New passivation and activation activities
Valid from Pega Version 7.2.1
Two new activities have been implemented, pyPrePassivation and pyPostActivation, which are run every time operator passivation occurs, regardless of the node quiesce state. These activities save and restore the requestor state during passivation and activation. In order for the pyPrePassivation or pyPostActivation activity to be run as expected, you must implement the activity by using the correct Applies To class (@baseclass).
The previous activities that were run during the quiesce process, pyPreQuiescePassivation and pyPostQuiesceActivation, have been deprecated.
For more information, see the Pega 7.2.1 High Availability Administration Guide.
Support for reserved keywords in database column names
Valid from Pega Version 7.2.1
Databases use reserved keywords such as Group, Order, Rank, and Date to define and manipulate data. The list of reserved keywords is specific to each database. Column names can now include reserved keywords.
Define adaptive model context
Valid from Pega Version 7.2.1
You can define model identifiers in the Adaptive Model rule instance, which serve as partitioning keys, by selecting properties from the top-level SR class of your application. The Adaptive Decision Manager (ADM) server uses model identifiers to create adaptive models that use the same configuration, but collect different adaptive statistics. Use model identifiers in the Adaptive Model rule to create adaptive models for your purposes.
For more information, see the Context tab on the Adaptive Model form.
High number of busy waits when using Oracle SecureFiles
Valid from Pega Version 7.2.1
You might experience a high number of buffer busy waits when using Oracle SecureFiles for BLOB storage. An Oracle buffer busy wait occurs when a session cannot access a database block in the buffer cache, because another session is either reading the block into the buffer or changing the buffer. As a best practice, use Oracle 11.2.0.4 or later, because earlier versions have more problems with SecureFiles. In addition, to minimize the number of busy waits, set the hidden Oracle parameter _securefiles_concurrency_estimate to 50, and partition the table by using a composite range hash partition that is based on the pxCreateDateTime and pzInskey columns.
For more information, see Troubleshooting: High number of busy waits when using Oracle SecureFiles.
DSM rulesets become part of the PegaRULES application
Valid from Pega Version 7.2.1
The Pega-DecisionArchitect, Pega-DecisionEngine, Pega-BigData, and Pega-NLP rulesets were moved from the PegaDM application record to the PegaRULES application record. This change makes decision management functionality available for Pega 7 Platform users by default without any additional configuration required.
For more information, see DSM rulesets become part of the PegaRULES application.
HDFS data sets support Parquet files
Valid from Pega Version 7.2.1
The Parquet file format has been added to the list of supported file formats for data storage in the Hadoop Distributed File System (HDFS) data set record. On the Pega 7 Platform, you can now access an HDFS data set that stores data in the Parquet file format and perform various operations on that data set.
For more information, see Big Data enhancements in decision management.
New rule type: External Data Flow
Valid from Pega Version 7.2.1
You can now create External Data Flow rules on the Pega 7 Platform. By using this rule type, you run predictive models outside of the Pega 7 Platform and directly in the external Hadoop data set infrastructure. Processing large amounts of data on an external infrastructure improves overall performance on the Pega 7 Platform by reducing data transfer between the Hadoop cluster and the platform.
For more information, see Big Data enhancements in decision management.
View and apply schema changes when upgrading or updating
Valid from Pega Version 7.2.1
When you upgrade or update, you can view the schema changes to the default work and history tables and apply the changes to your cloned tables. By applying the changes, you improve performance and can take advantage of the latest reports on those tables.
For information about viewing and applying schema changes as part of the upgrade or update, see the Pega 7 Platform Upgrade Guide or the Pega 7 Platform Update Guide.
For information about using the Designer Studio tool or the command-line tool, see Updating cloned tables after an upgrade or update.
Discontinued support for multithreaded requestors
Valid from Pega Version 7.2.1
Multithreaded requestors are no longer supported in the Pega 7 Platform. Multithreading was previously specified by the prconfig setting initialization/allowMultiplePRThreads. If this setting is set to true when you upgrade to Pega 7.2.1, errors occur during the quiesce process.
New graphical framework for the Event Strategy rule form
Valid from Pega Version 7.2.1
The Event Strategy rule form introduces a new graphical framework that includes redesigned strategy shapes, improved navigation, and faster response time when building a strategy. These changes contribute to creating a more functional and engaging environment that allows strategy designers to successfully develop and maintain event strategy rules.
For more information, see Event Strategy rule type enhancements.