Working With Browser-Based Applications

This chapter provides an overview of browser-based applications and discusses how to:

• Sign in to PeopleSoft applications.

• Use drop-down menus.

• Use the menu pagelet.

• Use the portal search field.

• Use the universal navigation header.

• Use the pagebar.

• Process components.

• Use buttons and links.

• Use keyboard shortcuts.

• Use accessibility features.

Understanding Browser-Based Applications

You use PeopleSoft applications in a purely internet environment, called PeopleSoft Pure Internet Architecture. PeopleSoft Pure Internet Architecture is a server-centric architecture that requires only that a web browser be installed on individual user machines.

The PeopleSoft Pure Internet Architecture is your "window" to PeopleSoft applications as well as other web-based applications and content. Within your browser, sign in to the PeopleSoft Pure Internet Architecture as you would when opening a website. The PeopleSoft Pure Internet Architecture uses a dynamic drop-down menu for navigation and a universal navigation header that includes navigational tools: Home, Worklist, MultiChannel Console, and Sign out.This navigation header appears at the top of every page as long as you are logged in.

PeopleSoft delivers your PeopleSoft application with a demonstration database that includes sample data to help you see how the system works. You can also use the demonstration database to experiment with specific PeopleSoft applications. The PeopleBooks for the various applications frequently refer to the demonstration information to clarify concepts and provide a common frame of reference for examples.

See Understanding the Universal Navigation Header.

PeopleSoft Pure Internet Architecture Terminology

PeopleSoft applications are made up of a navigational structure, components (groups of pages), and pages. Using these elements, you can enter new data or change, delete, and modify the existing data in your application. Using the PeopleSoft Pure Internet Architecture is similar to browsing web pages; it provides a simple, intuitive way of working with your database.

Here are some of the basic elements used in PeopleSoft Pure Internet Architecture:

See Using Keys and Search Pages.

Signing In to PeopleSoft Applications

Signing in to a PeopleSoft application is like opening a secured page on a website.

To sign in to a PeopleSoft application:

1. Open your default browser window.

2. Enter the URL for your application, or select the bookmark for the page where you want to work.

   The Sign In page appears.

3. Select the language in which you want your transaction pages to appear.

4. Enter your user ID and password.

   Your user ID and password are case sensitive. For security reasons, passwords always appear as asterisks in the display as you enter them.

5. Press Tab and Enter, or click the Sign In button to sign in.

   The PeopleSoft online system validates your user ID and password. If either the user ID or password is invalid, the system displays an error message below the Sign In button. You must reenter your user ID and password, or contact your security administrator for assistance.

After you sign in, the mouse pointer turns into a small hourglass, signifying that the online system is initiating your request. Whenever the system accesses data in the database, the hourglass appears on your desktop. If you entered valid sign in information, the system displays the homepage for your PeopleSoft system.

PeopleSoft Pure Internet Architecture structure provides "single signon" access, which allows you to work in multiple PeopleSoft applications and databases without having to sign in to each application. If your site has not implemented single signon, the system prompts you to enter a user ID and password each time that you access a different PeopleSoft application.

For security purposes, your PeopleSoft system logs you out of your application after a period of inactivity determined by your security administrator. Prior to your session timeout, the system might provide a warning that your browser session is about to expire. You can continue with your current session by clicking the OK button in the warning message. If you do not respond within two minutes, the session ends and the expired connection page opens. To return to your application, click the Sign in to PeopleSoft link. The Sign In page appears, and you can once again sign in to your application.

Important! To ensure data security in environments where multiple users have access to the same workstation, users should close the browser after logging out of PeopleSoft.

Using Drop-Down Menus

Drop-down menus are an intuitive, nonlinear way to navigate PeopleSoft applications and access your application data. Drop-down menus appear at the top of your browser, above the transaction page or content area and contain lists of menu items. The menu items are either links that provide direct access to a transaction or detail page, or are folders that provide access to submenus, which cascade to the side and contain more menu items. Folders typically organize menu items based on business processes or other relationships that exist among transactions.

To navigate by using drop-down menus:

1. Click Main Menu to start.

   The Main Menu and all subsequent menus display only menu items that you are authorized to access.

