Generating DTDs from PeopleTools 8.13

This topic describes how to generate DTDs from PeopleSoft 8.13, and use these DTDs to create the OTDs used to create the business logic for the PeopleSoft Adapter. To create the OTD used with the Business Process Manager (BPM) PeopleSoft Adapter Project, use the PeopleTools Application Designer 8.13 to generate the necessary Document Type Definitions (DTDs) using third-party software. You can then create an OTD that uses the generated DTD.

This section describes an alternative procedure that “reverse-engineers” a DTD from a sample XML message generated within PeopleSoft. This procedure may not work for all message definitions. You must know the data constraints for a particular message definition to correctly populate the message with sample data.

Creating PeopleSoft DTDs involves the following steps:

• Generating and Publishing an XML Test Message

• Extracting and Viewing the XML Test Message

• Generating a DTD for the XML File

Generating and Publishing an XML Test Message

The first step to generate a DTD is to use the PeopleSoft 8 Application Designer to generate a PeopleSoft XML test message based on a particular message definition.

To generate a PeopleSoft XML message

1. Log into PeopleTools.
2. Log into the Application Designer.
3. From the Application Designer’s File menu, click Open.

   The Open Object dialog box appears (see the figure below).

   
   

   Figure 25 Open Object Dialog Box - Object Type Message

   
4. Select Message as the object type, and click Open.

   A list of all available message definitions appears

   .

5. Double-click the message definition for your message, for example, ADVANCED_SHIPPING_RECEIPT.

   The Message window displays the message structure (see the figure below).

   
   

   Figure 26 Message Structure Details

   
6. Right-click Version_1 in the message structure tree, and select Create Test Message from the shortcut menu.

   The Version_1 dialog box appears displaying the records contained in the ADVANCED_SHIPPING_RECEIPT message (see the figure below).

   
   

   Figure 27 Creating a Test Message

   
7. Expand the Transaction record to display all sub-records within the transaction record, as displayed in the figure below.
   

   Figure 28 Displaying Transaction Subrecords

   

   Records can nest multiple levels as displayed in the figure below.

   
   

   Figure 29 Expanding Transaction Subrecords

   

   For the purpose of this example, only the fields ASN_RECEIVED_DT: 12/15/2000 and ASN_STATUS: have data contained within them.

   If there are no constraints requiring you to populate all fields in a record, then generate a well-formed XML message by populating only one field in each record and sub-record. For most message definitions, only one field is required to be populated with data (some contain default values).

   If there are constraints, then all fields in each record and sub-record must be populated.

8. Enter data for the PSCAMA records as follows:
   1. Double-click a specific field. If the field displays empty, it is available for data input.
   2. Add the sample data (see the figure below).
      

      Figure 30 Version 1 - Create Test Message

      
9. Continue entering data until all other required records and sub-records are populated using the same method as above.
10. Once all records and sub-records of the message have been populated with data, click Apply to have the updates published to the PSFT_EP Message Node (see the figure below).

    A message confirms that publication was successful.

    
    

    Figure 31 Viewing the Test Message

    
11. Click OK to close the dialog box.

Extracting and Viewing the XML Test Message

The XML test message that you generated and published in the prior section can now be viewed using a supported Web browser. Refer to PeopleSoft PeopleBooks for more information about using the PeopleSoft 8 Application.

To view the XML message

1. Within a supported Web browser, log into the PeopleSoft 8 Application.
2. In PeopleSoft 8, click PeopleTools to open the PeopleTools application (see the figure below).
   

   Figure 32 PeopleSoft 8 Application Contents Page

   

   The PeopleTools Directory Tree appears as displayed in the figure below.

   
   

   Figure 33 PeopleTools Directory Tree

   
3. Click Application Message Monitor > Use > Application Message Monitor, and click the hyperlink.

   The Application Message Monitor page opens to the Overview tab (see the figure below).

   
   

   Figure 34 Application Message Monitor - Overview Tab

   
4. From the Publish Node field, select the PSFT_EP message node.
5. Click Refresh.

   The number of messages published for the selected grouping using the Create Test Message tool appears.

6. Click the link indicated by the number of messages in the New, Done, or Working columns.

   The Message Instances tab appears, displaying a summary of the published messages (see the figure below).

   
   

   Figure 35 Application Message Monitor - Message Instances Tab

   
7. Click the Details link to view the properties of the published XML message (see the figure below).
   

   Figure 36 Message Properties Tab

   
8. Click the XML Message Viewer tab to review the message itself.
9. Select the entire XML message (see the figure below).
   

   Figure 37 XML Message Viewer Tab

   
10. Copy and paste the XML message into a text editor and save it, with a .xml extension, to a temporary location. Use the same naming convention used for the name of the Message Definition.

    The example in the figure below shows the saved XML Message ADVANCED_SHIPPING_RECEIPT.

    
    

    Figure 38 ADVANCED_SHIPPING_RECEIPT.xml

    

Generating a DTD for the XML File

The structure of the XML message must now be described in a DTD, from which an OTD is subsequently generated. PeopleSoft does not provide a DTD generation utility, but third-party utilities are available to accomplish this task.

A free, online DTD Generator utility is available at the following URL:

http://www.hitsw.com/

This utility is presented to illustrate the general procedures for generating a DTD. Oracle has no connection with, and does not support, this product.

1. From the XML Document to DTD field browse to and select the .xml file with the saved XML Message. For this example:

   c:\temp\ADVANCED_SHIPPING_RECEIPT.xml

2. Click Open. The DTD Generator page reappears with the path and file displayed in the XML Document box (see Generating a DTD for the XML File).

   

3. Click Generate DTD to generate the DTD. The DTD appears as displayed in Generating a DTD for the XML File.

   

4. Select only the DTD-related information (usually all information except the first line).

5. Copy and paste the text into a text editor and save it with a .dtd extension to a temporary location. Use the same naming convention to name the message definition (for the example, ADVANCED_SHIPPING_RECEIPT).

   

   You can now use the DTD to create a PeopleSoft OTD using the NetBeans IDE’s DTD OTD wizard.

OTD Methods and Business Process Operations

For Enterprise Service Bus Collaborations, the PeopleSoft Adapter provides the sendMessage() method. For Business Process Manager Business Processes, the sendMessage and ProcessRequest operations are available. This section describes the method and operations. The PeopleSoft Adapter provides the following methods:

sendMessage() method

Syntax

sendMessage()

Description

Used in outbound Collaborations to send a message to the PeopleSoft client using HTTP.

Parameters

None.

Return Value

None.

Throws

PSoftHttpApplicationException

sendMessage Operation

Description

Used in outbound Business Processes to send a message to the PeopleSoft client using HTTP.

Input and Output

processRequest Operation

Description

Used in inbound Business Processes to process a message received from the PeopleSoft server using HTTP.

Input and Output