PeopleSoft Campus Mobile From Oracle

Now there's a lot of buzz around Oracle's Mobile Solution. Even you might have already tried out this solution.

http://bloggingaboutoracle.com/peoplesoft-campus-self-service-mobile/ is one blog which gives you a good info on installing the mobility.

Convert Tab file to CSV and Load

Just a tip for the day.

If you got a tab limited file and want to read it as a CSV file, using the file layout, use the below code snippet.

Local File &TABFILE, &CSVFILE;
Local string &FILE_NAME, &DATA, &NEWDATA;

&FILE_NAME = "Test.txt";
&TAB = Char(9);

&TABFILE = GetFile(&FILE_NAME, "r");
&FileName = &TABFILE.Name;
&POS = Find(".", &FileName);
&NEWFILE_NAME = Substring(&FileName, 1, &POS) | "dat";
&CSVFILE = GetFile(&NEWFILE_NAME, "N", %FilePath_Absolute);
If &TABFILE.IsOpen And
      &CSVFILE.IsOpen Then
   While &TABFILE.ReadLine(&DATA);
      &NEWDATA = Substitute(&DATA, &TAB, ",");
      &CSVFILE.WriteLine(&NEWDATA);
   End-While;
   &TABFILE.Close();
   &CSVFILE.Close();
End-If;

Will be handy...

PeopleSoft Mobile Time Entry now available in FSCM

Interesting, so thought of posting it here.

Link to: PeopleSoft Mobile Time Entry now available in FSCM

Custom Email Templates: Tip

You might have had requirements where you have to build a configurable email page for messaging purpose. People use several ways to accomplish  this requirement. Message Catalog, Custom page/component are couple of ways to get around this requirement.

Many might have used Generic Templates for this purpose. For those who haven't, you can try this tip.

Generic Templates are basically for the work flow purpose. You can find this under:

Set Up HCM > Common Definitions > Approvals > Generic Templates

You can extend this feature for your custom email functions.

WL_TEMPLATE_GEN is the underlying record for Generic Templates. When you create templates, you will use %numbers for tagging various parameters in workflow.

Generic Template Page Sample

Corresponding DB data

These parameters can be substituted in PeopleCode to extend the Generic Templates usability in custom messaging requirements.

Say for example:

&Message = Substitute(&Body, "%5", &Descr); 

Here we replace %4 with the respective description.

And you have the easiness of using a dynamic email template without creating a dedicated page/component.

This will come handy for sure.

Mark the completed Worklist Entry

Below is an example code is to mark the Worklist Entry as completed once the corresponding request is approved. 

import PT_WF_WORKLIST:*;
Local WorklistEntry &worklist;

&worklist = create WorklistEntry();
&worklist.busprocname = "Administer Workflow";
&worklist.busactivity = "Send Note";
&worklist.buseventname = "Worklist Note";
&worklist.worklistname = "Worklist Note";
&worklist.instanceid = 2;

&ret = &worklist.SelectByKey();
&worklist.inststatus = "2"; /* mark entry worked */
If (&worklist.Update() <> 0) Then
   If (&worklist.Save() <> 0) Then
      /* success */
   Else
      /* handle error */
   End-If;
Else
   /* handle error */
End-If;

The other values for inststatus are given below. This property is read-write:

0: New worklist entry
1: Selected worklist entry
2: Worked worklist entry
3: Cancel string

Not able to change the Label in Application Designer?

Follow the steps below to resolve the issue.

Launch the Configuration Manager:

Go to the Client Setup tab:

Check the Application Designer, CM, Data Mover, Install Workstation check boxes and click on the apply button.

Now, restart the application designer and you will be able to change the label.

Track the Locked Objects in Application Designer

There will be scenarios when you forget to unlock a locked object in the Application Designer, which can create unwanted confusions within the team.

The ultra simple SQL below will help to identify and resolve that issue part. The query gives the details about the locked objects in the application designer by a User ID. 

SELECT * FROM PSCHGCTLLOCK WHERE OPRID='USERID'

The object type value can be referenced to the table below.