2. Click a folder label to open its submenu.

3. Click a link to open the resource in the content area.

Note. If you click the folder icon instead of the name, the navigation page appears.

See Using Navigation Pages.

Scrolling and Sorting

Submenus always open in the viewable area. If the viewable area is too small to display the full list of items in a submenu, scroll indicators—up and down arrows—appear at the top and bottom of the submenu to let you know that there are more menu items in the list. Hover your mouse over the up or down arrow to make the menu scroll in the direction of the arrow. Click and hold the arrow to double the scrolling speed. You can also use your mouse wheel to scroll through a menu.

You can sort the drop-down menu alphabetically by clicking the sort icon on the Main Menu window. Continue clicking to toggle through an ascending, descending, and portal sequence number sort. As you click the sort icon, the icon changes to indicate the direction of the sort.

Note. While the sort icon appears only on the Main Menu, any sort you initiate at the Main Menu level applies to all submenus and persists until you change the sort or sign out.

Navigating Breadcrumbs

Breadcrumbs refer to the collective sequence of menus and menu items that appear above the content area when you navigate to transaction pages or navigation pages. In drop-down navigation, each individual item in the breadcrumb string is a drop-down menu and represents a level in the overall menu hierarchy. Click any item to navigate directly to the corresponding level in the menu hierarchy and reveal the subordinate menu items.

The application dynamically generates the individual items in the breadcrumb string using the following criteria:

1. The first item in the sequence is always the Main Menu.

2. The last item in the sequence is:

   • The component name, when you access a transaction page.

   • The folder name, when you access a navigation page.

   • The value of the focus node, when you access a SmartNavigation page.

3. The intermediate items in the sequence are the names of each menu item that you click to access the resource; menu items appear in the order that you click them.

The breadcrumbs reveal both the navigational path to your current location and the hierarchical or parent child relationships that exist among the items in the breadcrumb sequence.

Note. Breadcrumbs appear only when you click a link to access a component or when you click a folder icon.

Note. When you navigate to a WorkCenter page, the breadcrumbs that appear are relative to the WorkCenter page. The items in the breadcrumb string remain static while you click pagelet links that open resources inside the WorkCenter page target content area. Some pagelet links open resources that replace the WorkCenter page entirely. In this case, the application updates the breadcrumbs according the drop-down menu navigation rules.

Using SmartNavigation

Most drop-down menus are comprised of menu items that are static and completely independent of your application data and any relationships that exist among your data. You navigate through menu items to access a link that you click to open a search page. You then enter a search value that the system uses to retrieve data, which populates the transaction page

SmartNavigation extends and enhances drop-down menus by incorporating your data into the menu structure itself. Menu items are dynamic and appear in the menu hierarchy based on the parent-child relationships. you use SmartNavigation menus, rather than navigating to your data, you are navigating the data itself.

SmartNavigation menus and menu items represent hierarchically-related entities, such as:

• Employees in a department.

• Accounts in a region.

• Students in a class.

This is an example of SmartNavigation drop-down menus:

Each menu item is a unique row of data. The menu items are organized based on parent-child relationships. The key field values of the row determine the labels of the menu items. The key field structure of the underlying table determines the position of the menu items in the menu hierarchy.

Similar to standard menu items, SmartNavigation menu items expand when you click the label of a parent menu item. When you click the icon of a child menu item, the transaction or detail page appears.

In addition to your data, SmartNavigation menus also display an Actions folder. The Actions folder contains links to the details component and related actions components.

Note. Side navigation from the Menu pagelet does not support SmartNavigation menus.

SmartNavigation Icons

SmartNavigation menu items do not use the standard folder and content reference icons. SmartNavigation menu items icons are graphically stylized representations of entities. A multi-entity icon appears next to menu items that are parent rows which have one or more subordinate menu items that are child rows. A single-entity icon appears next to menu items that are child rows, which have no subordinate menu items or child rows.

See Also

Accessing Related Actions

Using the Menu Pagelet

The Menu pagelet is an intuitive way of navigating to transaction pages and updating or viewing data in your database. The menu consists of a hierarchy of links and content references. Expanding and collapsing these links and then selecting content references that are within them, is one of the primary ways of navigating your PeopleSoft applications.

