Understanding Technical Elements of Configurable Analysis Framework

Topics discussed in this section:

  • Factor Types

  • Handler Types

  • Related Action Levels

  • Security

Factor types are used in the Configurable Analysis Framework (CAF) when defining factors for an analysis on the Define Factor Page. The factor type is used by the system to display data.

Factor type options are:

Term

Definition

Application Class

Select to indicate that the factor should use an application class to display the data.

Component

Select to indicate that the factor should use a PeopleSoft Classic component to display the data for classic pages and PeopleSoft Fluid component and pages for Fluid CAF.

Field List

Select to indicate that the factor should use a pre-formatted two column display that lists each field to display the data.

HTML

Select to indicate that the factor should use HTML to display the data.

PS Query Pagelet

Select to indicate that the factor should use a PS Query Pagelet to display the data.

Pivot Grid Pagelet

Select to indicate that the factor should use a Pivot Grid Pagelet to display the data.

URL

Select to indicate that the factor should use a URL to display the data.

This table lists the factor types that support a value expression in the format of #(type.value). CAF detects these factor types in the configuration and substitutes them with the proper value.

Factor Type

Value

Description

Example

URL

URL Object Name

Returns the text from the specified URL object.

#(URL.HOMEPAGE):returns the URL for the HOMEPAGE URL object.

IMG

Image Object Name

Returns the URL to the image object.

#{IMG.LOGO}: returns the URL to the LOGO image.

HTML

HTML Object Name

Returns the HTML content or text of the HTML object.

#{HTML.COMMON_HEADER}: returns the HTML for the COMMON_HEADER HTML object.

MSG

MESSAGE_SET, MESSAGE_NBR

Returns the message catalog text. MESSAGE_SET and MESSAGE_NBR specify the message set and number

#{MSG.6550,1}: returns the text for message (6550,1).

MSGE

MESSAGE_SET, MESSAGE_NBR

Similar to MSG but returns the explanation text.

All others specify record name

Field Name

Returns the values from the specified record field. The value is formatted:

  • If it is currency controlled, the amount is formatted as a currency.

  • If it is IMAGE or IMAGEREFERENCE, it returns the URL to the image.

#{CUSTOMER.NAME1} returns the value of the NAME1 field in the CUSTOMER record (customer name).

#{CUST_DATA.BAL_AMT} returns the BAL_AMT amount formatted since the BAL_AMT field in the CUST_DATA record is currency controlled.

#{CUSTOMER.CUST_LOGO} returns the URL to the CUST_LOGO image (given that CUST_LOGO is an image field and stores the customer’s logo).

Configurable Analysis Framework (CAF) is an extendable framework using a plug-in architecture. The functionality of CAF can be extended using various types of handlers to override default behavior or provide additional functionality, such as additional type of data to display or related actions.

Handler types are set up using the Analysis Handler Registry Page. The purpose of this registry is to allow application developers to assign a single value to the application class. Therefore, users do not need to know the full path to the application class when specifying it during analysis configuration.

Handler type options are:

Term

Definition

Action Handler

Handles configured related actions. Select to indicate that the handler is used to implement related actions on the Related Action Configuration Page.

The application class must be a subclass of CAF_API:ActionHandler. The built-in action handlers are in the CAF_CORE:HANDLER:ActionHandler package.

For Fluid implementations, the application must be a subclass of CAFNUI_API: ActionHandler or CAFNUI_CORE:HANDLER: ActionHandler.

Analysis Handler

The application class for the component that displays the analysis. It is used to provide functionality at the analysis level. For example, it handles rendering the html for the display, managing the user sessions, and responding to user actions to save/edit the analysis views. It is also the handler that sends notifications. Select to indicate that the handler is used at the analysis level to handle events or override functionality provided by CAF on the Analysis Configuration Page.

The application class must be a subclass of CAF_API:ComparisonHandler. For most implementations, it should be a subclass of CAF_CORE:HANDLER:ComparisonHandler so that most of the built-in functionality is used.

For Fluid implementations, the application must be a subclass of CAFNUI_API:ComparisonHandler or CAFNUI_CORE:HANDLER:ComparisonHandler.

Entity Handler

The application class used to implement the functionality of an entity, including selecting/managing the entities, and implementing the entity related actions. Select to indicate that the handler is used at the entity level to handle events or override functionality provided by CAF on the Entity Configuration Page.

The application class must be a subclass of CAF_API:EntityHandler. For most of implementations, it should be subclass of CAF_CORE:HANDLER:EntityHandler so that most of the built-in functionality is used.

For Fluid implementations, the application must be a subclass of CAFNUI_API: EntityHandler or CAFNUI_CORE:HANDLER: EntityHandler.

Factor Handler

The application class used to implement the functionality of a factor, including configuring and showing the factor data. It can also implement factor level related actions. Select to indicate that the handler is used at the factor level to handle events or override functionality provided by CAF on the Factor Configuration Page.

The application class must be a subclass of CAF_API:FactorHandler.

If the factor handler is extending built-in factor types, it should be a subclass of the corresponding factor handlers in the CAF_CORE:HANDLER:FactorHandler package.

A CAF method is provided to enable the display of these icons for the factors that support them:

  • Configure Factor: allows the user to configure the factor display, such as changing filter values.

  • Show Combined: allows the user to show the data for all selected entities in a single report or chart.

    This option is only available for comparison mode and is not available for Fluid CAF.

For Fluid implementations, the application must be a subclass of CAFNUI_API: FactorHandler or CAFNUI_CORE:HANDLER: FactorHandler.

For each type of handlers, CAF provides built-in setup to implement the core functionality. The interface definitions of each handler is in the CAF_API application package. The core setup is in the CAF_CORE:HANDLER application package. In almost all cases, implementation of handlers should be subclassed from the corresponding application classes in CAF_CORE:HANDLER.

To add a handler:

  1. Create an application class as a subclass of the proper type (handler type) and begin to override the methods as required.

  2. Register the application class using the Analysis Handler Registry Page.

  3. Use the appropriate handler on each of the Analysis Configuration pages for analysis, entities, factors, and related actions.

Configurable Analysis Framework (CAF) is an actionable framework that allows related actions to be attached to many levels of the display so that users can take related/context sensitive actions.

Related action levels are:

Term

Definition

Common Factor

This option is a related action level for a factor, and is applicable to all factors.

Analysis

This option is a related action level for the whole analysis.

Entity

This option is a related action level for an entity and is applicable to a single entity.

Factor

This option is a related action level for a factor and is applicable to a single factor.

Factor Data

This option is a related action level for a combination of entity and factor and is applicable to the data display.

Selected Entities

This option is a related action level for an entity and is applicable to a group of entities.

Related actions can be

Configurable Analysis Framework (CAF) provides secure access to entities, factors, and related actions using the Analysis Access Control Page: This ensures that proper data security is applied when selecting the data to be displayed.

Term

Definition

Entity

If an entity provided has OPRID as a high order key, then when entity data is selected from the database, row-level security (OPRID = %OperatorId) is applied to select only the entities that the user has access to. If this does not provide the required security to select the entities, the entity handler can implement or override the EntityHandler.GetAllEntities() method to select the entities.

Factor

The framework allows an administrator to specify factors that can be used and viewed by users. The access control is by user, role, or both. This can limit access to factors with sensitive data.

Related Action

Similar to factors, administrators can limit the related actions so which a user has access.