Limits on active data flow runs
Valid from Pega Version 8.5
You can now configure a maximum number of concurrent active data flow runs for a node type. Set limits to ensure that you do not run out of system resources and that you have a reasonable processing throughput. If a limit is reached, the system queues subsequent runs and waits for active runs to stop or finish before queued runs can be initiated, starting with the oldest.
For more information see, Limit the number of active runs in data flow services (8.5).
Upgrade impact
If you have many data flow runs active at the same time, you might notice that some of the runs are queued and waiting to be executed.
What steps are required to update the application to be compatible with this change?
You do not have to take any action. After the active runs stop or finish, the queued runs start automatically. The default limits are intended to protect your system resources, and you should not see a negative impact on the processing of data flows. However, if you want to allow a greater number of active data flow runs to be active at the same time, you can change the limits. For more information, see Limiting active data flow runs.
External data flow rules are deprecated
Valid from Pega Version 8.5
External data flows are now deprecated and no longer supported. To improve your user experience with Pega Platform™, the user interface elements associated with these rules are hidden from view by default. Identifying unused features allows Pega to focus on developing and supporting the features that you need.
For more information, see Deprecated: External data flows.
Visual Business Director data is automatically cleaned after a retention period expires
Valid from Pega Version 8.5
To avoid negative impact on system resources, such as memory and disk space, Pega Platform™ automatically cleans out collections data accumulated in Visual Business Director after the time period specified in the vbd/dataRetentionTimeout dynamic system setting.
Upgrade impact
In versions of Pega Platform earlier than 8.5, collections data was not automatically removed. From version 8.5, the data is removed after 465 days (15 months) by default.
What steps are required to update the application to be compatible with this change?
If the default data retention period does not meet your requirements, you can change it by editing the vbd/dataRetentionTimeout setting.
For more information, see "Configuring the data retention period for Visual Business Director" in the Pega Customer Decision Hub 8.5 Upgrade Guide on the Pega Customer Decision Hub product page.
Uploading customer responses into adaptive models is no longer available
Valid from Pega Version 8.5
The option to train adaptive models by uploading a static list of historical interaction records has been deprecated in Pega Platform™ 8.5.
Upgrade impact
In versions of Pega Platform earlier than 8.5, it was possible to train an adaptive model by uploading historical data of customer interaction. After the upgrade to version 8.5, this option is no longer available.
What steps are required to update the application to be compatible with this change?
Use data from a report definition to train adaptive models. For more information, see Training adaptive models.
Text predictions simplify the configuration of text analytics for conversational channels
Valid from Pega Version 8.6
Enable text analytics for your conversational channels, such as email and chatbot, by configuring text predictions that manage the text models for your channels. This new type of prediction in Prediction Studio consolidates the AI for analyzing the messages in your conversational channels in one place and replaces the text analyzer rule in Dev Studio.
Through text predictions, you can efficiently configure the outcomes that you want to predict by analyzing the text in your channels:
- Topics (ticket booking, subscription cancellation, support request)
- Sentiments (positive, neutral, negative)
- Entities (people, organizations, airport codes)
- Languages
You can train and build the models that predict these outcomes through an intuitive process, and then monitor the outcomes through user-friendly charts.
For more information, see Predict customer needs and behaviors by using text predictions in your conversational channels.
Upgrade impact
Channels that you configured with text analyzers in the previous version of your system continue to work in the same manner after the upgrade to the current version. When you edit and save the configuration of an existing channel, the text analyzer rule is automatically upgraded to a text prediction. The associated text prediction is now an object where you can manage and monitor the text analytics for your channel. When you create a new channel in the upgraded system, the system automatically creates a text prediction for that channel.
What steps are required to update the application to be compatible with this change?
- Enable the asynchronous model building and reporting in text predictions through job schedulers that use the System Runtime Context (SRC) by adding your application to the SRC.
For more information, see Automating the runtime context management of background processes. - Enable model building in text predictions by configuring background processing nodes.
For more information, see Assigning decision management node types to Pega Platform nodes.
External data flow rules are removed
Valid from Pega Version 8.6
In previous versions of Pega Platform™, you could configure data flows to run in an external Hadoop environment. The external data flows functionality was deprecated and hidden from view in Pega Platform 8.5. The functionality has been now removed and is no longer available in Pega Platform 8.6.
For more information, see External data flow rules are deprecated.