Published Release Notes

Strategies are now available as a condition type in proposition filters

When designing proposition filters, you can now include strategy outcomes as a condition to be evaluated. Select a strategy and specify the component that you want to use as output to include more advanced decisioning in your proposition filters.

For more information, see Enrich your Proposition Filter rules with conditions based on strategy results.

Custom application URL alias in the application definition

Create application URL aliases that support your ability to launch multiple Pega applications simultaneously in a single browser. This feature makes it easier for clients and your customers to log into multiple applications using the same browser and access them simultaneously. You configure your application URL alias in the application definition. For details, see Adding an application URL alias.

For more information, see Simplify access with an Application URL alias (8.4). 

Upgrade impact

After an upgrade to Pega Platform™ 8.4 and later, review to determine if and how you must update your application rules to reflect the current URL aliasing format. As part of these application rule updates, Pega also updated the URL format and value components of the clipboard property, pxRequestor.pxReqServletNameReal, which you can use to discover a servlet name. If your application uses this property to discover a servlet name, update the pxRequestor.pxReqServlet property in the application rule to use the new, required URL and value formats.

For details steps, see the section, Upgrading from Pega 8.3 or earlier: Guidelines for any required changes in your application URL aliasing, in the appropriate Pega Platform Upgrade Guide available at Deploy Pega Platform. 

What steps should the customer take to update their application?

After upgrading, you must update your JMeter test scripts. For detailed steps, see Updating JMeter test scripts after migrating to Pega 8.4.

Add the security checklist to applications created before 7.3.1

The security checklist is now automatically added to applications. You can manually add the security checklist to applications that were created in earlier versions.

You can improve the security of your application by completing the tasks on the checklist.

The following task reflects the procedure on how to manually add the security checklists to Designer Studio prior to 7.3.1:

1. In the header of Designer Studio, click the name of the application, and then click Definition.
2. Click the Documentation tab.
3. In the Application guides section, click Add guide.
4. In the Application guide& field, enter pxApplicationSecurityChecklist.
5. Click the Configure icon in the Available in column and select the portals (App Studio and Dev Studio) that you want to add the security checklist to.
6. Click Save.

Client-server deployment of Hazelcast

Pega Platform™ now supports the client-server model for the Hazelcast service, which provides cluster communication and distributes Pega Platform features across nodes. This optional deployment model introduces independent scalability for both servers and clients in Pega Platform, improving stability for deployments that use a large number of nodes.

The Hazelcast client-server model is intended for select environments running Pega Platform 8.4 across a large number of nodes and should be deployed only when directed by Global Client Support.

Pega Express methodology in App Studio for successful Microjourneys

App Studio now supports the Pega Express™ methodology to help you visualize the key factors of your Microjourneys™ - case types, personas, and data objects. With Microjourneys, you can analyze and clearly communicate who the parties that interact with your cases are, what channels of communication they use, and what data they need to resolve a case. Associating personas and data objects with case types also helps you manage your development team's workload by using a list of the draft elements that they need to develop.

For more information, see Plan successful microjourneys in App Studio (8.4), Creating a microjourney for customer success.

Upgrade impact

During a Pega Infinity™ upgrade to 8.4 and later, clients using App Studio are asked to update their applications to support use of the Pega Express™ methodology. Without this application update, the Persona landing page and Data objects and integration landing page are empty. For more information, see Pega 8.4 Deep Dive: Pega Express methodology in App Studio.

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

In order to utilize the Pega Express methodology in App Studio and use the Inventory page, click Start now to complete the update of your application and add the required rules to it. If you choose to cancel, App Studio continues to work as expected without the Pega Express methodology features; you can click Start now at the top of your application overview page at any time to install the required rules in your application.

Relationships between elements of Microjourneys in application inventory

A new Inventory page in App Studio helps you manage a delivery of your projects by giving you an overview of the elements of your application and how they interact with your Microjourneys™. The new Inventory page lists draft relationships between the case types, personas, and data objects that you want to implement through development. By checking releases that correspond to the items that you need to develop, you can prioritize your work accordingly. 

For more information, see Plan successful microjourneys in App Studio (8.4), Creating a Microjourney for customer success, Managing application inventory.

Upgrade impact

During a Pega Infinity™ upgrade to 8.4 and later, clients using App Studio are asked to update their applications to support use of the Pega Express™ methodology. Without this application update, the Persona landing page and Data objects and integration landing page are empty. For more information, see Pega 8.4 Deep Dive: Pega Express methodology in App Studio.

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

In order to utilize the Pega Express methodology in App Studio and use the Inventory page, click Start now to complete the update of your application and add the required rules to it. If you choose to cancel, App Studio continues to work as expected without the Pega Express methodology features; you can click Start now at the top of your application overview page at any time to install the required rules in your application.

Improved mobile app user experience

Pega Platform™ can now produce a better mobile experience through performance gains and flexible access settings. Apps now support quick-loading native worklists, smooth scrolling and swiping, and query-based search, which improve productivity for mobile users. In addition, you can make your app available to users without authentication, and enhance usability for products that do not require strict security controls.

For more information, see Securing mobile apps.

Default text analytics model for detecting small talk

Enhance your web chat experience by configuring chatbots to detect small talk. Pega Platform™ provides the default model that is a topic detection model, available for English, German, Spanish, Dutch, Portuguese, Italian, and French.

For more information, see Configure your chatbot for small talk.

More efficient mobile development

The work environment for mobile app developers in Pega Platform™ is now more intuitive. Because every new out-of-the-box application now comes with a preconfigured mobile channel, you can start building mobile apps straight away. Create a mobile channel from scratch, and then customize it to include specific requirements for your new app.

The following updates enhance the process of building mobile apps:

• Your application stores all mobile channels as rules. You can reuse these channels across all versions of your mobile apps for more convenient updates.
• You can now configure contextual search from the mobile channel.
• You can now create native mobile list pages for the app navigation directly from the mobile channel.
• You can now add pages from web portals to a mobile app navigation pane, with full support for native mobile features, such as floating action buttons.
• Mobile channels now support configuration through predefined templates, widgets, and actions.
• You can now instantly preview your mobile channel configuration to see how the app displays on mobile devices.
• Configuration of offline support for mobile apps is now available from a single, low-code page.
• The preview section now offers a low-code pane, from which you can instantly start building a mobile app.
• The mobile channel now supports adding custom iOS and Android modules.
• Admin Studio now supports a mobile page, from which you can provide your own Mobile Build Server credentials and decide whether users need to provide authentication to download your mobile app.

Expanded checks for Java injection vulnerabilities (8.4)

The Java injection vulnerability check feature has been enhanced in Pega Platform™ to further prevent Java injection, including Edit validate, Edit input, and JSP rules. Pega Platform reports errors at design time and run time, and does not run any rule that includes any of the following Java code:

• JavaCompiler
• new ProcessBuilder()
• org.dita.dost.invoker
• Runtime.getRuntime()

For more information, see Configuring the Java injection check.