"Private" App Class Members

I was reading Lee Greffin's post More Fun with Application Packages -- Instances and stumbled across this quote from PeopleBooks:

A private instance variable is private to the class, not just to the object instance. For example, consider a linked-list class where one instance needs to update the pointer in another instance.

What exactly does that mean? I did some testing to try and figure it out. Here is what I came up with:

1. It is still an instance variable which means each in-memory object created from the App Class blue print has its own memory placeholder for each instance member.
2. Instances of other classes can't interact with private instance members.
3. Instances of the exact same class CAN interact with private members of a different instance.
4. Private instance members differ from static members in other languages because they don't all share the same pointer (pointer, reference, whatever).

I thought it was worth proving so here is my sample. It is based on the example suggested in PeopleBooks:

For example, consider a linked-list class where one instance needs to update the pointer in another instance.

The linked list is just an item with a pointer to the next item (forward only). A program using it keeps a pointer to the "head" and then calls next() to iterate over the list. It is a very common pattern so I will forgo further explanation. Here is a quick implementation (in the App Package JJM_COLLECTIONS):

class ListItem
   method ListItem(&data As any);
   method linkTo(&item As JJM_COLLECTIONS:ListItem);
   method next() Returns JJM_COLLECTIONS:ListItem;
   method getData() Returns any;
private
   instance JJM_COLLECTIONS:ListItem &nextItem_;
   instance any &data_;
end-class;

method ListItem
   /+ &data as Any +/
   %This.data_ = &data;
end-method;

method linkTo
   /+ &item as JJM_COLLECTIONS:ListItem +/
   &item.nextItem_ = %This;
end-method;

method next
   /+ Returns JJM_COLLECTIONS:ListItem +/
   Return %This.nextItem_;
end-method;

method getData
   /+ Returns Any +/
   Return %This.data_;
end-method;

Notice the linkTo method sets the value of the private instance member of a remote instance (its parameter), NOT the local instance. This is what is meant by private to the class, not private to the instance. Each instance has its own &nextItem_ instance member and other instances of the exact same class can manipulate it. Here is the test case I used to test the remote manipulation implementation:

import TTS_UNITTEST:TestBase;
import JJM_COLLECTIONS:ListItem;

class TestListItem extends TTS_UNITTEST:TestBase
   method TestListItem();
   method Run();
end-class;

method TestListItem
   %Super = create TTS_UNITTEST:TestBase("TestListItem");
end-method;

method Run
   /+ Extends/implements TTS_UNITTEST:TestBase.Run +/
   Local JJM_COLLECTIONS:ListItem &item1 =
      create JJM_COLLECTIONS:ListItem("Item 1");
   Local JJM_COLLECTIONS:ListItem &item2 =
      create JJM_COLLECTIONS:ListItem("Item 2");
   
   &item2.linkTo(&item1);
   
   %This.AssertStringsEqual(&item1.next().getData(), "Item 2",
      "The next item is not Item 2");
   %This.Msg(&item1.next().getData());
end-method;

The way it is written requires you to create the second item and then call the second item's linkTo method to associate it with the head (or previous) element.

Now, just because you CAN manipulate a private instance member from a remote instance doesn't mean you SHOULD. Doing so seems to violate encapsulation. You could accomplish the same thing by reversing the linkTo method. What if we flipped this around so you created the second item, but called the first item's linkTo? It is really the first item we want to manipulate in a forward only list (now, if it were a multi-direction list perhaps we would want to manipulate the &prevItem_ member?). Here is what the linkTo method would look like:

method linkTo
   /+ &item as JJM_COLLECTIONS:ListItem +/
   %This.nextItem_ = &item;
end-method;

