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.

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.

Enhancing your revision management process with Deployment Manager pipelines

Pega Platform 8.5 offers improved synergy between revision management and the automated deployment process provided by Pega's Deployment Manager 4.8 pipelines. Use Deployment Manager 4.8 to increase the efficiency of business-as-usual application changes and automatize the deployment of revision packages.

For more information, see Managing the business-as-usual changes.

Support for Cloud AutoML topic detection models

In Prediction Studio, you can now connect to topic detection models that you create in Cloud AutoML, Google's cloud-based machine learning service. You can then use the models to categorize and route messages from your customers.

For more information, see Broaden your selection of topic detection models by connecting to third-party services (8.5).

Control group configuration for predictions

You can now configure a control group for your predictions in Prediction Studio. Based on the control group, Prediction Studio calculates a lift score for each prediction that you can later use to monitor the success rate of your predictions.

For more information, see Customizing predictions.

Response timeout configuration for predictions

You can now set a response timeout for your predictions in Prediction Studio. By setting a response timeout, you control how Prediction Studio registers customer responses that later serve as feedback data for your predictions.

For more information, see Customizing predictions.

External data flow rules are deprecated

External data flows are now deprecated and no longer supported. To improve your user experience with Pega Platform™, the user interface elements associated with these rules are hidden from view by default. Identifying unused features allows Pega to focus on developing and supporting the features that you need.

For more information, see Deprecated: External data flows.

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.