Published Release Notes

Additional upgrade scripts for new columns

In Version 6.2, additional columns (Major, Minor, and Patch) containing ruleset Version information were added to 15 tables in the PRPC database. When upgrading from a pre-Pega 7 release, scripts must be manually run after the upgrade to populate these columns.

These scripts are located in the Resource Kit, under Additional Upgrade Scripts.

• If upgrading to a single schema, run both scripts.
• If upgrading to a split schema, run the _data script against the data schema and run the _rules script against the rules schema.

Choose the scripts for your database type:

• db2zos_rulesetversion_columns_data.sql
• db2zos_rulesetversion_columns_rules.sql

• mssql_rulesetversion_columns_data.sql
• mssql_rulesetversion_columns_rules.sql

• oracle_rulesetversion_columns_data.sql
• oracle_rulesetversion_columns_rules.sql

• postgres_rulesetversion_columns_data.sql
• postgres_rulesetversion_columns_rules.sql

• udb_rulesetversion_columns_data.sql
• udb_rulesetversion_columns_rules.sql

Database

Improvements to data handling were made for search indexing, agent processing, and filtering.  Scripts were provided for proper population of the database tables.

• Importing data from shared obj-external tables is now supported.
• A validation warning will now display when an unexposed property is used in filter or join conditions.
• A Global Search index may now be created across two databases.
• Agent processing on multiple nodes has been improved.
• Improvements were made to controls in Report Definition pages which are used in a dynamic grid.
• Filtering functionality involving special characters has been enhanced.
• Scripts have been provided to populate the RuleSetVersion Major, Minor, and Patch columns.

Integration

Critical customer-driven product improvements were made to SOAP services, SOAP connectors and connector wizard, CMIS connectors, and the Pega Image Viewer. These fixes addressed a handful of functionality gaps discovered in PRPC 7.1 and earlier releases by internal and external customers.

• A Connect-CMIS instance which was created using a reference to an ATOM Server Instance may now use Global Resource Settings.
• The Execute Synchronously (one-way operation) has been enhanced for SOAP Services.
• The Silverlight version of PegaImageViewer has been enhanced to print ranges of multiple pages at once.
• The SOAP Wizard has been improved to show all the ports which are available in the WSDL file.
• Two way SSL has been enhanced for the Connect-REST rule.

System Management

Refinements were made to out-of-place upgrade documentation and processes, as well as for how handling is performed for all of the database vendor specific nuances related to a deploying into a split schema environment.

• A script was created to run the data schema upgrade for z/OS systems.
• In a split-schema configuration, indexing has been enhanced.
• The product installer has been enhanced.
• The stand-alone Static Assembly Utility does not require a password for its process.
• The UpdateManager tool has been improved.

Data page unit test case setup and cleanup

You can now use one or more data pages, data transforms, or activities to set up a clipboard page with the appropriate properties before you run a data page unit test case. You can also use activities to create any required test data, such as work or data objects.

After you run a data page unit test case, the data pages that were used to set up the test environment are automatically removed. You can now also apply additional data transforms or activities to clean up the clipboard.

For more information, see Setup and cleanup of data page unit test cases.

New assertions for data page unit test cases

You can now configure the following assertions for data page unit test cases:

• Result count assertions for page lists, page groups, value lists, and value groups
• Unordered list and ordered list assertions for page lists

The Pega 7 Platform now supports these assertions in addition to expected run-time assertions for the data page and property assertions for any property type.

For more information, see Data page unit test case assertions.

End of support for Microsoft Internet Explorer 9 in Pega 7.2.1

In accordance with Microsoft’s announcement to discontinue support for Internet Explorer 9, Pega 7.2.1 will not support Internet Explorer 9. You should not upgrade to Pega 7.2.1 if you are still using Internet Explorer 9. Otherwise, upgrade to Microsoft Internet Explorer 10 or later, or use Google Chrome, Apple Safari, or Mozilla Firefox, which support certain HTML5 and CSS3 standards not supported in Internet Explorer 9.

For more information about browser support, see the Platform Support Guide or contact Pegasystems Global Customer Support.

Ability to import data into a Pega Cloud database

You can export a custom Pega 7 Platform database table into a CSV file and import it into a Pega Cloud database or other Pega 7 Platform database by using the Data Upload utility. This utility is available only for Postgres databases and tables that do not contain BLOB columns. This utility is useful, for example, for updating a product catalog that is used in a Pega Cloud application.

For more information, see Importing data into a Pega Cloud database.

Ability to schedule schema updates for Pega Cloud

You can schedule BLOB size and table statistic updates to database schemas to run automatically by using agents. Scheduling schema updates is useful for performance monitoring and tuning in the Pega Cloud. This feature is available only for customers who use a Postgres database.

There is an agent for updating the average and maximum BLOB sizes, and an agent for updating table statistics. Each agent can be configured separately for each schema. You can configure whether to schedule the agent to run daily or weekly. You can deactivate a running schedule on the Schema Tools landing page by clicking Designer Studio > System > Database > Schema Tools. From the Schema Tools landing page, you can configure more complex scheduling on the Edit Agent Schedule landing page. In addition, you can configure these agents by using Dynamic Data System Settings.

For more information, see Scheduling schema updates.

Immediate drain available for the quiesce process when using high availability

The quiesce process, which is used to take a server out of service for maintenance in a highly available system, can now be modified to use the immediate drain method. When using the default slow drain method for quiesce, users are placed in a passivation queue. When using the immediate drain method, users can continue to access the node being quiesced until it is removed from the load balancer.

Organizations should determine which quiesce method to use based on the overall needs of their users. However, for applications that have implemented long poll requests, it is recommended to use the slow drain method.

For more information, see the Pega 7.2.1 High Availability Administration Guide.