Published Release Notes

Post files and links with pxPostMessage API

The pxPostMessageAPI now supports text messages, file attachments, and hyperlinks. You can programmatically update Pulse streams using this API from activities or SLA rules.

Case Management

This release has continued to focus on improving the functionality of the design environment with improvements to the Case Designer and stage configuration. Additional end user capabilities were also added to allow for processing a wider variety of cases, for those with and without stages and improved bulk processing handling.

• Flow action processing now uses the primary page instead of the interest page when using case/stage local actions, so that embedded flows are properly populated.
• Case-wide local actions rely on pzInternalStageFlow when there are no active, non-hidden assignments on the case. These case-wide local actions will now appear on a stage-less flow with no assignments.
• If a (valid) error is displayed in the outline view, saving or clicking around will not delete the error - the error will remain as a reminder to the developer to solve whatever problem is being flagged.
• May now add Cascading Approval validation and edit the parameters from the Case Designer Stage and Step page.
• Page labelling ("Page 1 of X") appears in the history list presented in the audit tab.
• The bulk processing feature has been enhanced.
• The Outline View functionality was changed so that the visible page will no longer refresh each time a flow is edited.
• The Post value was added to the instructions text field, so data isn't lost between nodes in the outline View.
• When Assign to Operator or workbasket is included as a filter, the bulk processing gadget is supposed to get a list of assignments. The UI for the results was enhanced for assignments to include a column for instructions so that the different assignments on the same work item can be distinguished.
• When designing a case type’s stages, it is no longer possible to skip the last stage (by using the "skip stage when" setting). When creating or editing the last stage, developers may no longer set a skip when rule; if tried, the system will display a warning and prevent that. If a Skip When rule is set up for a stage, and then all the intervening stages are deleted so that this stage becomes the last stage, the warning will display, and the Skip When rule will not be visible. If another stage is then added after that, the Skip When rule becomes visible again.
• When one or more locked work objects are processed using the Process Selected Items button, the action will be performed on the selected work objects. If the action is successful, a green tick appears on the work object. If it is not successful, a red cross will appear.
• When the topmost RuleSet in the RuleSet Stack is locked, customers may now open up Outline View by clicking "Configure Process Details" and make exploratory changes to experiment. Because the RuleSet is locked, these changes may not be saved, but the experiment can be tried.

Quickly create ad-hoc cases

The My Cases work area on the Case Manager portal introduces a Quick Create feature that lets users create cases and assign tasks that are not included in the processing of business cases (instances of case types defined in the Cases Explorer).  For example, a manager can create a case and a task to set up a phone conference with her staff, or a reminder to enroll in an online seminar. Users can also set up a series of tasks to represent all they work they need to do to accomplish a specific goal.

Logic-based assignment routing

You can now define business logic that controls when and by whom an assignment is processed in a case. By routing assignments to a specific user or group of users, you can help ensure that cases are resolved faster.

For more information, see Logic-based assignment routing.

More efficient load management strategies for large data pages

The processing of large data pages on the Pega 7 Platform server during the packaging of offline apps is now faster and much more memory-efficient, especially in environments with many concurrent users. Server communication with the data source is now also optimized by reducing the number of data transfers to only what is needed. In addition, all types of refresh strategies are supported for large data pages.

For more information, see Tutorial: How to use large data pages to store large reference data in offline mobile apps.

New Mobile Apps form for defining and building mobile apps

You now create and build mobile apps from the Mobile Apps form instead of from the Mobile tab of the Application rule form. The new console is a control center for mobile apps where you can gather applications, services, components, and settings in one place to fully customize your apps in the Pega 7 Platform. You can create and build one instance of a custom mobile app and define multiple native mobile apps that can use the Pega Mobile SDK. To push notifications to an Android or to an iOS device, you must define an SDK mobile app in the Pega 7 Platform with a certificate set that has push notifications enabled.

For more information, see Configuring a custom mobile app and Configuring push notifications for an SDK app.

Caching of common rules in offline mobile apps

To help start offline-enabled mobile apps more quickly from the time when the server was started, you can now cache common Pega 7 Platform rules, including node scope data pages. Optionally, you can also either cache all node scope data pages, with the exception of the selected ones, or cache only the node scope data pages that are explicitly specified. You set up the offline caching options for your custom mobile app in the Advanced tab of the Access Group rule form.

For more information, see the Offline Configuration section in Access Group form - Completing the Advanced tab.

Robotic Process Automation (RPA) support for Pega 7 applications

You can now use Robotic Process Automation (RPA) to automate repetitive and unattended back-office activities directly from your Pega 7 application. By using RPA with your application, you can batch process large volumes of cases faster and with fewer errors compared with manual case processing. You configure the automations in Pega Robotics Automation Studio.

For example, when an automobile insurance claim is submitted, an automation can analyze the submitted information, look up and verify policy holder information, and update web and desktop applications with case information.

For more information, see:

• Integration of desktop automations with your Pega 7 application
• Robotic Process Automation

Improvements to guided tour creation

Usability improvements to creating and managing guided tours enable you to more efficiently create tours that introduce the key features of your application. Now, you configure the Manage guided tour action on a control to start, continue, or dismiss a tour, instead of specifying an API script.

For more information, see Managing a guided tour.

Testing push notifications service connection and configuration

From the Push Notifications console, you can now quickly test the configuration of and connection to the push notifications services for both the Android and iOS platforms. Testing push notifications helps to eliminate issues that might occur when you are using a firewall or a secure connection (SSL) between the Pega 7 Platform and your mobile app. If any configuration, connection, or service test errors are generated, you can download and examine the contents of a log file to determine the cause of the error.

For more information, see Testing push notifications.