Published Release Notes

Association changes after upgrade

Associations now have a simple mode. Simple associations are those that join to only one class, use a left join, and have one filter condition to a class key in the target class. Existing associations that define a simple foreign key relationship are upgraded to simple associations when opened; all others are treated as advanced associations. All associations continue to work in reporting.

Making an association simple changes only one piece of metadata; all other data on the association rule is not affected.

Upgrade impact

The new simple mode draws a map of where all the classes defined in the application rule are drawn as nodes. Relationships between the nodes that are defined by relevant properties are drawn as lines linking the two classes. This feature only includes Case and Data classes that are defined on the Application rule form's Cases and Data tab. It also only includes relevant fields for those classes in order to define the relationships from one class to another. 

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

After a successful upgrade, add the data and case type classes to the application rule in Dev Studio to have the selected classes appear as a node. In addition, if you want a relationship to display as relevant, set the properties (of the class that defines that relationship) as relevant.

For more information, see Associations.

Ability to generate a dedicated search index for a case type

You can generate a dedicated search index for a case type. Using a dedicated index makes reporting faster without putting additional requirements on the database. 

For more information, see Including indexed data during case search.

New tile view in Report Browser

The Report Browser now displays available reports in a tile view, in addition to the list view. You can toggle between the two display formats. The report tiles provide a thumbnail preview of each report, which makes it easier for you to identify reports at a glance, without having to open each report.

For more information, see Report Browser features.

Case-insensitive filtering in reports

Filtering in reports is now case-insensitive, improving the reporting and searching experience. You can turn off case-insensitive filtering, for example, by using an activity. You might want to do this if your index is too big or if the length of time it takes for indexing impacts performance.

For more information on report filtering, see Editing filter conditions.

More display options for charts

Display properties have been expanded for charts that you add to a report harness or section. In addition to setting general display properties, you can set visibility and color options, control hover highlight behavior for data points and legends, and define more presentation options for grids and tooltips. The additional presentation options enhance your chart design and provide a way for you to effectively highlight important data.

For more information about configuring charts, see Harness and section forms - Adding a chart.

Better navigation between pages

The navigation between landing pages and configuration pages in App Studio has changed so that only one tab at a time is displayed in the work area. This change eliminates the maximum tab limit message. Navigate to previous pages by clicking the back arrow at the top of the work area or click the Back to preview button in the workspace header to open a page in the selected device preview.

Progress gauge and double donut charts

To better visualize data, use the new progress gauge chart and double donut pie charts. The progress gauge chart measures the progress made against a goal. The double donut pie chart shows two layers of data in a single chart. The progress gauge chart can be included in reports and dashboard widgets. The double donut chart can be added to dashboard widgets.

For more information about including charts in reports, see Harness and section forms - Adding a chart.

For more information about adding charts to dashboard widgets, see Adding a widget to your dashboard.

BIX ruleset is now included with Pega Platform

The Pega Business Intelligence Exchange™ (BIX) ruleset is now included with Pega Platform™, which eliminates the need for additional provisioning for Pega Cloud customers and for a separate BIX installation for on-premises customers. To add BIX to your application, add the Pega-BIX:<version> ruleset to your application rulesets.

For more information, see Data extraction.

Upgrade impact

After a successful upgrade, the BIX ruleset is available within Pega Platform. You should synchronize the BIX ruleset and Pega rules to avoid extraction errors.

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

After the upgrade is complete, change the ruleset version for Pega Platform and BIX to use the same, latest version.

Pega Express methodology in App Studio for successful Microjourneys

App Studio now supports the Pega Express™ methodology to help you visualize the key factors of your Microjourneys™ - case types, personas, and data objects. With Microjourneys, you can analyze and clearly communicate who the parties that interact with your cases are, what channels of communication they use, and what data they need to resolve a case. Associating personas and data objects with case types also helps you manage your development team's workload by using a list of the draft elements that they need to develop.

For more information, see Plan successful microjourneys in App Studio (8.4), Creating a microjourney for customer success.

Upgrade impact

During a Pega Infinity™ upgrade to 8.4 and later, clients using App Studio are asked to update their applications to support use of the Pega Express™ methodology. Without this application update, the Persona landing page and Data objects and integration landing page are empty. For more information, see Pega 8.4 Deep Dive: Pega Express methodology in App Studio.

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

In order to utilize the Pega Express methodology in App Studio and use the Inventory page, click Start now to complete the update of your application and add the required rules to it. If you choose to cancel, App Studio continues to work as expected without the Pega Express methodology features; you can click Start now at the top of your application overview page at any time to install the required rules in your application.

Relationships between elements of Microjourneys in application inventory

A new Inventory page in App Studio helps you manage a delivery of your projects by giving you an overview of the elements of your application and how they interact with your Microjourneys™. The new Inventory page lists draft relationships between the case types, personas, and data objects that you want to implement through development. By checking releases that correspond to the items that you need to develop, you can prioritize your work accordingly. 

For more information, see Plan successful microjourneys in App Studio (8.4), Creating a Microjourney for customer success, Managing application inventory.

Upgrade impact

During a Pega Infinity™ upgrade to 8.4 and later, clients using App Studio are asked to update their applications to support use of the Pega Express™ methodology. Without this application update, the Persona landing page and Data objects and integration landing page are empty. For more information, see Pega 8.4 Deep Dive: Pega Express methodology in App Studio.

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

In order to utilize the Pega Express methodology in App Studio and use the Inventory page, click Start now to complete the update of your application and add the required rules to it. If you choose to cancel, App Studio continues to work as expected without the Pega Express methodology features; you can click Start now at the top of your application overview page at any time to install the required rules in your application.