The main menu pageletcontains a list of the general areas to which you have access in the application. From this point you can expand any folder to access additional folders or content references that open transaction pages.

When you click folders in the main menu, the system retrieves only the appropriate hierarchy for the selected link or folder, instead of refreshing the entire menu. When you click the folder image next to the folder name, only the specific folder contents are retrieved. When you click the folder link itself, then the entire hierarchy of the root portal registry contents and the folder contents themselves are retrieved and displayed. As you navigate the folders, the levels within the folder hierarchy change color for visual identification.

Using Navigation Pages

PeopleSoft applications include navigation pages are task-driven pages that offer intuitive access to pages needed to complete your business processes. These navigation pages may incorporate icons to make it even easier for you to navigate your application.

You access navigation pages by clicking a folder icon in the menu. Two types of navigation pages exist:

• Standard navigation pages.

• SmartNavigation pages.

Standard Navigation Pages

Elements embedded in the folder, including content references and other folders, are arranged in a graphical format on a navigation page displayed in the content area. For example, clicking the PeopleTools, Utilities folder in the menu pagelet displays the Utilities navigation page as shown here:

See Also

Understanding Navigation Pages

SmartNavigation Pages

SmartNavigation pages are different than standard navigation pages. SmartNavigation pages organize your data into a tree-like chart that displays two or three levels at one time as you see here:

Note. If the focus node does not have a parent or it does not have children, only two levels appear; otherwise three levels appear.

Note these points about the organization of the chart:

• The chart represents hierarchical data arrayed in levels.

  Adjacent levels—joined by connectors—indicate parent child relationships; nodes at the same level are sibling nodes.

   

• Each level consists of one or more nodes.

  Each node represents a single entity, such as an employee in an organization and corresponds to one row of data. Other than the top level node, each node has one parent and zero, one, or more child nodes.

• Each node, which is linked to a detail component, contains values—usually a detail value and a descriptive value.

  Note. Some nodes also contain a related Actions drop-down menu. This menu displays links, which you click to access other transactional data that is in some way related to the data on the node where the Actions menu appears.

  The descriptive value can appear as either static text or as a link that you use to navigate through the chart. When you click this link, the corresponding node moves to the middle level of the chart, which now displays three levels. The top and bottom levels contain the parent and child nodes respectively. Click these links until the chart displays the data you want.

  The search key or detail value always appears as a link that you use to access a component. When you click a Details link, the system:

  • Accesses the component to which the node is linked.

  • Passes the detail value to the component search record.

  • Retrieves the row of data indicated by the search key value.

  • Populates the transaction page with the data and displays it to you.

  • Displays breadcrumbs across at the top of the page, in a horizontal string which represents the organization structure.

• SmartNavigation pages have a limited amount of space. If a level contains more nodes than can appear within the allotted space, the SmartNavigation page enables you to reposition the chart by using:

  • The navigator button.

    The button includes directional arrows that you click to move the chart in the direction of the corresponding arrow. Click the arrow until any nodes outside of field of vision come into view or click the center of the button to center the chart horizontally and vertically on the node in the middle level.

  • The cursor.

    Move the cursor inside the chart area. When the cursor changes into a hand, click and drag the chart until any hidden nodes come into view.

The chart, the nodes, and the actions are highly configurable based on security, business processes, and your data.

Using the Portal Search Field

Use the Search field to search for a registered content reference within the system. Enter the name of the page you want to find and press Enter or click the search button. As you type, you might see suggestions drop down below the search field. These suggestions help you narrow the search. Autocomplete uses the text entered and searches for this text from the list of content references available from the portal registry. It returns the list of target content references only (no folders) which the current user is authorized to view. The target content reference label (defined in Portal registry) is checked for the search text entered by the user.

Select from the list or continue to enter the page name and click the search button.

Note. For the system to display autocomplete suggestions and search results, your system administrator must create a search index in PeopleTools. If you consistently do not get any search results, contact your system administrator for more information.

Note. The maximum number of automatically suggested entries that appear in the pop up menu when you begin typing is controlled in the general portal settings.

