I wrote this lesson topic as a bridge between the validation capabilities available in the low-code development experience and the more technical capabilities available when accessing the underlying rule form directly. This allowed us to leverage the low-code development content as an introduction, which we could then “peel back” to expose more advanced use cases addressable by developers with greater technical experience. The result was a form of gamification, whereby learners “leveled up” a skill through the progressive disclosure of product capabilities. The LMS-hosted version of exercise includes interactive content and several knowledge checks.
Learner level: Beginner (Pega Certified System Architect)
HTML5 version of the topic (LMS hosted; may require login)
Background
When Pega Platform introduced a bifurcated development experience – App Studio for low-code developers, and Dev Studio for more experienced full-stack developers – it left us trying to figure out how to manage the transition. The low-code development course was a pre-requisite for the deeper-dive training for full-stack developers, so we had to walk a fine line between exposing the limitations of what was available for low-code development without making the low-code experience look too primitive.
Validation was one feature that required us to strike that balance. In App Studio, developers configure validation logic based on true/false conditions. More complex validation needs are left to the full-stack developers using Dev Studio, who can access the rule form directly and are able to leverage the full capabilities of the Validate rule type, as well as the related Edit Validate rule type.
Implementation Details
This lesson starts with a review of the validation capabilities in App Studio, then introduces examples of validation behavior that fell outside those capabilities. From there, the lesson introduces the two rule types – Validate and Edit Validate – that developers can manipulate in Dev Studio, then circles back to the examples and illustrates how the two rule types could be used to address each use case. The remainder of the lesson reuses procedural how-to topics from the knowledge base to walk-through the configuration steps for the various scenarios ahead of the exercise, which involves calling an Edit Validate rule from a Validate rule to check user input for invalid characters.
Instructional Design Portfolio 