Now what if we wanted a forward AND reverse linked list? Here is where maybe the ability to manipulate siblings starts to seem a little more reasonable (I still think there is a better way, but humor me):

class ListItem
   method ListItem(&data As any);
   method linkTo(&item As JJM_COLLECTIONS:ListItem);
   method next() Returns JJM_COLLECTIONS:ListItem;
   method prev() Returns JJM_COLLECTIONS:ListItem;
   method remove() Returns JJM_COLLECTIONS:ListItem;
   method getData() Returns any;
private
   instance JJM_COLLECTIONS:ListItem &nextItem_;
   instance JJM_COLLECTIONS:ListItem &prevItem_;
   instance any &data_;
end-class;

method ListItem
   /+ &data as Any +/
   %This.data_ = &data;
end-method;

method linkTo
   /+ &item as JJM_COLLECTIONS:ListItem +/
   REM ** manipulate previous sibling;
   &item.nextItem_ = %This;
   %This.prevItem_ = &item;
end-method;

method next
   /+ Returns JJM_COLLECTIONS:ListItem +/
   Return %This.nextItem_;
end-method;

method prev
   /+ Returns JJM_COLLECTIONS:ListItem +/
   Return %This.prevItem_;
end-method;

method remove
   /+ Returns JJM_COLLECTIONS:ListItem +/
   %This.nextItem_.linkTo(%This.prevItem_);
   REM ** Or manipulate both siblings;
   REM %This.prevItem_.nextItem_ = %This.nextItem_;
   REM %This.nextItem_.prevItem_ = %This.prevItem_;
   Return %This.prevItem_;
end-method;

method getData
   /+ Returns Any +/
   Return %This.data_;
end-method;

And here is the final test case

import TTS_UNITTEST:TestBase;
import JJM_COLLECTIONS:ListItem;

class TestListItem extends TTS_UNITTEST:TestBase
   method TestListItem();
   method Run();
end-class;

method TestListItem
   %Super = create TTS_UNITTEST:TestBase("TestListItem");
end-method;

method Run
   /+ Extends/implements TTS_UNITTEST:TestBase.Run +/
   Local JJM_COLLECTIONS:ListItem &item1 =
      create JJM_COLLECTIONS:ListItem("Item 1");
   Local JJM_COLLECTIONS:ListItem &item2 =
      create JJM_COLLECTIONS:ListItem("Item 2");
   Local JJM_COLLECTIONS:ListItem &item3 =
      create JJM_COLLECTIONS:ListItem("Item 3");
   
   &item2.linkTo(&item1);
   
   %This.AssertStringsEqual(&item1.next().getData(), "Item 2",
      "Test 1 failed. The next item is not Item 2");
   %This.AssertStringsEqual(&item2.prev().getData(), "Item 1",
      "Test 2 failed. The prev item is not Item 1");
   
   &item3.linkTo(&item2);
   %This.AssertStringsEqual(&item1.next().next().getData(), "Item 3",
      "Test 3 failed. The next.next item is not Item 3");
   %This.AssertStringsEqual(&item1.next().next().prev().getData(), "Item 2",
      "Test 4 failed. The prev item is not Item 2");
   
   Local JJM_COLLECTIONS:ListItem &temp = &item2.remove();
   %This.AssertStringsEqual(&item1.next().getData(), "Item 3",
      "Test 5 failed. The next item is not Item 3");
   %This.AssertStringsEqual(&item1.next().prev().getData(), "Item 1",
      "Test 6 failed. The prev item is not Item 1");
   
end-method;

I hope that helps clear up some of the confusion around the term "private" as it relates to Application Classes.

List of PeopleSoft Blogs

It has been amazing to watch the exponential growth in the number of PeopleSoft community bloggers. It seems that most of them have links to other PeopleSoft blogs, but where is the master list of PeopleSoft blogs? Here is my attempt to create one. Don't see your blog on the list? Add a comment and I'll review your blog. If your blog is education oriented, then I will put it in the list... and probably delete your comment (that way you don't have to feel awkward about self promotion). There are some PeopleSoft related blogs that I really wanted to include, but they just weren't educational (more marketing than education). I suppose some could say that the Oracle blogs I included were primarily marketing focused. That is true. I included them, however, because those product release announcements are so valuable.

