Published Release Notes

Configure Elasticsearch index nodes to ensure availability of index files

You can now configure Elasticsearch index host nodes in a Pega cluster outside of the Search landing page. This change ensures that search index files are always available by eliminating the need for manual configuration on the Search landing page. Use the new index.directory=<index_directory> command-line setting during JVM startup to indicate that this node is an index host node and to specify the directory where the index files will be hosted.

In addition, offline Elasticsearch index nodes can now be removed by using a new prpcUtils command-line option. For more information, see Managing Elasticsearch index host nodes outside of the Search landing page.

Tracing Cassandra queries in a Decision Data Store data set

You can now enable the Trace option for every operation in the Decision Data Store data set to collect information about how the Decision Data Store queries are executed in Cassandra. You can view this information in the clipboard and use it to troubleshoot and optimize performance of the Decision Data Store data sets and Decision Data Store nodes. All the queries and related events are collected on the DDSTraces page on the same Pega thread.

For more information, see Tracing Decision Data Store operations.

System state data is saved for 90 days

System state data is now saved to the database for 90 days and can be downloaded as a JSON file. Having previous system state data available is useful for debugging system problems. Operators with the pzSystemOperationsObserver privilege can download system state data from the Cluster Management landing page for either the entire cluster or a single node. In addition, the PersistClusterState and PersistNodeState agents have been added to the Pega-RulesEngine ruleset for persisting system state data to the database.

For more information, see Downloading the system state.

New landing page allows you to customize the presentation of quality metrics

From the new Application: Quality Settings landing page, you can specify which built-in apps to include for testing. You can also modify the date range for graphs on the Application Quality, Application: Test coverage, and Application: Unit testing landing pages. Additionally, you can specify how many days the tests are considered current to be included on the Application Quality dashboard and in reports. By configuring how quality metrics are displayed, you can customize data presentation according to your needs, which can help improve the quality of your application.

For more information, see Application: Quality Settings landing page.

Optimized dynamic layout for sections with no container format or header

You can set dynamic layouts to use the new optimized layout mode. When optimized, the dynamic layouts that do not include a container format or a header no longer generate extra container and body DIVs. The depth of the Document Object Model (DOM) is reduced, which makes the layouts easier to maintain. Selecting this option also enables automatic updates for new markup with each release, so that you stay current with improvements to dynamic layout markup.

You can use an Upgrade tool to convert sections that use the legacy dynamic layouts to use the new optimized dynamic layout.

For more information, see Upgrading legacy dynamic layouts to use the optimized dynamic layout.

Improved management of batch indexing

You can now cancel and check the status of a batch index process directly from the Search landing page in Dev Studio. The landing page now refreshes automatically every 10 seconds so that you can easily see the most recent status of the batch index process. Additionally, the reindex operation is now 20% faster than in previous versions. These features provide greater visibility into batch indexing and improve your ability to fix issues with a batch indexing process.

For more information about batch indexing, see Rebuilding search indexes from the user interface.

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Enhanced application inventory to support features

Now the application inventory in App Studio also includes features that represent elements of your application to implement, such as language packs, along with personas and data objects. The inventory provides the option to add new features or reuse existing features from built-on applications. With the enhanced inventory, application development planning and tracking is faster and more intuitive because you can now easily check the features that your development team needs to implement. For greater clarity, the inventory supports different methods of grouping features, for example, by release or complexity.     

For more information, see Managing application inventory.

Enhanced mapping of personas and users in App Studio

App Studio now provides a consistent and transparent experience when mapping personas to users. When you invite users to your application, you can associate each user with a run-time persona or developer role by selecting an option from a clearly organized list. For example, you can associate run-time users with a customer service representative persona, and then invite a person to help develop your application and assig them a developer role. For greater clarity, personas now replace references to roles in App Studio.

For more information, see Inviting collaborators to your application.

Support for picklists with parameterized data pages in App Studio in Cosmos React UI

You can now use data pages with parameters to populate a property of the picklist type with filtered results in App Studio. For example, in a survey case type, you can use a parameterized data page to configure cascading drop-down controls in which the values in a secondary drop-down list are based on the value that the user selects in the primary drop-down list. With dynamically-sourced picklists, you get greater flexibility in configuring picklists, and users see more accurate values.

For more information, see link Dropdown control Properties — General tab.

Menu enhancements in the Facebook and WebChat user conversational channels

When you create a Facebook or WebChat channel interface to act as a Pega^® Intelligent Virtual Assistant, you can use a Facebook-like generic template to display a rich user interface menu. You must use a data transform for the custom response to display this menu. You can use and modify the pyPopulateOutboundData data transform for this purpose.

For more information, see Adding custom responses for the Facebook channel and Adding custom responses for the WebChat channel.