Understanding a PeopleSoft Upgrade

This section provides an overview of PeopleSoft upgrade.

PeopleSoft Application Designer streamlines the migration of database definitions—such as records, pages, projects, and PeopleCode—from one PeopleSoft database to another. You can perform a complete database upgrade or you can upgrade only the definitions included in a particular project. This topic focuses mainly on project upgrades, and the PeopleSoft upgrade documentation focuses on complete database upgrades, which are typically performed when upgrading from one version of a PeopleSoft application to another.

While this topic does not discuss the specific procedures for an enterprise-wide upgrade for a specific platform, there are basic steps to perform in PeopleSoft Application Designer regardless of the type of upgrade, which include:

  • Updating your PeopleSoft software.

  • Identifying the source and target database. The source can be a file, a project, or an entire database.

  • Comparing the source and target database to determine changed definitions.

  • Copy any new or changed definitions into your database and adjust all your system components—such as application data, SQL tables, indexes, views, and so on—accordingly.

Updating the PeopleSoft software is covered in the installation documentation for PeopleTools and PeopleSoft applications. This topic mainly focuses on comparing your source with your target and copying the definitions from the source to the target.

When comparing your source and target you can view results in the upgrade workspace, in reports, in your browser, and side-by-side (for pages and text definitions, such as PeopleCode). When copying definitions into the target database you can use the PeopleSoft Application Designer interface or a command line interface. For text definitions you can use the merge feature.

Note: The complexity of these tasks performed depends on the type of upgrade you are performing. For example, if you are copying brand new definitions from a small project into a source database this is a relatively uncomplicated task, as comparisons are not required and you can immediately begin a copy. However, if you are upgrading an entire database or a large project containing numerous changed definitions it is likely that the compare, merge, or copy process will require more analysis.

Note: To use the PeopleSoft Application Designer upgrade features, you must have full access to projects and upgrade access in the target database. To run a compare you only need read-only upgrade access.

PeopleTools managed objects can be compared and can be copied to a file or to database, with the exception of those in the following list.

These definitions can be copied to database, but cannot be compared and cannot be copied to file:

  • Message catalog entries

  • Trees

  • Access groups

  • Roles

  • Dimensions

  • Cube definitions

  • Cube instance definitions

Note: Certain definition types that are specified as compare and copy or copy only (for example, Cube Dimensions) do not appear on the Development tab because you cannot edit them in PeopleSoft Application Designer.

Note: PeopleSoft delivered definition types (such as pages, Application Engine programs, iScript PeopleCode, and so on) cannot be copied across product lines. For example, you cannot copy a definition from PeopleSoft Human Capital Management to PeopleSoft Customer Relationship Management. License codes for these definitions are specific to the product line in which the definition is delivered. If a PeopleSoft delivered definition is copied to a different product line, it may be inaccessible on the target database.