Virtual questions deprecated in 8.6
Valid from Pega Version 8.6
Following the improvements in Pega Intelligent Virtual Assistant (IVA), the creation of virtual questions is now deprecated and planned for removal. To avoid additional effort during updates to future releases, do not use deprecated features. For optimal application performance and efficient development of conversation processes, you now collect information from users by using the Ask a question smart shape.
For more information, see Adding a case type conversation process for a conversational channel and Asking a question in a case.
Send event notifications in Pega Platform
Valid from Pega Version 7.3
You can configure applications to notify users of case changes or other significant events that occur in an application. Use notifications to engage application users by providing key updates that might be of interest to them.
You can deliver notifications over the default web gadget and email channels or use a custom channel that you created. You can configure multiple web gadgets to display different kinds of notifications. The email channel supports notification frequency of instant, daily, or weekly.
Application users can set their own notification preferences in the run-time portals or override the set preferences for a specific case type instance.
For more information, see Sending event notifications and Management of user notification preferences.
Pega Survey documentation refers to deprecated field
Valid from Pega Version 7.2.1
The documentation for Pega® Survey refers to the Answer Layout field on the Complex Question form, but this field is no longer supported. For more information about the question layout formats that Pega Survey supports, see Pega Survey.
Upgraded selected third-party JAR files to support Pega Platform functionalities
Valid from Pega Version 8.6
Pega Platform™ 8.6 now provides upgraded versions of the JAR files that support various functionalities within the Platform, such as generating documents or PPTX files.
Upgrade impact
If you have custom implementations and use any classes from the upgraded JAR files directly in your code or through JAR APIs, after your upgrade to Pega Platform 8.6, your application might experience unexpected run-time behavior if the upgraded JAR version lacks any elements from the previous version. For example, custom implementations can typically include activities, functions, or non-autogenerated sections. Unexpected run-time behavior might also occur when you use a third-party library that has dependencies on the upgraded JAR files. If you use only default Pega Platform functionalities without any customizations, the JAR files continue to work correctly without any additional actions.
What steps are required to update the application to be compatible with this change?
If you have any JAR customizations, ensure that you test the upgraded JAR files for compatibility and upgrade impact. The following table lists the upgraded JAR files that might impact your application:
| JAR file name | Upgraded version |
|---|---|
| apache-mime4j-core | 0.8.3 |
| apache-mime4j-dom | 0.8.3 |
| commons-codec | 1.15 |
| commons-collectionons4 | 4.4 |
| commons:commons-math3 | 3.6.1 |
| commons-compress | 1.20 |
| commons-lang3 | 3.9 |
| fontbox | 2.0.19 |
| httpclient | 4.5.12 |
| httpcore | 4.4.13 |
| httpmime | 4.5.12 |
| istack-commons-runtime | 3.0.8 |
| jackson-annotations | 2.10.3 |
| jackson-core | 2.10.3 |
| jackson-databind | 2.10.3 |
| jaxb-runtime | 2.3.2 |
| java-libpst | 0.9.3 |
| jcommaner | 1.78 |
| junrar | 4.0.0 |
| metadata-extractor | 2.13 |
| openjson | 1.0.11 |
| parso | 2.0.11 |
| pdfbox | 2.0.19 |
| poi | 4.1.2 |
| poi-ooxml | 4.1.2 |
| poi-ooxml-schemas | 4.1.2 |
| poi-scratchpad | 4.1.2 |
| slf4j-api | 1.7.28 |
| xmlbeans | 3.1.0 |
| xmpcore | 6.1.10 |
For more information, refer to the documentation of your JAR provider.
Survey rules are deprecated
Valid from Pega Version 7.4
Surveys that were created prior to version 7.4 of Pega Platform are now deprecated. As a best practice, recreate your survey by using the Survey Management landing page, and then reuse questions or question pages from your survey library.
For more information about creating surveys, see Improved survey authoring.
Enhanced support for the Kibana platform
Pega Cloud Services began running Kibana 4.6.x. In addition to this version update, the Kibana viewer now includes:
- “DEBUG” level messages in PegaRULES log
- The PegaRULES-SecurityEvent log
Deprecated survey APIs
Valid from Pega Version 7.3
APIs that were available in the PegaSurvey ruleset have been superseded by Pega® Platform APIs. Although older APIs continue to function in this release, it is recommended that you update your flows and flow actions to use the new APIs because they provide the latest survey capabilities, and deprecated features are not supported.
The following table maps deprecated APIs to their replacement APIs.
| Deprecated API | New API | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Work-.QuestionShape | Work-.pzQuestionShape | A flow that displays one simple question. |
| Work-.QuestionShapeScr | Work-.pzQuestionShapeScr | A screen flow that displays one simple question. |
| Work-.SurveyDriver | Work-.pxSurveyDriver | A flow that displays questions in a survey, which can be simple or complex. You can control whether the questions are displayed on one or multiple screens. |
| Work-.SurveySection | Work-.pxSurveySection | A section that displays questions in a survey. You can reference this section from a user action, such as a flow action or connector flow action, in a flow. |
Locatable pages are deprecated
Valid from Pega Version 7.3.1
Locatable pages are deprecated. Use a data page instead. Data pages provide improved performance. When you save a rule that has a Locate Page Activity or when you create an activity of type Locate page, a guardrail warning is displayed indicating that this feature has been deprecated.
For information about data pages, see Data pages.
Pulse Extension points are deprecated
Valid from Pega Version 7.3
Beginning with Pega® Platform 7.3, Pulse uses the notifications feature to send notifications. As a result, Pulse extension points for email body, subject, and recipient list have been deprecated. Preferences set for Pulse notifications in earlier versions are no longer valid.
Use the alternatives listed in the following table to configure your Pulse message and notification preferences.
| Deprecated extension point | Alternative extension point | Corresponding notification rule |
|---|---|---|
| pyInstantPulseNotification (Correspondence) | pyAddPulsePost (Correspondence) | pyAddPulsePost |
| pyReplyPulseNotification (Correspondence) | pyAddPulsePost (Correspondence) | pyAddPulsePost |
| pyMentionsPulseNotification (Correspondence) | pyAddUserMentionedPost (Correspondence) | pyAddUserMentionedPost |
| pyMentionsInNonCaseContext (Correspondence) | pyAddUserMentionedPost (Correspondence) | pyAddUserMentionedPost |
| pyNewPulsePostSubject (Field Value) | pyAddPulsePostEmailSubject (Field Value) | pyAddPulsePost |
| pyNewPulseFilePostSubject (Field Value) | pyAddPulsePostEmailSubject (Field Value) | pyAddPulsePost |
| pyNewPulseReplySubject (Field Value) | pyAddPulsePostEmailSubject (Field Value) | pyAddPulsePost |
| pyMentionedUserSubject (Field Value) | pyAddUserMentionedPostEmailSubject (Field Value) | pyAddUserMentionedPost |
| pyMentionedFollowerSubject (Field Value) | pyAddUserMentionedPostEmailSubject (Field Value) | pyAddUserMentionedPost |
| pyMentionedFollowerWithFilePostSubject (Field Value) | pyAddUserMentionedPostEmailSubject (Field Value) | pyAddUserMentionedPost |
| pyGetListOfEmailReceivers (Activity) | D_pxGetCaseFollowers (Data page) | pyAddPulsePost |
To continue using the deprecated extension points, override the pyInvokepxNotify when rule and set it to return false.
For more information, see Management of user notification preferences.
Search field type is deprecated
Valid from Pega Version 7.1.9
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.