4
Component Interface Methods

This chapter provides information on OracleAS InterConnect PeopleSoft 8 adapter's Component Interface standard and user-defined methods. This chapter discusses the following topics:

• OracleAS InterConnect Component Interface Standard Methods

• OracleAS InterConnect Component Interface User-Defined Methods

• Basic Data Types

OracleAS InterConnect Component Interface Standard Methods

OracleAS InterConnect provides five standard methods for Component Interfaces:

• Create

• Find

• Get

• Update

• Bind

Create

Use the Create method to create a new record using a set of unique keys and specified properties.

Syntax

Create (key1, key2, ... keyn, properties)

where:

• key (in/out parameter)--The individual key parameters (key1, key2, .. keyn) must be supplied. This set of keys must not exist in the server database, that is, they must be unique. These keys correspond to the set of Create Keys as defined for the particular Component Interface.

• properties (structure)--Contains a complete structure of the Component Interface's properties, which is inserted into the record created with the specified keys.

Description

In some situations, it is common practice to call Create() without a set of explicit keys, but the Create function returns them. This behavior is supported with PeopleCode that is triggered on the server. For example, to create a Purchase Order, the client may not know what the next available PO number is. By specifying NEXT as the PO number key, the call triggers PeopleCode, which determines the next available PO number. This information must be returned to the calling client, via the in/out key parameters.

For this mechanism to work, the key must also be a property at level 0. Otherwise, the original key is returned.

Note: OracleAS InterConnect's Create() method is provided if PeopleSoft's Create and Save functions in the Component Interface are enabled.

Find

Use the Find method to return a list of keys that satisfy the supplied partial search keys. If the Component Interface has only one instance, which means there is no key, then the Find() function will not be generated

See Also: The Get() function

Syntax

Find (partialKey, keyList)

where:

• partialKey (structure)--Where the individual keys are optional.

• keyList (output parameter)--A list of keys that matches the partialKey.

These keys correspond to the set of Find Keys as defined for the particular Component Interface.

Description

When specifying the partial keys, it is possible to use the same wildcard search available from the PeopleSoft internal Find() function. For example, the partial ACCOUNT key of "11" returns all ACCOUNT keys that start with "11", whereas "%40" returns all ACCOUNT keys that contain "40" anywhere within the key. A partial key "_4_4" returns all ACCOUNT keys with the character "4" in the second and fourth positions.

OracleAS InterConnect's Find() method is provided if PeopleSoft's Find function in the Component Interface is enabled and Get keys are available.

Note: With the current implementation of the PeopleSoft Server, if more than 300 items match the search criteria, the call will fail. This is a restriction of the PeopleSoft server.

Get

Use the Get method to retrieve properties based on the input key parameters (key1, key2, ... keyn). The output parameter is a structure containing the properties of the record that matches the key parameters. If the Component Interface has only one instance (that is, there is no key) then the Get function does not contain any key parameter

See Also: The Find() function

Syntax

Get (key1, key2, ... keyn, properties)
Get (key1, key2, ... keyn, getHistoryItems, properties)

where:

• All the key parameters must be supplied. This set of keys must exist in the server database, otherwise an error will occur. These keys correspond to the set of Get Keys as defined for the particular Component Interface.

• properties (structure)--Contains a complete structure of the Component Interface's properties, which is returned upon completion of the call.

Description

If the properties of the Component Interface contain effective dated items below level 0 (that is, a key field with a name of EFFDT), the getHistoryItems additional parameter is required. This parameter is of type Boolean. If it is set to True then all effective dated items are returned as a sequence (which could be embedded in any level). These include all past effective dated items, the current effective dated item, as well as all future effective dated items. If the getHistoryItems parameter is set to False, only the current and all future effective dated items are returned. If subsequent calls to update on the same instance are to be made, then getHistoryItems should be set to False.

See Also: The Update() method

If the Component Interface does not have any key, as in the case where only one instance can exist, then the Get() method will have the form:

Get(properties)

See Also: PeopleSoft documentation for more information on effective dated items

Note: OracleAS InterConnect's Get() method is provided if PeopleSoft's Get function in the Component Interface is enabled.

Update

Use the Update method to update properties based on the input key parameters (key1, key2, ... keyn).

Syntax

Update (key1, key2, ... keyn, properties)

where:

• All the key parameters must be supplied. This set of keys must exist in the server database, else an error will occur. These keys correspond to the set of Get Keys as defined for the particular Component Interface.

• properties (structure)--Contains a complete structure of the Component Interface's properties, which replaces the existing properties in the database.

Description

When calling this function, the properties of the record corresponding to the keys are replaced by the properties input parameter. All collections with the original records are deleted and replaced by those in the input parameter. The sizes of these collections do not have to match, as the procedure within Update is to delete all existing collection items and then insert the given ones.

If the properties of the Component Interface contain effective dated items, then the properties parameter must contain all future effective dated items, as the original list is replaced. This provides the mechanism for adding and deleting future effective dated items. However, if the properties also contain past effected items, an error is returned, as past effective dated can not be modified. If the current effective dated item is also included, it is ignored. This permits the client to call Get() with the getHistoryItems parameter set to False, modify any future effected items or add new future effective dated items, and then pass the structure as the parameter for the Update() function.

If the Component Interface does not have any key, as in the case where only one instance can exist, then the Update() method will have the form:

Update(properties)

Note: OracleAS InterConnect's Update() method is provided if PeopleSoft's Get and Save functions in the Component Interface are enabled.

Bind

Use the Bind method to bind a Component Interface object to a specific credential.

Syntax

Bind (host, user, password)

Description

The Bind method permits the client to use an explicit credential to access a given Component Interface object. It returns a bind object which has the associated credential. For example:

Myobject = new myCIObject
Set MyBindObject = Myobject.Bind(myHost, me, myPassword)
MyBindObject.Get(key, properties)

The access of the returned object and its methods are based on the credential as specified by the Bind method. This function allows for multiple credentials from a single client, for different objects.

If a Component Interface object is invoked without calling Bind() first, the credential used is the one specified in the profile.

OracleAS InterConnect Component Interface User-Defined Methods

OracleAS InterConnect supports user-defined methods in Component Interfaces. The signatures are of the form:

myRet=myCI.myMethod(parameter1, parameter2, ...)

where:

• parameter1, parameter2--Input parameters

• myRet--The return value

The parameters can only be input parameters to the method. Only one value can be returned from the method as the return parameter.

The Component Interface that contains user-defined methods must have the PeopleSoft's Find and Get functions enabled.

Basic Data Types

Table 4-1 describes how PeopleSoft basic data types map to OracleAS InterConnect types.

Table 4-1 Basic Types

PeopleSoft Basic Types	Interconnect Types
Char(<n>)	String
Long(<n>)	String
Nbr(<n>, 0)	Integer, Double, String
Sign(<n>, 0)	Integer, Double, String
Collection	Array
Component Interface Properties	Complex structures
Time	Date
Date	Date
Date Time	Date

Table 4-2 identifies the range of four basic types.

Table 4-2 Range of Basic Types

Data Type	Range
Char(<n>)	Any string of <n> characters. <n> is between 1 and 254.
Long(<n>)	Any string of <n> characters. <n> is between 0 and 64000. Long(0) is an unbounded string.
Nbr(<n>, <d>)	Unsigned value with <n> digits before the "." and <d> after Nbr(3.2) has a range of 0 to 999.99. The maximum precision for this type is always the precision of a java float.
Sign(<n>, <d>)	Signed value with <n> digits before the "." and <d> after Sign(3.2) has a range of -999.99 to 999.99. The maximum precision for this type is always the precision of a java float.