Understanding Search in PeopleSoft Purchasing

PeopleSoft Purchasing allows you to search on a keyword when viewing Purchase Orders and other transactions within the Purchasing/Procurement process.

This topic provides information related to PeopleSoft Purchasing for:

  • Components

  • Search Definitions, Global Search categories

  • Connected Queries and Queries

  • Faceted fields

Components

These components use PeopleSoft keyword search:

  • PO Contracts (CNTRCT_ENTRY)

  • Purchase Orders (PURCHASE_ORDER)

  • Receipts (RECV_PO)

  • Requisitions (REQUISITIONS)

  • Purchase Order Documents and Purchasing Contract Documents (CONTRACT_MGMT)

Global Search Category

The Search Category is the highest-level object in the Search framework. It is comprised of one or more Search Definitions. All the searches in the application are performed against Search Categories. For global search it is necessary to set up search categories as Search Groups.

The search category used in Purchasing for global searches is EP_PROCUREMENT.

This example illustrates the fields and controls on the Search Category page.

Search Category page

The Purchasing/Procurement search category is exposed to global searches. All available items in the Search Framework repository are displayed in the search result for global search. However, related action and item detail are only available for the items for which the requester has access, based on the security setup.

Search Definitions

Search Definitions are the main structure of a search index. A search definition contains everything needed to create a search index, which includes facets, security, attachments, pre- and post-processing, and component mapping.

Six search definitions are linked to the Purchasing/Procurement search category EP_PROCUREMENT. They are:

  • EP_CS_DOC_CONTRACTS (Purchasing Contract Documents)

  • EP_CS_DOC_PURCHORDRS (Purchase Order Documents)

  • EP_PO_CONTRACTS (PO Contracts)

  • EP_PO_PURCHASE_ORDERS (Purchase Orders)

  • EP_PO_RECEIPTS (Receipts)

  • EP_PO_REQUISITIONS (Requisitions)

Note:

EP_PO_PURCHASE_ORDERS, EP_PO_RECEIPTS, and EP_PO_REQUISITIONS are certified for Real Time Indexing (RTI). See Application Fundamentals: Understanding Real Time Indexing in FSCM. To know more about the Real Time Indexing (RTI) of EP_PO_REQUISITIONS, see PeopleSoft eProcurement: Real Time Indexing Switch.

As of Update Image 53, EP_PO_PURCHASE_ORDERS and EP_PO_RECEIPTS have adopted data partitioning for high volume indexes. PeopleTools 8.61 is required. For more information on Index By Data Partition option, see PeopleTools Search Technology, Administering PeopleSoft Search Framework, Working with Search Indexes, Partitioning Application Data in the Search Index Build Process Using Data Partition.

Some indexes are not used for Global Search and are instead used to provide analytical data. In Purchasing these indexes include:

  • EP_PO_CONTRACT_KIB (Procurement Contracts)

  • EP_PO_RECEIPTS_KIB (Purchasing Effectiveness)

Connected Queries and Queries

In Purchasing every search definition is attached to a Connected Query. A connected query is a hierarchical ordering of the existing queries. For example:

  • Search Definition - EP_CS_DOC_CONTRACTS, Connected Query - CS_DOC_CONTRACTS

  • Search Definition - EP_CS_DOC_PURCHORDRS, Connected Query - CS_DOC_PURCHORDRS

  • Search Definition - EP_PO_CONTRACTS, Connected Query - PO_SRCH_CONTRACTS_CQ

  • Search Definition - EP_PO_PURCHASE_ORDERS, Connected Query - PO_SRCH_PO_CQ1

  • Search Definition - EP_PO_RECEIPTS, Connected Query - PO_SRCH_RECEIPTS_CQ

  • Search Definition - EP_PO_REQUISITIONS, Connected Query - PO_SRCH_REQ_CQ

  • Search Definition - EP_PO_CONTRACT_KIB, Connected Query - EP_PO_CNTRCT_KIBANA_CQ

  • Search Definition - EP_PO_RECEIPTS_KIB, Connected Query - EP_PO_RECV_KIBANA_ANALYTICS_CQ

The parent query is the most important as it is the driver for data extraction. Every row found for the parent becomes a document in the Search Framework repository. All other queries provide additional data that could be present or missing in the repository. Multiple rows at lower level, results in repeating attributes that will be indexed.

Faceted Fields

A facet is a field that is relevant to the search and that allows you to browse or refine search results.

These fields are predefined as faceted fields for PeopleSoft Purchasing:

  • SES_YEAR_H (Document Date Hierarchy)

  • NAME1_FSCM_NAME1 (Supplier Name)