• AB's PeopleSoft Corner 
• Ataway Blog 
• David L. Price's Blog 
• Driven by PeopleSoft Motivated by Microsoft 
• ERP Associates 
• Graham's PeopleSoft Blog 
• Greffins Feather
• GreyHeller Blog
• Hakan's Oracle Applications Blog 
• Hexaware PeopleSoft Fieldbook
• Jim's PeopleSoft Journal 
• Kevin Weaver's PeopleSoft Development Blog 
• Mani 2.0 
• Oracle PeopleSoft HCM for YOU 
• On the PeopleSoft Road 
• PeopleSoft 8.9 
• PeopleSoft Admin 
• PeopleSoft Apps Strategy 
• Peoplesoft Bad Practices 
• PeopleSoft Blog PSRocks! 
• PeopleSoft Developer Notebook 
• PeopleSoft Development Tips 
• PeopleSoft HRMS Key Concepts 
• PeopleSoft Learnings 
• PeopleSoft/Oracle Tips 
• PeopleSoft SQR
• PeopleSoft Support & Tips 
• PeopleSoft Technology Blog 
• PeopleSoft Tipster 
• PeopleSoft Tutorial
• PSAdmin 
• PsftDBA 
• PSST0101 
• Robert Radziszewski's Blog
• Sasank's PeopleSoft Log 
• Shyam's PeopleSoft Blog 
• The PeopleTools Files 
• University Software Development 
• { WorkingScripts } 

I have not read all of these blogs. I can't, don't, and won't attest to the quality of the content in those blogs. Each reader should evaluate the content of these blog posts before implementing suggestions identified in these blogs and their corresponding comments.

Unlimited Session Timeout

There are a lot of security admins out there that are going to hate me for this post. There are a lot of system administrators, developers, and users, however, that will LOVE me for this post. The code I'm about to share with you will keep the logged in PeopleSoft user's session active as long as the user has a browser window open that points to a PeopleSoft instance. Why would you do this? I can think of two reasons:

• Your users have several PeopleSoft browser windows open. If one of them times out because of inactivity at the browser window level, then it will kill the session for ALL open windows. That just seems wrong.
• Your users have long running tasks, such as completing performance reviews, that may require more time to complete than is available at a single sitting. For example, imagine you are preparing a performance review and you have to leave for a meeting. You don't have enough information in the transaction to save, but you can't be late for the meeting either. You know if you leave, your session will time out while you are gone and you will lose your work. This also seems wrong.

Before I show you how to keep the logged in user's session active, let's talk about security... Session timeouts exist for two reasons (at least two):

• Security: no one is home, so lock the door
• Server side resource cleanup: PeopleSoft components require web server state. Each logged in user session (and browser window) consumes resources on the web server. If the user is dormant for a specific period of time, reclaim those resources by killing the user's session.

We can "lock the door" without timing out the server side session with strong policies on the workstation: password protected screen savers, etc.

So here is how it works. Add the following JavaScript to the end of the HTML definition PT_COMMON (or PT_COPYURL if using an older version of PeopleTools) (or even better, if you are on PeopleTools 8.54+, use component and/or role based branding to activate this script). Next, turn down your web profile's timeout warning and timeout to something like 3 and 5 minutes or 5 and 10 minutes. On the timeout warning interval, the user's browser will place an Ajax request to keep the session active. When the user closes all browser windows, the reset won't happen so the user's server side session state will terminate.

What values should you use for the warning and timeout? As low as possible, but not so low you create too much network chatter. If the browser makes an ajax request on the warning interval and a user has 10 windows open, then that means the user will trigger up to 10 Ajax requests within the warning interval window. Now multiply that by the number of logged in users at any given moment. See how this could add up?

