Published Release Notes

EAR support for JBoss EAP 6

PRPC deployment in JBoss EAP 6 as an EAR archive is now supported. 

If you need to deploy the JBoss EAR file, go to My Support Portal and submit a Support Request. GCS can assist you with the procedure.

Small distribution kit

A new “small” release distribution format for Maintenance Levels (ML) is now available, designed to significantly increase adoption via: 

• Minimal package size and faster download time
• Minimal install time via tactical changes to the upgrade implementation and process

This kit contains streamlined installers (both UI and command-line installers) and specialized error handling for ML updates (for example, a “small” kit will only work if an existing version of the same release is already installed). 

The kit assembly has also been automated, which includes the construction of a PRPC_Rules.jar archive containing cumulative rules since the GA release. 

A “small” kit will work for any prior ML release within a major release (for example, the “small” ML5 distribution kit will update any customer on 7.1 ML1 through 7.1 ML4).

Improved data page performance

Improvements have been made with queueing and processing of asynchronously-loaded data pages to reduce the number of calls to the database and avoid generating performance problems because of unneeded asynchronous requests.

Restricted SMA access

System Management Application (SMA) remote connections are not supported on JBoss EAP 6.x. This means SMA users may only monitor locally connected systems. Ensure that the "Local JVM Connection..." option is selected when configuring PRPC nodes:

DB2-LUW database logfile size increase

To avoid running out of logfile space due to large transaction sets during the rule base load of a Pega 7.1.x install, upgrade, or maintenance level update, systems supported by a DB2-LUW database platform should increase the LOGFILSIZ parameter to at least 4096 pages from the default size of 1000 pages.

After the size has been increased, restart the database to ensure that the new setting is loaded into the database correctly.

Need to run script before updating Multitenant systems

When updating or upgrading a Multitenant system from Pega 7.1.5 or 7.1.6 to Pega 7.1.7, if that system uses either an Oracle or a PostgreSQL database, you may encounter the error:

“Table must be empty to add column.”

The Multitenant architecture requires an additional column on a number of the PRPC database tables (“pzTenantID”). In Pega 7.1.7, two additional PRPC tables were tenant-qualified: pc_schedule_task and pr_index_schedule_task. The Multitenant column is added to these tables by the update/upgrade process. However, Oracle and PostgreSQL do not allow the addition of a non-null column to an existing table unless the table is empty, so updating or upgrading systems on those databases displays the error detailed above.

To avoid this error, before beginning the update or upgrade, it is necessary to run a script:

• Oracle — OracleMTupgrade.sql
• PostgreSQL — PostgresMTupgrade.sql

For updates, these scripts are located in the /scripts/ddl directory.

For upgrades, these scripts are located in the /Resourcekit/AdditionalUpgradeScripts directory.

Specify the scope for rolling back rules and data to a restore point

Create restore points to save the state of all rules and data in your system at a significant point in time, for example, before you import an application. Roll back to that restore point to return the system to that state. Now, you can filter which rule and data instances are returned to their previous state:

• System: Roll back every rule and data instance that has a history record.
• User: Roll back rule and data instances modified by a specific user. If any rule was changed by more than one user, you will see an error message and must use the system rollback.
• Application: Roll back rule and data instances in a specific application.

For more information, see Using restore points to enable error recovery.

Improvements for test cases and assertions

The process of modifying test cases and assertions has been improved. Adjusting test cases to application changes is now much easier.

You now can:

• Select a page on which to run a tested rule.
• Change the class and rule of unit test cases.
• Create assertions that validate specific error messages on pages, properties, and activities.
• Automatically update decision result assertions with property changes made to a rule.
• Modify a rule's properties directly from decision result assertions.

For more information, see:

• Updating scenario tests
• Setting up your test environment
• Configuring page assertions
• Configuring property assertions
• Configuring decision result assertions

Simulation of data pages and third-party connections

When configuring your unit test case environment, you can now set up simulated data for connector and data page rules, instead of connecting to external sources.

By simulating such data calls, you are not dependent on any third-party server when running your tests.

This feature supports the following rules:

• Data page
• Connect-Cassandra
• Connect-CMIS
• Connect-dotNet
• Connect-EJB
• Connect-HBase
• Connect-HTTP
• Connect-Java
• Connect-JMS
• Connect-MQ
• Connect-REST
• Connect-SAP
• Connect-SAPJCo
• Connect-SOAP

For more information about simulating third-party connections, see Simulating data pages and third-party connections.

New branch quality dashboard

Pega Platform™ 8.4 introduces a new branch quality dashboard that shows the following metrics:

• The branch’s guardrail compliance score and the number of guardrail violations
• The percentage and number of unit tests that passed for the branch
• The percentage and number of rules that the tests cover
• Potential merge conflicts that can be addressed directly from the branch quality dashboard

For more information about the new branch quality dashboard, see Viewing branch quality and branch contents.