Published Release Notes

New default system setting for SQL queries

A prconfig system setting, reporting/useLayerCakeSchemaChanges, is now enabled by default to improve the performance of SQL queries. Additionally, this setting can also be configured to disable an optimized query as a prconfig setting.

Previously, this setting was set to false by default. Starting in this release, to set this from true to false, you must explicitly add an entry in the prconfig.xml file.

For more information, see Startup check removes custom DB triggers.

Startup check removes custom DB triggers

The process for performing updates to the pr_sys_updatescache and pr4_rule_vw tables has been restructured to increase system processing efficiency. In previous releases, database (DB) triggers were used to perform updates to these tables. These updates are now performed directly within the Pega 7 engine and the DB triggers have been eliminated.

Accordingly, Pega 7 now checks at startup for any user-created triggers that are added after installation. If any triggers of this type are found, they are automatically removed.

For related information, see Custom DB triggers are dropped during upgrade.

Call functions by using the library qualified syntax

When calling a function, in addition to the existing fully qualified and unqualified function calls, you can now use the library qualified syntax:

@LibraryName.FunctionName(arg1, arg2... argn)

An example of using the library qualified syntax to call a function

Using library qualified notation helps prevent accidental library conflicts (such as when two libraries with the same name are located in different rulesets), because the library from the ruleset listed higher in the operator runtime ruleset list is selected for resolution.

For more information, see Methods for calling a function.

The System Management Application is supported only on Microsoft Internet Explorer

Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE) is required for the System Management Application (SMA). No other browser is supported.

Create and modify tenants only from the Tenant Management landing pages or SOAP operations

When creating or modifying tenants, do not use any of the following methods:

• Creating a new tenant definition from the Data-Admin-Tenant list
• Using the Save As feature to create a tenant from an existing tenant
• Creating a tenant from the rule form from the Action > Create menu

Although these methods might appear to work, the resulting tenants have no associated metadata and are not valid. Always use landing pages or SOAP operations to create or modify tenants.

End of support for Microsoft Internet Explorer 8 and quirks mode applications in Pega 7.1.9

In accordance with Microsoft’s announcement to discontinue support for Internet Explorer 8 in January 2016, Pega 7.1.9 does not support Internet Explorer 8, nor does it support non-HTML5 standard user interfaces.

You must upgrade to Microsoft Internet Explorer 9 or later or use Google Chrome, Apple Safari, or Mozilla Firefox. If you are using Internet Explorer 9 or later, you must turn off compatibility mode by accessing the Compatibility View settings.

Note the following:

• Pega 7.1.9 does not support user interface rules that are not based on HTML5 standards (rules in quirks mode).
• If you use applications that are rendered in quirks mode, which enables Pega 7 to correctly display and render non-HTML5 standard user interfaces, you must update them to standards-based HTML5 user interfaces when you upgrade to Pega 7.1.9 or later. Pega 7 provides automated tools to help you migrate your applications.
• Pegasystems Global Customer Support will not investigate or fix any Pega 7.1.9 bugs or support requests that are exclusive to Internet Explorer 8 or quirks mode user interfaces.

You can quickly identify which components of your application user interface are not HTML5 standards-based by clicking Designer Studio > User Interface > HTML5 Application Readiness.

Upgrading to Pega 7.1.9 and a newer browser offers the following benefits:

• These browsers are HTML5 and CSS3 compliant.
• New features are supported and existing features work as intended.
• The Pega 7 Platform user interface is displayed and rendered as intended.
• Browser security is enhanced.

If you have additional questions about browser support, see the Platform Support Guide or contact Pegasystems Global Customer Support.

Upgrades from PRPC 5.4 or earlier fail if index/data enabled = true

Upgrades from PRPC 5.4 or earlier fail if the index/data enabled Data Admin System Setting (DASS) is set to true. To upgrade from versions prior to PRPC 5.5:

1. Set the index/data enabled DASS to false.
2. Perform the upgrade.
3. Set index/data enabled to true.

Schema not found error when importing a Rule-Admin-Product file

If you import a Rule-Admin-Product file (RAP) file that includes a schema that has a view, grammar parsing changes can mean that the Pega 7 Platform is unable to find the schema.

To enable the Pega 7 Platform to find the schema:

1. Review the error message that indicates that the schema was not found and identify the following items:
   • The name of the schema that is causing the error
   • The table name in the format: wrong_schema_name.table_name...
   • The DDL that the Pega 7 Platform is trying to apply
2. Use the table name to identify the correct schema name in your system. This schema is usually your data schema, but might also be an external database.
3. Download the DDL.
4. Correct the schema name and save the DDL.
5. Manually apply the DDL.

Real-time pulse processing for multinode systems

Multinode development environments now use real-time pulse processing. Previously, when a change was made on one node, the pulse processing interval could take a minute or more for that change to be reflected on another node. Now, when a rule is changed on one node, that change is immediately reflected on all the other nodes in the cluster. This change helps to ensure that users are running a rule on the same node as where the rule was changed.

Verifying that a Pega 7 Platform instance is running

You can verify whether a Pega 7 Platform instance is up and running by entering this URL: http://<<hostName:port/contextName>>/PRRestService/monitor/pingservice/ping

The Pega 7 Platform Engine responds with HTTP Response Code 200 if the instance is available. The response contains JSON text in the format { "duration":"<time in milliseconds>" }. Any other response codes or timeout indicate that the instance is unavailable.