Published Release Notes

Adjust styling for UI elements with standard CSS helper classes

Rather than creating a new skin format to make minor formatting changes to a user interface element, click the Open helper class picker icon on the Presentation tab of the Properties panel and select a predefined Cascading Style Sheet (CSS) helper class to apply to the element. For example, you can use a CSS helper class to center an element in a cell or layout. Using helper classes saves development time, reduces maintenance by limiting the number of customized skin formats, and improves the consistency of your application's look and feel. By avoiding the introduction of unnecessary static content, you also improve your application's initial loading time.

For more information, see CSS helper classes.

Preview and select icons with the icon class picker

To see the standard, predefined icons that are available for a Button, Link, or Icon control, use the Open the icon class picker icon on the General tab of the Properties panel. From an overlay of icons, you can then select the one that is most appropriate for your control. By using a predefined icon, you bring greater consistency to your user interface and help users more easily understand the purpose of each control.

For more information, see Previewing and selecting predefined icons with the icon class picker.

Update activity for button and link formats

To update existing Button controls or Link controls to current, simplified formats (Strong, Standard, and Simple), use the pzUpdateButtonLinkFormats activity. Using the report definition and other parameters that you specify, the system retrieves the sections to be converted, loops through each section rule to find Button controls and Link controls, and updates their formats.

For more information, see Updated button and link formats and Update-Button-Link-Formats.

Changes to User Interface menu in Designer Studio

The User Interface menu in Designer Studio has changed. For example, menu options related to localization are now grouped under Application readiness.

For more information, see Designer Studio - Landing Pages.

Revamped view authoring in Cosmos React

Applications that use Cosmos React now feature updated case and portal authoring tools, including more templates, improved view editing, and more intuitive management of UI components.

This change empowers citizen developers to build applications through configuration as opposed to customization, and reduces development time while also providing a prescriptive environment for creating optimal customer experience.

For more information, see Configuring forms and views.

Improved UI accessibility

Pega Platform™ now supports W3C Web Accessibility Initiative guidelines more fully, which creates a better user experience for people who rely on assistive technologies, such as screen readers.

The user interface now features the following enhancements:

• Improved keyboard navigation and updated ARIA attributes for layouts, including dynamic, repeating, and table layouts.
• Updated navigation for AJAX and dynamic containers.
• More precise keyboard navigation and focus control for pop-up components, such as SmartTips.
• Fixed accessibility gaps in out-of-the-box actionable controls and form components, such as buttons and text fields.
• More accessible error messages with improved color schemes and focus control. To meet the WCAG ARIA guidelines, the Show next Error bar has been retired and substituted with more accessible error symbols.
• Accessibility code included in the Pega Platform ruleset by default, without the need for additional configuration.

For more information, see Supported keyboard navigation.

Improved scroll functionality in vertical tabs

When you scroll content in an application that uses the Cosmos theme, the UI now remembers the scroll position even if you switch between vertical tabs, for example, in the case details section. Previously, the application reset the page to the topmost position every time you switched tabs. This update improves the user experience by reducing context switching.

Loading cues in Pega Platform

Pega Platform™ applications that rely on the Cosmos React framework now feature a visual placeholder for the page that is being loaded. The system displays an indicator when loading portals, cases, simple pages, and list pages. This update provides users with a visual cue that their request is being processed, which improves the user experience.

Support for picklists with parameterized data pages in App Studio in Cosmos React UI

You can now use data pages with parameters to populate a property of the picklist type with filtered results in App Studio. For example, in a survey case type, you can use a parameterized data page to configure cascading drop-down controls in which the values in a secondary drop-down list are based on the value that the user selects in the primary drop-down list. With dynamically-sourced picklists, you get greater flexibility in configuring picklists, and users see more accurate values.

For more information, see link Dropdown control Properties — General tab.

Enhanced performance and usability of Cosmos React tables