Page and Field Configurator or Event Mapping?

Which tool would you use if someone asked you to hide a PeopleSoft field? We asked our LinkedIn audience that same question. Here are the results:

85% of respondents chose Page and Field Configurator, which is fantastic!

Both tools can hide a field, but is one a better option? I use a decision matrix to help me decide which one to use:

Decision Matrix

	Event Mapping	PaFC
Can the solution be configured with PaFC?		✔
PaFC cannot provide the expected result.	✔

If you can use Page and Field Configurator, then choose it for these two reasons:

• Page and Field Configurator contains a "Validate Configuration" feature to verify the configuration is still relevant after applying maintenance and
• Functional business analysts may manage Page and Field Configurator (Event Mapping is a developer-only solution).

When should you use Event Mapping? For everything else. For example, Page and Field Configurator does not yet work with Group Boxes. Likewise, complex logic may require Event Mapping (or might be easier to read and write if written in Event Mapping).

We teach both topics in our three-day Configure, don't Customize course. Check it out to see when we are offering it next!

"Find Definition References" for Page and Field Configurator

A student recently asked:

Is there an Edit | Find Definition References equivalent for Page and Field Configurator?

Great question! In Application Designer, we can open a field and choose Edit | Find Definition References to find all usages of that field. Unfortunately, Page and Field Configurator does not have an equivalent. The good news, however, is Page and Field Configurator is metadata driven. In other words, we can create our own "Find Definition References" equivalent by writing SQL. Here is a short example to get you started:

SELECT *
  FROM PS_EOCC_CONFIG_FLD
 WHERE FIELDNAME = 'DESCR'

The EOCC_CONFIG_FLD record contains the Component name, Record name, and Field name, allowing us to effectively "Find Definition References" for any of those three items.

At JSMpros, we teach PeopleTools Tips like this every week. Be sure to check our website to see what we are offering next!