Published Release Notes

Communicate guardrail compliance with the pxAddGuardrailMessage function

Now that guardrail warnings are in the model, you can easily attach them to rules in your application using the new pxAddGuardrailMessage function. Call this function to display warnings to your application users when they do not adhere to guardrails or best practices. Adopting this function in your application allows you to:

• Use localizable Rule-Message instances that are categorized by severity and application impact.
• Add dynamic warnings to your rules by passing parameters to a standard or custom message.
• Stop using and maintaining hard coded strings.

Design time view of warning messages

Run time view of an attached warning

This function supersedes the addWarning function, which has been deprecated. You can continue to use the CheckForCustomWarnings extension point, but it is recommended that you convert hard coded strings to messages and migrate any dependencies on addWarning to pxAddGuardrailMessage.

For more information on message attaching techniques, see Working with messages.

Easy-to-browse warning catalog

All Pega 7 warnings have been converted to Rule-Message instances, each with a clearly written, risk mitigation path. This allows you to use the Records Explorer to browse through all warnings in the system, organized by category. To view warnings associated with specific rules in your application, refer to the Application Guardrails landing page.

Identify team members working on a rule

By using the team collaboration widget, you can see who on your development team is working on the rule that you are viewing. This widget is displayed in the section header when you are using the Case Designer, Data Designer, or Channels and interfaces configuration pages. When you update a page, a notification is sent to other collaborators stating that the content has been updated and prompting them to refresh to see the latest content.

Existing collections are deprecated

The original implementation of the Collection form is deprecated. Legacy instances in your application remain functional; however, any new instance you create uses the redesigned Collection form. Use the Decision category in the Records Explorer to view all collections available to you.

For guidance on upgrade limitations, see the Deprecated Collection form.

Application overview added to App Studio

High-level information about an application, such as the available channel interfaces, case types, and data types, is now available in App Studio. By monitoring your project from a holistic point of view, you can make informed decisions about how and where you want to allocate your development resources.

For more information, see Application overview.
 

Improved cross-browser support

All rule forms are now harness-based and open in the work area of Designer Studio. This means that you can develop in the browser of your choice, free from pop-up distractions and incompatibility messages. Many rule forms have been upgraded to use the latest layouts, styles, and design best practices, giving you a consistent development experience.

Viewing a Word Template in Pega 7.1.7 compared with Pega 7.1.6

Previous restrictions still apply to any deprecated or custom rule forms in your application that remain form-based. Refer to the Deprecated features list for guidance on how to upgrade these forms and recommended alternatives.

Relevant records management shows more information

Relevant records for a class now include more information that you can use to manage the records for your application development. As a result of these enhancements, you can:

• View inherited and inactive relevant records for the specified class.
• Mark specific records as active or inactive for the specified class.
• Mark specific records as relevant on the rule form.

You can use these new details to filter the list of relevant records for a class on the Relevant Records tab of the selected class. For more information, see Managing relevant records and Marking records as relevant records.

Clear and actionable guardrails help you mitigate risk sooner

The Application Guardrails landing page has been restructured to give you an executive-level view into your application health. Use the available metrics and tools on each tab to understand the scope of warnings in your application, the operators responsible for introducing this risk, and ways to improve your compliance score before your development goes into production.

Include this landing page in your governance process to:

• Understand your application compliance score and how it has changed over time:

  • A score of 90 or greater indicates your application is in good standing.

  • A score of 80-89 indicates your application needs review for improvement.

  • A score below 80 requires immediate action.

• Investigate the factors contributing to your score, such as warning age or severity, and the rules and operators associated with each warning.
• Review a comprehensive list of warnings and the recommended path to resolve them.
• Communicate all of these details to project stakeholders through email or exported documents.

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Available metrics on the Compliance Details tab of the Application Guardrails landing page

The Charts tab in this landing page has been superseded by the Compliance Details tab, which provides more options and an enhanced presentation.

For more information about the available features on all tabs in this landing page, see Application Guardrails landing page.