Enhancements to branches
Valid from Pega Version 7.3
Several enhancements to branches make it possible for you to now do the following tasks.
- You can see all branches in your application and built-on applications by clicking App > Branches.
- You can view all the rules in a branch in addition to quality statistics, such as the number of merge conflicts and guardrail warnings.
- You can run PegaUnit tests that are configured on rules in a branch.
- You can import branches from and push branches to a repository.
- You can create reviews of branch contents.
For more information, see Enhanced features for branches.
Improved diagnostics and logging for Decision Data Store nodes
Valid from Pega Version 7.3
On the Decision Data Store tab, you can view additional metrics from the Decision Data Store nodes that help with diagnosing Cassandra database problems. You can also set the logging level to control interactions from and to Decision Data Store nodes.
For more information, see Decision Data Service node status information and Configuring the Decision Data Store service.
Tracing Cassandra queries in a Decision Data Store data set
Valid from Pega Version 7.3
You can now enable the Trace option for every operation in the Decision Data Store data set to collect information about how the Decision Data Store queries are executed in Cassandra. You can view this information in the clipboard and use it to troubleshoot and optimize performance of the Decision Data Store data sets and Decision Data Store nodes. All the queries and related events are collected on the DDSTraces page on the same Pega thread.
For more information, see Tracing Decision Data Store operations.
Improve cluster security by limiting concurrent operator sessions
Valid from Pega Version 7.3
You can increase the security of a Pega® Platform cluster by limiting the number of concurrent sessions allowed for each operator. Because operators typically do not require multiple concurrent sessions for performing their work, limiting the number of sessions reduces the chance that an unknown or untrusted person could access systems in the cluster. Use the new setting Number of concurrent sessions allowed for each operator on the Production tab of the System Data Instance form to configure the number of concurrent sessions for operators. You must restart your system when you change this setting. You can also create a list of operators by using the presence/maxsessions/operators/whitelist Dynamic System Setting, to which the maximum number of concurrent sessions setting will not apply.
For more information, see System form - Completing the Production tab.
Associate rules and project management work items with features
Valid from Pega Version 7.3
You can now link a project management work item with a rule when you create a rule, check in a rule, and save a rule as a new rule, which automatically links the rule with any features that are associated with the project management work item. Associating project management work items, rules, and features maintains traceability and makes it easier for you to extend the application, because you can identify the rules that are associated with each feature. On the Application Overview landing page, you can also link existing rules directly to features in the Associated rules section of a feature.
For more information, see Associating existing rules with a feature.
Pega Agile Studio integration
Valid from Pega Version 7.3
You can configure the new Agile Workbench tool to integrate with Pega® Agile Studio so that bugs and user stories are synchronized between the two systems. In addition, you can improve traceability in your development environment by using the Current work feature to associate a user story or bug with development changes.
For more information, see Integrating Agile Workbench with Pega Agile Studio and Tracing development changes to work items.
Enhanced refresh token strategy
Valid from Pega Version 8.5
You now have more precise control over your refresh token expiration strategy. When a refresh token is enabled, you can choose to set its initial expiration based on the value provided by the IDP. The refresh token expiry can be derived from IDP’s session timeout when SSO is used with external IDP for user authentication in the authorization code grant flow. You can also specify a separate refresh token expiration strategy based on your use-case.
These can be configured in the OAuth2 Client registration rule form.
For more information, see Enhanced refresh token strategy.
New process for Pega Cloud customers to obtain BIX extract files
Valid from Pega Version 7.3
The process for obtaining Business Intelligence Exchange (BIX) extract and manifest files for Pega® Cloud customers has changed as a result of data security enhancements for HIPAA compliance. By default, after upgrading to Pega 7.3, you must obtain the BIX extract and manifest files from the Pega SFTP server. From within Designer Studio, you can configure the BIX extract and manifest files to be sent to a remote SFTP server by a file listener. For Pega Cloud customers who have purchased a Pega Cloud SFTP Server subscription, you can configure BIX to send the BIX extract and manifest files to the SFTP server's folders for remote SFTP client download.
For more information about obtaining files from the Pega SFTP server, see Obtaining BIX extract files from the Pega SFTP server.
For more information about having files sent to your SFTP server, see Defining SFTP-related data instances.
Deprecated survey APIs
Valid from Pega Version 7.3
APIs that were available in the PegaSurvey ruleset have been superseded by Pega® Platform APIs. Although older APIs continue to function in this release, it is recommended that you update your flows and flow actions to use the new APIs because they provide the latest survey capabilities, and deprecated features are not supported.
The following table maps deprecated APIs to their replacement APIs.
| Deprecated API | New API | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Work-.QuestionShape | Work-.pzQuestionShape | A flow that displays one simple question. |
| Work-.QuestionShapeScr | Work-.pzQuestionShapeScr | A screen flow that displays one simple question. |
| Work-.SurveyDriver | Work-.pxSurveyDriver | A flow that displays questions in a survey, which can be simple or complex. You can control whether the questions are displayed on one or multiple screens. |
| Work-.SurveySection | Work-.pxSurveySection | A section that displays questions in a survey. You can reference this section from a user action, such as a flow action or connector flow action, in a flow. |
Two-factor authentication with one-time passwords
Valid from Pega Version 7.3
Pega® Platform now supports two-factor authentication in custom authentication services and case flow processing, by sending a one-time password to an operator through email and requiring the operator to provide it back to your application for verification. Use REST API OTP Generation to generate and store one-time passwords, and REST API OTP Verification to verify passwords against user entries. You can also use the pxSendOTP and pxVerifyOTP activities called by these APIs to implement two-factor authentication of users in case flows prior to performing a critical operation (e.g. before completing a critical transaction such as a funds transfer in excess of a certain amount). Settings on the Security Policies landing page control the behavior of the two-factor authentication process.
For more information, see Enabling security policies.