1. G What is a Work Group?

What is the primary function of a Work Group from a business

perspective?
Ans A work group is a logical collection of operators having a common supervisor ie. a work
group can identify a user who is a supervisor,
and a set of workers and workbaskets that report to that supervisor.
Use For the supervisor of a work group, quick access to the work lists and workbaskets
associated with the group (In the workbasket tab of workbasket data instances we enter the
name of a work group that uses the workbasket.
This field determines which workbaskets appear in the View Queue list on the My Group area
of the Process Work workspace for managers).
Also work groups facilitate for better monitoring and reporting of tasks on the Monitor Activity
workspace.

workbasket

2. 2. What are workbaskets? What is the relationship between a Work Group and Workbasket?
Ans Assignments for work objects may be associated either with individual users
(and appear on their work lists) or with a workbasket. All users who are
qualified to work on work objects from that work basket may remove an
assignment from the workbasket to process the assignment.
The contents of a workbasket is a set of assignments awaiting processing, ordered in
decreasing urgency, similar to the contents of a work list.
Few other important things to keep in mind about workbaskets are (If only the specific
question is asked then answer as below):
Assignments leave a workbasket in three ways:
1) Users who are qualified can remove an assignment from the workbasket to process the
assignment.
2) An application can automatically route assignments in a workbasket to users based on work
schedules, due dates, skills, workloads, and other factors.
3) Managers can transfer assignments from a workbasket to user work lists.
** During execution of a flow, a router task can choose which workbasket is most appropriate
to receive a newly created assignment.
** The relationship between work groups and workbaskets is one-to-many i.e. one work group
can be associated with multiple workbaskets.
(In the workbasket tab of workbasket data instances we enter the name of a work group that
uses the workbasket.
This field determines which workbaskets appear in the View Queue list on the My Group area
of the Process Work workspace for managers)

Accessgroup

3. What are the primary configurations that you do in an Access Group?
Ans The primary purpose of an access group is to make a set of Rule Set versions available
to requesters.
Also the access group associated with a user affects access control by determining:
1) The portal layout that a user sees first after logging in.
2) The local customization Rule Set name and Rule Set version. These usually are defaulted
when this user creates a new rule instance.
3) The application rule for this user.
4) Optionally, the access roles available to this user.
5) Work pools available to the user
Operator

4. How do you associate an operator with a workbasket?
Ans Each operator may have a list of workbaskets that they can view. Normally users can
fetch assignments directly from any workbasket defined for their own organizational unit.
However, if the roles are specified in the roles array on the workbasket tab of the workbasket
data instance, the operator must possess at least one access role that matches an access role
in the Roles array.

5. What is the difference between a Work pool and a Work Type? Can a work pool belong to
another work pool? Can a work type belong to a work pool?
Ans Different work types (classes derived from the Work- base class)
are grouped in to one class group and when this class group is added to a
user in his access group, the user can work on each work type of each class group added.
Class groups so added are called as Work pools. A work pool cannot belong to another work
pool.
Multiple work types can belong to a work pool
** Class Group A class group instance causes the system to store the instances
corresponding to two or more,
concrete classes that share a common key format in a single database table. The name of the
class group is
a prefix of the names of the member classes. Class groups and work pools are basically the
same
thing and class groups added to a access group are called work pools.