Here is the JavaScript:

(function (root) {
    // xhr adapted from http://toddmotto.com/writing-a-standalone-ajax-xhr-javascript-micro-library/
    var xhr = function (type, url, data) {
        var methods = {
            success: function () {
            },
            error: function () {
            }
        };

        var parse = function (req) {
            var result;
            try {
                result = JSON.parse(req.responseText);
            } catch (e) {
                result = req.responseText;
            }
            return [result, req];
        };

        var XHR = root.XMLHttpRequest || ActiveXObject;
        var request = new XHR('MSXML2.XMLHTTP.3.0');
        request.open(type, url, true);
        request.setRequestHeader('Content-type', 'application/x-www-form-urlencoded');
        request.onreadystatechange = function () {
            if (request.readyState === 4) {
                if (request.status === 200) {
                    methods.success.apply(methods, parse(request));
                } else {
                    methods.error.apply(methods, parse(request));
                }
            }
        };
        
        request.send(data);
        return {
            success: function (callback) {
                methods.success = callback;
                return methods;
            },
            error: function (callback) {
                methods.error = callback;
                return methods;
            }
        };
    }; // END xhr


    var timeoutIntervalId;
    var resetUrl;

    /* replace warning message timeout with Ajax call
     * 
     * clear old timeout after 30 seconds
     * macs don't set timeout until 1000 ms
     */
    root.setTimeout(function () {
        /* some pages don't have timeouts defined */
        if (typeof (timeOutURL) !== "undefined") {
            if (timeOutURL.length > 0) {
                resetUrl = timeOutURL.replace(/expire$/, "resettimeout");
                if (totalTimeoutMilliseconds !== null) {
                    root.clearTimeout(timeoutWarningID);
                    root.clearTimeout(timeoutID);
                    
                    timeoutIntervalId =
                            root.setInterval(resetTimeout /* defined below */,
                                    root.warningTimeoutMilliseconds);
                }
            }
        }
    }, 30000);

    var resetTimeout = function () {
        xhr("GET", resetUrl)
                .success(function (msg) {
                    /* do nothing */
                })
                .error(function (xhr, errMsg, exception) {
                    alert("failed to reset timeout");
                    /* error; fallback to delivered method */
                    (root.setupTimeout || root.setTimeout2)();
                });
    };
}(window));

A special "shout out" to Todd Motto for his Standalone Ajax/XHR JavaScript micro-library which is embedded (albeit modified) in the JavaScript above.

PeopleCode Coding Discipline

Java, JavaScript, C++, C Sharp, Objective C, Groovy... what do these languages have in common? Yes, curly braces, but besides that... actually, there are a lot of similarities between these languages. Throw Visual Basic, Perl, Python, or any other well-known language into the mix and the number of similarities drops significantly. Setting semantics and syntax aside, a common attribute of all well-known languages is standards and best practices. Some of those best practices (such as coding style) differ by language. For example, bash scripts can either look like, uh... bash scripts or they can look like c-style logic statements. Obviously, bash best practices prefer you make bash code look like bash code. Other standards are personal: do you prefer real tabs or spaces? How many spaces does your tab consume? Do you put curly braces on a new line?

How does all of this fit into PeopleCode? Forget about code formatting preferences. Application Designer has its own code formatting ideas. But there are other best practices that can help you write better code with fewer defects (fewer defects = better code). By following best practices your code will be easier to read, you will be more productive, and your users will be happier because you deliver better solutions faster.

Even though best practices usually result in code that is more efficient to process, that isn't really the point. Computers can interpret just about anything. Compilers and interpreters are really good at eliminating useless words and resolving seemingly incomprehensible logic. I love Martin Fowler's quote, "Any fool can write code that a computer can understand. Good programmers write code that humans can understand." Best practices are really about writing code that humans can easily comprehend. For example, avoid complex logic (including double negatives, or any negative logic, for that matter), keep your method and function code short, etc. If you write some code, leave it for a night, and then come back the next day and either need to read lots of comments to figure it out or spend a few minutes "remembering" what that code does, then the code is probably too complex. The problem with complex code is that it is easily misinterpreted by humans. Another problem with complex code is we actually ignore it when trying to resolve problems. We know it takes time to digest complex code, so we avoid it, preferring to test simple code first. Why waste time trying to understand complex code if it might be functioning properly?

