Pega Systems Interview Questions & Answers

Question 1. What Is The Difference Between Listview And Summaryview ?

Answer :

• A summary view rule defines a two-level report display, presenting summary counts, totals or averages to be displayed initially, and allowing users to click a row to drill down to supporting detail for that row.
• Summary view rules support interactive charts, trend reports, and the use of AJAX for pop-up Smart Info windows.
• A summary view rule is an instance of the Rule-Obj-SummaryView rule type. This rule type is part of the Reports category.
• A list view rule, an instance of the Rule-Obj-ListView rule type, defines a report. Users can personalize list view reports easily and interact with them.
• Use the Report wizard to define list view reports and link them to our portal.

Question 2. How To Call A List View From An Activity?

Answer :

In an activity, the Obj-List-View can execute a list view rule.

Question 3. What Is Paging In A Listview?

Answer :

To divide the ListView in to different pages and set the number of records to be displayed in a page.

Question 4. What Is Exposing A Property?

Answer :

Exposing a property means to make a property as a separate independent column so that it can be used in sql queries and as a criteria in reporting.

Question 5. How To Expose A Single Value Property?

Answer :

Process Commander stores the values of all aggregate properties and some Single Value properties in a BLOB column (the Storage Stream) usually in a compressed form. Such properties cannot support selection in list view and summary view reports, and can slow retrieval and processing in other operations

1. Select Tools > Database > Modify Database Schema.
2. A list of databases identified in Database data instances appears. Select a database and click Next .
3. A list of tables in the selected database appears from Database Table instances. Select a table.
4. Click Explore Columns .
5. The resulting List of Classes window displays the number of rows in the table, the number of columns in the table and a list of the classes assigned to that table. The Properties Set to Be Visible value counts the properties for which the Column Inclusion value is Required or Recommended. This Column Inclusion value is advisory, and does not indicate whether the property is exposed — corresponds to a column. The Count column shows the total count of properties in this class plus those its parent classes.
6. To see the columns currently defined in this table, click the numeric link labeled Number of columns in this table.
7. The List of Database Columns window shows the column name, column data type, and column width in bytes for each column in the table.

Question 6. How To Expose Aggregate Property?

Answer :

Declare Index rule is a better approach.

1. Create a concrete class derived from the Index- base class.
2. Create Single Value properties in the new class to hold values of the embedded values.
3. Create a Declare Index rule with the appropriate embedded Page Context value that copies the embedded values into a new Index- instance.
4. Save the Declare Index rule. It executes immediately, adding and deleting instances of the new class.
5. Expose database columns corresponding to the Index- class.
6. Reference the Index- properties in the list view rule.

Question 7. Can We Refer The Property Without Exposing In Reports?

Answer :

We can refer the properties in Display tab without exposing. But we cannot refer the property without exposing in Criteria fields of the Content tab.

Question 8. What Is The Activity Responsible For Getting The Data In List View?

Answer :

getContent Activity

Question 9. What The Class Of Getcontent Activity?

Answer :

Embed-ListParams class.

Question 10. How To Customize The Getcontent Activity?

Answer :

Step1: Create Activity in Our Class and create the New page
Step2: write a query and store in variable.
Step3: call the listview as Call Rule-Obj-ListView
Step4: Write the another activity in Embed-ListParams
Step5: create the parameter. This parameter get the sql query from previous activity
Step6: write Java method The java code in this method is Get the page from pyContentPage if page already exists. If page is not available it creates the new ContentPage.
In this code get the sql query from the above parameter and pass this query and above created ContentPage as parameters to this tools.getDatabase().executeRDB(query, pagename) method.

Question 11. How Do We Get The Data From The Two Different Tables?

Answer :

Using Join tab in Reports

Question 12. How Do We Fetch The Data From Two Different Tables With Out Using Two Different Tables?

Answer :

Write a database View. In this view logically combine the Two different tables.
Create class for this logically combined Table.
Write the List View. Applies to class is class of the Combined table. So we can refer the properties of both the tables in list view.

Question 13. What Is The Use Of Html Property In Listview?

