Published Release Notes

User interface distortions in the Predictive Analytics Director portal

By default, the New Application wizard configures new applications to include UI-Kit-7 in the list of application rulesets. This ruleset causes user interface distortions in the Predictive Analytics Director portal. Applications created in maintenance level updates previous to Pega 7.1.6, and applications that do not include the UI-Kit-7 dependency, are not impacted by this known issue.

Workaround:

1. Open the application record.
2. In Application Rulesets, remove UI-Kit-7.
3. Save the application record.

Add additional columns to customized work history tables

The standard work history table, pc_history_work, contains two new columns that return the latitude and longitude coordinate location of the action that prompted the history. Mobile devices can display this location as a street address. If you have a customized work history table, add these two columns to it:

• <decimal name="pxLatitude" size="19" scale="9"/>
• <decimal name="pxLongitude" size="19" scale="9"/>

All tabs are accessible on delegated rule forms

Delegates can now access all tabs in a delegated rule form.

You can continue to customize the development experience for delegated users, such as line managers, who may not require the full set of rule form options. For example, you can prevent users from adding new nodes on the Decision Tree form or using the expression builder on the Map Value form. All users, including delegated users, can remove these restrictions if they hold a rule-editing privilege.

For more details on this process and a list of commonly delegated rules, see How to delegate a rule.

Using Kerberos authentication with your database

Pega 7 supports Kerberos functionality. Kerberos is a computer network authentication protocol which allows nodes communicating over a non-secure network to prove their identity to one another in a secure manner. 

To use Kerberos for authentication, you must use the command line to install or upgrade Pega 7.

To use Kerberos authentication:

1.  Change the setupDatabase.properties file.

a.  In the “Uncomment this property section” of the file, uncomment the jdbc.custom.connection.properties property.  Based on your security infrastructure, different properties may be required as parameters to this property; provide the needed properties as semicolon-delimited name/value pairs:
 

jdbc.custom.connection.properties=prop1=val1;prop2=val2;prop3=val3;
 

Example:  For an installation on a MSSQL database server from a Windows client machine (where both machines belong to the same Windows domain), using the Microsoft JDBC driver, the property may be set as follows:
 

jdbc.custom.connection.properties=integratedSecurity=true;

b.  Comment out all the username and password properties where they occur in the jdbc.custom.connection.properties file, so that they appear as follows:

# pega.jdbc.username db username
# pega.jdbc.password db password

[lines removed here]

# pega.jdbc.username=ADMIN
# pega.jdbc.password=ADMIN

2.  Set up your database to enable Kerberos functionality.  This may include additional vendor-specific JDBC driver configuration, or other setup procedures.  Check the documentation from your database vendor to determine what Kerberos setup is needed for your database.

3.  Run the command line installation or upgrade by following the instructions found in the Pega 7 Deployment guides.

Run cleanup.bat/sh script only before upgrading

Prior to upgrading the rulebase, you can optionally run the cleanup.bat/sh script to remove older rules from the database.

Run this script before you upgrade your rulebase, or the script may delete needed rulesets. For more information about running the cleanup.bat/sh script, refer to the Upgrade Guide specific to your release version.

When using Oracle 12.1.0.1, left outer joins in reports may return incorrect results

When using  Pega 7 with Oracle 12.1.0.1 , reports that use left outer joins may return incorrect results.

This is an Oracle known issue.  To resolve this behavior, upgrade to Oracle 12.1.0.2, apply the Oracle patch 16726638 by requesting it directly from Oracle, or, for Microsoft Windows installations, apply Windows Bundle patch 12.1.0.1.15 or later.

For more information in this behavior, see: https://support.oracle.com/epmos/faces/DocumentDisplay?_afrLoop=392085808201943&id=1957943.1

Microsof Internet Explorer 9 (IE9) may display a script error when clicking a Help button

A script error may be displayed when clicking a Help button when script error notification is turned on in the browser. As a work around, uncheck the Display a notification about every script error option in the Advanced tab of the Options dialog box in Microsoft Internet Explorer 9.

Support for sending emails by using Microsoft Graph

Email integration with Microsoft Office 365 now supports sending emails by using Microsoft Graph. With this enhancement, you can send email with a more secure protocol that complies with your organization’s security policy.

For more information, see Creating an email account.

App Studio enhancements further support Pega Express methodology

App Studio now includes improvements that you can use to plan your Microjourney™ in a more convenient way. The Overview workspace now includes a button to edit application details, such as name, description, and business objectives, without having to switch to Dev Studio. You can also access relevant information faster, because Case Designer displays additional details about channels, data objects, and attachments associated with a case type directly in a properties pane. For improved management of your features, feature categories are now available in the application inventory so that you can clearly communicate to your development team what type of features need implementation.

For more information, see:

• Editing application details in App Studio 
• Associating personas with channels 
• Adding features to application inventory 
• Creating a Microjourney for customer success

Conversation flow and smart shapes for the Digital Messaging chatbots

When creating Pega Intelligent Virtual Assistant™ (IVA) for Digital Messaging, chatbot developers can now use new conversation smart shapes in a dedicated flow, making the design process simpler, more robust, and intuitive. With the new smart shapes, the chatbot displays text messages or asks questions to users in one of several ways. In addition, developers do not have to create additional rules, switch tabs, or perform manual validation. You can associate the conversation flow that you create for your IVA with a business case, use the flow on its own, or reuse it in another conversation flow, improving the overall chatbot design process.

For more information, see Adding a stand-alone conversation process for a conversational channel, Adding a case type conversation process for a conversational channel, Editing the conversation smart shapes and Flow shapes.