Anypicker control is now available
Valid from Pega Version 8.4
The new Anypicker control displays a drop-down list of values that you can group into expandable categories for faster browsing. To save time and improve search accuracy, the Anypicker control filters the available values based on the characters that the user enters.
For more information, see Adding an Anypicker control.
Email bots now support multiple languages
Valid from Pega Version 8.4
You can now configure Pega Email Bot™ to perform text analysis, use training data and triage emails in multiple languages, for example, English, French, German, and Spanish. By detecting topics and entities from emails in different languages, the system can suggest the correct business case and provide an email response in the user's own language.
For more information, see Selecting languages for an Email channel and Enabling automatic language detection for text analysis.
Referencing Rule tool in Dev Studio
Valid from Pega Version 8.4
The Referencing Rule tool now runs in Dev Studio without the need for Adobe Flash Player. This enhancement integrates the Referencing Rule tool into your work environment, which improves productivity by reducing context switching.
For more information, see Finding rules by dependency.
PDF/UA support
Valid from Pega Version 8.4
PDF documents that you generate in Pega Platform™ are now in PDF/UA format. This enhancement improves accessibility for users who rely on assistive technology, such as screen readers.
For more information, see Setting PDF file versions.
Upgrade impact
With an upgrade to Pega Platform 8.4 and later, the underlying PD4ML library in Pega Platform changes from v3.10 to v4.x. Following an upgrade, most standard HTML-CSS conversions to PDF work seamlessly; however, if you use the following custom coding in their application to convert HTML to PDF, you may find that PDF generation works differently than expected or no longer works:
- Application layer Java in activities that directly link to the underlying PD4ML library
- A Rule Utility Function
- PD4ML tags in HTML fragments
For example, the following PD4ML proprietary CSS keywords are no longer supported in v4.x:
- pd4ml-page-break-border-top
- pd4ml-page-break-border-bottom
What steps are required to update the application to be compatible with this change?
After you upgrade to Pega Platform 8.4 and later and find your PDF generation works differently than expected or no longer works, you should consult the latest documentation available at pd[4]ml support site. You may also consider using the Compact CSS instead of the application skin for PDF generation; for details, see Creating PDF files by using a compact style sheet.
Custom activities protection
Valid from Pega Version 8.4
Unauthorized users can no longer access or use custom activities. This enhancement improves system security and makes application maintenance more intuitive.
Case tags for improved case search
Valid from Pega Version 8.4
Pega Platform™ now supports enhanced tagging for case types so that you can search cases by tags. As a result, tagging is more consistent because you can define a set of suggested tags that users can add to their posts and cases. When users search for cases, they can apply several filters, for example, recently added or most frequently used tags.
For more information about tags, see Tagging cases in Dev Studio, Tagging cases in App Studio.
Set the status of a case on stage entry
Valid from Pega Version 8.1
You can now set the status of a case when it enters a stage. By setting the status of a case on stage entry, you can communicate to stakeholders how close a stage is to resolution. For example, if a case is in the approval stage, you can set the status of the case to "Under review" when the case enters the stage.
For more information, see:
- App Studio – Changing the status of a case
- Dev Studio – Changing the status of a case
Resolve child cases with the parent case
Valid from Pega Version 8.1
You can now configure a stage to resolve open child cases when the parent case is resolved. Resolving child cases on the resolution of the parent case ensures that no child cases are left open when the parent case reaches the end of its life cycle.
For more information, see:
- App Studio – Configuring case resolution
- Dev Studio – Configuring case resolution
Conditionally skip a stage
Valid from Pega Version 8.1
You can now define a condition in App Studio and build an expression in Dev Studio that causes a case to skip a stage. The system evaluates the condition or expression at run time and skips the stage if a true value is returned. By skipping the current stage when it is not relevant, you can resolve a case more quickly by moving the case to the next stage in the sequence.
For more information, see:
- App Studio – Requiring conditions for stage entry
- Dev Studio – Requiring conditions for stage entry
Conditionally start a process
Valid from Pega Version 8.1
You can now define a condition that causes a case to start a process in a stage. When the condition evaluates to false, the case skips the process. You can resolve cases more quickly by moving a case to the next process in the sequence when the current process is not relevant.
For more information, see:
- App Studio – Conditionally starting a process by using a condition
- Dev Studio – Conditionally starting a process by using a when condition