Published Release Notes

Word merge support with Microsoft Silverlight plug-in

PRPC features that integrate with the Word merge capability are now cross-browser. ActiveX controls (which are only compatible with IE) have been replaced with Microsoft Silverlight. This plug-in must be downloaded separately from Microsoft, as it is not shipped with PRPC.

Some common PRPC features affected by this change include the Application Document Wizard, App Profile, Specifications Landing Page, Specification form, and Case Type Landing Page.

Prior to using these features, Users of PRPC 7.1.3 need to set up their client system(s) as follows:

1. Install Silverlight plug-in

Follow the PRPC prompt to install Silverlight when you attempt to use the Word merge feature:

Or download package directly: www.microsoft.com/silverlight/

2. Install PRPC prerequisites

Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE) browsers automatically detect the need for PRPC prerequisites and will prompt for install:

Non-IE browsers will load a pop-up window when the user attempts to use the Word merge feature.  Use the link to manually download PRPC prerequisites:

Extract the .zip file, execute setup.exe and follow the install wizard:

Administrators setting up multiple clients at once may refer to the pzSLpreReqs.cab available in the PRPC 7.1.3 resource kit.

3. Restart browser

Log out of PRPC, close all open sessions and restart your browser.

The PRPC feature integrated with Word merge is now ready for use; Silverlight prompts are no longer displayed.

4. Troubleshooting

Silverlight installation requires access to your file system and a registry setting update to “trust” the associated Verisign certificate.  Contact your administrator if you encounter any security or permission errors during this process.

See the PRPC Developer Help for more information on browser setup requirements.

Organization Setup superseded by New Application Wizard

The Organization Setup Wizard has been retired in PRPC 7.1.3.  This feature was previously launched from the Designer Studio > Org & Security > Organization > Organization Setup menu. Users are encouraged to run the New Application Wizard (also known as Application Express) instead:

This tool quickly generates an application along with all of the artifacts previously offered by the Organization Setup Wizard. This includes, but is not limited to, the class hierarchy, application rule, organization/division/unit rules, and all relevant data instances.

See the following PDN article for more details on the New Application Wizard:

Create new applications quickly and easily with Application Express

Enabling security policies now requires current password

As part of Pega’s initiative to protect against malicious attacks, the change password dialog has been enhanced.  When Security Policies have been enabled for your system, new users or those with expired passwords will now be prompted for both their existing password as well as their desired new password.

For more details, review the Designer Studio > System > Settings > Security Policies landing page.

Required Oracle optimization parameter

To optimize performance, set the Oracle parameter optimizer_index_cost_adj to a value between 20 and 25. If this value is not set, the system can run exceedingly slowly, potentially blocking users from login.

Split schema upgrade instructions missing properties

If you upgraded from 5.x, 6.x, or 7.x using the instructions in previous versions of the upgrade guide, you may have neglected to set the properties below in your migrateSystem.properties file when you migrated your upgraded schema to the source system:

pega.rules.objects.generate=true

pega.rules.objects.apply=true

If these properties were not set during an upgrade that splits the schema, your environment does not have the indexes, triggers, and primary keys on the rules tables.

To check for this issue, see if the pr4_base and pr4_rule rules tables in your existing rules schema are missing primary keys. If they are, use the SQL scripts in the ResourceKit\MigrationRecoveryScripts directory of the release to cleanup duplicate rules that were created due to this issue. Follow the steps below to run the scripts.

To run the scripts on Microsoft SQL, Oracle, or PostgreSLQ

1. Take down any app servers using the affected schema.
2. Backup your database.
3. Replace all instances of @RULES_SCHEMA in <database>_cleanDups.sql with the name of the schema that contains the pr4_base table.
4. Run the <database>_cleanDups.sql script on the database with vendor tools (sqlPlus, SQL Server Management Studio, etc).
5. Replace all instances of @RULES_SCHEMA in <database>_fix_vw_table.sql with the name of the schema that contains the pr4_base table.
6. Run the <database>_fix_vw_table.sql script on the database with vendor tools (sqlPlus, SQL Server Management Studio, etc).
7. Generate and apply the ddl using the command line generateDDL command. Check the installation guide for your database or the upgrade guide for details about how to use the generateDDL command line script.
8. Rebuild the indexes for the tables in your rules schema using vendor tools. This is necessary so that your system runs at an optimum speed.
9. Optionally upgrade to the latest release, at this point your database is ready to be upgraded or used depending on your needs.

To run the scripts on DB2 for LUW or z/OS

1. Take down any app servers using the affected schema.
2. Backup your database.
3. Run the <database>_cleanDups.sql script on the database with vendor tools (UDB CLP, Data Studio, etc) to create the CLEANSE_RULES_DUPS stored procedure.
4. Run the query Call CLEANSE_RULES_DUPS(‘<rulesSchema>’); where <rulesSchema> is the name of schema that contains the pr4_base table.
5. After the previous step is complete drop the CLEANSE_RULES_DUPS procedure.
6. Replace all instances of @RULES_SCHEMA in <database>_fix_vw_table.sql with the name of the schema that contains the pr4_base table.
7. Run the <database>_fix_vw_table.sql script on the database with vendor tools (UDB CLP, Data Studio, etc).
8. Generate and apply the ddl using the command line generateDDL command. Check the installation guide for your database or the upgrade guide for details about how to use the generateDDL command line script.
9. Rebuild the indexes for the tables in your rules schema using vendor tools. This is necessary so that your system runs at an optimum speed.
10. Optionally upgrade to the latest release. At this point your database is ready to be upgraded or used depending on your needs.

Synchronized database and application server settings

Configure your database and application server to use the same time zone and character encoding to avoid conflicts.

Case Management

This release had a focus on extending key capabilities to improve the ease of configuration based on early adopter feedback.  Improvements were made in run-time performance, especially in high volume situations with complex case configurations.  A series of cosmetic changes and fixes are included.

• The Wait shape now supports dynamic references.
• Issues were addressed with the CreatePDF and the CascadingApproval Smartshapes.
• Attachments have been improved.
• Issues with the Create Case Type functionality were addressed.
• The Pega Pulse functionality has been improved, including its performance.
• When auditing a work item, History is now the default tab.

Data Management

Improvements to data handling were made for the Data Pages, autopopulate properties, and reference properties.  Lightweight lists were optimized.

• Property references are now maintained on the Work Page.
• PageList properties can reference a Data Page.
• Auto-populate properties can be used in a seciton to show results from a Data Page.
• Data Pages can run in “Page” mode as well as “List” mode
• The "Rules Not Using Lightweight List" report was enhanced.
• A PageList property that references a Data Page may be used to populate a grid.
• Related autopopulated properties can now be referenced.

Designer Studio

Numerous usability improvements were made for this release. A group of cosmetic, functional, and performance enhancements were also included.

• Treegrid controls work more quickly in IE9 and IE10.
• On application ruleforms, the 5.4 "Place Properties on Thread Page" checkbox will work in 7.1.
• Message error handling has been improved.
• Log messages have been cleaned up.
• Connectors may now be used in Data Pages.
• Move Rules wizard has been enhanced to work in Version 7.1.

Decision Strategy Manager

Fixes were made that improve the configuration and execution of Batch Decisions. In particular,  the capability to use Structured Data has been enhanced. Some notable improvements have also been made to the UI of Visual Business Director.

• The structured data input configuration will now work even though there is no data.
• VBD has been enhanced to work with Version 7.1.
• The structured data input configuration will now work with nested structures.
• Association rules from Version 6.3 will now work with 7.1 structured data.