Answer :

HTML Property rules appear in list view and summary view rules to define the appearance of values in reports.

Question 14. Consider This Scenario: I Need To Generate A List View Report Of All The Work Objects Created On A Particular Date And Then I Need To Include This List View In A Section. How This Can Be Done?

Answer :

Select .pxCreateDateTime ( an exposed property ) under criteria and give the value you are looking for.
To include it in a section, check the embedded check box and customize the HTML of the section. In that we need to access the list view in a JSP tag or In section Property is DisplayAs ListView.

Question 15. What Is The Difference Between List View And Obj-list?

Answer :

List view is generally used for complex queries where sorting is required and also we can retrieve less information using Paging.

Question 16. Explain In Brief The Configuration Of A List View?

Answer :

List view (an instance of Rule-Obj-ListView ) is used to define a custom report or personal version of a report.

A list view can be configured as follows:

• Applies to class of list view will be taken as the database table map for the search criteria.
• Display fields tab is used to depict the fields that are displayed along with category and to enable/disable
• sorting
• Content tab is used to depict the criteria, fields to be retrieved, key of each row (if selected) and Report
• source (Page name where the values should be saved and the activity to be called)
• In organize tab we specify to enable/disable paging, page size, mode, alignment etc.
• We can also configure additional buttons and their fragments here.
• Format tab is used to depict the formatting of the list (like even/odd coloring) and details on single click etc.

List view can be accessed from an activity or html as follows:

• A list view can be used for complex retrievals from database by not specifying the display, format and Organize tabl.
• PyAction in that case would perform instead of refresh.

Question 17. Explain In Brief About The Configuration Of A Summary View?

Answer :

Summary views are used to create reports which are grouped by certain criteria and can be later drilled down.

A Summary view can be configured as follows:

• Applies to class of summary view will be taken as the database table map for the search criteria
• Category is used to know under which tab the report should come.
• Criteria is used in the where class (this can be asked to user by enabling prompt user)
• Group by and field functions (like count) are used for initial display. If we have more than one group by
• it is Displayed one after another on clicking +
• Drill down fields are used to display the fields when we click on the assignment.
• Format is used to tell how to format the display and charts can also be used.
• Summary view can be accessed from an activity or html as follows:
• Call Rule-Obj-ListView.ShowView activity with classname and summary view name as parameters

Question 18. What Are The Methods We Have Used For Validations?

Answer :

a. Obj-Validate–we can referred this method in Activities and in flow actions at Validate Rule field.

b. Edit-Validate—- we can refer this in property form at edit-validate field and in activities through property-validate method.

Note: I think Obj-Validate is used for Server Side Validation and Edit-Validate is used for Client Side Validation.

Question 19. How Do You Add Custom Message To The Property When It Fails The Validation.?

Answer :

For this we have to use theProperty.addMessage(“your message”) tag.

Question 20. Message Is Set To The Property And The Checked In The Clipboard Also , The Messages Got Set Successfully. But The Message Is Not Displayed Beside The Field In The Screen. Why?

Answer :

If the property has a html property, the tag <pega:include name =”Messages”/> tag must be include.

Question 21. Explain The Operation Of Activity-end Method?

Answer :

Use the Activity-End method to cause the system to End the current activity and all calling activities.

Ex:if Alpha calls Beta, which calls Gamma, which calls Delta, which performs the Activity-End method, all four activities are ended.

Question 22. Explain About Exit-activity Method?

Answer :

The Exit-Activity method ends the current activity and returns control to the calling activity.

Question 23. Explain About Page-copy Method?

Answer :

Page-Copy method is used to copy the contents of a source clipboard page to a new or previously created destination clipboard page. The source page is not altered.

After this method completes, the destination page contains properties copied from the source page, and can contain additional properties from a model.

Question 24. Explain About Page-new Method?

Answer :

The Page-New method is used to create a page on the clipboard. The new page may be a top-level page or an embedded page.
We can identify a model to initialize the newly created page. The model can set values for one or more properties.

Question 25. Explain About Page-remove Method?

Answer :

Page-Remove method is used to delete one or more pages from the clipboard. The contents of the database are not affected.

