Integrating with Taxware Sales and Use Tax

This chapter provides an overview of the PeopleSoft Business Interlinks used to integrate with the Taxware Sales and Use Tax application and discusses how to:

See Also

Integrating with Sales and Use Tax Applications

Taxware Sales/Use Tax, STEP and VeraZip® Systems PeopleSoft Link Installation Notes

Taxware Universal Tax Link Technical Reference Manual

Click to jump to parent topicUnderstanding PeopleSoft Business Interlinks to Taxware Sales and Use Tax

PeopleSoft delivers two business interlink objects to interact with Taxware for both online and batch transactions: TAXWARE_CALCTAX and TAXWARE_GEOCODES. The business interlink objects communicate with Taxware Sales and Use Tax Series through an interlink plug-in provided by Taxware. The interlink plug-in file name is pstwlink.dll and it must be installed in the interface drivers directory.

UNIX Environments

In UNIX environments, the business interlink algorithmically converts the file name format from that of a Windows DLL to that of a UNIX shared library or shared object. The business interlink adds the prefix lib to the name, and replaces the extension, DLL, with the appropriate extension for the current UNIX platform.

For example, the business interlink changes the file name pstwlink.dll to libpstwlink.sl before each call to the interlink plug-in.

See Also

https://support.oracle.com/CSP/ui/flash.html

Enterprise PeopleTools PeopleBook: PeopleCode API Reference

Click to jump to parent topicIdentifying Taxware Plug-in Locations

By default, the PeopleSoft system searches for the interlink plug-in in the interface drivers directory, as described in the following table:

Location

Mode

<PS_HOME>\bin\client\winx86\interfacedrivers

For two-tier testing on Windows.

<PS_HOME>\bin\server\winx86\interfacedrivers

For Windows application server and PeopleSoft Process Scheduler server.

<PS_HOME>/bin/interfacedrivers

For UNIX application server and PeopleSoft Process Scheduler server.

These directories also contain the XML script files that describe the interlink plug-in structure which were used to create the delivered business interlink objects in the PeopleSoft system. The XML script files have the same name as the Windows DLL plug-in, except that the .XML extension is used instead of the .DLL extension.

When you purchase the Taxware software, Taxware provides the interlink plug-in that you must place in these directories. The copy under the Windows directory <PS_HOME>\bin\client\winx86\InterfaceDrivers is not used in production. The PeopleSoft Process Scheduler server and the application server use the plug-in copy in <PS_HOME>\bin\server\winx86\InterfaceDrivers on Windows, or <PS_HOME>/bin/interfacedrivers on UNIX.

Application Server Configurations

The application server configuration file has the following entry, which you can use to change the plug-in default location:

[PSTOOLS]
=============================================================
; General settings for PSTOOLS
=============================================================
;Uncomment this to specify an alternate directory to search for Interface Drivers.
;Business Interlink Driver Directory=

Process Scheduler Configurations

The PeopleSoft Process Scheduler configuration file contains the following entry, which you can use to change the plug-in default location:

;-------------------------------------------------------------------------
;Uncomment to specify an alternate directory to search for Interface Drivers.
;Business Interlink Driver Directory=

Click to jump to parent topicIdentifying Taxware DLLs and Shared Library Locations

Taxware-supplied DLLs or shared libraries can be placed in the following locations:

Note. Refer to the Taxware documentation for more information.

Windows NT

Typically, the Taxware DLLs should be placed in the same directory as the PeopleSoft main executable file:

Location

Mode

<PS_HOME>\bin\client\winx86

For two-tier testing on Windows.

<PS_HOME>\bin\server\winx86

For Windows application server and PeopleSoft Process Scheduler server.

UNIX

Typically, the Taxware shared libraries should be placed in the same directory with the other PeopleSoft libraries. This directory is <PS_HOME>/bin. It is usually one of the directories pointed to by the LIBPATH environment variable set up in the psconfig.sh UNIX shell script.

