Activity Property- methods in pega

Most activities spend a lot of time reading and writing properties. Pega gives you a family of Property- methods for this, and knowing which one to pick is a common interview question.

The methods and what they do

Method	What it does
Property-Set	Sets the value of one or more properties on the step page
Property-Set-Messages	Attaches a message to a property or to the step page, either as literal text or a message rule key
Property-Map-DecisionTable	Runs a decision table and stores the result in a property
Property-Map-DecisionTree	Runs a decision tree and stores the result in a property
Property-Map-Value	Looks up a one-dimensional map value and stores the result in a single value property
Property-Map-ValuePair	The same idea for a two-dimensional map value
Property-Remove	Removes a property and its value from the step page. The property rule itself is not changed

Choosing the right one

• Need to give a property a fixed or calculated value? Property-Set.
• Need the result of a business rule table? Property-Map-DecisionTable or DecisionTree.
• Need to show an error next to a field? Property-Set-Messages.
• Need to clear a value from the clipboard page? Property-Remove.

A worked example

A loan activity calculates an interest tier:

1. Property-Set: .Score = Param.CreditScore
2. Property-Map-DecisionTable: run InterestTierTable and put the result in .Tier
3. Property-Set-Messages: if .Tier is empty, add the message "No tier found for this score" to .Score
4. Property-Remove: remove the temporary property .TempScore when done

Tips

• Use a data transform for simple property setting where possible. It is easier to read than an activity.
• Every Property- method works on the step page, so check that setting first. See our post on the step page.
• Use decision rules instead of long chains of if-else steps. Business users can maintain them without touching the activity.

More in the Activity label.