Using PeopleTools Feature Options

Use the PeopleTools Feature Options page to configure system-level properties for PeopleTools features.

Select PeopleTools, then Utilities, and then PeopleTools Feature Options. Only administrators are able to access this page. Expand and collapse the sections and use the toggle switches to enable or disable the features.

This example illustrates the PeopleTools Feature Options page.

Download to Excel

Field or Control	Description
Download to Excel as XLS	Select this option to download grid data as a spreadsheet with the .xls extension. By default, this option is disabled, that is, the grid data is downloaded as a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet with the .xlsx extension. This option should be enabled only as a fallback mechanism.

Field or Control

Description

Download to Excel as XLS

Select this option to download grid data as a spreadsheet with the .xls extension. By default, this option is disabled, that is, the grid data is downloaded as a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet with the .xlsx extension.

This option should be enabled only as a fallback mechanism.

For more information on using this option, see Viewing Data in Original Layout Grid, Downloading Grid Data and Viewing Data in Scrollable Layout Grids, Downloading Grid Data

Drop Zone

Field or Control	Description
Drop Zone Level	Use this section to specify how many drop zone levels are included in a search. The default is 4, and zero (a blank field) is not allowed. The default value of 4 means that search results on the Component Drop Zone page include components with drop zones on the main page and on pages nested up to three levels below it. Note. Increasing the level may increase the search or processing time for the Drop Zone component.

Field or Control

Description

Drop Zone Level

Use this section to specify how many drop zone levels are included in a search. The default is 4, and zero (a blank field) is not allowed.

The default value of 4 means that search results on the Component Drop Zone page include components with drop zones on the main page and on pages nested up to three levels below it.

Note. Increasing the level may increase the search or processing time for the Drop Zone component.

See Applications Designer Developer's Guide: Configuring Drop Zones.

File Attachment Window

Field or Control	Description
Classic	Control whether a fluid-style file attachment window appears on classic pages. The file attachment window is where users browse for and select files to upload. This option is enabled by default, which means that when a user performs an action to add an attachment from a classic page, the system displays the traditional modal window as seen in previous releases. If this option is disabled, when a user adds an attachment from a classic page, the system displays a fluid-style attachment window. Because the window is opened within a classic page, it includes standard classic window controls, such as Move and Resize, which are not available when the attachment window is accessed directly from a fluid page. Note that an end user can drag and drop attachments using either the classic or fluid modal window, but the fluid window has the area to drag and drop attachments more clearly defined.

Field or Control

Description

Classic

Control whether a fluid-style file attachment window appears on classic pages. The file attachment window is where users browse for and select files to upload.

This option is enabled by default, which means that when a user performs an action to add an attachment from a classic page, the system displays the traditional modal window as seen in previous releases.

If this option is disabled, when a user adds an attachment from a classic page, the system displays a fluid-style attachment window. Because the window is opened within a classic page, it includes standard classic window controls, such as Move and Resize, which are not available when the attachment window is accessed directly from a fluid page.

Note that an end user can drag and drop attachments using either the classic or fluid modal window, but the fluid window has the area to drag and drop attachments more clearly defined.

See Understanding the File Attachment Functions

Link Preview

Field or Control	Description
Link Preview	Control the ability to display previews for PeopleSoft links. This option is enabled by default. If the Link Preview option is enabled, when a link is shared or posted, instead of seeing a URL, users can see a preview; that is, title, description, and image of the link content. If this option is disabled, end users see a URL when accessing a PeopleSoft link.

Field or Control

Description

Link Preview

Control the ability to display previews for PeopleSoft links. This option is enabled by default.

If the Link Preview option is enabled, when a link is shared or posted, instead of seeing a URL, users can see a preview; that is, title, description, and image of the link content.

If this option is disabled, end users see a URL when accessing a PeopleSoft link.

See Portal Technology: Creating Rich Preview for PeopleSoft Links.

PeopleSoft Assistant

This section includes controls for the PeopleSoft chat feature. The feature is available in many locations in PIA by default.