When you click the search button, this action opens the Search page displaying the results. If your search produces a large number of results, modify your search criteria, select the Search Within Results option, and then select Find to narrow your search further. Use the Customize Settings link to hide or show summaries of each search result and to control the number of search results that appear on each page.

Note. An administrator must grant you full access to this web library to get the suggestion list: WEBLIB_PORTAL.PORTAL_SEARCH_PB.FieldFormula.ISCRIPT_PortalSearch.

See Also

Managing General Portal Settings

Using the Universal Navigation Header

This section provides an overview of the universal navigation header and discusses how to:

• Add pages to the Favorites menu.

• Edit the Favorites menu.

• Use the Recently Used menu.

Understanding the Universal Navigation Header

The universal navigation header is located at the top of your PeopleSoft Pure Internet Architecture page and remains static as you navigate through the pages. The universal navigation header contains these links:

Note. Guest accounts do not have access to Favorites or Add to Favorites. You must have the appropriate security before you can access favorites.

Adding Pages to the Favorites Menu

To add pages to the Favorites menu:

1. Open the page that you want to designate as a favorite.

2. Click Favorites in the universal navigation header. Then, click Add to Favorites.

   The Add to Favorites modal window appears, with the page name as the default in the Description field.

3. Update the description for the favorite, if necessary.

4. Click OK.

   The favorite is saved and displayed in the Favorites menu.

5. Click OK to dismiss the dialog box.

Note. If pages are not registered in the portal registry, you cannot add them to the Favorites menu. See your portal administrator for assistance.

Editing the Favorites Menu

On the Edit Favorites page you can relabel favorites, delete favorites, or modify the sequence in which they appear in the Favorites menu.

To edit favorites:

1. Click theFavorites menu.

2. Click Edit Favorites.

   The Edit Favorites page appears, displaying a grid with the favorites that you selected and their sequence numbers. If there are no favorites currently saved, a message indicates this in place of the Favorites grid.

3. Locate the favorite that you want to modify, and make your changes.

   To relabel a favorite, type a new name in the text box. To delete a favorite, click the Delete button associated with it. To reorder favorites, type an appropriate number in the Sequence number box.

4. Save your changes.

Using the Recently Used Menu

When you visit a component, it is automatically added to the Recently Used list under the Favorites menu. This list is limited to the five most recently visited components.

Note. The recently used data is stored to the list when you leave the component by either clicking on the header or going to a different component.

The system does not update the recently used list if:

• You close the browser without signing out first.

• Your session times out.

Accessing Pages from the Recently Used Menu

To access pages from the Recently Used Menu, click the item name. If the component has a search record, the search page appears. Enter search criteria to access the page. If the component has no search record, the page appears without search criteria.

Using the Pagebar

Just below the universal navigation header sits the pagebar—a series of links and buttons that appear when you are on a transaction page. The availability of these options is controlled by the application developer. All options may not be available for each component.

Pagebar

Processing Components

This section discusses how to:

• Access pages or components.

• Link to related pages.

• Open new windows.

• Save pages.

• Work with dialog boxes.

Accessing Pages or Components

Components typically consist of several related pages within the same window, however, some components only contain one page. Typically, significant pages such as those containing required fields come early in the page order. As you finish with one page, you can select the folder tab of another page to open it. You can think of this as leafing through several pages of a single form.

In addition to selecting tabs, you can click the links at the bottom of each page in the component to move to other pages within the component. Alternatively, you can press the corresponding access keys.

See Using Access Keys.

To access a component:

1. Select the content reference from the menu hierarchy or navigation page that relates to your page.

2. On the search page, enter search criteria to identify the row of data that you want to retrieve from the database.

3. Click Search to perform the search.

   If your search returns multiple results, they appear in a grid from which you can select the data you want to view. If your search returns only one result, the system automatically displays that result on a page in the browser.

See Entering and Saving Search Criteria.

All pages in a group have the same search record, so the prompt in the initial search dialog box is the same regardless of which page you access first. You will not be prompted to enter new search criteria as you move from page to page in the component.

Likewise, during a save, pages in a component are treated as a single entity. When you click Save, the data on the pages is committed to the database. If you have not completed all required fields, the system prompts you to enter additional data.

