Published Release Notes

Chrome support for editing specification descriptions in Word

If you use Google Chrome 42 and later, you can now create, save, and update specification descriptions even if you are not using the Microsoft Silverlight NPAPI plug-in.

The new Upload Word document as description option provides you with the functionality to upload a Word document that contains the specification description. In addition, you can use the Export to Word option to export the description that you entered in the rich text editor to a Word document.

Support for large reference data in offline mobile apps

A data page in a Pega 7 Platform mobile application with offline capability enabled can now be marked as a large data page. This feature improves performance significantly when you have a large amount of data in which only individual records change.

In this situation, after the initial sync to the mobile app, only the changes in the large data page are synced instead of the entire large data page. The database table is created for such large data pages in the encrypted SQLite database on the device. Changes such as add, delete, or update are reconciled as row-level updates. Furthermore, you can use JavaScript to query against this data. A large referenced data page is supported by list-based components such as repeating dynamic layout, auto-complete, a dropdown list, and radio button.

Support for offline and online cases in a single mobile app

A single offline-enabled application can now support both the creation and processing of online-only and offline-ready cases.

For online-only cases, a list of both the offline and online cases is always available. Case assignment and processing is performed on the server so that a case is available only when the device is connected to the Internet or to data. When a connection is not available for processing an online-only case, an error message is displayed.

For offline-ready cases, a user can open an assignment and perform tasks on that case. There is also an option to explicitly display a harness from a server instead of a client store.

Offline mobility improvements

Several offline mobility improvements have been made in this release. Additional use cases have been added for configuring offline-enabled mobile apps at design time. Read-only grids with limited features are now supported offline. You can configure auto-populated properties, and you can create work with parameters. It is also possible to open work by handle. You can use decision shapes with Boolean expressions (no when rules) in screen flows. Barcode scanning is now available in offline mode.

Mobile user interface updates

Several improvements have been made to the mobile-related user interface of the Pega 7 Platform. The content of the Mobile tab on the Application rule form has been redesigned. The Offline Configuration and Mobile Certificates landing pages are now available. The Signature Capture control has improved. Post-processing can now occur after the signature has been captured. You can auto-submit with the form submit. You can apply the signature to a page instead of applying it as an attachment to the case. The clear action completely removes the signature from the work object, keeping only the latest iteration of the signature. Touch interactions have been significantly improved. Response time is faster and there is better feedback on the touch action.

Redesigned tool for documenting your applications

Use the newly designed Document Application tool to generate application profile documents, application documents, and specification documents. The Document Application tool provides a streamlined landing page for all document types, including custom templates, and replaces the Application Document wizard.

For more information, see Document Application tool and Enhancements to the Direct Capture of Objectives.

Generate an XSD file for XML format output

You can now use Business Intelligence Exchange (BIX) to generate an XSD file for existing XML output when the Get all properties check box is selected on the Definition tab of the Extract rule form. You can now validate the XML output and generate DDL statements by using the generated XSD file. Some tags might not be included in the generated XSD file because of missing values in the XML output.

For more information, see Generating an XSD file for XML output.

Attach Content control enhancements

You can now use the Attach Content control in Pega^® Platform to configure compression options that limit the size of files created on a mobile device. For example, you can choose from predefined settings to limit video duration or image size. These settings apply when the user records a new video or takes a new photo, but they do not apply to prerecorded media.

Also, when attaching content to a custom mobile app, users can now select any type of file from any source that is available in the device's native file picker component.

For more information, see Configuring file size options for the Attach content control.

Project sizing supports real-time feedback

You can now size a project based on the stories that you create in the Agile Workbench tool. By capturing feedback from your stakeholders in stories, you can improve the accuracy of your estimated timeline and costs in real time.
For more information about project sizing, see Sizing an application development project.

Improved usability for feature management

You can now manage your features more effectively by implementing the following changes in your application:

• Move features to different levels to change the structure of your feature hierarchy.
• Provide descriptions that are longer than 256 characters to improve the readability of features.
• Quickly remove irrelevant features without having to manage dependencies on built-on applications or previous application versions.
• Consolidate features into one application layer when you are ready to ship your application.

For more information about feature management, see Managing the features in your application.