Published Release Notes

Use of PegaRULES_Extract_Marker.txt to delete cache is deprecated

The PegaRULES_Extract_Marker.txt file is deprecated. The system uses the presence or absence of the PegaRULES_Extract_Market.txt file to determine at startup whether to delete the static content, service export, and lookup list file system-based caches. In the rare situation that you need to delete these caches manually, use the System Management Application (SMA) ETier Static Content Management page. Using SMA does not require restarting the node.

Nodes in a cluster do not see each other for Docker, multiple VMs, or multiple NICs setup

If a cluster is set up in Docker, or uses separate virtual machines (VMs) or multiple network interfaces, you must set the public address in the prconfig.xml file for each Pega^® Platform node to avoid problems with node clustering. Add the <env name=”identification/cluster/public/address” value=”IP address”/> setting to specify the public address that is used by each node.

Precision of Oracle Timestamp property when using RDB-Save

DateTime properties that are mapped to an Oracle Timestamp column will experience a loss of precision when they are saved using the RDB-Save method. When you use RDB-Save for an Oracle Timestamp, precision will be accurate to the second. For example, a value of 20171119T124745.006 will be saved as 20171119T124745. When you use Obj-Save, precision will be accurate to the millisecond. For more information, see DateTime property mapping in Oracle for Pega 7.

Internal rules in search results and explorers

Using old: is no longer supported in search. You can include internal rules in search results and make them available in the Application and Records explorers. Include internal rules in search results either by adding the PegaDevelopmentruleset to your application or by clicking the Enable diagnostic features option in your operator preferences.

Extract data from Pega Cloud to an on-premises database

You can now use Pega^® Business Intelligence Exchange (BIX) to extract data from Pega Cloud to an on-premises relational database management system. Extracting data from Pega Cloud directly to an on-premises database improves efficiency by eliminating the need for file extraction and the development of a file extraction infrastructure.

For more information, see Extracting data from Pega Cloud to an on-premises database.

REST APIs for VTable cache management and quiesce operations

You can access, control, and manage in-memory VTable in cache for a specific rule class and instance name by using new Nodes REST APIs. You can reassemble and reload rules across the cluster and obtain cache entries for a specific node in the cluster. You can also start and cancel the quiesce process on any node in the cluster by using either immediate drain or slow drain.

For more information, see Pega API for Pega Platform 7.4 and Pega API.

REST APIs for cache management and requestor pools management

You can manage various caches in Pega^® Platform, for example, the clean cache or the repopulate cache, or you can get cache statistics for the authenticated user by using the new Caches REST APIs. You can manage requestor pools, for example, clear a requestor pool, by using the new Pools REST APIs. These APIs allow external systems to consume and manage Pega resources.

The new REST APIs are for Conclusions Cache, Declarative Page Cache, Declarative Rules Cache, Rule Cache, Application-Based Assembly (ABA) Cache, and Requestor Pool Management.

For more information, see Pega API for Pega Platform 7.4 and Pega API.

REST APIs for viewing Pega Platform configuration settings

New REST APIs in the Nodes category provide a view of the current configuration settings for any node in a cluster or for an entire cluster. You can also find a specific node ID by listing all the nodes in the cluster. To diagnose settings issues for a node, you can download the prconfig.xml file.

For more information, see Pega API for Pega Platform 7.4, Pega API, and Viewing the current configuration settings for a node or the whole cluster.

Saving data without using an activity

You can now define data pages to persist data to a system of record. Savable data pages provide a simple way to save data pages without needing to configure an activity. List savable data pages on a flow action to provide users with the ability to update values and save the changes with a savable data page. Use a Save Data Page smart shape to save data as a part of case processing.

For more information, see Creating a data page to save data.

Improved connection pooling performance

HikariCP is now used for connection pooling for databases that are configured by using a URL. HikariCP improves connection pooling performance; however, more database connections might be used than in previous versions of Pega^® Platform.

As a result of the switch to HikariCP, you cannot use the System Management Application (SMA) to get diagnostic data from your application. For instructions about how to get diagnostic data by using REST services, see Obtaining connection pool diagnostic data by using REST services.