Published Release Notes

New field types in Form Builder

You can create forms in Form Builder that include the following field types:

• Data reference – Prompts users with a list of data records or instances of a specific data type.
• User reference – Prompts users to select or search for an existing user in the application.

For more information, see Data references in Form Builder and User references in Form Builder.

Reusable components in Form Builder

You can reuse an existing form or data reference when creating a form. By referencing the existing fields in your application, you save time and build forms that are easier to maintain. Refer to the Reuse fields panel in Form Builder to view all of the fields, forms, and data references in your application.

For more information, see Reuse fields panel in Form Builder.

Search field type is deprecated

The search field type in Form Builder is deprecated. Use a data reference or user reference instead, both of which prompt users with an autocomplete field at run time.

For the full list of supported field types in Form Builder, see Supported display modes by field type.

Support for enterprise and express applications

When you run the New Application wizard, you can create two types of applications:

• Enterprise – A full-scale application that has access to all the capabilities in the Pega 7 Platform.
  
  By default, enterprise applications are developed in Designer Studio, but users have access to express mode.
• Express – A small-scale application that has access to a subset of the capabilities in the Pega 7 Platform.
  
  Express applications are developed in express mode, and are ideal for new users or for quickly testing functionality.

For more information, see Express applications.

Addition of Data Access Tab to access control policy condition rules

You can now select associations and declarative index classes when creating access control policy condition rules. The Column source field in the policy condition can now accept properties from available associations and indexes. For ease of reference, the selected associations and indexes are available on the new Data Access tab. 

Using the new tab, you can build complex authorization models in which access restrictions for a class depend on the attributes present in the associated and indexed classes, along with the attributes in the current class. For example, a project management application can now separately maintain project lists for each operator and use that information to restrict read/write access to unique projects.

The information available on the new Data Access tab reflects rule form changes, which are similar to the existing functionality of the Report Definition in the Application Data Model. 

For more information, see Creating an access control policy condition.

Improved processing of correspondence details

When you send correspondence, the system now does not update the pxSendDateTime property on the pxCorrSummary work page that belongs to pyWorkPage. In previous versions of Pega Platform™, after sending correspondence, the update of the pxSendDateTime property could cause errors when working with an application at run time. To prevent such issues, Pega Platform now includes a pyEnableCorrSummary when rule that, by default, is set to false. If your business scenario requires updating the pxCorrSummary work page, set the when rule value to true.

For more information, see:

• Notifying participants about events
• Approval by email
• Sending automatic emails from cases

Support for picklists with parameterized data pages in App Studio in Cosmos React UI

You can now use data pages with parameters to populate a property of the picklist type with filtered results in App Studio. For example, in a survey case type, you can use a parameterized data page to configure cascading drop-down controls in which the values in a secondary drop-down list are based on the value that the user selects in the primary drop-down list. With dynamically-sourced picklists, you get greater flexibility in configuring picklists, and users see more accurate values.

For more information, see link Dropdown control Properties — General tab.

Addition of Servlet Management

Pega Platform™ now has Servlet Management in Pega Cloud® Services, which provides a simple and secure way to make changes to Pega Platform servlet definitions.

Servlet Management provides Pega Cloud Service clients with solutions to manage servlet configurations with self-service options. This reduces the cycle time for delivering configuration changes in Pega Cloud Service installations while also improving upgrade reliability. 

For more information, see Servlet management.

Upgrade impact

Clients with no application servlet customizations will not experience an impact. If you upgrade from Pega Platform version 8.5 or earlier and, prior to the upgrade, the Pega Cloud team provided your application servlet customizations, then following the upgrade, you must manually add, remove, or modify your servlet customizations in your upgraded application using this servlet management landing page in Pega Platform.

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

To manually move your pre-upgrade servlet customizations as appropriate or add new ones to your upgraded application using the new servlet management landing page, follow the steps in Adding a servlet.

Cosmos React-UI supports custom authentication

Pega Platform™ now supports custom authentication in applications that use Cosmos React-UI. Depending on the needs of your users and the functionality of your application, you might need to write custom authentication schemes to meet specific requirements. 

Clients that use custom authentication in their applications can now take advantage of the Cosmos React-UI.

For more information, see Securing Cosmos React-UI applications.

Integration and security tab now divided into two tabs

The Integration and Security tab is now two separate tabs on the Application Definition form: Integration and Security. While the content of these two tabs are related, they function more effectively as separate tabs. The Security tab now includes the Authentication section, so you can add existing authentication services to your Application Definition to more effectively manage the security of your application. 

For more information, see Security tab of the Application Definition.