Today's Quest Newsletter contained a link to 10 Bad Coding Practices That Wreck Software Development Projects. These are language agnostic practices that we can easily apply to PeopleSoft development.

If I were to summarize Coding best practices, I think I would do it like this: two.sentenc.es. Now, arguably, short does not equal comprehensible. There are programmers that err on the terse side because it is clever. This is true, often short code is clever. It is also hard to read. Most of us, however, err the other way. E. F. Schumacher said, "Any fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius — and a lot of courage — to move in the opposite direction." Schumacher died in 1977, so this problem is not new.

Computer programming is about communication. As programmers we have two audiences:

• Computers (which can interpret anything -- even complex stuff)
• Humans (who have a limited attention span, distractions, and a preference for simplicity)

Here is why I think discipline and best practices are critical for good PeopleCode:

We use PeopleCode to create business rules, but PeopleCode is NOT a business rules language. PeopleCode is a Metadata manipulation language. (Note: this is purely my opinion)

Here is why I believe PeopleCode is for metadata, not business rules: PeopleCode only has Metadata objects: records, fields, SQL, components, menus, etc. These are all metadata. These are the low level API's we use to write business logic. Consider the following PeopleCode:

Local record &rec = CreateRecord(Record.PSOPRDEFN);
Local field &descr;

&rec.SelectByKey("jimsoprid");
&descr = &rec.GetField(Field.OPRDEFNDESC);

&descr.Value = "Jim Marion";

&rec.Update();

This code implements business logic, but does so by manipulating metadata objects. PeopleCode metadata objects are building blocks for business logic. If we were to rewrite this using a business logic language, it would probably look something like this:

Local User &u = GetUser("jimsoprid");

&u.descr = "Jim Marion";
&u.Update();

And this is why discipline and best practices are SO important for PeopleCode developers: We are trying to speak business logic with a metadata vocabulary. We start with a communication deficit. It is like trying to teach advanced weaving using an automobile mechanics vocabulary. The two subjects have different vocabularies. But if you combine the words correctly, you can communicate the same meaning.

PeopleTools 8.54 is GA!

On Friday the PeopleTools blog announced that PeopleTools 8.54 is now Generally Available (GA). PeopleTools 8.54 brings several usability features including responsive design for mobile devices as well as development features such as Mobile Application Platform (MAP). One of my favorite new features is component specific branding. You can now attach stylesheets and JavaScript to components as described in PeopleBooks Applying Branding to Other Objects. Another great branding enhancement is Attribute-based branding. This is very similar to role based branding, but more flexible and easier to administer. You can read about it in the PeopleBooks entry Administering System Branding.

To learn more read the PeopleTools announcement or visit the hosted 8.54 PeopleBooks. I can't wait for the new demo images!

Collaborate 2014 Schedule

I am just getting caught up after HEUG Alliance. What a great conference! As always, it was a lot of fun visiting with customers, partners, and colleagues. I heard some amazing stories and learned a few new tricks. Now it is time for the next conference: Collaborate 2014 is only a couple of weeks away. I love hearing your stories and challenges. Hunt me down and share your stories with me. Besides the demo grounds, here are two places you will find me:

• Tuesday, 8 Apr 3:00 PM-4:00 PM So You Think You Know PeopleSoft? Do You Know the PeopleSoft Interaction Hub? – You Own It !, session ID 109490, Level 4, Lando 4301B
• Thursday, 10 Apr 08:30 AM-09:30 AM PeopleTools Developer: Tips and Techniques, session ID 108600, Level 4, Marcello 4401A

I fly out Thursday night, but if I can make it, I plan to attend Mike Doyle's session Advanced PeopleSoft Development Techniques, which contains examples based on my book PeoleSoft PeopleTools Tips & Techniques.

