Published Release Notes

References to parameters in text control

The enhanced Text control now supports referencing the parameters in the Property field, and a more flexible application of the Field Value, that you can now use in the Value field. As a result, you can now use more development options, increase reuse, and more accurately reference specific data.

For more information, see Adding a Text control.

Set a time zone for the DateTime control

The DateTime control now supports the selection of a specific time zone. Apart from the default local time zone, you can choose a Java-supported time zone or enter a property. For example, you can make it easier for a manager working in New York to schedule a task for a worker in London by configuring a calendar picker on user forms to show a date and time for Europe/London.

Beginning with this release, the calendar picker defaults to the current time in the time zone that is defined in the operator record. Previously, it defaulted to the local time zone of the system.

For more information, see Specifying a time zone for a DateTime control.

Upgrade impact

After a successful upgrade, the DateTime gadget displays the time in the current operator's locale, which is defined on the operator rule form or in the browser.  

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

If you need to display the system time from which the user has logged in, and if this is not the same as the time in the user's locale (based on the browser setting), set the Locale field in the operator ID to be blank so that the browser-based setting and the displayed time are the same as the system time.

Support for controlling simulations in Integration Designer

Integration Designer now supports toggling an existing simulation for a data source on and off, and supports creating a simulation when a data source does not have a simulation configured. By simulating a data source, you can continue developing an application when your integration is not available, and test an application independently from the integration.

For more information, see Managing data and integrations with the Integration Designer.

Improved control of case locking and retry mechanisms

The Delay factor, Initial delay in minutes, and Max retry attempts fields have been added to queue processors, and the Timeout to acquire lock field has been added to the Queue-For-Processing method. Using these fields, you can quickly configure background processes that require you to lock cases or retry case processing.

For more information, see Creating a Queue Processor rule.

Upgrade impact

After a successful upgrade, the new fields contain their default values.

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

To customize the functionality of this feature (and the new fields), open the Queue-For-Processing definition and modify the values for the new properties or fields.

Role-based page access in App Studio

App Studio now supports the management of access to pages in your application based on user roles. You can use this functionality to define which pages are visible for every role, for example, make an analytics page available only to an administrator.

For more information, see Configuring role-based page access.

Improved rich user interface controls in IVA for Web Chatbot

In Pega Intelligent Virtual Assistant™ (IVA) for Web Chatbot, you can use additional rich user interface controls, such as the time and date picker or a simple form, to help users accomplish tasks more quickly and to limit errors. IVA for Web Chat can now also display a welcome message in the chat window, for example, to inform the user about the person with whom they are chatting.

For more information, see Streamline conversations in IVA for Web Chatbot with rich user interface controls.

Upgrade impact

The new Ul controls for Web Chatbot are enabled by default upon upgrade. If you do not want the controls enabled, you must disable them.

Also, if you have changed the styles for the welcome message, you may need to make changes to the welcome message to incorporate the new areas in the bot conversation area (such as quick replies).

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

Existing channels will behave as they did previously, so you should determine whether you want to use the new UI controls. If you want to use the new Ul controls, configure the new design-time options.

If you have changed the default styles for the welcome message, review the new settings to ensure that the welcome message is configured properly. 

View application quality metrics by data type

You can now view application quality metrics by data type on the Application Quality landing page. The new Data Types tab displays metrics for data types grouped by data objects, which enables you to more quickly understand the overall coverage of the application's integrations and interfaces.

For more information about data type metrics, see Application Quality landing page.

Automatically generate OpenAPI Specification documentation for application REST APIs

You can now access a clear, standard view of all the REST APIs in your application by using autogenerated OpenAPI Specification (OAS) documentation. In App Studio, you can view the OAS documentation generated for application-specific REST APIs by using the new Application tab in the API channel. Additionally, service package rules now include an OpenAPI tab where you can view the automatically generated OAS documentation for all the REST services included in the service package. With these enhancements, you can easily find, visualize, and test the REST APIs in your application.

For more information, see Generating OpenAPI Specification documentation for application-specific REST APIs.

Faster starting offline-enabled mobile apps

Pega Platform™ and Pega Infinity Mobile Client™ now support access group data prepackaging when you build the executable files for an offline-enabled mobile app. This shortens the time needed to start a mobile app for the first time, because only the data that differs between the package and the current server state is synchronized. The data that is prepackaged comes from the access group cache, and you can decide what access group cache data should be excluded or additionally included in the package.

For more information, see Enabling access group data prepackaging during build.

Test coverage support for more rule types

Test coverage has been expanded to include the following rule types. Test coverage support for these rule types enables developers to more accurately measure the effectiveness of their tests.

• Collection
• Declare trigger
• Map value
• Navigation 
• Report definition
• Scorecard

For more information about test coverage, see Test coverage.

Upgrade impact

The new rule types may impact the test coverage metrics for your applications. Due to the increased number of supported rules, the reported test coverage percentage will decrease.

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

Run your coverage reports after upgrading to see the latest metrics.