System Elements

System elements are delivered and maintained by PeopleSoft. You never have to change system elements or do anything special to define them. You cannot add system elements; however, you can rename them.

There are two types of system elements:

• Database system elements

  Think of database system elements as payee-related elements. They contain data that can be used frequently in a calculation, such as department ID, location, and personal data. Database system elements are resolved only when they are used in a calculation.

• System-computed elements

  System-computed elements are populated by the absence process, but are not physical database fields. If, when, and how often a system-computed element is resolved depends on its purpose and type.

  For example, Period End Date and Period Type are resolved at the beginning of every segment calculation; daily data, which is used in absence calculations, is calculated daily. Other system-computed elements, such as those that are used with rate codes, are resolved only when a rate code element is encountered in a calculation.