Published Release Notes

End of support for Microsoft Internet Explorer 8 and quirks mode applications in Pega 7.1.9

In accordance with Microsoft’s announcement to discontinue support for Internet Explorer 8 in January 2016, Pega 7.1.9 does not support Internet Explorer 8, nor does it support non-HTML5 standard user interfaces.

You must upgrade to Microsoft Internet Explorer 9 or later or use Google Chrome, Apple Safari, or Mozilla Firefox. If you are using Internet Explorer 9 or later, you must turn off compatibility mode by accessing the Compatibility View settings.

Note the following:

• Pega 7.1.9 does not support user interface rules that are not based on HTML5 standards (rules in quirks mode).
• If you use applications that are rendered in quirks mode, which enables Pega 7 to correctly display and render non-HTML5 standard user interfaces, you must update them to standards-based HTML5 user interfaces when you upgrade to Pega 7.1.9 or later. Pega 7 provides automated tools to help you migrate your applications.
• Pegasystems Global Customer Support will not investigate or fix any Pega 7.1.9 bugs or support requests that are exclusive to Internet Explorer 8 or quirks mode user interfaces.

You can quickly identify which components of your application user interface are not HTML5 standards-based by clicking Designer Studio > User Interface > HTML5 Application Readiness.

Upgrading to Pega 7.1.9 and a newer browser offers the following benefits:

• These browsers are HTML5 and CSS3 compliant.
• New features are supported and existing features work as intended.
• The Pega 7 Platform user interface is displayed and rendered as intended.
• Browser security is enhanced.

If you have additional questions about browser support, see the Platform Support Guide or contact Pegasystems Global Customer Support.

Real-time pulse processing for multinode systems

Multinode development environments now use real-time pulse processing. Previously, when a change was made on one node, the pulse processing interval could take a minute or more for that change to be reflected on another node. Now, when a rule is changed on one node, that change is immediately reflected on all the other nodes in the cluster. This change helps to ensure that users are running a rule on the same node as where the rule was changed.

Verifying that a Pega 7 Platform instance is running

You can verify whether a Pega 7 Platform instance is up and running by entering this URL: http://<<hostName:port/contextName>>/PRRestService/monitor/pingservice/ping

The Pega 7 Platform Engine responds with HTTP Response Code 200 if the instance is available. The response contains JSON text in the format { "duration":"<time in milliseconds>" }. Any other response codes or timeout indicate that the instance is unavailable.

Updated default system pulse processing settings

The default settings for system pulse processing have been updated in this release.

Upgrades to Pega 7.1.9 from a previous version of the Pega 7 Platform use database pulse by default. Database pulse synchronizes rule changes at a periodic interval across all nodes in a system.

New installations of Pega 7.1.9 use cluster-based pulse by default. Cluster-based pulse immediately updates rule changes across all nodes in a system after the changes are saved.

You can change the database pulse setting to the cluster-based pulse setting by updating the value attribute for initialization/pulse/transport to "cluster" in the prconfig.xml file or in the Dynamic System Settings. Changing from database pulse to cluster-based pulse requires a full cluster restart after the changes are made.

For more information, see Pega-RULES agents.

Database storage used for passivation in High Availability mode

When an application is running in High Availability mode, the value attribute for initialization/​persistrequestor/storage in the prconfig.xml file or the Dynamic System Settings​ now defaults to "database."

Previously, applications running in High Availability mode required shared passivation, where either initialization/​persistrequestor/storage was set to “OnTimeout” or a custom passivation mechanism was used. The change to using database by default provides persistent storage for passivation, and provides control for the landing page for High Availability.

For more information, see Understanding passivation and requestor timeouts and the High Availability Administration Guide.

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.

PegaDISTRIBUTION Manager (PDM) is no longer available

The PegaDISTRIBUTION Manager (PDM) is no longer available in the Pega 7 Platform. The related PDN articles and help topics have been archived.