If the system cannot find either the plug-in DLL/shared library or Taxware supplied DLL/shared library, an interlink connectivity error appears.

Click to jump to parent topicSetting Up Variables for the Taxware Database Location

This section discusses how to:

Click to jump to top of pageClick to jump to parent topicSetting Up Taxware on a Microsoft Windows NT or Windows 2000 Platform

Taxware provides three INI files that you need to set up to point to the location of the Taxware database directories:

Place all three files in the WINNT directory. Each file contains a set of pointer variables that you should point to the location where the Taxware database files were placed during Taxware software installation.

Note. Taxware opens the database files in read/write mode, even when only reading from them. You may encounter problems with permissions.

Click to jump to top of pageClick to jump to parent topicSetting Up Taxware on a UNIX Platform

You must set up several environment variables with the location of the Taxware database files. Taxware provides a script called ENVARS that contains all the variables that need to be defined. In ENVARS, provide values for these variables, and then run the ENVARS script when starting the application server and PeopleSoft Process Scheduler. A typical place to run the ENVARS script is in psconfig.sh.

Note. Taxware opens the database files in read/write mode. Consequently, you may encounter problems with permissions.

Click to jump to parent topicSetting Up PeopleSoft Installation Options for Taxware Sales and Use Tax

The Set Up Financials/Supply Chain, Install, Tax Provider Installation page provides the following options for Taxware Sales and Use Tax:

Note. To display these options, Taxware must be chosen as the Tax Vendor on the Overall Installation Options page and Taxware Sales and Use Tax as the Taxware Tax Application on the Tax Provider Installation page.

Using STEP

Select this option if you use the Taxware STEP module.

Reason Code Matching

Select one of two options to determine how you want to handle tax certificate entry reason lookup in STEP.

Only Exact Reason Code Match: This is the more restrictive option. Taxware finds only tax certificates that were entered with the exact reason code you set up on the bill line. If you select this option, you must add the Taxware reason codes as translate values for the field TAX_EXEMPT_RC. Only add those reason codes you expect to be sent to PeopleSoft.

Use Default Record: Taxware looks for an exact match. If it doesn't find one, it uses a default tax certificate for exemption.

Certificate Level

Enter an option that determines which taxing jurisdiction level tax certificates apply.

Selecting Individual Certificate Levels enables STEP to look for certificates at all individual levels and exempt tax only for those levels at which a certificate is found.

Selecting State Level Only prompts STEP to look for certificates at the state level only.

Click to jump to parent topicTesting the Taxware Sales and Use Tax Installation

To test the Taxware Sales and Use Tax installation, click the Test Tax Install button on the Tax Provider Installation page. The system will send a test transaction to Taxware and should report a Geocode and nonzero tax amount. If an error message appears or the tax amount is zero, then there is a problem with the tax installation that must be corrected.

Click to jump to parent topicTroubleshooting Installation Errors

The sections discuss error messages that you may receive and suggestions for resolving the errors. For batch processing, similar error messages are placed in the message log of each failed process.

Two-Tier Testing, Interlink Tester With Plug-in or Vendor DLL Not Accessible

This message appears:

Check the client directories to ensure the plug-in and the Taxware DLLs are in the correct directories. Check the Taxware documentation for a complete list of required DLLs. This error may also be related to changes that you make to the Configuration Manager to change the location of the default interlink directory.

Three-Tier Geocode Look-up With the Interlink Plug-in Not Accessible

Check the directories on the computer running the application server and ensure that the plug-in and the Taxware DLLs are in the correct directories. Check the Taxware documentation for a complete list of required DLLs. This error may also be related to changes that you make to the Configuration Manager to change the location of the default interlink directory. Also check permissions of the plug-in and vendor DLLs.

Three-Tier Where the Taxware Open Fails on Geocode Look-up

This error message appears when the Taxware software detects invalid database pointers, permissions issues or other open failures:

Check the INI files or UNIX psconfig.sh environment variables to ensure that entries are pointing to the correct locations. Additionally, you should check for permissions problems.