Alliance 2014 Agenda

It is hard to believe it has been a year since the HEUG Alliance 2013. We had a lot of fun in Indianapolis. I have been reviewing the 2014 session lineup and it looks pretty exciting. I must say that I am very pleased to see several sessions on REST, iScripts, and User Experience. With Alliance 2014 just a couple of weeks away, I wanted to make sure I posted my schedule:

• Monday at 1:45 PM - 2:45 PM 33718 PeopleTools Developer: Tips and Techniques in Room 312-317
• Tuesday 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM Meet the Experts

I also plan to spend some time in the PeopleSoft demo grounds. Please stop by and visit with me or one of my colleagues. We would love to say hello and show you some new ideas for configuring PeopleSoft applications.

If you are presenting at Alliance, please feel free to promote your session in the comments below.

Quest Technology Series PeopleTools Presentation

If you are a Quest member and missed my PeopleTools Tips and Techniques presentation last week, you can watch the recording on Quest's site at http://www.questdirect.org/learn/2629061/.

An Interview with Jeff Robbins

At OpenWorld 2013, I had the opportunity to catch up with Jeff Robbins and ask him some questions about PeopleSoft's User Experience. You can watch the video here:

Watch more videos from Oracle's User Experience team on the oracleuseableapps YouTube channel.

10 PeopleSoft Interaction Hub CSS Tricks

If you have been to one of my PeopleSoft user experience sessions, you have likely seen a good handful of interesting CSS ideas in my designs. Ever wanted to implement some and need a few pointers? Here is a little Q&A that I hope you find useful.

Q: How do you keep a PeopleSoft or content provider stylesheet from overriding your Interaction Hub (portal) pagelet styles?

A: Higher specificity. I make sure my styles have a more specific CSS selector than the delivered CSS selector. This is actually pretty easy because the delivered CSS selectors for pagelet elements (ptpageletheader, ptpageletbody, ptpgltlabel, etc) just use class names. To make your selector more specific, just include .ptpagelet in front of your selectors. Here is a sample from one of my free formed stylesheets:

#ptpglts .ptpagelet .ptpageletheader {
  border-radius: 10px 10px 0 0;
}

The delivered selector is .ptpageletheader. I make my CSS selector more specific by adding #ptpglts .ptpagelet to the selector.

Q: How did you make the pagelets on your green/grass theme have a semi-transparent background?

A: There are actually a couple of ways to accomplish this. I created this theme back before rgba support in IE, so the approach I took was to create a 2x2 pixel PNG image with a semi-transparent background. I then set that to be my pagelet's background. Here is an example:

#ptpglts .ptpagelet td.ptpageletbody {
  background: url("opacity-bg.png") repeat scroll 0 0 transparent;
}

Today we can reduce our downloads and accomplish this much more easily using the rgba color syntax:

#ptpglts .ptpagelet td.ptpageletbody {
  background: none repeat scroll 0 0 rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);
}

Q: How did you create rounded corners for your pagelets?

A: I used the border-radius CSS attribute:

#ptpglts .ptpagelet .ptpageletheader {
  border-radius: 10px 10px 0 0;
}

I set the top left and right radius on the ptpageletheader class and the bottom left and right radius on the ptpageletbody CSS class.

Q: How do you make some pagelets have a transparent background while others have a color or image as a background?

A:Some pagelets, such as the accordion, look better with no header, border, or background. Through Pagelet wizard (or the new 8.53+ Pagelet Branding), you can hide the border and header, but you can't change the background. The technique I use is to first create, save, and add the pagelet to a homepage. Next, I find the pagelet's ID in HTML (firebug is very helpful for this). With the ID in hand, I write a custom CSS selector, setting the background to transparent. Here is an example:

#ptpglts #ADMN_COMPANY_DIRECTORY_IMG.ptpagelet td.ptpageletbody {
  background: transparent;
}

Q: How do you make the drop-down menu's bar semi-transparent?

A: Set a semi-transparent background on #pthnavcontainer. You can either use a semi-transparent image or RGBA colors. Here is an example. As with other examples, use a highly qualified selector (specificity) to ensure your selector wins over the delivered CSS selector.

body.PSPAGE #pthnavcontainer {
  background: none repeat scroll 0 0 rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2);
}

Q: How do you set a background image for the entire PeopleSoft page?

