PeopleSoft Technical Essentials - PeopleCode & Application Engine

Call Section action can invoke both local sections (within the same Application Engine program) and external sections (from other programs). However, for external sections to be callable, their Access property must be set to Public. Private external sections cannot be called from other programs - this is a security and encapsulation feature. Local sections have no access restriction since they're part of the same program.

PeopleSoft Application Engine allows up to 200 State Records to be associated with a single program. State Records are used to pass data between steps and sections, track processing state, and store temporary values. The 200 limit provides ample capacity for complex programs with multiple data streams. Options 50, 99, and 100 are all below the actual maximum of 200.

In PeopleSoft PeopleCode, the SearchInit and SearchSave events are specifically designed to work with the Search Record during search processing. They are not available for State Record, Temporary Record, or all record types - they are tied exclusively to the search functionality.

Deferred processing mode in PeopleSoft reduces the number of trips to the server by buffering multiple operations and sending them together, rather than making individual server calls for each action. This improves performance by minimizing network overhead.

The Refresh button in PeopleSoft is designed to refresh the current page display, but it does not reload data from the database. It only redraws the page using existing data in the buffer. To get fresh data from the database, you would need to use other methods like reloading the component.

The Activate event is the only PeopleCode event specifically associated with a Page object in PeopleSoft. Other events like PreBuild and PostBuild are associated with Components, not Pages. The Activate event fires when a page becomes active in the component.

When a popup page is activated, the Activate PeopleCode for the popup page executes AFTER the page activate event for the main page has completed. This sequencing ensures the main page is fully processed before the popup logic runs.

FieldChange PeopleCode executes immediately after a field value is modified (and passes validation). It is widely used to recalculate other fields on the page, dynamically alter the visual appearance of controls, or perform non-validation processing triggered by the user's action.

FieldEdit PeopleCode is specifically designed to validate values entered into a page field, triggering an error or warning if validation fails. Other events serve different roles: FieldChange handles post-validation logic, FieldDefault sets initial values, and FieldFormula houses reusable user functions.

The ItemSelected PeopleCode event is specifically designed to execute when a user selects an item from a pop-up menu. This event is unique to pop-up menu items and is not associated with standard pages or other components.

The PreBuild and PostBuild PeopleCode events are commonly used to control page visibility within a component. PreBuild can hide pages before they're displayed, and PostBuild can modify visibility after initial building. This allows dynamic page showing/hiding based on conditions.

RowInit is a PeopleCode event that fires for an entire row of data when a row is initialized or inserted, not for individual fields. It is row-level, not field-specific. Field-specific events would be like FieldEdit or FieldChange.

Derived or work records are temporary, in-memory buffers in PeopleSoft used for display or processing purposes; they do not write to database tables. Consequently, database-level operations like RowDelete and RowInsert do not fire PeopleCode events for them, unlike physical tables or views.

The RowSelect PeopleCode event fires as each row is being processed during a row-by-row operation (like ScrollSelect). At this point, you can only refer to fields on the record currently being processed - you don't have access to all records in the buffer or component.

The correct sequence of PeopleCode events during Save processing is: SaveEdit (validation first), SavePreChange (pre-processing), Workflow (workflow processing), and finally SavePostChange (post-processing after commit). This order ensures validation happens before changes, workflow runs before database commit, and post-change code runs after successful save.

SearchInit PeopleCode executes specifically in the search key fields of a search record, not primary key or alternate search key fields. This event triggers when a user initiates a search dialog in PeopleSoft, allowing you to set default search values or control search behavior before the user enters criteria.

FieldDefault PeopleCode fires when a page is first displayed, allowing you to programmatically set initial default values for fields. This is different from FieldFormula or FieldChange events - FieldDefault only runs once at initial display, not during row insert or subsequent field edits.

PeopleSoft Pure Internet Architecture is designed to leverage all aspects of PeopleSoft's technology stack - including internet solutions, intranet solutions, and integration technologies. It's a comprehensive architecture that enables web-based access to PeopleSoft applications and integrates with various systems.

A single database server can indeed support multiple application servers simultaneously. This is a common architecture in enterprise systems where several application server instances connect to one central database to serve different users or applications.

The PeopleSoft database server maintains both application data (the actual business data and transactions) and PeopleSoft metadata (information about the application structure, objects, and configuration). Both are essential for the system to function.