Object Type ID	PeopleSoft Object
0	Record
1	Index
2	Field
3	Field Format
4	Translate Value
5	Panel/Page
6	Menu
7	Panel Group/Component
8	Record PeopleCode
9	Menu Item
10	Query
12	Tree
13	Access Group
14	Color
15	Style
16	Not Used
17	Business Process Definition
18	Workflow Activity
19	Security Role
20	Process Definition
21	Process Scheduler Server Definition
22	Process Type
23	Job
24	Job schedule
25	Message Catalog Definition
26	Dimension
27	Cube Definition
28	Cube Instance Definition
29	Business Interlink
30	SQL Definition
31	File Layout Definition
32	Component Interface
33	Application Engine Program
34	Application Engine Sections
35	IB Message Node
36	Message Channel/Queue
37	IB Message
38	Approval Rule Set
39	Unknown: Relates to IB
40	Subscription PeopleCode
41	Unknown
42	Component Interface Method
43	Application Engine PeopleCode
44	Page PeopleCode
45	Page Field PeopleCode
46	Component PeopleCode
47	Component Record PeopleCode
48	Component Record Field PeopleCode
49	Image
50	Portal Style Sheet
51	HTML
52	Not User
53	Permission List
54	Portal Definition
55	Portal Registry Definition
56	URL Definitions
57	Application Package
58	Application Package Peoplecode
59	ortal Registry User Homepage
60	Problem Type
61	Archive Templates
62	XLST
63	Portal Registry User Favorite
64	Mobile Page
65	Relationships
66	Component Interface Property Peoplecode
67	Optimization Models
68	File References
69	File Type Codes
70	Archive Object Definitions
71	Archive Templates (Type 2)
72	Diagnostic Plug In
73	Analytic Model
79	Service
80	Service Operation
81	Service Operation Handler
82	Service Operation Versions
83	Service Operation Routing
85	XMLP Template Definition
86	XMLP Report Definition
87	XMLP File Definition
88	XMLP Data Source Definition
89	WSDL
90	Message Version
255	Project

Control the Popup Data on MouseOver

This is a followup post on the previous post on Mouse Over Popup. 

This page also gives you the option for controlling the fields on the pop up. The setup is divided into two columns. 

You can either select the employee photo or the fields in the first columns. Not both. Second column only deals with the fields.

And field level setup helps to improve the field display with the type or icon.

There are around 30 delivered fields which we can use for the popup. Select/Deselect from the list for more efficient data display. 5 sample pages which can be used for re-engineering for extending the feature. 

Try it out.

PeopleSoft Form and Approval Builder

I have tried out this feature on 9.1 and thought of trying it out in 9.2. I couldn't find much changes from the previous version though. 

You can find the link to the Forms under: Enterprise Components > Forms

The main advantage of the Forms are that, you can create it very easily for a less complex approval processing. A functional consultant can create a great looking online form in few minutes. This reminded me of Google Docs. The plus part of the PeopleSoft Form is that, from my perspective, is the Approval and CI integration options. It is a good option indeed.

Prior to creating the form, if you have an idea on the required prompt tables, you can create it under Define Prompt Record and keep it ready.

Start with designing the form from the Design a form page.

Provide a desired name and kick off the design.

Until the design is finished and the form is activated, the status will be In Design status. Effective date range decides the life span of the form.

You can go for a single column style or two column style. Decide and pick up the field positions. Also the fields can be moved up and down in the position by clicking the arrow marks to the right side of the scroll.

Supporting documents can be attached at this page, which will be visible to the participants

You can publish the form at any portal level. For the testing purpose, this form was registered under the Root folder.

Lock or make it available once the approval cycle is completed. You can see the Approver User List prompt in this page. This will include your form to any AWE approver user list. Pretty good right.

Preview the from from here, and make the changes to the form, before activating it.

As this form is registered under the Root folder, you can see that to the end of the Menu. 

The above screenshot shows the approver to which the form is send.

If there is a from in your queue, handle it from here.

Ah, the interesting part for a developer.

As told earlier, this will be handy in situation when there is a straight forward requirement for a simple form. You cannot have event based codes written anywhere. Not in our hand. I believe people count this as the primary disadvantage, which we cannot really call as one, when considering the situations for which this is built.

Report Distribution Using AddDistributionOption

In my previous post on Report Distribution Using XML Publisher - Right Report To The Right Person, we have seen how to distribute the report to the right person, without any coding efforts. Because we have that feature pre-built in XML Publisher. 

