Published Release Notes

Use Page-Change-Class method to change a Page class

With the release of Pega Platform™ 8.3, using the Property-Set method to change the Page class shows a guardrail warning. Use the Page-Change-Class method to change the Page class instead.

For more information about the Page-Change-Class method, see Changing the class of a page and Page-Change-Class method.

Automatic retries for the SAVE operation on records

Batch and real-time data flow runs now automatically retry the SAVE operation on records when an error occurs because of resource unavailability. This functionality ensures that the records are eventually saved if the target data set is only temporarily unavailable, for example, because of load or network issues.

You can configure the default number of retries for the entire system in a dynamic system setting. To adjust the setting to different resource allocations and operating environments, you can update that number for each data flow run.

For more information, see Changing the number of retries for SAVE operations, Creating a batch run for data flows, and Creating a real-time run for data flows.

Cassandra 3.11.3 support for Pega Platform

Increase your system's reliability and reduce its memory footprint by upgrading the internal Cassandra database to version 3.11.3.

For on-premises Pega Platform™ users, after you upgrade to Pega 8.3, it is recommended that you manually upgrade to Cassandra 3.11.3. You can upgrade to Cassandra 3.11.3 on all operating systems except IBM AIX. If you do not want to upgrade to Cassandra 3.11.3, you can continue to use Cassandra 2.1.20, which is still supported.

For Pega Cloud Services 2.13 and later versions, Cassandra automatically upgrades to version 3.11.3 after your environment is upgraded to Pega Platform 8.3.

For information on how to manually upgrade to Cassandra 3.11.3, see the Pega Platform 8.3 Upgrade Guide for your server and database at Deploy Pega Platform.

Upgrade impact

After an on-premises Pega Platform upgrade, you still have the older version of Cassandra and must manually upgrade.

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

To upgrade Cassandra, you must create a prconfig setting or a dynamic system setting with the new Cassandra version and then do a rolling restart of all the Decision Data Store nodes to upgrade them to the latest version of Cassandra.

Support for the decisioning-enabled NLP text analyzer in IVAs and Email Bots

You can now use the new intelligent natural language processing (iNLP) text analyzer in Pega Intelligent Virtual Assistants™ (IVAs) and Pega Email Bots™. This advanced text analyzer is decisioning-enabled and empowers IVA or Email Bot for all conversational channels to provide smarter responses. The decisioning capability in the system integrates text analytics with strategies, prepositions, and interaction history, to provide the context for making better next-best-action decisions.

For more information, see Use the decisioning-enabled NLP text analyzer in IVAs and Email Bots, Defining advanced Facebook text analyzer configuration and Facebook channel behavior.

Upgrade impact

Existing channels remain with the current configuration, and their current functionality does not change. Channels created after the upgrade automatically use the new text analyzer.  

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

The new text analyzer is enabled or disabled using a new interactive API (iAPI) selection, which is selected by default for new channels. You can disable the iAPI for new channels if you want to maintain current functionality. You can also enable it for existing channels if you want to move existing channels to the new functionality.

CyberArk password vault support added for Pega database

With the CyberArk password vault, you can store your systems' passwords in a secure, central location and retrieve them from that location instead of directly entering credentials into the systems. This support is available only for IBM WebSphere environments.

For more information, see Pega Platform deployment guides.

REST API for monitoring DSM services

Decision Strategy Manager (DSM) now provides a REST API that you can use to monitor DSM services without having to access Pega Platform™. By integrating your daily monitoring tools with the management REST API, you can retrieve a list of DSM nodes, check the status of these nodes, and view details of a service from all nodes in the cluster.

For more information, see Getting started with Pega API for Pega Platform.

Business logic-based routing to process cases more efficiently

Process cases more efficiently by defining business logic-based routing options to route tasks to customer service representatives (CSRs) who have a specified availability or skillset. For example, you can ensure that a task is routed to a CSR with a high level of a German language if it is your business need. You can also create custom lists of operators and work queues to filter CSRs who can receive an assignment.

For more information, see Choosing an assignee at run time in Dev Studio, Choosing an assignee at run time in App Studio, Configuring business logic-based routing APIs.

Support added for multiple mashups

You can now include multiple mashups on a single webpage or browser, even if the mashups have different application and authentication requirements. Use mashups to embed a Pega Platform™ application as a gadget on your website. For example, you can embed Web Chatbot and Self-Service Advisor on the same website.

For more information about mashups, see Configuring the Mashup channel.

Create custom criteria for proposition filters by using the condition builder

Proposition filters now use the condition builder to define the criteria that a proposition or group of propositions must match in order to be offered to a customer. The condition builder provides a simple, flexible tool for selecting and grouping the entry criteria.

For more information, see Create custom criteria for Proposition Filter rules with the condition builder (8.3).

Support for multiple work queues in the Email Manager portal

Pega Email Bot™ now provides multiple work queues in the Email Manager portal. With this functionality, operators, such as customer service representatives, can now triage cases more efficiently by selecting different work queues. Operators have access to work queues only for the current Pega Platform™ application.

For more information, see Email Manager portal.