Published Release Notes

Use Page-Change-Class method to change a Page class

With the release of Pega Platform™ 8.3, using the Property-Set method to change the Page class shows a guardrail warning. Use the Page-Change-Class method to change the Page class instead.

For more information about the Page-Change-Class method, see Changing the class of a page and Page-Change-Class method.

Support for the decisioning-enabled NLP text analyzer in IVAs and Email Bots

You can now use the new intelligent natural language processing (iNLP) text analyzer in Pega Intelligent Virtual Assistants™ (IVAs) and Pega Email Bots™. This advanced text analyzer is decisioning-enabled and empowers IVA or Email Bot for all conversational channels to provide smarter responses. The decisioning capability in the system integrates text analytics with strategies, prepositions, and interaction history, to provide the context for making better next-best-action decisions.

For more information, see Use the decisioning-enabled NLP text analyzer in IVAs and Email Bots, Defining advanced Facebook text analyzer configuration and Facebook channel behavior.

Upgrade impact

Existing channels remain with the current configuration, and their current functionality does not change. Channels created after the upgrade automatically use the new text analyzer.  

What steps are required to update the application to be compatible with this change?

The new text analyzer is enabled or disabled using a new interactive API (iAPI) selection, which is selected by default for new channels. You can disable the iAPI for new channels if you want to maintain current functionality. You can also enable it for existing channels if you want to move existing channels to the new functionality.

Remote device log retrieval from online-only mobile apps

In addition to device logs from offline-enabled mobile apps, Pega Mobile Client™ can now upload device logs from online-only mobile apps. The upload to Pega Platform™ starts when a user restarts the mobile app. You retrieve device logs from a specific device to support remote users and troubleshoot mobile apps.

For more information, see Retrieving device logs.

Improved mobile user experience with spaces

Spaces in mobile apps have been enhanced to provide a wider screen area for navigation between content tabs such as Pulse, Boards, Subspaces, and Tasks. Mobile users can now use native selection controls to choose from the same space-specific actions that are available to users of desktop-based applications. The enhancement improves the usability of spaces and promotes collaboration between mobile users.

Spaces on mobile apps do not require any additional configuration.

For more information about spaces, see Collaborating with users by using spaces.

Increased display area in mobile apps

Mobile apps now support hiding the top and bottom bars when the user scrolls down. When the user scrolls up, the bars appear again. This enhancement improves the mobile user experience by presenting more data on the screen, for example, a longer list of items.

For more information, see Advanced layout options.

CyberArk password vault support added for Pega database

With the CyberArk password vault, you can store your systems' passwords in a secure, central location and retrieve them from that location instead of directly entering credentials into the systems. This support is available only for IBM WebSphere environments.

For more information, see Pega Platform deployment guides.

Support added for multiple mashups

You can now include multiple mashups on a single webpage or browser, even if the mashups have different application and authentication requirements. Use mashups to embed a Pega Platform™ application as a gadget on your website. For example, you can embed Web Chatbot and Self-Service Advisor on the same website.

For more information about mashups, see Configuring the Mashup channel.

Mobile apps display skeletons for the initial screen load

Android and iOS mobile apps now display a skeleton before the initial screen loads, which enhances user experience and provides faster response to user actions on complex mobile screens or over slow networks. Until the initial screen is ready to be displayed, Pega Platform™ displays an empty placeholder that imitates the actual user interface.

Skeletons for the initial screen in mobile apps do not require any additional configuration.

Support for multiple work queues in the Email Manager portal

Pega Email Bot™ now provides multiple work queues in the Email Manager portal. With this functionality, operators, such as customer service representatives, can now triage cases more efficiently by selecting different work queues. Operators have access to work queues only for the current Pega Platform™ application.

For more information, see Email Manager portal.

Changes to URL format for Pega Web Mashup

The format of Pega Web Mashup URLs now supports multiple mashups on a single web page. The new URL format prevents a mashup from sharing cookies with another mashup.

If you want to include multiple mashups on a single web page and one of the mashups was created before 8.3, you must regenerate the mashup to reflect the new URL format.

For more information, see <link to help topic>.