6. What do you mean by Case Management in Pega? (Concept of Folders, Covers, Work
objects) When do you use folders?
Ans Case Management involves managing work that, for processing and reporting purposes,
differs from classic BPM(business process management) work objects. Cases may involve:
1) less rigid structure
2) more flexibility in the order of tasks or which tasks are needed
3) interrelationships with other work
Process Commander facilities supporting sophisticated case management include covers,
folders, and case type rules.
Case Management design is governed by the Case Type Definitions gadget, which is used to
configure the following case type and work processing configurations.
Using the gadget, you can:
1) Construct covering relationships and build new case types using a standard tree gadget.
2) Add entirely new case types: Creates Class and Case Type rules, provides standard starting
flows for the new case type.
3) Reuse existing case and work types.
Manage various aspects of work processing, including:
1) Service levels
2) Attachments Categories (and automatic attachments when work objects are created).
3) Automatic and conditional instantiation of covered items when a new cover (case) is
created.
4) Mapping roles to object access for your various case and work types.
7. From an activity how do you call a decision table?
Ans In an activity, you can call a decision table using the Property-Map-Decision Table
method.
8. Migration of patches from one environment to another?
Ans For Migration of rules from one environment to another we create a ZIP file containing
rules from one or more Rule Sets.
For this we use a product rule (Rule-Admin-Product rule type) or
a product patch rule (Rule-Admin-Product-Patch rule type) and then import the zip
file into the target environment.
Also we can use the export gadget to create the zip file for rule sets.
** The data instances (such as access groups, operator ids etc.) can be included in the
product or patch rules.
9. What are SLAs used for? How do you configure an SLA?
Ans SLAs are rules in PRPC that indicate the expected or targeted turnaround time for the
assignment,
or time-to-resolve for the work object. Each service level rule defines one to three time
intervals,
known as goals, deadlines, and late intervals. Late intervals are repeated.
Service level rules can be associated with assignments in a flow and with the entire flow.
For example, we can set a goal of 2 hours to process an assignment and a deadline of 4 hours.
(The time interval starts when the assignment is created, not when a user begins processing
the assignment.)
1)For assignments, the service level rule is referenced in the Assignment Properties panel of
the assignment task.
2)For the overall work object, the service level rule is identified in the standard property
.pySLAName,
typically set up through a model for the class. (The default value is the Default service level.)
** The Pega- ProCom agent detects service levels not achieved unmet goals or deadlines
promptly.
If an assignment is not completed before the time limit, the system can automatically notify
one or
more parties, escalate the assignment, cancel the entire flow, and so on.
10. What do you mean by exposing a property? Did you use any SQL tools or does Pega provide
some means to expose columns?
Ans- A Single Value property that is visible as a column in a database table is said to be
exposed.
Only exposed properties can be used for the record selection operations in list view and
summary view rules.
In Pega we can use the Modify Database Schema wizard to expose properties.
Also the database administrator can cause a property previously stored only
inside the Storage Stream column to become a separate exposed column using SQL tools such
as TOAD.
** Aggregate properties, properties within an embedded page, and properties that are
not exposed are contained in a specially formatted Storage Stream or BLOB column.
Most Pega RULES database tables contain a Storage Stream column named pzPVStream.
** Exposing too many properties in a table may speed reporting and searching operations,
but make insert and update operations slower. The tradeoff and relative impact depends on
hardware and software and no general guidelines exist.
11. What is the concept of database table mapping? Why do we do that?
Do you do any additional table to class mapping (apart from the existing mappings) during
development?
Ans In database table mapping a database table instance associates a class with a relational
