More about Property rules

Associating values with properties

After a property is defined, you can set values for it by:

• Using any of the Property-Set methods in an activity.
• Applying a model.
• Including the reference directive with the INPUT keyword (or the equivalent p:r JSP tag) in HTML text. This lets a user enter a value into an HTML form.

The verb set means to supply a value for a property. The values of many standard properties, such as pyUserName (which holds the identifier for the current user), are set automatically at log-in.

Standard properties

Standard properties — meaning all the properties in the Pega-RULES, Pega-IntSvcs, Pega-WB, and Pega-ProCom RuleSets — have names that start with px, py, or pz.

These three prefixes are reserved. You cannot create new properties with such names. You can override these standard properties with a custom property of the same name (without changing the mode or Type).

Prefix	Meaning
px	Identifies properties that are special, meaning that the values cannot be input by user input on an HTML form.
py	Properties with names that start with py are not special, meaning that values can be input by users on an HTML form.
pz	Properties with names that start with pz support internal system processing. Users cannot directly manipulate pz properties. Your application may examine these values, but do not set them. The meaning of values may change with new product releases.

Changing types

If you update or override a property rule of mode Single Value, Value List or Value Group, you can change the Type, but only to a narrower type. This does not cause any runtime conversions of property values.

This table shows which changes are allowed.

To type	Date Time	Date	Time of Day	Integer	Decimal	Double	True or False	Text
From type
DateTime
Date
Time of Day
Integer
Decimal
Double
True or False
Text

Password types and encryption

Properties of type Password correspond to the HTML element <INPUT TYPE="PASSWORD" >, and so do not echo when typed into a browser form. However, on the clipboard, the value of a property of this type may be in clear text or encrypted, depending on how the value was set.

Normal assignments to a Single Value or Java Property property of type Password by the Property-Set similar methods create a clear-text value on the clipboard. To store an encrypted value, us the a property of type TextEncrypted.

Deleting properties

Don't delete a property that's referenced in other rules. Check whether a property is the target of a Declare Expressions rule before deleting it.

	page, property mode, special property, Single Value
	About Edit Input rules Property Rules — Implementing and using the TextEncrypted type About the Clipboard tool Reference JavaServer Pages tag Reference directive
	Atlas — Standard properties

About Property rules