Linking to Related Pages

Some pages, in addition to having links to other pages within the component, have links to related components or pages. The related links appear at the bottom of the transaction area above the toolbar. You can click any of these links to move easily to related transactions for the same key field so you can enter data without going through the search process again.

When you click a component link, the new transaction contains the same component links, enabling you to return to the original transaction. The component or page in which you are working appears in black text and is not underlined. Some applications may identify these related links in another way. For example, you might see the phrase "Go to:" along with the related links at the bottom of a page. You might also see a drop-down list box with "…More," which contains several more related transaction links.

Opening New Windows

The New Window link in the pagebar opens a new browser window or child window that displays the search page for the current component. From this window, you can view or enter new data. You can open as many child windows as needed by clicking the New Window link. Do not select File, New, Window from the browser menu. Doing so copies the current HTML from the parent window, instead of opening a new PeopleSoft-maintained window session.

When entering or viewing data in two different languages, use two separate instances of your browser program and sign in to each PeopleSoft session under the same user ID and password.

Important! When you open a window from within an application and then log out from there, PeopleSoft must log out from the application for security reasons. To remain logged into the application, you can just close the new window.

See Also

Using Search Pages to Retrieve Data

Saving Pages

After modifying the data on a page, you must click the Save button to commit your changes to the database. When you click the Save button, a spinning processing sign spins in the upper right corner of the page. When the processing is complete, the Saved icon appears.

If you attempt to leave the page without saving—by clicking another content reference from the menu hierarchy or by clicking a different toolbar button such as Next in List,—a save warning appears. Click OK to return to the page to save your changes. Click Cancel to exit the page without saving.

There are, however, other ways to exit a page. In these cases, the system issues no save warning:

• Clicking the Back button in the browser menu.

  In some browsers you can return to the page with your edits intact by clicking the Forward button.

  Note. It is recommended that you do not use the browser Back button.

• Closing the browser session.

Working With Dialog Boxes

When you work with PeopleSoft applications, dialog boxes might appear to provide different types of messages. Dialog boxes might display an error, a warning, or an informational message.

Dialog boxes share certain characteristics; all dialog boxes:

• Appear as modal pop up pages. A modal pop up pages is any page that hovers in front of and captures the focus from the primary page, which is temporarily disabled (grayed out). A modal page requires an action from you to dismiss the pop up page. Such actions include clicking the OK or Close button or clicking the Return to Previous Page link.

• Can be dragged by the title bar and relocated.

• Display informational text.

• Display at least one button.

To dismiss the dialog box, you must click one of the buttons on the dialog box or click the close button on the right side of the title bar.

Using Buttons and Links

This section provides an overview of buttons and links and discusses how to:

• Use processing buttons.

• Use toolbar buttons.

• Use popup menus.

Understanding Buttons and Links

PeopleSoft Pure Internet Architecture provides buttons and links to help you navigate and process transactions. In general, if the action is related to navigation, it appears as a link. If the action is truly an action, such as save or process, it appears as a button. Click the button or link to carry out the command.

If a button appears grayed out, that action is currently disabled. For example, when working in a transaction for the first dataset from a search list, you might see the following:

Enabled and disabled buttons

Your only option in this case is to click the Next in List button. Once you click Next in List, however, Previous in List will become available.

Similarly, links at the bottom of the page often enable you to move to another component pages. In the following example, you can use the ID, Roles, and other links to navigate to other pages. Notice that Workflow is not actually a link—it is not underlined—because it is the current page:

Page links in a component

Tool Tips

Tool tips are popup text messages that appear when your mouse pointer hovers over a button or link. Sometimes called hover text, tool tips display additional information about the action that the button or link performs. Typically, tool tips display what a button or link will do and may list its keyboard hot key, if applicable.

Using Processing Buttons

The following buttons process transactions.

UsingToolbar Buttons

The toolbar appears at the bottom of most pages. It can include search list navigation buttons, page navigation buttons, and page action buttons; it changes depending on the type of page that is active or the settings that the developer has put into place for a particular transaction. Not all buttons shown in the following table appear on every page. Likewise, some buttons may be unavailable for selection.

