Guardrails compliance score
Valid from Pega Version 7.1.5
The Application Guardrails landing page has been enhanced to help you build more guardrail-compliant applications. Increase transparency and accountability on your projects by responding to the following compliance score metrics:
- A weighted compliance score (0-100) based on warnings, severity, and justification
- A percentage of compliant rules in your application
- Total number of rules in your application
- Total number of rules in your application with warnings (justified and unjustified)
Additional metrics include alert and interaction count trends over the last four weeks.
For more information, see Guardrails compliance score.
Directed inheritance view in Application Explorer
Valid from Pega Version 7.1.5
You can now specify which inheritance model is used to populate classes in the Application Explorer. From the top level menu, use the “Explorer Inheritance” option to choose between:
- Pattern: only display class names whose prefix matches the root node class name.
- Directed: first display classes that explicitly name the root node as the parent class; then display classes with pattern inheritance.
By default, the Application Explorer loads using Pattern inheritance.
Save Application Explorer filter selections
Valid from Pega Version 7.1.5
Application scoping control selections made in the Application Explorer are now persisted between sessions. These preferences are stored in an operator record on an access group level. If you delete (and later re-add) an access group on your operator form, the application scoping control defaults to all layers selected:
External access control DASS
Valid from Pega Version 7.1.5
A new Dynamic Admin System Setting (DASS) controls the Designer Studio's access to external systems, specifically the PDN RSS feed found on the home page.
By default, Pega-Desktop.AllowAccessToExternalSystem is set to TRUE. Update this setting to FALSE to hide the PDN RSS feed and ensure that no RSS fetch is performed.
Maintainable warning, error, and tip information
Valid from Pega Version 7.1.7
Use the redesigned Message form to define warning, error, tip, or custom category information in your application. Encapsulating these details in a message makes them easier to maintain and review. After you have created a new warning, you can quickly add it to a rule in your application using the new pxAddGuardrailMessage function.
For more information on the tabs and available fields on the Message form, see About Message rules.
Easy-to-browse warning catalog
Valid from Pega Version 7.1.7
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.
Communicate guardrail compliance with the pxAddGuardrailMessage function
Valid from Pega Version 7.1.7
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.
Track custom details with extensible messages
Valid from Pega Version 7.1.7
The customizable Message form gives you the freedom to expand upon default categories, store application specific data in a message, and enforce specialized validation. Leveraging these options makes it easier for you to identify a specific variety of message and incorporate new properties into your existing message processing logic.
For more details on which rules to override, see How to extend the Message form.
Collections more effectively model business decisions
Valid from Pega Version 7.1.7
Use the redesigned Collection form to model business logic or implement rule engine patterns in your application. This form is now located in the Decision rule category.
You can add response actions to each collection step to process return values transparently, and simplify your implementation by calling a function alias or when condition instead of an activity. Use one of the supported Stop methods to cease processing in the current collection or all collections in the call stack.
For more information on the available features on this rule form, see About Collection rules.
Existing collections are deprecated
Valid from Pega Version 7.1.7
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.