Published Release Notes

Updates to the Event Strategy rule

When you design event strategies, you can use the Filter shape for basic arithmetic and text expressions. You can also specify start conditions for the tumbling and sliding windows.

Support for custom pre- and post-JavaScript processing for offline flow actions

Developers of an offline-enabled mobile app can execute basic business logic before and after a flow action is rendered by adding their own JavaScript code into a custom user scripts bundle. Its functions must be called within a try/catch clause. The JavaScript code, to be executed before a flow action is rendered, is always called afterClientCache is called and before DisplayHarness is called.

PegaWAI ruleset deprecated in 8.5

Accessibility functions that were contained in the PegaWAI ruleset are now integrated into the main Pega Platform™. Consequently, the user interface in your applications now features accessibility functions out of the box, so you no longer need to use the PegaWAI ruleset to ensure accessible behavior in your application.

For more information, see Building an accessible UI.

Support for enterprise and express applications

When you run the New Application wizard, you can create two types of applications:

• Enterprise – A full-scale application that has access to all the capabilities in the Pega 7 Platform.
  
  By default, enterprise applications are developed in Designer Studio, but users have access to express mode.
• Express – A small-scale application that has access to a subset of the capabilities in the Pega 7 Platform.
  
  Express applications are developed in express mode, and are ideal for new users or for quickly testing functionality.

For more information, see Express applications.

Support for application-specific REST API calls

You can now call an authenticated REST API in the context of any application that is listed on an operator record by using the application alias URL. With the application alias URL, you can also develop REST services without changing the access group in the service package. REST services run in the context of the access group that points to the provided application, instead of the access group that is specified in the service package.

For more information, see Invoking a REST service rule.

Tamper-proof Pega Web Mashup loading

To protect your application from hackers, Pega Web Mashup is now loaded in a more secure way. The system generates a channel ID in the mashup code for validation on the server, before passing the mashup request. 

For more information, see Creating a mashup.

Upgrade impact

After an upgrade to Pega Platform 8.5, existing mashups, which do not have the channel ID parameter in their code, cannot load and users see the access control warning.

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

If you need to maintain full availability of the mashup during the upgrade of the production environment, perform the steps in Migrating existing mashups.

Flow rules not supported in IE8

In versions prior to 7.1.2, flow rules do not open in Internet Explorer 8 (IE8). Upgrade your system to the latest version of PRPC or access flows from another supported browser.

Automated Unit Testing is unavailable

Automated Unit Testing (AUT) is unavailable in 7.1.1 - 7.1.5.

Starting in 7.1.6, users can access AUT features from supported browser versions of IE.

Automatic separation of date input

Date fields in Date Time controls now automatically divide strings of input into days, months, and years. In single fields, the system adds slashes (/) as the user types the value. For example, an input string of 10102020 becomes 10/10/2020. In separate day/month/year fields, the system automatically switches from one field to the next as the user types the value. This enhancement improves the user experience by helping to users provide input in a more convenient and time-efficient manner.

For more information, see Configuring a Date Time control.

Improvements to OAuth 2.0 Services with Token Introspection Service and Token Denylist Service

Increase the security of user sessions by using the newly supported Token Introspection and Denylist services for OAuth 2.0.

Token Introspection service

Use the Token Introspection service to validate JSON Web Tokens (JWT). The Token Introspection service requires authentication. 

Pega now uses OAuth 2.0 access tokens called Authorized Access Tokens (AAT). 

Token Introspection service endpoint

The Token Introspection service endpoint provides the information about the status of access token and refresh token. Token introspection can be used to validate if a given token is still active or inactive. The token introspection endpoint determines whether the token is valid. The status indicates whether an access token or refresh token is valid or invalid: 

• Valid tokens have the “active”:true status
• Invalid tokens have the “active” :false status.

The inactive status can also be due to revocation. 

Token Denylist service

You can add tokens to the deny list in cases where suspicious activity might have occurred. The Token Denylist service provides a method for denying user access to the application by revoking the user's access token. This service can prevent a token from being used more than the specified number of times, which can be helpful in preventing replay attacks. Stolen tokens should be revoked using this service. A GET API is also available to get the list of denied tokens.

Keys endpoint

Pega Platform™ is changing from using opaque tokens to JSON Web (JWT) tokens. If this JWT is used by any other system, the public key is needed for signature verification. A new endpoint is exposed to provide these public keys in JWK format: https://host:port/prweb/api/oauth2/v1/token/keys.

For more information, see OAuth 2.0 Management Services.