What if, when SQR process comes with a similar requirement?

This can be achieved by the AddDistributionOption, from the CreateProcessRequest family.

A small trick has to be implemented to launch n number of process request based on the parameters. 

&RQST.AddDistributionOption("User", "Your User ID"); will take care of distributing the reports from there, based on the User ID fed into it.

You can use this approach for the XML Publisher and nVision reports too.

Like we have an alternate way in XML Publisher, there is a way to do the same in nVision. However, I did not get a chance to try out the same.

If anyone has done it before, feel free to share the tip here.

Report Distribution Using XML Publisher - Right Report To The Right Person

Consider the situation where you have to run certain report, which is keyed by the Business Unit and Company. Once the report is run using a job using a batch user id, the report should go to the CEO of the Company and Business Unit combination. 

The above requirement can be achieved as below through an XML Publisher report.

You might know the bursting feature in XML Publisher, which will help you to slice the report based on a field. As the first step, to extend this functionality, I added another Colum (say BU_COMP_MIX) to the report staging table which is a concatenated of the BU and Company. And burst the report on this field. Make Sense?

Now you have to create a view with the CEO details for a Company and Business Unit combination along with the BU_COMP_MIX field. I name the view as AN_CEO_DET_VW. Three fields, with the values fetched from the data sources you have.

Navigate to the Report Definition page: Reporting Tools > XML Publisher > Report Definition

And follow the steps in the below screen shot.

Now try running the report and login as the respective CEO's and verify the report receipt in the Report Manager.

To make the CEO's to view only their own reports, you have to disable the User ID search in the Report Manager page. That can be done by removing the report distribution role from the user profiles.

The above tip might look simple in technical perspective but not in the business view. This matters a LOT!

Component missing from MouseOver Popup Setup. Contact Your System Administrator.

While creating a new component from the copy of several delivered pages, you might see this error on the MouseOver Popup feature.

"Component missing from MouseOver Popup Setup. Contact Your System Administrator."

The solution is simple. You can get there easily, if you are in the mid of a development. However, this error can kill your time, during an upgrade, making you read the related App Package codes and to figure out how my component got missed from the setup.

Solution: There is a setup for MouseOver Popup in 8.52, where you have to authorize a component (mainly happens with the custom ones), for the MouseOver feature.

The setup is under: Set Up HRMS > Common Definitions > Mouse Over PopUp > MouseOver Component Setup.

Provide the component name and the Person Detail view and you are done with the component setup for MouseOver Popup.

And the popup will work as expected.

Multiple Reports in SQR at ease

You can print multiple reports with ease using the simple structure below. 

DECLARE-REPORT can declare n number of reports (max 99) and use it for the respective printing. There is catch at this point. What if the reports are dynamic and you cannot forcast the number of reports that gets generated.

Then the below code can be handy.

You have the while loop and NEW-REPORT part inside it. Make the file name dynamic based on the variables in your code. And that's it. 

No headaches of declaring multiple reports in the begin-setup and you can get n number of reports (max infinity), without the limitation of 99.

Hope, this will be a handy code for you.

XML Publisher - Clean Up

Cleaning Up BI Publisher Metadata

Some people are very specific about the way the data is managed in the system. I have seen several Admins who is very serious about the accurate data in the system, they will always clean up the data in the system, like the perfect housewives maintains a good home. 

In BI Publisher we have a delivered way to do this act. The Application Engine program name is PSXPCLEAN. It tracks and manages the orphaned objects in the system and provides you a report too.

What the different sections does in the AE. It find outs the orphaned definitions to the state record and deletes it in a sequence.

Various sections performs this duty.

This application engine program is delivered in Report and Delete mode. To run the program in Report Only mode, open the application engine program PSXPCLEAN in Application Designer and remove the comment in the following statement in PSXPCLEAN:Main:Start PeopleCode action:

rem PSXPFILECLN_AET.REPORT_ONLY_FLAG = "Y" (which is marked in Yellow below)

From here, the AE starts collecting the info about the missing definitions.

From this point the clean up starts.

A handy tip to know about the AE and the main tables in XMP Publisher for quick reference.