many browsers.

You can use Silverlight controls in Designer Studio for the following actions:

• Document merging
• Direct editing of textual content with Microsoft Word
• Document scanning
• Image viewing

Document merging

Document merging refers to the ability to generate Microsoft Word documents by combining the data that is collected during case processing with predefined Microsoft Word templates. You can use document merging by referencing the CreateMergedWordDoc flow action at design time.

Document merging differs from documenting your application for the Direct Capture of Objectives (DCO), which uses server-side documentation generation. Server-side documentation generation was introduced in Pega 7.1.8.

Direct editing of textual content with Microsoft Word

In browsers other than Google Chrome, you can open Microsoft Word to create or modify application specifications during the DCO process by using the View/Edit in Microsoft Word option. Because Chrome does not support Silverlight, you can upload specification attachments directly.

Document scanning

End users can optionally interact with TWAIN-compliant document scanners. You can scan and attach documents to cases to satisfy business requirements. The control is loaded only if the pyLaunchScannerConfiguration or pyCreateScannedDocument local actions are referenced from a case.

For more information about configuring the Document Scanning control, see Installing Pega Document Scanning software.

Image viewing

You can view digital images that are attached to cases directly in Pega 7 Platform without requiring additional image software.

For more information about configuring the Image Viewing control, see Pega Content Management (Capture, Store and View Content).

Summary

For more information about supported software, see the Platform Support Guide.

The following table summarizes the design-time client-side software for Designer Studio and the corresponding Pega 7 Platform roadmap.

The following table summarizes the run-time client-side software for the end-user portal and the corresponding Pega 7 Platform roadmap.