Question 26. Explain About Page-set-messages Method?

Answer :

Use the Page-Set-Messages method to add a message to a clipboard page. Like a message associated with a property, a message associated with a page normally prevents the page from being saved into the database.

Question 27. Explain About Property-set-message?

Answer :

Property-Set-Message method is used to associate a text message with a property or a step page. The system reads the appropriate property and adds the message to the page. We can provide the entire literal text of the message, or reference a message rule key that in turn contains message text. (Rule-Message rule type).

Question 28. Explain About Property-map-decision Table Method?

Answer :

Use the Property-Map-DecisionTable method to evaluate a decision table rule and save the result as the value of a property.

Question 29. Explain About Property-map-decisiontree Method?

Answer :

The Property-Map-DecisionTree method is used to evaluate a decision tree rule (Rule-Declare-DecisionTree rule type) and store the result as the value of a property.

Question 30. Explain About Property-map-value?

Answer :

The Property-Map-Value method evaluates a one-dimensional map value (Rule-Obj-MapValue rule type) defined in the parameter. The method sets the result as a value for a Single Value property.

The related method Property-Map-ValuePair works similarly for two-dimensional map values.

Question 31. Explain About Property-remove Method?

Answer :

Property-Remove method is used to delete a property or properties and its associated value from the step page or another specified page. This does not affect the property rule, its definition.

Question 32. Explain About Property-set Method?

Answer :

Property-Set method is used to set the value of one or more specified properties.

Question 33. Explain About Show-html Method?

Answer :

The Show-HTML method is used to cause the activity to process an HTML rule and send the resulting HTML to a user for display by Internet Explorer. This may involve the interpretation of JSP tags (or the older directives), which can access the clipboard to obtain property values, or can insert other HTML rules, and so on.

Question 34. Explain About Show-page Method?

Answer :

The Show-Page method is used to send an XML representation of the step page to a user’s Internet Explorer browser session, as an aid to debugging.
Note: Use Show-Page and Show-Property only for debugging.

Question 35. What Is The Difference Between Call And Branch?

Answer :

• The Call instruction calls the another specified activity and execute it. When that activity completes, control returns to the calling activity.
• Use the Branch instruction to find another specified activity and branch to it without a return.
• When the system executes a Branch step, control transfers to another activity found through rule resolution. Execution of the original activity pauses.
• When the branched activity ends, processing of the current activity also ends.
• No steps after the Branch step are executed.

Question 36. Explain About Obj-list Method?

Answer :

• Obj-List method is used to retrieve data to the clipboard as an array of embedded pages.
• This method creates one embedded page for each instance retrieved.
• The Obj-List-View method often produce more efficient SQL statements and provide better performance than the Obj-List method.

Question 37. Explain About Obj-browse Method?

Answer :

Obj-Browse method is used to search instances of one class and copy the entire instances, or specified properties, to the clipboard as an array of embedded pages.

Only properties exposed as columns can be used as selection criteria. However, values of properties that are not exposed as columns, including embedded properties, can be returned.

Question 38. Explain About Obj-list-view Method?

Answer :

Obj-List-View method is used to execute the retrieval and sorting operations, but not the formatting and display processing, of a list view rule.

The system uses rule resolution to find the list view rule and executes it, but does not produce any HTML output display.

Question 39. Explain About Obj-open Method?

Answer :

Obj-Open method is used to open an instance stored in the PegaRULES database or in an external database linked to an external class, and save it as a clipboard page.

The system uses the specified class and key fields to find and open the object and place its data into the specified step page. The system searches up the class hierarchy as appropriate to find the instance. If it finds the specified step page, the system clears any data that is on it and reuses the page. If no existing page has a name matching the specified step page, the system creates a new page.

Question 40. Explain About Obj-open-by-handle Method?

Answer :

Use the Obj-Open-By-Handle method only if we can determine the unique handle that permanently identifies which instance to open. Otherwise, use the Obj-Open method.

Question 41. Explain About Obj-delete Method?