Field or Control	Description
Enable Assistant	Control whether the PeopleSoft Assistant will be available. It is not enabled by default.
URL Identifier	The URL identifier specifies the credentials (user ID, password, token) that the system uses to access the PeopleSoft Assistant services. See URL Maintenance for details on specifying the credentials.
Debug	Enable debugging. This is not enabled by default. When debugging is enabled, the administrator obtains the debugging information in the browser console log. Check your browser documentation for information on accessing the browser console log.
Chat History	Control whether to store the questions asked by the end user in the chat history table (PS_PTML_CHAT_HIST). It is enabled by default. If this is disabled, the questions are not saved.
Search Service Config File Path	Enter the path to the configuration file used by PeopleSoft Assistant for using the Search Service.
Response Timeout	Enter a value in milliseconds. The default is 300000 msec (5 minutes). This is the maximum amount of time the Chat User Interface (Chat UI) will wait for a back-end response before it prints a "Response Timeout" message.

See Portal Technology: Working with Chat User Interface (Chat UI)

Smart Prompt

Field or Control	Description
Short-cut Key or Delete icon to remove an entry from Smart Prompt	Select this option to display a delete (X) button next to a smart-prompt value in the Most Relevant section. This option is enabled by default. Note: The delete button can be enabled only for prompt values; it cannot be enabled for smart drop-down list values.

Field or Control

Description

Short-cut Key or Delete icon to remove an entry from Smart Prompt

Select this option to display a delete (X) button next to a smart-prompt value in the Most Relevant section. This option is enabled by default.

Note: The delete button can be enabled only for prompt values; it cannot be enabled for smart drop-down list values.

See Applications User's Guide: Using Smart Prompts.

See Setting Smart Prompts and Smart Drop-Down Options in PeopleTools Options.

Reviewing the PT_FEATUREOPT Table

The options on the PeopleTools Feature Options page are stored in the PT_FEATUREOPT table. This table follows a name-value pair model, and contains several columns that define the metadata for each system-level property. This table lists each relevant column and its purpose:

Column Name	Purpose
PT_PROPERTYNAME	Property Name —Stores the name of the individual property associated with a PeopleTools feature.
PT_PROPERTYVALUE	Property Value — Stores the current value assigned to the property.
MSGSET	Message Set Number — Defines the Message Catalog entry used to display the label for the property name in PIA (PeopleSoft Internet Architecture).
MSGNUM	Message Number — Defines the Message Catalog entry used to display the label for the property name in PIA (PeopleSoft Internet Architecture).
LABEL_ID	Field Label ID — Contains the Label ID that identifies the user-facing label associated with the property name.
PT_FEATUREMSGSET	Feature Message Set — Represents the feature name through Message Catalog entries (for example, PT_CONFIG_SRCH, PT_MYFAV_SEARCH). These are used for grouping properties under a specific feature
PT_FEATUREMSGNUM	Feature Message Number — Represents the feature name through Message Catalog entries (for example, PT_CONFIG_SRCH, PT_MYFAV_SEARCH). These are used for grouping properties under a specific feature
PT_FEATURE_SW	Feature Switch — Indicates whether the property acts as a feature switch for the feature. Note: There will be only one feature switch for a feature.
PT_OPTNDISP	Display type — Specifies the UI control type (for example, Drop-down, checkbox or edit box) used to render the property value in the user interface. C — Check-box control E — Edit-box control D — Drop-down control
DISPLAYONLY	Display only — Specifies whether the display control is display only or not.
FIELDTYPE	Field type — Specifies the field type, 0 for character field, 2 for number field.
PT_PROMPTRECNAME	Prompt record name — Specifies the record name that should be used by the prompt. The field is blank by default (the value is " ").
PT_HELPMSGSET	Message Set Number — Contains the Message Catalog entry for the help text associated with the property, shown in PIA for user guidance.
PT_HELPMSGNUM	Message Number — Contains the Message Catalog entry for the help text associated with the property, shown in PIA for user guidance.

The table uses a caching mechanism to improve performance. The system reads from cache by default. The cache is refreshed only when the table data is modified.