database table or view,
in the Pega Rules database or an external database.
This is done to map a class to a database table and thus store the instances of the class in the
table.
Yes we have done additional table to class mappings for several application specific classes
during development.
12. Can you call one section from another section?
Ans Yes it is possible to call one section from another.
A section rule can appear within another section, panels and containers within a harness rule,
or within a layout cell.
13. Which harness would you use to present the work object to the users only for viewing?
Ans Review harness. Review harness is used to display the work objects in display-only
mode, with no fields changeable.
14. What are Work Parties? How do you send correspondence to work parties?
Ans work party is a person, organization, or other actor identified in a work object, who can
be the recipient of email or other forms of correspondence.
A work object may identify no work parties, one, or many work parties.
The work party role associated with each work party identifies why a party is present, and
may determine which properties are defined for that party.
A Notify activity, when referenced in a flow, sends out correspondence, such as an email
message, when a flow execution creates an assignment. Typically, the system addresses
correspondence to a work party identified in the work object and reports progress to that
party.
15. In the flow, what is the difference between local and connector flow action?
Ans- Flow actions specify the choices that user have when performing an assigned
work object. Flow actions are mainly of two types i.e., connector actions and local actions.
Connector flow actions advance the flow. They are associated with the connector
that exists at the assignment, so selecting them causes the flow to advance
along with the path.
Local actions allow the user to update the work item, but dont advance the
flow. After the assignment is committed, the flow remains at the same
assignment from which the local action was performed.
16. Have you integrated any external systems with Pega? How do you make a SOAP call? Briefly
mention the steps to connect to an external system using SOAP.
Ans- To make a SOAP call from PRPC we import the wsdl(web service defination language )
from the external
web service and create SOAP connector rules in PRPC to invoke the external web service.
We use the Connector and Metadata Accelerator to generate the connector rules.
The Connector and Metadata Accelerator imports information about an external application or
system and generates rules and data objects that the PRPC applications can use
to communicate with that external system.
Before you use the Connector and Metadata Accelerator to generate connector rules, follow
these steps:
1. Identify the Rule Set and version to contain the generated rules classes, properties,
connector rules, activities, and so on.
2. Identify or create the following class rules to use for the generated rules.
1) An abstract class rule typically one that inherits from the Data- base class
for the accelerator to use as the container or base for the generated items with the exception
of the connector activities.
(If you do not create this class before you begin, the accelerator can create one for you.)
2) A concrete class rule for the connector activities. If you plan to call the connector from a
flow, choose a class that inherits from the Work- base class,
so that the connector activities can be called directly from an Integrator task.
Next , start the Connector and Metadata Accelerator and provide the URL to the WSDL
document of the Web service that you want to connect to.
Complete all the steps on the wizard to generate the connector rules and data mapping rules.
17. Which rules does the Connector Accelerator create while building a connect soap interface?
Ans When your Process Commander application uses a SOAP connector to interact with a
Web service,
you set it up by using the Connector Accelerator. The Connector Accelerator imports the WSDL
of the Web service and generates rules as follows:
1) Class and property rules that represent the data model of the external system
2) One connector rule for each operation that you selected
3) One connector activity for each connector rule
18. What are Connect HTTP rules used for and how are they different from connect SOAP rules?
Ans PRPC 5.2 introduces two new integration rule types:
1) Rule-Connect-HTTP
