Published Release Notes

REST APIs for cache management and requestor pools management

You can manage various caches in Pega^® Platform, for example, the clean cache or the repopulate cache, or you can get cache statistics for the authenticated user by using the new Caches REST APIs. You can manage requestor pools, for example, clear a requestor pool, by using the new Pools REST APIs. These APIs allow external systems to consume and manage Pega resources.

The new REST APIs are for Conclusions Cache, Declarative Page Cache, Declarative Rules Cache, Rule Cache, Application-Based Assembly (ABA) Cache, and Requestor Pool Management.

For more information, see Pega API for Pega Platform 7.4 and Pega API.

REST APIs for viewing Pega Platform configuration settings

New REST APIs in the Nodes category provide a view of the current configuration settings for any node in a cluster or for an entire cluster. You can also find a specific node ID by listing all the nodes in the cluster. To diagnose settings issues for a node, you can download the prconfig.xml file.

For more information, see Pega API for Pega Platform 7.4, Pega API, and Viewing the current configuration settings for a node or the whole cluster.

Saving data without using an activity

You can now define data pages to persist data to a system of record. Savable data pages provide a simple way to save data pages without needing to configure an activity. List savable data pages on a flow action to provide users with the ability to update values and save the changes with a savable data page. Use a Save Data Page smart shape to save data as a part of case processing.

For more information, see Creating a data page to save data.

Aggregating and browsing Visual Business Director data set

Visual Business Director (VBD) data set has been enhanced to support the Aggregate and Browse operations. Aggregating aids testing your data in Pega^® Visual Business Director. Browsing the content of the Visual Business Director data set provides transparency and helps to troubleshoot issues that are related to Pega Visual Business Director. You can use the new operations from the DataSet-Execute method or by clicking Actions > Run in the Visual Business Director data set form.

For more information see Creating a Visual Business Director data set record and Configuring the DataSet-Execute method for Visual Business Director.

getRuleMessage APIs no longer prepend asterisks

The Public APIs getRuleMessage(String aMsgDescr) and getRuleMessage(String aMsgDescr,String messageClass) no longer prepend asterisks ("**") to the message description when they fail to find a Rule-Message instance whose name matches the input message description. For information about these APIs, access the Public API documentation in Designer Studio by clicking Resources > Engine API.

Support for large case attachments

You can now attach large files to a case on a variety of cloud storage options, including Pega Cloud File Storage, Amazon S3, Microsoft Azure, and JFrog Artifactory. Files can be 1 to 2 GB depending on your environment configuration. Attachments are streamed to the selected storage option without being loaded into memory, which reduces the risk of generating an out-of-memory error. Additionally, all cloud instances now have the new Pega Cloud File Storage repository defined.

For more information, see Storing case attachments outside the Pega Platform database.

Data pages can source information from a robotic process automation

When you use robotic process automation (RPA), you can now configure data pages to source information from robotic automations so that you can connect your Pega® Platform application to legacy applications in your enterprise. By using automations to retrieve data and save it to a data page, you can use data virtualization to encapsulate your Pega Platform data model from the physical interface of a legacy system against which the automation is running.

For more information, see Obtaining information from robotic automations.

CRM core data types included in Pega Platform

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) core data types are now included with Pega^® Platform, making it easier to bring your data into your Pega application. You can either import your data into the data tables for the CRM data types or use integration to communicate with your own system of record. The database tables for these data types are non-Pega formatted, which gives you better performance and more control over your data.

For information about the database tables, see CRM data types in Pega Platform.

Use fast processing option does not work

The Use fast processing option on Connect REST and Service REST rule forms does not work unless you obtain the HFix-43000 hotfix from Global Customer Service.

Use the following data model guidelines when using fast processing:

• The JSON property names and the clipboard property names must match.
• The JSON tree structure and the clipboard tree structure must be similar.
• The scalar arrays in JSON must be mapped to the clipboard as page lists.
• Multi-dimensional arrays must be mapped into page lists of page lists with the same embedded property names.

​In addition, page groups, value groups, and Java objects are not supported by fast processing.

Applications not working as expected when using fast processing for Connect REST and Service REST integration

In Pega^® Platform 7.3.1, the Use fast processing option on Connect REST and Service REST rule forms did not work. The functionality has been fixed for Pega 7.4; however, some data model guidelines must be followed. If you use this option in Pega 7.3.1, and you did not follow the guidelines, your application might not work as expected after upgrading. Use the following data model guidelines when using fast processing:

• The JSON property names and the clipboard property names must match.
• The JSON tree structure and the clipboard tree structure must be similar.
• The scalar arrays in JSON must be mapped to the clipboard as page lists.
• Multi-dimensional arrays must be mapped into page lists of page lists with the same embedded property names.

In addition, page groups, value groups, and Java objects are not supported by fast processing.