Defining Custom Conditions

A condition table provides a solid structure for condition expansion, including condition processes. You can create custom conditions based on demographic data and existing student record data, as well as criteria such as eligibility to enroll, completion of a specific test, or some unique combination of conditions required for enrollment in a specific course.

Because only certain conditions (such as GPA, student group, academic plan, academic program, milestone, and external and internal degree) are delivered with Academic Advisement, you can create additional conditions as needed.

Every institution can create unique conditions to meet specific needs. For example, you might need to establish a minimum age requirement for a wine tasting course by creating a condition based on minimum age and attaching that condition to an enrollment requisite for the wine tasting course. As another example, a custom condition might verify that a student is not only in a program, but eligible to enroll in that program.

Your programmer can write a new Cobol program to set up customized processes using this table. The person who writes the program should be experienced in how PeopleSoft software handles Cobol. Pass parameters entering the custom program using the copybook SRCUCOND. (The bind and select variables in the stored statements must also match, otherwise the program stops running, usually with a remote call error.) The only values that you pass to the custom program are condition status, condition status message, condition code, condition effective date, and condition line sequence number. The custom program should only return the condition truth value, either T or F. Here is the actual Cobol code from SRCUCOND.cbl:

02  COND-STATUS      PIC X(01).

02  COND-STATUS-MESSAGE   PIC X(50).

02  COND-STATUS-SPEC     PIC X(06).

02  EFFDT        PIC X(10).

02  COND-LINE-SEQ     PIC S9(04).

02  COND-TRUTH-VALUE     PIC X(01).

  88  COND-TRUE  VALUE 'T'

  88  COND-FALSE  VALUE 'F'

If you need any other values, they must be linked to the custom program as an external copybook. Here is the code from the custom program SRPCU001.cbl that shows how the ID was passed into the custom program:

01  CADAE   EXTERNAL.  COPY SRCCADAE.

LINKAGE SECTION

01  SQLRT.   COPY PTCSQLRT.

01  CUSR1.   COPY SRCUCOND.

PROCEDURE DIVISION USING  SQLRT

        CUSR1.

Depending on the condition that you want to create, you may want to copy the external array SRCCACDD into the working storage area of the new condition program. If you copy the external array SRCCACDD into the working storage area, it should look like this:

01  CACDD  EXTERNAL.  COPY SRCCACDD.

The linkage section and procedure division should look like this:

LINKAGE SECTION

01  SQLRT.   COPY PTCSQLRT.

01  CUSR1.   COPY SRCUCOND.

PROCEDURE DIVISION USING  SQLRT,

        CUSR1.

To create custom conditions:

1. With the assistance of a developer, create a customized process.

2. Create a new condition process identifier using the Define Condition Processes page.

   Enter the effective date, status, descriptions, logical process type, logical name, process key format, and requirement key count (if appropriate) for the condition process identifier.

3. Use this condition process identifier as a user programmable condition on the Define Dynamic Condition page.

   Set up the condition line sequence detail as appropriate. The fields that are available for your entry in the Condition Line Details group box depend on the process key format value that you selected on the Define Condition Processes page. Also, the number of condition line detail sequences that you define must correspond with the required key count that you identified on the Condition Processes page.

Access the Define Condition Processes page ( Academic Advisement > Academic Requirements > Define Condition Processes).

To create a custom condition, establish a new condition process identifier that you use to create a new condition specification. Once you create a condition specification, it may be referenced as a precondition or condition requirement by academic and enrollment requirements, as well as academic and enrollment requirement groups.