2) Rule-Service-HTTP
These rules are used when you want your PRPC application to send XML or string data (regular
text)
as messages to an external system without having to comply with standards messaging
protocols such as SOAP.
The rules currently work very similar to the SOAP rules but, do not create or consume WSDLs,
nor can they be generated using the integration wizard. Use these rules instead of custom
Java code for making HTTP requests to external systems.
Purpose -
The HTTP integration interface supports interactions between your
Process Commander applications and other systems through Hyper Text Transport Protocol.
Use HTTP connector rules when you want your Process Commander application to send
XML or string data (text) as messages to an external system without the need to comply with
messaging standards or protocols like SOAP.
19. How can we achieve reusability in Pega?
Typically what kind of rules go in at the enterprise level and what rules would you create at
the implementation level?
Ans We can achieve reusability in Pega by creating rules which are to be used by different
applications within an organization at an enterprise level.
Typically rules that are generic and are to be used by multiple applications such as connectors
and services go in at the enterprise level and rules which are specific to an application such as
flows and activities go in at the application level.
20. What are screen flows and screen tabbed flows
Ans- Many computer input procedures are most effectively handled by presenting a user with
a series of simple forms that each require only one or a few questions to be answered. After
submitting a form, a user receives with another simple form (with more questions) that may
depend on previous answers. At any point, users can backtrack to review, or change, previous
answers.Process Commander can support such interactions with screen flows, a flow rule with
specific settings.
Three run time presentations are available to allow users to navigate within a
screen flow execution at run time:
1) Completed tasks (that are designated as entry points) appear as blue rectangles in a
breadcrumbs control. A user selects a rectangle to return to that task.
2) Tabs for both completed and future tasks (that are marked as entry points) appear at the
top of the action area. Completed tasks contain with a check mark.
3) No breadcrumbs control or tabs appear. A user can return to a completed task that is
marked as an entry point when the <Back> button appears.
21. Different types of harnesses available in PRPC.
Ans- Some of the standard harnesses in PRPC are :
1) New Support initial entry (creation) of the object.
2) Perform Support users completion of assignments.
3) Review Display the work objects in display-only mode, with no fields changeable.
4)Confirm Accept a text note explaining a users reasoning about a recently completed
assignment.
5)Reopen Support reopening a previously resolved work object.
6) Print Review Support printing of all the fields
22. Can you use an unexposed column in criteria of a report?
Ans No. However, if the application needs a column corresponding to an embedded property
values,
the values can be copied to the top level or exposed indirectly through instances of an Index-
class and then used as a criteria of a report.
23. Can you call an integrator from screen flows?
Ans No an integrator shape is not allowed in a screen flow.
24. What are Agents and how to configure them?
Ans An agent is an internal background process operating on the server that runs activities
on a periodic basis.Agents route work according to the rules in your application; they also
perform system tasks such as sending email notifications about assignments and outgoing
correspondence, generating updated indexes for the full-text search feature, synchronizing
caches across nodes in a multiple node system, and so on.Agents are defined by Agents rules
(Rule-Agent-Queue rule type). Agents are enabled and are scheduled through Agent Queue
data instances (Data-Agent-Queue class).The pattern (periodic/recurring) and interval
(amount of time, in seconds,that the agent waits before restarting) for the Agent rule is
configured in the Agent Queue data instances.
25. How to open a work object in an activity?
Ans Use the Obj-Open method or the Obj-Open-By_Handle (if the exact handle or unique
key is known) in an activity to open a work object.
26. How to call a flow from a flow?
Ans- Using sub flows or parallel flow shapes such as Split-for-each.

