Published Release Notes

Decision Management

This release contains a number of fixes that improve the configuration and execution of Batch decisions – specifically, a number of usability improvements and addresses some issues when creating strategies on IE8.  

• Batch Decision functionality has been enhanced in the NBAM environment.
• In NBAM, users can run the strategy execution batch based on the Seed list class instead of the customer class. 
• Interaction data will now work even if Action or Organization  dimensions do not have values set.
• Running a strategy which includes a Data Import of a structured page reference will work in batch mode.
• Security was enhanced on the VBD Planner.
• The Access of Role to Object rules have been enhanced to allow users to create new Dimension Operator records.
• The NBAM Segment On Canvas will now fetch the SegMap data, even when the generated extended segment class has not been added to the Pages and Classes of the strategy.  The SegMap property will (if it exists) be added to a list of properties to fetch, even if the strategy indicates that it is not used.
• When a strategy is defined on a customer class, users may now specify the list of required properties to fetch for the input definition.
• When creating a new strategy, there is now a section to add a Strategy Results class like Business Issue or Group.

Automatic retries for the SAVE operation on records

Batch and real-time data flow runs now automatically retry the SAVE operation on records when an error occurs because of resource unavailability. This functionality ensures that the records are eventually saved if the target data set is only temporarily unavailable, for example, because of load or network issues.

You can configure the default number of retries for the entire system in a dynamic system setting. To adjust the setting to different resource allocations and operating environments, you can update that number for each data flow run.

For more information, see Changing the number of retries for SAVE operations, Creating a batch run for data flows, and Creating a real-time run for data flows.

Cassandra 3.11.3 support for Pega Platform

Increase your system's reliability and reduce its memory footprint by upgrading the internal Cassandra database to version 3.11.3.

For on-premises Pega Platform™ users, after you upgrade to Pega 8.3, it is recommended that you manually upgrade to Cassandra 3.11.3. You can upgrade to Cassandra 3.11.3 on all operating systems except IBM AIX. If you do not want to upgrade to Cassandra 3.11.3, you can continue to use Cassandra 2.1.20, which is still supported.

For Pega Cloud Services 2.13 and later versions, Cassandra automatically upgrades to version 3.11.3 after your environment is upgraded to Pega Platform 8.3.

For information on how to manually upgrade to Cassandra 3.11.3, see the Pega Platform 8.3 Upgrade Guide for your server and database at Deploy Pega Platform.

Upgrade impact

After an on-premises Pega Platform upgrade, you still have the older version of Cassandra and must manually upgrade.

What steps are required to update the application to be compatible with this change?

To upgrade Cassandra, you must create a prconfig setting or a dynamic system setting with the new Cassandra version and then do a rolling restart of all the Decision Data Store nodes to upgrade them to the latest version of Cassandra.

Remote device log retrieval from online-only mobile apps

In addition to device logs from offline-enabled mobile apps, Pega Mobile Client™ can now upload device logs from online-only mobile apps. The upload to Pega Platform™ starts when a user restarts the mobile app. You retrieve device logs from a specific device to support remote users and troubleshoot mobile apps.

For more information, see Retrieving device logs.

Improved mobile user experience with spaces

Spaces in mobile apps have been enhanced to provide a wider screen area for navigation between content tabs such as Pulse, Boards, Subspaces, and Tasks. Mobile users can now use native selection controls to choose from the same space-specific actions that are available to users of desktop-based applications. The enhancement improves the usability of spaces and promotes collaboration between mobile users.

Spaces on mobile apps do not require any additional configuration.

For more information about spaces, see Collaborating with users by using spaces.

Increased display area in mobile apps

Mobile apps now support hiding the top and bottom bars when the user scrolls down. When the user scrolls up, the bars appear again. This enhancement improves the mobile user experience by presenting more data on the screen, for example, a longer list of items.

For more information, see Advanced layout options.

REST API for monitoring DSM services

Decision Strategy Manager (DSM) now provides a REST API that you can use to monitor DSM services without having to access Pega Platform™. By integrating your daily monitoring tools with the management REST API, you can retrieve a list of DSM nodes, check the status of these nodes, and view details of a service from all nodes in the cluster.

For more information, see Getting started with Pega API for Pega Platform.

Mobile apps display skeletons for the initial screen load

Android and iOS mobile apps now display a skeleton before the initial screen loads, which enhances user experience and provides faster response to user actions on complex mobile screens or over slow networks. Until the initial screen is ready to be displayed, Pega Platform™ displays an empty placeholder that imitates the actual user interface.

Skeletons for the initial screen in mobile apps do not require any additional configuration.

Create custom criteria for proposition filters by using the condition builder

Proposition filters now use the condition builder to define the criteria that a proposition or group of propositions must match in order to be offered to a customer. The condition builder provides a simple, flexible tool for selecting and grouping the entry criteria.

For more information, see Create custom criteria for Proposition Filter rules with the condition builder (8.3).

File sharing improvements in custom mobile apps

Case management in custom mobile apps that are built for Android and iOS using Pega Infinity Mobile Client™ is now improved with the enhanced Attach content control. You can now attach files of any type from the device storage and from cloud services, for example, Google Drive or iCloud, or from other mobile apps that are installed on the device. Additionally, you can share any file attachments, except for signature files, in external mobile apps.

For more information, see Enabling attaching files to an application.