Note. In some cases, you may see different representations of a button, but the action is the same.

Using Popup Menus

Popup menu buttons appear next to fields on a page.

Using Keyboard Shortcuts

This section provides an overview of keyboard shortcuts and discusses how to:

• Use hot keys.

• Use access keys.

Understanding Keyboard Shortcuts

Working in a browser-based environment can often be mouse intensive. However, PeopleSoft applications offer keyboard navigation alternatives to using the mouse. These shortcuts are classified into two categories: hot keys and access keys.

To view a printable list of these shortcuts while online, press Ctrl+K while on a search or transaction page.

Note. Certain browsers may treat access keys and hot keys differently. See“Troubleshooting Browser Limitations” on My Oracle Support for more specific information on browser differences.

Using Hot Keys

Hot keys perform immediate actions. When you press one, the designated action occurs. Note that several hot keys perform different functions depending on the page that you are on, such as a transaction page or a search page.

Note. Certain PeopleSoft hot keys do not work as expected on alternate, non-U.S. keyboard layouts. For example, ALT+', ALT+\, and ALT+/ do not produce the expected results on the AZERTY keyboard. This occurs because some keys on non-U.S. keyboards produce different key codes than the same key on a U.S. keyboard (also known as a QWERTY keyboard).

A solution to this problem can be found in the Global Technology PeopleBook.

See PeopleSoft Hot Keys Do Not Function As Expected on a non-U.S. Keyboard.

Using Access Keys

Access keys move the focus of your cursor to a particular button on a page, at which point you can press Enter to carry out the command. This is equivalent to clicking the appropriate button.

The following table outlines the shortcuts that you can use in place of clicking the equivalent action button. After pressing the desired key combination, you must press Enter to carry out the action. For example, to save a page press Alt+1 followed by Enter. Note that some access keys have multiple actions assigned to them, and the usage depends on the currently active page.

You can also use access keys for page tabs to help you move between pages in a component. Identify these access keys by noting the underlined letter in the page tab name. To access a page, press Alt plus the underlined letter, and then press Enter.

Menu Pagelet Access Keys

Navigate between menus by pressing Ctrl+Z, which moves the focus of your cursor to the menu pagelet. From the menu, press Tab (or Shift+Tab for reverse direction) to navigate through the menu.

Navigating Drop-Down Menus by Using Keyboard Shortcuts

Press these keys to navigate the drop-down menu structure as this table describes:

Important! The drop-down menu is the default navigation type in both standard and Accessible modes.

Using Accessibility Features

This section provides an overview of accessibility features and discusses how to enable accessibility features.

Understanding Accessibility Features

PeopleSoft applications include several accessibility features to help people with disabilities. These features support the use of assistive technologies, such as screen readers for blind users.

PeopleSoft accessibility features include the following:

• Alternate text for images, group boxes, buttons, navigation buttons for grids and scroll areas, collapsible section icons, hide and expand grid tabs, prompt buttons, and scroll left or right buttons.

• Additional links and anchors that enable screen reader software to bypass navigation content, such as page tabs.

• The removal of icon links within the page and page links from the bottom of pages to reduce redundancy when using screen reader software.

• A feature that presents the elements on the body of a page in a linear format (for blind users operating a screen reader only).

Your system administrator grants access to the Accessibility Features option in PeopleTools. However, you can turn this option on or off in My Personalizations.

Note. If the Accessibility Features option does not appear on the Personalizations page, contact your system administrator to enable this feature.

Enabling Accessibility Features

To enable accessibility features:

1. Click the My Personalizations content reference in the main menu.

   The Personalizations page appears.

2. In Personalization Categories, click the Personalize Option button that is next to the General Options description.

   The Option Category: General Options page appears.

3. Select one of the following options from the Accessibility Features the drop-down list box:

   1. Select Use accessible layout mode to alter the display of a page for maximum efficiency.

   2. Select Use standard layout mode to use the standard page layout.

   3. Select Accessibility features off option to disable the accessibility features.

      This option is selected by default.

4. Click OK to save your changes.

To verify that your accessibility settings are in place, sign out of the system and sign in again.