Published Release Notes

Word merge support with Microsoft Silverlight plug-in

PRPC features that integrate with the Word merge capability are now cross-browser. ActiveX controls (which are only compatible with IE) have been replaced with Microsoft Silverlight. This plug-in must be downloaded separately from Microsoft, as it is not shipped with PRPC.

Some common PRPC features affected by this change include the Application Document Wizard, App Profile, Specifications Landing Page, Specification form, and Case Type Landing Page.

Prior to using these features, Users of PRPC 7.1.3 need to set up their client system(s) as follows:

1. Install Silverlight plug-in

Follow the PRPC prompt to install Silverlight when you attempt to use the Word merge feature:

Or download package directly: www.microsoft.com/silverlight/

2. Install PRPC prerequisites

Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE) browsers automatically detect the need for PRPC prerequisites and will prompt for install:

Non-IE browsers will load a pop-up window when the user attempts to use the Word merge feature.  Use the link to manually download PRPC prerequisites:

Extract the .zip file, execute setup.exe and follow the install wizard:

Administrators setting up multiple clients at once may refer to the pzSLpreReqs.cab available in the PRPC 7.1.3 resource kit.

3. Restart browser

Log out of PRPC, close all open sessions and restart your browser.

The PRPC feature integrated with Word merge is now ready for use; Silverlight prompts are no longer displayed.

4. Troubleshooting

Silverlight installation requires access to your file system and a registry setting update to “trust” the associated Verisign certificate.  Contact your administrator if you encounter any security or permission errors during this process.

See the PRPC Developer Help for more information on browser setup requirements.

Data Management

Improvements to data handling were made for the Data Pages, autopopulate properties, and reference properties.  Lightweight lists were optimized.

• Property references are now maintained on the Work Page.
• PageList properties can reference a Data Page.
• Auto-populate properties can be used in a seciton to show results from a Data Page.
• Data Pages can run in “Page” mode as well as “List” mode
• The "Rules Not Using Lightweight List" report was enhanced.
• A PageList property that references a Data Page may be used to populate a grid.
• Related autopopulated properties can now be referenced.

Integration

Usability enhancements have been made to the integration wizards. The REST end-point integration has been improved, and XML parsing functionality has been enhanced.

• PRPC services can return Report or Listview data as XML.
• Work items may now be processed when accessing from a link in system-created emails.
• An SMTP outage will not cause an application to stop working.
• File listener will now read files using a leading asterisk (*).
• XML Parse rule will handle schema validation.
• PegaImageViewer will now work with Version 7.1.
• Security measures are enhanced for SOAP connections to web services.
• After generating rules using REST wizard, the Undo Generation button will delete all the generated rules.
• Email wizard has been improved.

Automate business process tracking by importing Excel files

To track business processes status and data, you can now import Excel files when you create a case or data object in App Studio. This functionality provides the following enhancements:

• You can now upload a CSV file when you create a case or data object in App Studio. By importing a CSV file, you can use the data in your spreadsheet to define your data model.
• You can generate a data import template that you can use to import a file in its original format during production.
• You can upload .xlsx files to avoid resaving your Excel file as a CSV file.

For more information, see Creating a data model from a spreadsheet.

Consistent search experience in App Studio

Pega Platform™ now supports a unified search mechanism in App Studio. Instead of manually locating a single item, such as a case type, a channel, or a data object, you can simply use the Search option in the navigation pane. You can also use Search in case types and personas landing pages, to conveniently access the information that you need, for example channels and case types associated with a persona.  

For more information, see Plan your Microjourneys more conveniently in an improved Case Designer (8.5), Creating a Microjourney for customer success.

Data APIs support data exploration in React UI tables

Data APIs have been enhanced to support filtering, sorting, paging, and aggregation in React UI tables. You can use that functionality to access your data quickly and intuitively. For example, by using paging, you can query a data page to retrieve the second page of an employee contact list and specify the number of results that are displayed on the page.

For more information, see Data API performance and limitations.

Support for application-specific REST API calls

You can now call an authenticated REST API in the context of any application that is listed on an operator record by using the application alias URL. With the application alias URL, you can also develop REST services without changing the access group in the service package. REST services run in the context of the access group that points to the provided application, instead of the access group that is specified in the service package.

For more information, see Invoking a REST service rule.

Automated project estimation in App Studio

App Studio now supports estimating projects in an intuitive and automated way, so that you can plan your work with greater efficiency and accuracy. Estimations include the number of hours that you will need to deliver an application, based on multiple factors such as the delivery methodology, the number and complexity of features to implement, and the number of teams involved. After you provide the required data, the project estimator calculates the expected duration of application development. To share your project estimates outside Pega Platform™, for example with your stakeholders, you can also export estimates to an .xlsx file.

For more information, see Estimate projects automatically in App Studio (8.5), Estimating application development.

Enhanced application inventory to support features

Now the application inventory in App Studio also includes features that represent elements of your application to implement, such as language packs, along with personas and data objects. The inventory provides the option to add new features or reuse existing features from built-on applications. With the enhanced inventory, application development planning and tracking is faster and more intuitive because you can now easily check the features that your development team needs to implement. For greater clarity, the inventory supports different methods of grouping features, for example, by release or complexity.     

For more information, see Managing application inventory.

Enhanced Case Designer in App Studio

For greater clarity when visualizing your business processes, App Studio now has an improved Case Designer. In Pega Platform™ 8.5, every persona displays a list of associated channels, and every data object lists associated systems, instead of showing multiple entities for different channels or systems. Additionally, for better distinction every channel and system displays a unique icon. To fully convey your business process using just one screen, Case Designer now also supports visualizing attachments required for your microjourney, as well as creating draft associations between personas and channels.

For more information, see Plan your Microjourneys more conveniently in an improved Case Designer (8.5), Creating a Microjourney for customer success.