Published Release Notes

Internet Application Composer (IAC) renamed to Pega Web Mashup

The name of Internet Application Composer (IAC) has changed to Pega Web Mashup.

For more information, see Pega web mashups for embedding Pega Platform UI in external web pages.

Accessibility support using WAI-ARIA roles

The Pega 7 Platform supports accessibility by using Web Accessibility Initiative Accessible Rich Internet Application (WAI-ARIA) roles. WAI-ARIA roles are a World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) ontology that specifies roles, states, or properties for each user interface element. Roles provide semantic information about features, structures, and behaviors that assistive technologies use to convey information to users.

• The dynamic container is marked as the main content area by default. When a user tabs through a page, the user can choose to follow a skip to the main content link by pressing the Enter key.
• WAI-ARIA roles are included by default on screen layouts, and each panel of the screen layout is assigned a role that is based on its position.
• Dynamic layouts can be configured with a specific WAI-ARIA role, depending on the function of the layout in the user interface.

New field types in Form Builder

You can create forms in Form Builder that include the following field types:

• Data reference – Prompts users with a list of data records or instances of a specific data type.
• User reference – Prompts users to select or search for an existing user in the application.

For more information, see Data references in Form Builder and User references in Form Builder.

Reusable components in Form Builder

You can reuse an existing form or data reference when creating a form. By referencing the existing fields in your application, you save time and build forms that are easier to maintain. Refer to the Reuse fields panel in Form Builder to view all of the fields, forms, and data references in your application.

For more information, see Reuse fields panel in Form Builder.

Search field type is deprecated

The search field type in Form Builder is deprecated. Use a data reference or user reference instead, both of which prompt users with an autocomplete field at run time.

For the full list of supported field types in Form Builder, see Supported display modes by field type.

Support for enterprise and express applications

When you run the New Application wizard, you can create two types of applications:

• Enterprise – A full-scale application that has access to all the capabilities in the Pega 7 Platform.
  
  By default, enterprise applications are developed in Designer Studio, but users have access to express mode.
• Express – A small-scale application that has access to a subset of the capabilities in the Pega 7 Platform.
  
  Express applications are developed in express mode, and are ideal for new users or for quickly testing functionality.

For more information, see Express applications.

Enhanced Wait shape

Pega Platform™ now supports the enhanced Wait shape that configures the case to wait for the resolution of all child cases instead of only the child cases of a specific type. When you set up the Wait shape to stop a case until it reaches a certain status, you can decide whether the shape considers statuses from a whole case life cycle, or only the statuses after the wait begins. The enhanced Wait shape provides you with greater control over resolution of your cases. 

For more information, see Pausing and resuming processes in cases in Dev Studio, Pausing and resuming processes in cases in App Studio.

Anypicker control is now available

The new Anypicker control displays a drop-down list of values that you can group into expandable categories for faster browsing. To save time and improve search accuracy, the Anypicker control filters the available values based on the characters that the user enters.

For more information, see Adding an Anypicker control.

Referencing Rule tool in Dev Studio

The Referencing Rule tool now runs in Dev Studio without the need for Adobe Flash Player. This enhancement integrates the Referencing Rule tool into your work environment, which improves productivity by reducing context switching.

For more information, see Finding rules by dependency.

PDF/UA support

PDF documents that you generate in Pega Platform™ are now in PDF/UA format. This enhancement improves accessibility for users who rely on assistive technology, such as screen readers.

For more information, see Setting PDF file versions.

Upgrade impact

With an upgrade to Pega Platform 8.4 and later, the underlying PD4ML library in Pega Platform changes from v3.10 to v4.x. Following an upgrade, most standard HTML-CSS conversions to PDF work seamlessly; however, if you use the following custom coding in their application to convert HTML to PDF, you may find that PDF generation works differently than expected or no longer works:

• Application layer Java in activities that directly link to the underlying PD4ML library
• A Rule Utility Function
• PD4ML tags in HTML fragments

For example, the following PD4ML proprietary CSS keywords are no longer supported in v4.x:

• pd4ml-page-break-border-top
• pd4ml-page-break-border-bottom

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

After you upgrade to Pega Platform 8.4 and later and find your PDF generation works differently than expected or no longer works, you should consult the latest documentation available at pd[4]ml support site. You may also consider using the Compact CSS instead of the application skin for PDF generation; for details, see Creating PDF files by using a compact style sheet.