A: Set a background image on .PSPAGE like this:

body.PSPAGE {
  background: url("background-photo.jpg") repeat fixed 0 0 transparent;
}

Make sure that:

• Your background image size extends far beyond the expected page size so the image doesn't repeat.
• You use the fixed attribute so your image doesn't have to extend passed the scrollable area of a page.
• Your chosen background doesn't make transactions difficult to read.

Q: How do you make the main header area's background show through the transaction area?

A: There are a couple of ways to accomplish this. If you are OK with a semi-transparent appearance, then the easiest way is to add the following to your role based branding header's CSS:

#ptifrmtgtframe {
  opacity: 0.9;
}

This will make the transaction area semi-transparent. This includes the buttons, text, and every other element within the transaction area. A value of .9 seems to be opaque enough to view the entire transaction area while still allowing a small amount of the background to show through. Just for fun, use Firebug or Chrome tools to try smaller values. Once you get down to .5, the transaction area should be noticeably transparent.

Q: How do you set a background for just the pagelet region of a homepage?

Set a background image on the #ptpglts element. Here is an example:

.pspage #ptpglts {
  background: url("my-favorite-background.jpg") repeat fixed 0 0 transparent;
}

Q: How do I center the pagelet area and reduce the size to something like 1024 pixels wide?

A: As long as you are using a browser other than IE 8 (PeopleSoft 8.53- requires IE Quirks mode), you can do this using the margin auto CSS centering technique. Here is an example:

.pspage #ptpglts {
  margin: 0 auto;
  width: 1024px;
}

Q: How do you round the right top and bottom corners of the SES scope drop-down in the global search area of the header?

A: The SES search scope drop-down has the ID selsrchgrp. Here is some CSS that rounds the right side of the search scope drop-down. Since this drop-down is paired to a text field that has the same height, I only round the right side, not the left side.

.pspage #selsrchgrp {
  border-radius: 4px 0 0 4px;
}

OpenWorld 2013 Presentations Available

OpenWorld 2013 presentations are now available and posted on the OpenWorld Content Catalog. Here are direct links to the presentations in which I participated:

• Tips and Techniques for PeopleSoft PeopleTools Developers [CON9080]
• PeopleSoft PeopleTools REST Web Services: Everything You Need to Know [CON7553]
• So You Think You Know PeopleSoft? Do You Know PeopleSoft Interaction Hub? You Own It! [CON9165]

Using External Content in the FSCM 9.2 Links Pagelet (WorkCenters)

FSCM 9.2 comes with some great new WorkCenters. One of the features of the new FSCM WorkCenters is the configurable Links pagelet. With the links pagelet, you can add and remove links to information related to the WorkCenter's business process. One of the great features of the Links pagelet is that it allows you to set the starting page of a delivered WorkCenter. A current limitation of the Links pagelet is that it does NOT allow you to open external content in the WorkCenter's TargetContent area. To say it another way, you can add external content to the Links pagelet, but that external content opens in a new window. As usual, however, the only real limitation is imagination. Here is the method I developed that allows me to add external content to the Links pagelet and have it open in the TargetContent area: an iScript that redirects to the external content. I then register this iScript as a CREF and add it as a Link. The Links pagelet thinks the content is local, so it opens the external content in the TargetContent area. Here is the iScript:

Declare Function SpecifyPortalOpen PeopleCode FUNCLIB_PTPP.PTPP_PORTALR FieldFormula;

Function IScript_ContentRedirect()
   Local ApiObject &portal;
   Local ApiObject &cref;
   Local string &url = "";
   Local string &portalName = %Request.GetParameter("PORTAL");
   Local string &crefName = %Request.GetParameter("CREF");
   
   &portal = SpecifyPortalOpen(&portalName);
   &cref = &portal.FindCREFByName(&crefName);
   
   If (&cref <> Null) Then
      If (&cref.Authorized) Then
         &url = &cref.AbsoluteContentURL;
      End-If;
   End-If;
   
   %Response.RedirectURL(&url);
End-Function;

Here is how you use it:

1. Create a CREF for your external URL
2. Create a new CREF for the iScript. In the additional parameters section of the CREF, add PORTAL=EMPLOYEE&CREF=YOUR_CREF_NAME
3. Update the new iScript CREF's security to match the external content CREF's security.

