Property form
Completing the General tab — Page modes

Field

Description

Identify a class for the value of the page property, or enter one of the keywords described here. In most cases, select a concrete class.

When you later configure an activity that uses this property, the activity cannot specify a different class for this property. The concrete class for the embedded page cannot differ from the class recorded here.

You can also enter an abstract class, or one of two keywords:

• For more flexibility in activities that use this property, enter an abstract class or the keyword $CLASS. If you enter an abstract class, the activity at runtime must specify a concrete class derived from that abstract class. If you enter $CLASS, the activity must specify a concrete class (but it can be any concrete class). For example, the Code-Pega-List.pxResults property uses $CLASS.
• Enter $ANY to make the class of the page (or Page Group or Page List) assignable at runtime. See How to change the class of a page.

Select this value carefully. You cannot change this value after you save the property rule.

Select to make this property a reference property, a property that can link to a source property. Reference properties can reduce the need for duplicating data values on multiple pages or objects, and can simplify lengthy property references. Use the Property-Ref method in an activity to establish the contents of a reference property.

The system tests whether a Page mode property is valid by checking whether any of the properties it contains have values that are incompatible with their definitions — the Rule-Obj-Property rules. A page is not valid if any property messages or page messages appear, and the page (or higher-level pages containing the page) cannot be saved to the database.

Generally, accept the default of a checked box. The system then validates this property (one or more embedded pages) each time it validates the higher-up page that contains this property.

If you clear this box, each embedded page is validated independently. For example, the pxResults property (in the Code-Pega-List class) treats every embedded page independently.

Select this value carefully. You cannot change this check box after you save the form.

A Java Page is a clipboard page with a class derived from the Embed-Java- base class. Select Java Page to enable the Serialize this Object field, described next.

For information about Java pages, see Working with Java Objects, a document on the Integration area of the Pega Developer Network.

This field appears only after you select the Java Page box. Select to indicate that the source Java class represented by the Process Commander class specified in the Page Class field implements the Serializable interface and you want to be able to save the data from the page property with other clipboard data.

This field appears only for Page List properties.

Select to make the values of this property, when stored in the PegaRULES database, conform to a lightweight SQL table. This choice can reduce storage overhead and improve response. However, you cannot use a lightweight Page List property as a target (destination) in a model rule, Property-Set operation, or similar situations. Code in Java steps must be handcrafted.

Select to mark this property as special, a property for which the value cannot be set by direct user input.

Optional. To force processing to occur when the value of any property on the page changes through user inputs, identify an activity here. (This processing is not related to activities started by Declare OnChange rules.) The system uses the Page Class you entered above as the first key part of the activity.

For example, you can use an activity that causes all properties on the page to be revalidated when one of the properties on the page, such as the party ID, changes.

To see an example, review the standard property Work-.pyWorkParty.

This activity does not run if a value on a page changes through activities, Declare Expression computations or other processing rather than through user input.