Published Release Notes

End of support for form-based rule forms in Pega 7.1.9

Rule forms that are configured to render as forms are no longer supported in Designer Studio or end-user applications. Form-based configurations are found on custom rule types that were created in earlier versions of Pega 7 and are characterized by pop-up windows that are rendered externally from Designer Studio.

Reconfigure Pega 7 applications that use such rule forms by using standard harnesses and sections.

1. Open the class form.
2. Click the Advanced tab.
3. Select Harness from the Rule formmenu.
4. Create a new harness and new sections that implement the logic of the custom rule, using standard user interface layouts and controls.

Migrating custom rule forms to harnesses and sections offers the following benefits:

• User interfaces become HTML5 WC3 compatible and responsive to different screen sizes.
• User interfaces become cross-browser compatible, rendered consistently in Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari, and recent versions of Microsoft Internet Explorer.
• Rendering performance on modern browsers is dramatically improved.
• User interface pop-up behavior is eliminated; all windows are rendered inside Designer Studio and end-user applications.

Report Browser removed from Designer Studio

The Report Browser and Access landing page have been removed from Designer Studio. In Designer Studio, developers can create, edit, and test reports by using the Report Definition rule form.

The Report Browser is still available in the Case Manager portal.

Support for custom pre- and post-JavaScript processing for offline flow actions

Developers of an offline-enabled mobile app can execute basic business logic before and after a flow action is rendered by adding their own JavaScript code into a custom user scripts bundle. Its functions must be called within a try/catch clause. The JavaScript code, to be executed before a flow action is rendered, is always called afterClientCache is called and before DisplayHarness is called.

Conditional online and offline map display

The way an Address Map control behaves in a offline-enabled mobile app has changed. When a mobile app is online, a live Google map is loaded as expected. If the mobile app goes offline, a predefined image of a map is loaded instead.

Troubleshooting Pega Mobile Client on the login screen

An offline mobile developer can now troubleshoot issues that are not related to incorrect credentials when signing in to the Pega Mobile Client app. On the app login screen, an alert box displays where the user can click a link to examine current log files to troubleshoot the issue. The contents of the displayed log file can be filtered.

For more information, see Troubleshooting Pega Mobile Client.

New Pega Mobile Client debugging options

The Mobile tab on the Application form contains two new options: a check box for enabling debugging in the Pega Mobile Client app, and a drop-down field for setting the log level to one of the following levels: Silent, Error, Warning, Info, or Debug.

For more information, see Mobile settings reference.

Ability to view a PDF file while offline

Users of offline-enabled mobile apps can now tap a button to view a PDF file, regardless of whether the user is online or offline. The associated button, link, or icon must have a Run Script action defined that calls the pega.ui.pdf.view() function with two parameters: applicationName and pdfName. The PDF file itself must be uploaded to a Rule-File-Binary rule.

For more information, see How to set up viewing of PDF file while offline.

Building a Pega Mobile Client with custom modules

When you build a Pega Mobile Client mobile app using the Pega 7 Platform, you can now include Android or iOS custom modules. The custom modules must be included in the assets.zip file that contains the Pega Mobile Client branding and customization details.

For more information, see Building a mobile web app into a hybrid mobile app.

Pega 7 Express is available on-premises

You can now experience Pega 7 Express by switching your enterprise application from Designer Studio to express mode. By default, users with access to the Developer portal can switch between these two development environments. You can also create an express application to work in express mode exclusively.

Trial versions of Pega 7 Express continue to be available on the cloud. To view the documentation for both the cloud and on-premises environments, see Getting started with Pega 7 Express.

Access to Pega 7 Express from within Designer Studio is not supported on mobile devices.

Context-specific documentation is not available in express mode

Help topics that are opened from express mode display content that is specific to Designer Studio.

If your system is dedicated to applications that are developed in express mode exclusively, and you do not need Designer Studio help topics, you can set the Online Help URL field on the System Settings landing page to: https://pdn.pega.com/sites/default/files/help_p7e/procomhelpmain.htm. Alternatively, you can view the contextual help system for Pega 7 Express in a separate browser tab.