Published Release Notes

Define custom dimensions in VBD data sets

Beginning with version 7.3.1, you can define custom dimensions when you create a Visual Business Director (VBD) data set in Pega^® Platform. With this option, you can use any custom or existing property from the Applies To class of the VBD data set as a dimension to visualize your data, in addition to the properties in the default set of dimensions.

For more information, see Creating a Visual Business Director data set record.

Extension attributes are not supported in PMML models

Models in the Predictive Model Markup Language (PMML) format version 4.3 that contain extension attributes with the x- prefix are not valid. These extension attributes are deprecated; you must use extension elements instead. In addition, if the output type of any output field in the model is set to FLOAT, change it to DOUBLE.

For more information, see PMML 4.3 - General Structure in the Data Mining Group documentation.

The Upload responses action is not supported for adaptive models with customized context

A default instance of the Adaptive Model rule contains five model identifiers (.pyIssue, .pyGroup, .pyName, .pyDirection, .pyChannel) that are used to partition adaptive models. If you add other identifiers in your Adaptive Model rule instance, you cannot upload responses to this instance with the Upload Responses wizard and the following error is displayed: The Flow Action post-processing activity pzUploadCSVFile failed: Cannot parse csv file.You can still train such adaptive models with data flows.

For more information, see Training adaptive models in bulk with data flows, Model context, and Uploading customer responses.

Decision Analytics portal renamed to Analytics Center

The Decision Analytics portal is renamed to the Analytics Center portal. In this work area for predictive analytics and text analytics, the business scientist can control the full model life cycle by building predictive models, importing PMML models, building sentiment analysis and text classification models, creating and monitoring adaptive models, and updating any existing models.

For more information, Analytics Center portal.

Upgrading Adaptive Decision Manager data mart tables might fail

Issue: Upgrade from 7.3 to 7.3.1 fails if the data contained in the pxInsName column of the PR_DATA_DM_ADMMART_PRED_FACT table is longer than 128 characters.

Reason: During the Pega Platform™ upgrade from 7.3 to 7.3.1, data in the Adaptive Decision Manager (ADM) data mart tables is migrated from the PR_DATA_DM_ADMMART_PRED_FACT table to the PR_DATA_DM_ADMMART_MDL_FACT table. In Pega 7.3.1, ADM uses only the PR_DATA_DM_ADMMART_MDL_FACT table where the pxInsName property can store values that are 128 characters long. In Pega Platform 7.3, the pxInsName property in the PR_DATA_DM_ADMMART_PRED_FACT table can store values that are 255 characters long. If the pxInsName property contains values that are longer that 128 characters, the upgrade fails.

Resolution: Issue an ALTER TABLE statement to change the pxInsName column size to 255 characters and resume the upgrade. For example:

ALTER TABLE rules.pr_data_dm_admmart_pred ALTER COLUMN pxInsName TYPE varchar(255);

For more information, see Adaptive Decision Manager data model.

Support for predictive models in PMML version 4.4

Pega Platform™ now supports the import of predictive models in Predictive Model Markup Language (PMML) version 4.4. With this feature, you can import PMML models that use the anomaly detection algorithm.

For a list of all supported PMML models, see Supported models for import. 

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.

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.