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.

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.

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.

Real-time statistics added to application overviews

You can now use the Application Overview landing page to get information about the number, type, and status of work items that are associated with your features. By referring to the statistics and progress bars that update as your team creates and resolves work items, you can track feature development in real time without interrupting your development team for status updates.

For more information, see Real-time statistics for feature development.

Agile Workbench supports bulk actions

You can now create stories in bulk by importing a story template to Agile Workbench. By defining stories in bulk before you start development, you can size your project more quickly.

For more information, see Bulk actions in Agile Workbench.

Guided tours and online help added to application guides

You can now create application guides that display content from a Pega^® Platform help topic or a sequence of tour stops in a guided tour. By providing supporting information in an interactive format, you can help users complete tasks more quickly.

For more information about displaying help topics, tour stops, and other types of information in a task, see Interactive tasks in an application guide.

Upgrading to Hazelcast 4.x requires downtime during upgrades to Pega Infinity 8.6

Upgrade impact statement

On-premises upgrades of Pega Infinity release 8.4.2 and later to version 8.5.1 or later on Tomcat and PostgreSQL are completed with near-zero downtime. However, upgrading to Hazelcast 4.x requires that you shut down and restart your application server.

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

Hazelcast 3.x is enabled by default. For near-zero downtime upgrades, you do not need to perform any action.

For instructions about upgrading to Hazelcast 4.x, see one of the following topics:

• For near-zero downtime upgrades from Pega Infinity release 8.4.2 or later on Tomcat and PostgreSQL, see "Optional: upgrading to Pega Platform version 8.6: Upgrading to Hazelcast 4.x" in Near-zero downtime Upgrade Guide for Pega Platform version 8.4.2 and later for Tomcat and PostgreSQL.
• For all other upgrades, see "Optional: upgrading to Hazelcast 4.x" in the appropriate upgrade guide.

Improved indexing of StringList and StringGroup property types

Search and Reporting Service in Pega Platform™ 8.5 may improperly index StringList and StringGroup property types. As a result, the data model does not include the affected properties.

Upgrade impact

After upgrading to Pega Platform version 8.6, the system requires that the classes with the StringList or StringGroup type are reindexed. 

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

On the Search Landing Page, manually reindex all the classes that include properties with the StringList or StringGroup types to ensure that all your data is present in the data model. Alternatively, if finding specific instances of classes is difficult, you can reindex all classes in your application.

For more information, see Indexing class data.