Published Release Notes

Improved identification and handling of code assembly errors

Code assembly error logs are now more meaningful and help you identify root causes with better accuracy. Pega Platform™ now also invalidates erroneous assembly to facilitate successful reassembly when the code is accessed again. For example, if a section is not correctly assembled when a user first signs in to the system, the application attempts to reassemble that section the next time a user signs in. In this way, you can avoid lingering issues and improve stability.

Savable data pages support loading pages individually from a page list

You can now load individual pages in a page list from single object data pages to your case and data types. This functionality allows you to save autopopulated properties with the Load each page individually option using a flow action, save data page smart shape, or the activity method.

For more information, see Saving data in a data page as part of a flow.

Retention of mashup state on browser refresh

Mashup configuration now includes an option to retain the state of the mashup after the user refreshes the browser that displays the mashup. In previous releases, when users refreshed a browser window with a case in a mashup, the system discarded the state of the case and then created a new case. Now, you can enable the mashup to use the values in the Clipboard tool from before the refresh. This enhancement helps users seamlessly continue their work after a browser refresh.

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

Custom DX API attributes for auto-generated controls

Auto-generated controls now include the option to add custom attributes for use with the Pega Digital Experience (DX) API. The attributes are part of the DX API response to the front end and you can use them to modify the run-time behavior of the UI elements in your application. For example, you can add an attribute to a field that displays a tooltip text for that field at run time. This enhancement introduces significant flexibility to application development and gives you greater control over UI components.

For more information, see Adding custom attributes for version 1 DX API to auto-generated controls.

Usability improvements in the Email Manager and Case Manager portals

Pega Email Bot™ customer service representatives (CSRs) working in the Email Manager, Case Manager, or Case Worker portals can now quickly reply to one recipient or to all recipients. CSRs can also view the sentiment analysis of an email (positive, negative, or neutral) for each received email, displaying the sentiment pattern for the entire email thread in a triage case. The email bot improvements add value for CSRs working in the portals and help them save time when responding to user requests.

For more information, see Understanding the email triage process and Replying to customers by email for an email bot.

Tamper-proof Pega Web Mashup loading

To protect your application from hackers, Pega Web Mashup is now loaded in a more secure way. The system generates a channel ID in the mashup code for validation on the server, before passing the mashup request. 

For more information, see Creating a mashup.

Upgrade impact

After an upgrade to Pega Platform 8.5, existing mashups, which do not have the channel ID parameter in their code, cannot load and users see the access control warning.

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

If you need to maintain full availability of the mashup during the upgrade of the production environment, perform the steps in Migrating existing mashups.

Support for React-based components in Pega Infinity applications

React-based components can now conveniently be enabled in any existing Pega Infinity™ application without the need to migrate the application to the full React UI. By selecting a single option, you can enable and experience some of the most modern functionalities, such as intuitive and comfortable landing page authoring, or the more efficient React-based tables.

For more information, see Enabling Cosmos React UI for landing pages.

Better support for custom PDF fonts

Pega Platform™ now supports loading custom fonts for PDF files from a binary file by using the CSS @font-face rule. With this enhancement, your application can generate PDF files that use custom fonts without relying on a dedicated font folder or a cloud bundle. As Pega moves away from folder-based solutions, you can migrate font management to a binary rule for quicker development and improved maintenance.

For more information, see Generating PDFs from your UI.

New database tables for email bots

Pega Email Bot™ now uses two new database tables that make the system more reliable and improve system performance. The pc_work_triage table stores complete information about email triage cases for the email bot. The pr_index_tracktriageactions table stores information about captured actions in triage cases.

Upgrade impact

During an upgrade to Pega Platform™ 8.5, a dedicated job scheduler automatically migrates resolved and open triage cases to these email bot tables in the background. If you expose additional properties as database columns or expose additional custom columns in the pc_work table, you must prepare your application for this automated migration. For more information, see Migrating triage cases to new tables.

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

If the pc_work table in your application has no additional properties or custom columns, there is nothing to do; if it does, prior to an upgrade to Pega Platform 8.5, you must extend the pyPopulateColumnNamesExtension data transform to any exposed additional columns in legacy tables with this information.

For more information, see Database schema for email bot tables.

PegaWAI ruleset deprecated in 8.5

Accessibility functions that were contained in the PegaWAI ruleset are now integrated into the main Pega Platform™. Consequently, the user interface in your applications now features accessibility functions out of the box, so you no longer need to use the PegaWAI ruleset to ensure accessible behavior in your application.

For more information, see Building an accessible UI.