Published Release Notes

Ability to delete the Mobile channel interface

When you build a Pega^® Platform application, you can create a mobile app for your users. When you no longer need the mobile app, you can now delete an existing Mobile channel interface, just like any other channel that is available from the Channels and interfaces landing page.

For more information, see Channels and interfaces.

Ability to annotate case attachments

Pega^® Platform application users can now add annotations to images that are attached to cases. For example, users can draw around an area of an image to highlight a faulty element of the device. Users can annotate all images, except for signature images or attachments that are stored in Pega Cloud or other external data stores. The annotated case attachments replace the original ones.

For more information, see Case attachment annotations.

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.

View status of custom search indexes

Custom search indexes are special purpose indexes that are created and managed outside of Pega Platform™. You can view the status of custom search indexes on the Search landing page to see whether they are complete. This information is useful for troubleshooting and can help you determine whether to rebuild the index.

For more information, see Checking search index status.

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.

Job Scheduler and Queue Processor rules replace agents

The Job Scheduler rule and the Queue Processor rule replace agents and improve background processing. The Job Scheduler rule is used for recurring or scheduled tasks, such as sending summary emails on weekdays. This rule can be run on all nodes or on specific node types according to your customized pattern. The Queue Processor rule is used for tasks with no recurrence-based pattern. It provides scalability and capability for immediate or delayed message processing, such as submitting status changes to an external system. You can use a standard queue processor or a dedicated queue processor, depending on your processing needs.

Pega Platform™ provides a set of default queue processors and job schedulers. Corresponding agents are no longer available.

For more information about Job Scheduler and Queue Processor rules, see Job Scheduler, Replacing an agent with a Job Scheduler rule, Queue Processor, Replacing an agent with a Queue Processor rule.

Improve application test coverage by running multiple sessions

You can improve the test coverage of your application by using a new test coverage method - Application Coverage. Multiple users can perform coverage sessions which are aggregated into a single report. By using report metrics that show the number of rules that are covered and are not covered by tests, developers can identify which areas of the application need more test coverage.

For more information, see the Test Coverage landing page.