27. Difference between Page list and Page group?
Ans -
1) Page List mode property is a data structure consisting of an ordered list of zero or more
pages, each identified by an integer index (starting with 1).
2) A Page Group is a data structure consisting of an unordered set of pages, each identified by
a string subscript value.
For example, a Page Group property can contain an array of 50 pages, one for each state in
the United States,
indexed by state code. The reference: State(VA).Population can identify a numeric property
for the state of Virginia.
In contrast, a Page List data structure uses numeric indexes (subscripts) 1, 2, 3 to identify an
ordered list of pages.
28. What are the different decision rules in PRPC?
Ans Commonly used decision rules in PRPC
1) When conditions (Rule-Obj-When rule type)
2) Decision Tree rules (Rule-Declare-Decision Tree rule type)
3) Decision Table rules (Rule-Declare-Decision Table rule type)
4) Map value rules (Rule-Obj-Map Value rule type)
29. How would you delegate a rule to a specific group of users?
Ans By adding this rule to System-User-My Rules through the Favorites and specifying the
access group and
by making sure security and portal configuration for this group of user is appropriate.
30. What is the use of a split for each shape?
Ans Split for Each shape is used to send a work object through another
flow based on information in the pages of a Page List or Page Group property.
31. Which rule can we use to fire an activity automatically when the value of a specified
property/properties change.
Ans- Rule-Declare-On change
32. What design considerations should be done while using Commit method in an activity.
Ans
1)We should use the Commit method judiciously. Flow processing performs commits
automatically when the flow ends and when an assignment is created or completed. To avoid
interference with this approach, do not use Commit in the flow-related activities in your
application.
2) When you include the Commit method in an activity, design the processing so that the
Commit method occurs only after errors are intercepted, checked, and corrected. If a Commit
method fails, it is unlikely that processing can continue in any reasonable way, so it is
important to include a transition in the Commit step that checks the status.
3) Even when processing can continue after Commit failure, design your activity
(after debugging and fixing the cause of the failure) to collect any required user input that
corrects the problems,
and re-perform any Obj-Save methods that preceded the Commit call.
33. what are the list of Guardrails and explain them
1. Adopt an Iterative Approach
2. Establish a Robust Foundation
3. Do Nothing That Is Hard
4. Limit Custom Java
5. Build For Change
6. Design Intent-Driven Processes
7. Create Easy-To-Read Flows
8. Monitor Performance Regularly
9. Calculate and Edit Declaratively , Not Procedurally
10. Keep Security Object-Oriented Too
Key Points
(a) Perform PAL testing 8
(b) Use standard PRPC rules, objects and properties 3,4
(c) Use no more than 15 Smart Shapes 7
(d) Control access to the application using privileges and roles 10
(e) Create the class structure early in the design process 2
(f) Use flow actions to guide users through the application 6
(g) Document five use cases upfront 1
(h) Use Auto Generated HTML 3
(i) Create a declared expression instead of using Property-Set 9
34. difference b/w summery view and list view
Summary view has drill down(used for group by option) and chart tabs.
List view has selectable tab(used for embedded list view display. Left blank if list view is not
marked as embedded).
35. HOW TO MODIFY A DB SCHEMA TO EXPOSE A PROPERTY:
To display the current schema:
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 appears.
6. There is a Properties Set to Be Visible value that counts the properties for which the Column
Inclusion value is Required or Recommended.
To expose a top-level Single Value property as a column
1. Get the List of classes as mentioned above.
2. Locate the class that contains the property to be exposed.
3. Click the number in the Set to be visible row
4. The resulting detail window displays the properties already exposed as columns in gray
text at the bottom of the display. Properties that are candidates to be exposed are shown at
the top of the display in black text.
5. Check the box for each property to become exposed as a column To expose
embedded properties Copy approach Copy the value to a new top-level property each time
the embedded property changes (or each time the instance containing the property is saved).
1. Create a new top-level Single Value property to hold a copy of this value.
2. Create a one-step activity to copy the value to the new top-level property, with Activity
Type set to Trigger.
3. Create a Declare Trigger rule that calls the activity each time the work object is saved
4. Expose the top-level property.
5. Reference the top-level property in the list view rule.
Declare Index approach If not one but many or all values of a Value List or Value Group
are needed as exposed columns,
a Declare Index rule is a better approach.
A Storage Stream is a column in a Pega RULES database table that contains property data in a
compressed format.
Most tables in the database contain a Storage Stream column, identified as the pzPVStream
column.
36. what are the different debugging tools
Rules Inspector tool Identifies the harness, section, HTML rules and properties that together
make up a form.
Preflight- A rule in your application may work correctly and save without errors, but still be
marked with a warning ().
The Application Preflight tool summarizes these warnings.
Clipboard tool Shows the current property values in internal format.
37. what are the New Features in Pega 6.1
1)Spaces given in Property name or class names are automatically removed as no spaces are
allowed as per naming convention.
2) In front of the name of the Flow, RUN button is available to straight away run the process.
3) By default, an SLA is associated with an assignment in 6.1. It may be removed if not
needed.
4) Drag a decision Rule into the editor, and then the shape is automatically created. In earlier
versions, we have to create a shape and then associate a decision rule with it.
5) In 6.1, when we create a flow action, it expects an already created section.
But earlier versions, when a F.A is created, then and there, we can create a section also along
with F.A.
6) Changes made to a section would reflect in the Flow Action. Also,
changes made to a F.A would reflect back in that Section. This happens in 6.1
7) Grid, Tree and Tree Grid Layouts are new in 6.1. These are repeating layouts.
8) When you reuse a section, changes made to the reused section will reflect in the original
section also.
This is a new feature in 6.1
9) In Work Party screen, while adding Roles, in 5.5 there was a drop down for Roles. In 6.1,
there is no drop down.
We have to manually enter whatever roles we want.
10) Report Definition is a new type of Report in 6.1.This can contain List view and summary
view reports.

