Published Release Notes

New application document types capture features and user stories

Pega® Platform adds two new application document types based on features and stories:

• Use product overview documents to socialize the application development plan and progress.
• Use gap analysis documents to identify the gaps between the application and your needs to clarify which customizations to build.

For more information, see Real-time agile application document types.

HBase data set type becomes resumable

HBase data set has been enhanced to be resumable. As a result, data flow runs that reference the HBase data set as their primary data source are now resumable. You can pause and resume such data flow runs.

For more information, see the Resumability of data flow runs section in Data flow run updates.

Improved Back button support in custom mobile apps for Android

In a custom mobile app for Android, you can press the Back hardware button to go back, instead of exiting the app. Custom mobile apps now function in the same way as native Android apps. For example, you can close a dialog box, dismiss an overlay, or collapse an expanded section by pressing the Back hardware button. On the home screen, pressing the Back hardware button displays a confirmation message before you can exit the app.

New data tables are non-Pega formatted

All new data tables are created as non-Pega formatted tables, that is, they do not contain a BLOB column, a pzInsKey column, or a pxObjClass column. The table's primary key will be the key that you specify, not pzInsKey. Data table construction was changed to improve performance of the Obj-Save method during batch operations, such as data imports, to make it easier to replace the table with an external system of record and to make it easier to share data among applications.

Browser unresponsive when logging in to Designer Studio

The What's new in 7.4 widget on the Designer Studio home page uses WebGL to render its background animation. If your browser is running on a virtual machine without hardware acceleration, your browser might become unresponsive because of this widget. Click the Hide this until next release button to remove the widget. At your next login, the widget will not be displayed.

Applications not working as expected when using fast processing for Connect REST and Service REST integration

In Pega^® Platform 7.3.1, the Use fast processing option on Connect REST and Service REST rule forms did not work. The functionality has been fixed for Pega 7.4; however, some data model guidelines must be followed. If you use this option in Pega 7.3.1, and you did not follow the guidelines, your application might not work as expected after upgrading. Use the following data model guidelines when using fast processing:

• The JSON property names and the clipboard property names must match.
• The JSON tree structure and the clipboard tree structure must be similar.
• The scalar arrays in JSON must be mapped to the clipboard as page lists.
• Multi-dimensional arrays must be mapped into page lists of page lists with the same embedded property names.

In addition, page groups, value groups, and Java objects are not supported by fast processing.

Known issue: SAML IdP import uses only the last certificate

When you configure the identity provider for a SAML SSO authentication service, the backing keystore rule for the verification certificate is created with only the last certificate from the IdP metadata, instead of using all of the certificates. 

Naming pattern changed for file data sets

File data sets are used to import from and export data to a file repository. In case of data export, prior to version 8.6.3, the first file exported had the same file name that was provided by the user in the data set, and any subsequent file exported to the repository had a unique identifier appended to it. Starting in Pega Platform version 8.6.3, each file has a unique identifier, automatically generated based on the data flow node, thread ID, and timestamp.

Upgrade impact

If your process to consume output files expects files with a specific name, it may not be able to process the resulting files correctly.

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

If you have configured the process before updating to Pega Platform version 8.6.3, but the exported files are no longer recognized by downstream processing logic after the upgrade, ensure that the downstream tool is configured to recognize the files by a pattern rather than the full name. For example, when referring to files exported to the repository, use the * character to indicate a pattern instead of using the full file name. For example, use Export*.csv to refer to the files.