I use this technique with both OBIEE dashboards and Taleo.

Writing to stdout and stderr Take II

A few years ago I wrote a post that describes how to print text to the App Engine output file, bypassing the verbose MessageBox statement with its text length limitation (AppEngine Output Tricks, Reporting, Logging, Etc). I recently employed that same technique for logging Taleo Connect Client output when run from an App Engine. Looking at the code from those old println methods, I noticed a couple of inefficiencies:

• Each invocation of println initializes the same JavaObject variables resulting in wasted CPU cycles and wasted memory
• The two functions, println_to_stderr and println_to_stdout, are nearly identical which violates the DRY principle

The solution to both of these problems is inherent in Application Classes. We can solve the first issue by maintaining state inside the App Class with private instance variables. The DRY violation could be solved through properly implemented composition (preferred) or inheritance.

Here is an alternate implementation of the println_to_stdout method that uses an App Class to maintain state between invocations:

class StdoutWriter
   method println(&message As string);
   
private
   
   instance JavaObject &printlnMethod_;
   instance JavaObject &outputStream_;
end-class;

method println
   /+ &message as String +/
   /+ Extends/implements NAA_STDIO:IOWriter.println +/
   
   REM ** Lazy initializtion to ensure initialized between invocations;
   REM ** Need a local copy of member for "None" test;
   Local JavaObject &outputStream = &outputStream_;
   If (None(&outputStream)) Then
      REM ** NOTE: this is the only difference between StderrWriter and StdoutWriter;
      &outputStream_ = GetJavaClass("java.lang.System").out;
      
      Local JavaObject &stringClass = GetJavaClass("java.lang.Class").forName("java.lang.String");
      Local JavaObject &printStreamCls = &outputStream_.getClass();
      Local JavaObject &printlnArgTypes = CreateJavaObject("java.lang.Class[]", &stringClass);
      
      &printlnMethod_ = &printStreamCls.getDeclaredMethod("println", &printlnArgTypes);
   End-If;
   
   &printlnMethod_.invoke(&outputStream_, CreateJavaObject("java.lang.Object[]", &message));
   rem ** I didn't find flushing necessary, but here is where you would flush the buffer if desired;
   rem &outputStream_.flush();
end-method;

Notice that I used lazy initialization and only persist two JavaObject variables. The life of a JavaObject variable is potentially shorter than most PeopleCode variables. The PeopleSoft runtime can persist many types of PeopleCode variables across requests (events, think time functions, etc). This is not the case with Java variables. Lazy initialization and re-initialization ensures those Java variables always have a value. I only persist two variables rather than the seven from the original println_to_stdout function because we only need two of those variables for subsequent invocations.

About the DRY principle violation... I chose not to solve it. The number of lines required to create another app class (for composition or inheritance) was about the same as the number of duplicate lines. If I had multiple targets besides stderr and stdout, then creating a class structure to contain this redundant code would make sense. In this case the clarity seemed worth a little redundancy.

So how do you use it? Assuming you put this class in an Application Package named JJM_STDIO, you would call it like this:

import JJM_STDIO:StdoutWriter;

Local JJM_STDIO:StdoutWriter &out = create JJM_STDIO:StdoutWriter();

&out.println("This could be a very long line of text read from some process output that would exceed the maximum length for MessageBox");

PeopleSoft Interaction Hub VM Demo Image Available

The PeopleTools team just posted information about a new VirtualBox image for PeopleSoft Interaction Hub. Read more about it on the PeopleSoft Technology Blog.