Published Release Notes

Improved access to Cosmos UI settings

The Settings tab in the App Studio case designer now includes tools for configuring Cosmos UI. With this enhancement, you can adjust design system settings without the need to specialize individual When rules in Dev Studio, which simplifies UI creation and saves development time.

For more information, see Managing Cosmos UI settings in case designer.

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.

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.

Style charts in the application skin

You can now style charts in your application skin by selecting Charts in the Controls section and setting a theme. When you style charts by using a theme, charts that are generated for report definition reports and the autogenerated chart control are styled consistently, and you do not need to style charts individually. In addition, you can preview chart themes in the Skin form to see how different charts look without launching an application.

For more information, see Styling charts in the application skin.

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.

New formats for styling report data grids

When you view a report, the data grid that is displayed is now styled by using either the List report format or the Summarized report format, depending on the report type. With this enhancement, you can display report data differently, and perhaps more effectively, than other grids in your portal. In the skin of your application, these new formats will be added and upgraded automatically by copying the Default format for the Trees & grids layout type, which was previously used to style reports.

For more information, see Modifying data grid formats for reports.

Automatic separation of date input

Date fields in Date Time controls now automatically divide strings of input into days, months, and years. In single fields, the system adds slashes (/) as the user types the value. For example, an input string of 10102020 becomes 10/10/2020. In separate day/month/year fields, the system automatically switches from one field to the next as the user types the value. This enhancement improves the user experience by helping to users provide input in a more convenient and time-efficient manner.

For more information, see Configuring a Date Time control.

Limited action set for mobile-optimized grid layouts

The grid layout supports a limited action set when you select the Optimize for mobile mode. Actions allow you to determine the behavior of the grid. When Optimize for mobile is selected on the General tab of the grid layout properties, the following actions are available on the Actions tab:

• Set focus
• Open work by handle
• Open assignment
• Edit item

For more information, see Optimize repeating grid layouts for mobile.

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.

Include videos within sections

You can include videos within sections to build an interactive user experience. As with other standard controls, you can configure the video presentation and event properties. Although the Pega 7 Platform supports multiple video types, use the MP4 format as a best practice.

For more information, see Adding a video to a section.