Answer :

Obj-Delete method is used to delete a database instance corresponding to a clipboard page and optionally to delete the clipboard page too. We can cause the deletion to occur immediately, or until execution of a Commit method.

This method can operate on objects of both internal classes (corresponding to rows in a table in the PegaRULES database) and external classes (corresponding to rows in an external relational database).

The Obj-Delete method uses the class of the page to obtain the appropriate Rule-Obj-Class instance. It uses the table name, key fields, and other aspects of the class rule to mark the instance for deletion.

We can reverse or cancel a previously executed Obj-Delete method by using the Obj-Save-Cancel method.

Question 42. Explain About Commit Method?

Answer :

Commit method is used to commit all uncommitted database changes. This method writes all the instances specified by one or more earlier Obj-Save methods to the PegaRULES database (for internal classes) and to external databases (for external classes).

Question 43. Explain About Obj-validate Method?

Answer :

Obj-Validate method is used to apply a validate rule (Rule-Obj-Validate rule type) for the object identified on the primary page or step page.

A validate rule (Rule-Obj-Validate rule type) can call edit validate rules (Rule-Edit-Validate rule type).

Question 44. Explain About Rdb-save Method?

Answer :

RDB-Save method is used to save the contents of a clipboard page into a row of a relational database. The system saves the properties on the specified step page to the specified table in the database.

This method operates in conjunction with a Connect SQL rule that contains SQL statements such as INSERT, UPDATE, and CREATE statements on the Save tab.

Question 45. Do We Need To Create Agent Schedule?

Answer :

No. Agent schedules cannot be created manually.

The Agent Manager on our Process Commander system generate at least one agent schedule instance for each agents rule.

By default, the Agent Manager checks for new or updated agents rule once every ten minutes.

After we create an agents rule, the Agent Manager generates one Agent Schedule instance for each node running on your Process Commander system the next time it checks for new agents rules.

Question 46. How Do We Do Escalation?

Answer :

Escalation refers to any processing within a Process Commander application that causes high-priority work objects to become visible to users and managers and to be processed sooner rather than later.

The numeric property known as urgency determines the order that assignments for that work object appear on worklists. Escalation recalculates the urgency value to reflect its age, impending due date, or explicit management inputs.

Escalation can occur through a service level rule associated with the flow and through background processing by the Pega-ProCom agent.

Question 47. What Are Sla’s, How Are They Different From Agents?

Answer :

• A service level rule is an instance of the Rule-Obj-ServiceLevel type. The service level can define a goal and a deadline times for processing an assignment, and can execute activities if the goal or the deadline is not met. This assignment-level service level is distinct from any service level associated with the entire flow.
• At runtime, an internal countdown clock (measuring the completion of the assignment against the goal and deadline times computed from the service level rule) starts when the assignment task is created.
• An agent is a background internal requestor operating on the server. These requestors can periodically monitor conditions and perform processing as necessary.
• Most agents are defined by an Agent Queue rule (Rule-Agent-Queue), which includes a list of the activities they perform.

Question 48. Explain About Pre Activity?

Answer :

At runtime, the system runs this activity before it does other processing for this flow action. This activity is not visible on the Visio flow diagram. This activity executes only once, the first time a user selects this flow action for this assignment.

Question 49. Explain About Post Activity?

Answer :

Activity to run after other successful processing of this flow action.

For screen flow rules By default, when this flow action appears as a step in a screen flow rule, and the user at runtime clicks away to a different step in the screen flow rule, this activity rule does not run. To cause this activity to execute when the user clicks away to a different step, select the Post Action on Click Away? check box on the Assignment shape properties panel.

Question 50. Explain About Local Flow Action?

Answer :

A local flow action permits users at runtime to update, but not complete, an assignment. Like connector flow actions, local flow actions are referenced inside an assignment task in a flow.

At runtime, users can select local flow actions to update assignment or work object properties, change the assignee, and so on but do not complete the assignment. If a service level rule is associated with the assignment, the service level continues to run.

Local flow actions always are optional. Users may perform none, one, or multiple local flow actions, or repeat a local flow action multiple times.

On the Action tab of the Flow Action form, we can mark a flow action rule as local, or connector, or both.