Published Release Notes

Easily build components for applications

A component is a collection of rulesets that you use to create a small feature that can enhance an application. You can now create components that can be applied to applications created in the Pega 7 Platform. You can create and configure components on the new Component rule form and manage them on the Application rule form. Each component creates its own ruleset, which prevents naming conflicts from occurring if, for example, you install two components with the same name. You can upload or download any component from the Pega Exchange.

For more information, see Components.

Alerts for long-running queue processor and job scheduler activities

Pega Platform™ now saves an alert in the performance alert log when a queue processor activity or a scheduled job runs longer than the configured threshold value. Use the alerts to identify potential performance issues with long-running processes.

The alerts are enabled by default. You can change the alerts for dedicated queue processors and job schedulers at the rules level. For standard queue processors, you can also set the threshold value for the Queue-For-Processing command in an activity. You disable the alerts in dynamic system settings.

For more information, see:

• PEGA0117 alert: Long-running queue processor activity
• PEGA0118 alert: Long-running job scheduler activity

Support for Hotfix Manager in service-enabled system management

You can manage hotfixes by using a REST service from Hotfix Manager in the service-enabled system management utility. With service-enabled system management, you can manage hotfixes simultaneously on more than one Pega 7 Platform system. You can manage the following hotfix operations: install, scan, commit, rollback, and GenerateDDL.

For more information, see Managing hotfixes (service-enabled).

Improved security for clipboard pages

To prevent data leakage and inconsistency, the Pega 7 Platform does not allow properties on a clipboard page to refer to properties on pages with a lower scope. For example, an autopopulate property on a node type clipboard page cannot source data from a data page with scope “requestor” or “thread.”

For more information, see Page scope types for data and declare pages.

Roll back system changes by using restore points

Restore points save the state of your system, including all rule and data instances. You can roll back to this restore point later if there is a problem. The Pega 7 Platform automatically creates restore points before any archive import. You can also use the prpcServiceUtils command-line tool to create and manage restore points and to roll back changes to your application. For more information, see Restore points.

Microsoft Silverlight no longer supported in Mozilla Firefox 52

Beginning with Mozilla Firefox 52, Firefox no longer supports NPAPI-based browser plug-ins, including Microsoft Silverlight. Pega Platform features that use Silverlight, such as merging case data into a Microsoft Word template, no longer work.

For more information, see End of Support for Microsoft Silverlight in Mozilla Firefox 52.

Ability to map JSON to clipboard properties by using a data transform

You can now map the entire JSON file or individual properties to and from the clipboard by using a data transform. Using a data transform makes it faster and easier to connect your Pega^® Platform to your system of record.

For more information, see Data transforms.

Node classification replaces NodeID-based configuration

For simpler cluster administration and better application resiliency, Pega^® Platform is moving toward a node classification model. Although agents will continue to work by using NodeIDs for several upcoming releases, use node types instead of NodeID configuration for agents, listeners, and decisioning services for more efficient operations and upgrades.

For more information, see Node classification.

Mobile search with sources from any data page

When you configure search for mobile apps, you create custom categories that limit the scope of the search and group the search results. In the previous versions of Pega Platform™, you had to add specific properties to the data page that you wanted to use as a source for a search category. Now, mobile search categories support any data page without modifications to help you effectively configure mobile search.

For more information, see Configuring categories for mobile search.

Protect against insecure deserialization

Deserialization is the process of rebuilding a data stream into a Java object. The Open Web Application Security Project (OWASP) has identified insecure deserialization as one of the top 10 security vulnerabilities for web applications. Pega Platform™ protects against this vulnerability by using filters that prevent deserialization of suspect data streams. You can configure these filters from the Deserialization Blacklist landing page.

For more information, see Configuring the deserialization filter.