Published Release Notes

DB2-LUW database logfile size increase

To avoid running out of logfile space due to large transaction sets during the rule base load of a Pega 7.1.x install, upgrade, or maintenance level update, systems supported by a DB2-LUW database platform should increase the LOGFILSIZ parameter to at least 4096 pages from the default size of 1000 pages.

After the size has been increased, restart the database to ensure that the new setting is loaded into the database correctly.

Testing push notifications service connection and configuration

From the Push Notifications console, you can now quickly test the configuration of and connection to the push notifications services for both the Android and iOS platforms. Testing push notifications helps to eliminate issues that might occur when you are using a firewall or a secure connection (SSL) between the Pega 7 Platform and your mobile app. If any configuration, connection, or service test errors are generated, you can download and examine the contents of a log file to determine the cause of the error.

For more information, see Testing push notifications.

New alert for job scheduler activity that exceeds a time threshold

Pega Platform™ now saves the PEGA0130 alert in the performance alert log at the time that a scheduled job exceeds the configured threshold value. To identify performance issues with long-running processes, you can monitor the log for the alert while the job scheduler runs.

The alert is enabled by default. You can change the default threshold value or disable the alert in dynamic system settings.

For more information, see PEGA0130 alert: Current Job Scheduler run is taking too long.

Automatically revalidate and save classes after upgrade

To automatically revalidate and save classes after an upgrade, edit the product rule definition. After you upgrade the application, the classes you specify are revalidated and saved under the application version context you provide. If the application version exists on the target system before the upgrade, the revalidate and save process is not called.

For more information about editing the product rule, see Specifying product rule deployment options.

Improved indexing of StringList and StringGroup property types

Search and Reporting Service in Pega Platform™ 8.5 may improperly index StringList and StringGroup property types. As a result, the data model does not include the affected properties.

Upgrade impact

After upgrading to Pega Platform version 8.6, the system requires that the classes with the StringList or StringGroup type are reindexed. 

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

On the Search Landing Page, manually reindex all the classes that include properties with the StringList or StringGroup types to ensure that all your data is present in the data model. Alternatively, if finding specific instances of classes is difficult, you can reindex all classes in your application.

For more information, see Indexing class data.

Remove obsolete versions of the PredictiveAnalytics-UI and PredictiveAnalaytics-IntSvcs rulesets

After you upgrade the Pega 7 Platform to version 7.2.2, remove the PredictiveAnalytics-UI and PredictiveAnalytics-IntSvcs rulesets from your application as their versions are obsolete. Beginning with Pega 7.2.2, use the Pega-DecisionScience ruleset that contains the latest versions of the PredictiveAnalytics-UI and PredictiveAnalytics-IntSvcs rulesets.

For more information, see About ruleset versions.

PDF/UA support

PDF documents that you generate in Pega Platform™ are now in PDF/UA format. This enhancement improves accessibility for users who rely on assistive technology, such as screen readers.

For more information, see Setting PDF file versions.

Upgrade impact

With an upgrade to Pega Platform 8.4 and later, the underlying PD4ML library in Pega Platform changes from v3.10 to v4.x. Following an upgrade, most standard HTML-CSS conversions to PDF work seamlessly; however, if you use the following custom coding in their application to convert HTML to PDF, you may find that PDF generation works differently than expected or no longer works:

• Application layer Java in activities that directly link to the underlying PD4ML library
• A Rule Utility Function
• PD4ML tags in HTML fragments

For example, the following PD4ML proprietary CSS keywords are no longer supported in v4.x:

• pd4ml-page-break-border-top
• pd4ml-page-break-border-bottom

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

After you upgrade to Pega Platform 8.4 and later and find your PDF generation works differently than expected or no longer works, you should consult the latest documentation available at pd[4]ml support site. You may also consider using the Compact CSS instead of the application skin for PDF generation; for details, see Creating PDF files by using a compact style sheet.

Creation of case documents in a case life cycle

To save time and further automate your business processes, Pega Platform™ now supports generating case documents as part of the case life cycle. You can ensure that the documents include all necessary information by first creating a document template in a word processor. When you create a template, you add dynamic tags that your application populates with relevant data unique to each case, for example, the case ID and current date. To make your documentation more meaningful, you can also include attachments.

For more information, see Generate case documents in a case life cycle (8.4), Generating case documents in Dev Studio, Generating case documents in App Studio.

Enhancements for fields in views and data models

Pega Platform™ now provides a unified experience of adding fields to views, the case type data model, and the application data model, by using an intuitive dialog box. For greater clarity, a new field type, data relationship, replaces data references, field groups, and field group lists. As a result, you can conveniently reuse data objects in your application. 

When you upgrade to Pega 8.5, your system automatically converts your field groups, field group lists, and data references to data relationships. The case type data model now displays all the fields by default, including any referenced fields, and provides an application layer that contains each field. Use this functionality to view how the data is organized across your system.

For more information, see Define fields in data objects intuitively (8.5), Adding data relationships to fields and data models.

Improved processing of correspondence details

When you send correspondence, the system now does not update the pxSendDateTime property on the pxCorrSummary work page that belongs to pyWorkPage. In previous versions of Pega Platform™, after sending correspondence, the update of the pxSendDateTime property could cause errors when working with an application at run time. To prevent such issues, Pega Platform now includes a pyEnableCorrSummary when rule that, by default, is set to false. If your business scenario requires updating the pxCorrSummary work page, set the when rule value to true.

For more information, see:

• Notifying participants about events
• Approval by email
• Sending automatic emails from cases