Published Release Notes

Updates to the Event Strategy rule

When you design event strategies, you can use the Filter shape for basic arithmetic and text expressions. You can also specify start conditions for the tumbling and sliding windows.

Updates to the Predictive Model rule form

The Predictive Model rule form provides the XML schema preview for uploaded PMML models. You can use this preview to view the structure of a model and to correct errors before saving the rule. When the model contains errors, they are displayed in the Errors section at the bottom of the rule.

Updates to the Strategy rule

The Strategy tab of the Strategy rule form contains a new Test runs panel from which you can run simulations and test strategies for single and multiple customers. When you test strategies for multiple customers, you can identify the most popular propositions offered to the customers, check the overall strategy performance, and examine the performance of the individual components.

Exporting charts in scheduled reports to a PDF file

When a scheduled report with a chart is exported to a PDF file, the chart is not automatically included in the PDF file. This behavior is different from when you export reports from the Report Viewer. When you export a report with a chart from the Report Viewer, the chart is included in the PDF file.

For scheduled reports, you can use the pyEmbedChartUsingPhantomJS HTML rule and the pyCallPhantomJS activity rule to implement a solution that exports a chart to a PDF file.

For more information, see Exporting a chart in a scheduled report to a PDF file.

New types of data sets

There are three new types of data sets:

• Facebook - Required for connecting with the Facebook API
• Twitter - Required for connecting with the Twitter API
• YouTube - Required for connecting with the YouTube Data API

Use these data sets when you create instances of the Free Text Model rule and you want to analyze the text-based content on social media streams such as Facebook, Twitter, or YouTube.

Problem with truncating Decision Data Store data set

The Truncate operation for the Decision Data Store data set may cause timeout exceptions. This problem is caused by the Apache Cassandra database that waits until compaction tasks finish before it can truncate the data set.

Recommendation:

Repeat the Truncate operation until it is successful.

Descendant class instances now included in reports

The Report on descendant class instances option on the Data Access tab of the Report Definition rule has a new option to now include data from all descendant classes of the report's primary class. If descendant classes are mapped to multiple class tables, the generated SQL query performs UNIONs to include this data. Previously, only a single class was included in the report.

You can select a subset of descendant classes to include or exclude by adding a filter condition on pxObjClass.

Existing reports retain the older behavior for this option after an upgrade or update. To use the new option, you must set it for each existing report. New reports created in Designer Studio and out-of-the-box Pega 7 Platform template reports from which new reports are created in the Report Browser (pyDefaultReport and pyDefaultSummaryReport) default to the new option. If you have created custom template reports for some application classes, you must change them to enable the new option in reports that are created in the Report Browser for these classes.

See Reporting on data in multiple class tables.

Report Definition query filters can search embedded properties

Filter conditions on Report Definition rules that query the Elasticsearch indexes can now reference embedded properties. Previously, filter conditions could reference only the top-level properties of a class. To reference an embedded property within a filter condition, specify indexes for embedded page lists and page groups, for example, Customers(1).Addresses(1).City = Boston OR Customers(1).Addresses(1).State = MA.

These indexes are ignored in the generated query, and so can potentially match any value in a page list or group. However, filter conditions that reference multiple embedded properties in the same page list or page group, as displayed above, might not be satisfied on the same page.

Method for specifying custom search properties has changed

The method for specifying a custom set of properties that are stored in the Elasticsearch indexes and that can be referenced later in filter conditions or returned in a set or results has changed. Previously, the pySearchModel Data Transform rule was used to specify a custom search property list within a class. The new method is to specify a Data instance of the Data-CustomProperties-Search class.

After upgrading to Pega 7.2, make these changes:

• Reenter existing pySearchModel Data Transform rules as instances of Data-CustomProperties-Search data instances.
• Enable the indexing/useDataInstances Data Admin system setting by clicking Records > SysAdmin > Dynamic System Settings.

After you change the set of custom search properties for a class, rebuild the Elasticsearch index for that class on the System Settings Search landing page.

BIX extracts can be scheduled and run from the Pega 7 Platform by using agents

You can create an agent that periodically invokes the new pxExtractDataWithArgs activity to run a BIX Extract rule. The activity takes the class and extract rule name, as well as an additional input string with a list of BIX command-line parameters, as input parameters to use for the run.