Triggering FieldChange from JavaScript

We love a challenge, and we believe anything is possible with PeopleTools. It is never a question of "can you?" but "how?" A customer recently shared a challenge with us:

We use a handheld scanner to enter values into a text field of a Fluid Page. After scanning, we want FieldChange PeopleCode to load data into the remainder of the page. Our solution worked great in PeopleTools 8.58, but quit working after upgrading to 8.59.

Since many scanners act as automated keyboards, sending keystrokes derived from barcodes, there are several ways to handle this. The simplest way is to include a button immediately following the data entry field and use this button to trigger FieldChange. But this got us thinking about another scenario:

How do you trigger FieldChange if you use JavaScript to update a data entry field?

 The process involves three steps:

1. Use JavaScript to update a data entry field. The JavaScript might look something like this:

document.getElementById('MYRECORD_MYFIELD_ID').value = 'The new value';

2. Stage field changes by triggering the onchange handler

document.getElementById('MYRECORD_MYFIELD_ID').onchange();

3. Trigger PeopleSoft's Ajax processing

submitAction_win0(document.win0, id);

Notice the win0 in step 3? That is a system-generated name that reflects the current window ID. PeopleSoft uses the Meta-HTML %FormName at design time.

Here is a short example I put together for the PeopleTools 8.59 Event Mapping configuration page, complete with HTML element IDs, that demonstrates using %FormName. The purpose of the fragment is to set the service name for an event and trigger PeopleSoft processing:

Please note: this is an unsupported example that worked for a specific use case but may not work for others. We provide it as an example of what's possible and as a starting point for your own solution.

Are you interested in learning more PeopleSoft Fluid tips and tricks? Be sure to enroll in one of our upcoming events!