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What's new in reporting 8.7

Updated on January 18, 2022

Pega Platform provides a convenient way to retrieve specific application data and present the information in the form of comprehensible reports. You can also use insights to present data from your application in the form of interactive charts or comprehensive lists.

Insights support date parts

Starting from Pega Platform version 8.7, insights support information filtering and grouping by date parts. With the new enhancements, you can retrieve specific data from certain periods of time based on your business needs.

The new enhancements include the following functionality:

  • Insights now support information filtering by date parts to confine the results and get more precise data. For example, in a list-based insight for sales, you can filter the contents to include orders from a certain quarter to analyze the financial situation of a company.

    For more information, see Customizing list-based insights and Customizing chart-based insights.

  • Insights now support information grouping by date parts to improve clarity and enhance the process of data analysis. For example, in an insurance application, in a chart-based insight, you can group the number of new clients by year, and then by month, to analyze the growth of your company within specific periods of time.

    For more information, see Customizing list-based insights and Grouping information by dates.

For example: The following visualization shows a team's assignments grouped by years, and then by months.
Grouping data by periods of time
A recording that shows how to use date properties to group data about assignments by years and months.

Insights support relative dates

In Pega Platform version 8.7, in applications that rely on Cosmos React, you can make insights more accurate by filtering data by relative dates. For example, in a chart-based insight for transportation income, you can confine the figures for ticket sales to data from the last year, to analyze the sales within the last 12 months.

The new enhancement uses time periods combined with date parts to filter data. For example, you can filter insights by Previous Quarter. The following list includes time periods and date parts that you can use to filter information in your insight:

  • Time periods
    • Last
    • Previous
    • Next
    • Current
  • Date parts
    • Year
    • Quarter
    • Month
    • Week
    • Day
    • Hour
Note: The Last time period fetches data that appears within a certain date part, and the Previous time period uses data from the preceding date part.
The following visualization presents how to filter data with relative dates in a chart-based insight. Based on the filter criteria, the system retrieves data from the current month only.
Filtering data by relative dates
Sample chart-based insight whose data is filtered by Current Month relative date.

For more information, see Customizing chart-based insights and Customizing list-based insights.

Combo charts with labels and markers

In Pega Platform version 8.7, you can increase the readability of your chart-based insights by specifying distinct chart types for each data series. For example, in a banking insight, you can visualize the difference between the number of clients with fixed-rate mortgages and those with adjustable-rate mortgages.

With the new enhancement, you can conveniently feature certain data series by using several predefined chart types, such as Stacked Area, Multiple Line, and Clustered Column. In addition, you can make each chart more informative by customizing data series to show markers and labels with values.

For more information, see Managing data series in insights.

For example: The following visualization presents a chart-based insight that includes two data series illustrated by two distinct charts. One data series uses markers, and the other uses labels with values.
A sample visualization that shows how to manage chart types and apply markers and labels.

Reference lines and regions in insights

Chart-based insights in Pega Platform version 8.7 now provide a convenient way to visually indicate meaningful data from your application. With this new enhancement, you can set a baseline on the chart, or color-code a specific region.

By bringing crucial information into focus, the new functionalities improve the process of data analysis. For example, you can use the reference line as a benchmark for other data. That way, your insight is transparent and understandable to users.

For more information, see Adding regions and reference lines.

For example: In the following scenario, the reference line indicates a satisfactory level of sales, and the region marked in green shows the range of minimum expected sales.
Chart-based insight with a shaded region and a reference line
A chart-based insight that presents supplementary elements in the form of a line and a shaded region.

Conditional formatting of data series

Starting from Pega Platform version 8.7, you can specify custom conditions to color-code certain areas of chart-based insights. With the new enhancement, you can conveniently highlight meaningful data.

Insights provide you with various customization options for conditional formatting. The new functionality uses relational operators to color certain value ranges in the chart. For example, in an insight for the aviation industry, you can mark in red all flights that are delayed by more than 30 minutes to improve your data analysis. For more information, see Color-coding the appearance of data series.

For example: The following insight presents sales and profits that a company generates in every state. The visualization shows how to customize the sales data series to feature the columns whose value is greater than or equal to 50,000.
Applying conditional formatting to the specific data series
Chart-based insight with customized data series that emphasize the most relevant pieces of information.

Preview of underlying records for insights

Pega Platform version 8.7 now offers you a convenient way to instantly retrieve data that comprises your chart-based insights. For example, in a complex insight for sales, you can drill down to the electronics category to analyze the sales figures of particular items.

The new enhancement provides you with the tools to view the underlying records of certain fields in the form of a comprehensible table. You can use that table to verify whether insights include all the data that you require.

For more information, see Viewing underlying records of insights.

For example: The following chart-based insight shows how to drill down to the detailed list of orders for TVs in a sample sales application:
Viewing underlying records of an insight
A chart-based insight with customizations to show the underlying data in a modal dialog box.

Simple value charts

Pega Platform version 8.7 now offers you an intuitive way to create custom layouts with the data that you want to feature in chart-based insights. The new functionality increases readability and focuses users' attention on meaningful information.

You can create unique charts by customizing several options, such as the alignment of columns and the number of featured data. You can also make data more discernible and increase the attractiveness of the chart by color-coding the featured data.

For more information, see Creating simple value charts and Color-coding the appearance of data series.

For example: The following example presents a Custom highlight + summary layout that includes sales and profits data series. The layout consists of four featured data series that are divided into two columns, with supplementary data under the columns. The data series are color-coded to focus on important information.
A sample insight with a simple value chart
Insight that includes a simple value chart with customized layout.

Other enhancements

Read about minor enhancements in Pega Platform version 8.7.

Support for insights on Cosmos React pages

Cosmos React pages, such as case pages, can now include public insights that use the case ID parameter to filter data. You can add such insights to your pages to retrieve more specific information based on your business needs. For example, on a customer case page in sales application, you can include an insight that filters data by case ID to analyze shopping patterns.

For more information, see Cosmos React.

Support for reporting on embedded properties

Applications that rely on Pega Platform version 8.7 now support reporting on the first level of embedded properties (Page type). For example, in a human resources application, in a list-based insight, you can add the Contact property with an embedded phone number for a user. With this new reporting enhancement, the system retrieves the phone number, which ensures that all other Contact properties are also in the insight.

Customization of data formats

Pega Platform now offers you the option to specify data formats in chart-based insights. You can, for example, present data as currency or duration to make a chart more informative and analyze data more conveniently.

For more information, see Customizing chart-based insights.

Custom aliases for data series

You can now modify the names of data series in chart-based insights. Custom labels enable you to personalize insights, and ensure that data series include meaningful names. For example, in a sales insight that includes several data series, you can alter the names of each series to make the insight easier to read.

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