Published Release Notes

Enabling access to upgraded help

After upgrading to Pega Platform ™ 8.1, the default URL to the upgraded help files might be incorrect. To enable access to the latest help files, reset the URL:

1. In the header of Dev Studio, click Configure > System > Settings > URLs.
2. Enter the Online Help URL:

   https://community.pega.com/sites/default/files/help_v81/

3. Click Save.
4. Log out and log back into Pega Platform.

For Microsoft SQL Server deployments, change settings to create data types in Integration Designer

For on-premises deployments that use Microsoft SQL Server, set the Pega-Reporting/reporting/useMergeHintForRRquery dynamic system setting to true. If you do not configure this setting, you might not be able to create a new data type in Integration Designer that uses Pega as the system of record. Configure the setting as follows:

• Owning ruleset: Pega-Reporting
• Setting purpose: reporting/useMergeHintForRRquery
• Value: true

For more information about configuring dynamic system settings, see Creating a dynamic system setting.

Translation support added to application guides

You can now localize the content in your application guides. By referencing paragraphs instead of rich text in your chapters and tasks, you can provide guidance to users in their native language.

For more information about application guides, see Creating a guide for end users.

Data entered in a new harness is lost after a sync operation

If you create a case in an offline-enabled application and enter data in a new harness, this data is lost after you click Submit and the sync operation takes place. For more information, see Offline capability and Enabling offline support for cases.

Fetch quality metrics for Pega unit tests by using the REST API

You can use the REST API to fetch quality metrics for the Pega unit tests of your application, such as unit test compliance, unit test execution results, test coverage, and guardrail compliance.

You can use the metrics returned by the service for gating purposes in a release pipeline.

For more information about the Pega API, see Pega API for Pega Platform.

Additional activities in table layouts

Table layouts now provide you with the option to run activities either before or after updates to a table. This gives you greater flexibility when you design user interfaces.

For more information, see Configuring table activities.

Support for Thai calendar

Pega Platform™ now supports the Thai solar calendar. The update improves readability for users who rely on this date format, and enhances their experience and engagement.

For more information, see Configuring the Thai calendar.

Guardrail warnings for UI components

Pega Platform™ now displays guardrail warnings about user interface elements that might be high maintenance. With this enhancement, you can ensure that your application meets the latest development requirements for efficiency and ease of use, and save time during future upgrades.

For more information, see Reviewing UI components.

Improved contracts for implementations

For more complete contracts, automations now support embedded pages, default values, and picklists. These enhancements provide a more robust model for inputs and outputs that is easier to update and maintain.

For more information, see Viewing automations.

Increased visibility of strategy design changes with simulation batch tests

Improve your understanding of the impact that individual changes to strategy design have on the decision funnel by running batch simulation tests directly from the strategy canvas. With batch simulation tests, you can check that your strategy changes produce the expected results, and immediately see the results in context.

For more information, see Increase the real-time visibility of strategy design changes with simulation batch tests (8.4).

Upgrade impact

After an upgrade to 8.4 and later, simulation outputs produced from earlier versions cannot be used to view canvas counts.

What steps are required to update the application to be compatible with this change?

Following a software upgrade to 8.4 or later, clients must re-run existing simulations in Decision Funnel mode to view the counts in the canvas.