About PeopleSoft COBOL

This is an overview about PeopleSoft COBOL in case you come to touch with this part in PeopleSoft. Many of PeopleSofts business process are written in COBOL. And, you should be really cautious before modifying this part. And peoplesoft gives you a good advice on that.

All the database activity is processed through a module called PTPSQLRT. SQL statements are stored in a database table andd executed by passing the statement name and associated parameters to the PTPSQLRT module.

All peoplesoft COBOL programes use the same structured approach. there is no direct database access using embedded sql. All SQL statements to be executed reside in database called PS_SQLSTMT_TBL. This SQL statement table is populated by using a set of DataMover scripts.The key behind PeopleSoft's structured approach is the use of the main module called PTPSQLRT.This module ensures consistancy regardless of platform/database.

The PTPSQLRT module variety of functions:
Execute select statements
fetched rows from database
processes SQL updates
Commits and Rollbacks
Connect/Disconnect from Database stc..

Even if you dont plan on modifying COBOL programs, become familiar with PeopleSoft's COBOL techniques. This will be surely be times when you need to browse the COBOL source code when troubleshooting.

I would recommend the book, essential guide to PeopleSoft development and customization to know about COBOL technically.

So have a look into PeopleSoft COBOL side...it is interesting.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COBOL would be a starting point for an overview in programming. And the birth story behind this is another interesting part. Read on...

Anoop Savio