38. what is PAL.explain about it?
Ans)PAL(Performance Analysis of Logs): PAL is a tool which should be used to gain insight into
where the system is spending resources;
use PAL to determine if there are resource issues impacting performance, or may begin to do so
when more load is added to the system.
PAL readings highlight processes which fall outside of the norm.
//
1. Take Baseline Reading
Once the first run-through of the scenario has been completed, open PAL to create the first
reading.
This will give a baseline from which the actions in the scenario may be measured.
2. Start Process to be Measured Begin the process being measured by initiating the first action.
After the first step in the process:
a. Take a PAL reading (click the Add Reading link to add the DELTA)
b. Capture a screenshot of the first screen (make sure to include the entire browser window ) and
put it into a document.
3) At every step, follow the procedure:
a. complete the step
b. take a PAL reading
c. take a screenshot Important: The reading must be taken after the step has fully completed, and
all the screens are fully generated.
4. Save the data After all the readings have been made (and all the screen shots taken), click
Save Data.
The Save Data link will create a .csv file. Name the file with a meaningful name and save the file.
This file may be viewed in Excel: // Goto Run>>Performance Start the flow and click on start
profiler.
After the flow is executed, click on stop profiler. A pop up window will appear:
Open the excel document and we can see the time taken by different activities to get executed.
(Usually no activity should take more than 5 secs).
(Total Wall time: time taken by the main activity, Wall time without children: time taken by the
main activity excluding the time taken by the internal activity. )
Profiler also shows all of the When rules called, both inlined and rule-resolved.
The Tracer does not show inlined when rule executions. Use the Profiler in conjunction with the
Performance Analyzer (PAL).
The PAL tool can help you locate areas to where performance can be improved (example: if one
interaction requires 3,900 activity calls).
Then for further information on activity steps, run the Profiler to get full details. DB Trace: It is
used for performance improvement.
If work items are taking long time to get processed then we can use DB Trace to figure out where
exactly is the time being spent.
It traces the time interval of the data entering or leaving the data table.
Unlike the Trace facility, it is not possible with DB Trace to do real-time viewing of the operations
data.
Instead, DB Trace gathers the data into a text output file which contains all the low-level database
operations that Process Commander performs.
39. What is Declarative Processing
Declarative processing simplifies your application and reduces the number of activities you
must create
Dynamic evaluation of properties based on the changes in dependent properties
Checking the state of a property (constraint) automatically based on the changes in
dependent properties
Running a specified Activity automatically when the value of a property changes either during
processing or upon database commit
40. What is the Diff b/w Blocked and Withdrawn Rules
Ans) A blocked rule and a withdrawn rule are both invisible to rule resolution. Similarly, both
blocked rules and withdrawn rules prevent lower-version rules with the same RuleSet and
visible key from being selected by rule resolution. However, a blocked rule may block other
rules in any RuleSet, and a blocked rule stops rule resolution from finding rules in higher
Applies To classes. A withdrawn rule affects other rules only in one RuleSet and one Applies
Top class.
When you skim a RuleSet version that contains a blocked rule, the resulting RuleSet
version does not contain the blocked rule or any rules that the blocked rule blocks.
When you skim a RuleSet version that contains a withdrawn rule, the resulting
RuleSet version contains the withdrawn rule.
41. Agent: is an internal background process on the server that runs activities on
a periodic basis.Agents send email notifications about assignments, route work as per rules in
our application, outgoing correspondence, synchronize cache etc
Agents are autonomous and asynchronous that activities they call run individually on their own
schedules. Agents are defined by agent rule Rule-Agent-Queue rule type.
Legacy is a queue mode in Setting tab Legacy agent is an agent which does not use queue
but processes each item to completion in a single pass.
PRPC standard agents are Pega-ProCom, Pega-IntSvcs, Pega-RULES.
42. difference b/w summery view and list view
Summary view has drill down(used for group by option) and chart tabs.
List view has selectable tab(used for embedded list view display. Left blank if list view is not
marked as embedded).