The components we’re using in the iPhone app are requesting and approving of absences, but any PeopleSoft functionality could be exposed in the same manner.

We’ve also been working on the same app in other phone platforms (so users can also book/approve absence on Android, Blackberry or any smart phone that has a browser).  Here are some (pretty grainy, sorry!) pictures of it working on an HTC Desire and a lower resolution Samsung):

If anyone has any comments or great ideas on how we could improve this I’d be interested to hear.

Some pick the first in the list, so that’ll be Rebekah Jones or Kimberly Adams.  It’s often wise not to pick the top ones as they’re also likely to be chosen by others – and it’s good to find an employee that others don’t mess with.

These names will be instantly familiar to most long-time PeopleSoft (HR) developers:

Darlene Bergsten,

Leo Puddephat,

Paul Acosta,

Beatrice Test,

and my personal favourite: Ginger Buckalew.

I’ve often wondered – and perhaps a PeopleSoft alumni can help with this – were these ever real people?  Or did someone fake up a load of demo data one day?

There is an easy way to accomplish all of the above as PeopleSoft can (although it doesn’t by default) write some really useful data on processes to database records, all ready to be queried.

There are three records that data is logged to, all keyed by Process Instance.  The records are:

BAT_TIMINGS_LOG – Parent/Header record
BAT_TIMINGS_DTL – Child/Detail record
BAT_TIMINGS_FN – Peoplecode Function details

PS_BAT_TIMINGS_LOG contains standard fare like the Process Name, Oprid and Run Control ID, plus timing information.  In addition to start and end DateTime there is a time elapsed, Time in PeopleCode and Time in SQL.  There are also some trace level flags.  If you’re just after processing times this would be the first stop.

If you’re after more granular data then look into PS_BAT_TIMINGS_DTL.  In this table the timing data is broken down to App Engine Step/Action level (where the Step contains a SQL action) and even within the PeopleCode programs to individual SQL statement level where the PeopleCode actions contain SQLExecs or RowSet code.

I’ve not found a use for the third table (PS_BAT_TIMINGS_FN) yet, but it appears to hold further PeopleCode level timings and execution counts.

Whether these records are populated or not can be controlled at the Process Scheduler level, or on the individual process using the -TRACE flag (either on the command line if running 2-tier or in the appedn flags on the Process Definition if using the Process Scheduler).  The trace value should include a value of 1024 to activate population of these records.

To set this on a Process Scheduler edit the AE Tracing Bitfield section.

; AE Tracing Bitfield
;
; Bit       Type of tracing
; —       —————
; 1         – Trace STEP execution sequence to AET file
; 2         – Trace Application SQL statements to AET file
; 4         – Trace Dedicated Temp Table Allocation to AET file
; 8         – not yet allocated
; 16        – not yet allocated
; 32        – not yet allocated
; 64        – not yet allocated
; 128       – Timings Report to AET file
; 256       – Method/BuiltIn detail instead of summary in AET Timings Report
; 512       – not yet allocated
; 1024      – Timings Report to tables
; 2048      – DB optimizer trace to file
; 4096      – DB optimizer trace to tables
TraceAE=1024

Set the TraceAE value to a value containing 1024 to output the timings to tables.

He muses over a comment on the article concerning whether the skills shortage is independant of experience, or whether it’s only the more experienced end of the spectrum that has a shortage.

My first reaction is to agree with this.  From the consultants I know here in the UK there are those that seem to skip from project to project, only having gaps in between where it’s by their own volition.  Pondering this further though, are these the best consultants or just those that are better organised or with better networks?

It’s difficult to tell the difference, because the most experienced consultants are likely to have a wider network of contacts, and will have changed projects many times so will be well versed in the traps novices may fall foul of.

So which is it?  I’d like to think it was the former.  A talented and experienced consultant will always get work.  However I fear it’s the latter as I’ve come across a few that have succeeded by being barely adequate developers but expert schmoozers.

And is the comment on the article correct?  Is there a surplus of inexperienced consultants around, but a dearth of their experienced colleagues?

What are your experiences?

To reduce the likelihood of developers accidentally deleting some data that they shouldn’t it would be quite normal to remove their access to the environment altogether. However if they need access for troubleshooting purposes then (at least on projects I’ve seen) it’s quite normal for developers to be told “OK, you can have access, but be careful not to do anything destructive”. Occasionally – as with everything – things can go wrong. Either someone forgets which environment they’re in, or does something with unintended consequences. An alternative to the “just be careful” approach would be to create an entirely read-only user profile (i.e. one that has display only privileges to every component system-wide).

A read-only user profile is shown in screenshot below, where no fields are editable and the save button is inactivated:

Also, on Run Control pages the ‘Run’ button is inactive. It’s going to be pretty difficult to alter data in this environment.

Here’s how to do it quickly and easily …

1. Create User Profile

First, craft your perfect ‘read/write’ user profile. I’ll call this ‘DMD’. Now clone it using the ‘Copy User Profile’ functionality in the PIA. This creates a new user profile (in my case ‘DMD_R’) with the same Roles, and this is the one we’re going to turn read-only.

2. Create new Read-Only Permission Lists

First create the Permission Lists by cloning those that are currently against the User Profile:

INSERT INTO PSCLASSDEFN
(CLASSID, VERSION, CLASSDEFNDESC, TIMEOUTMINUTES, DEFAULTBPM,
STARTAPPSERVER, ALLOWPSWDEMAIL, LASTUPDDTTM, LASTUPDOPRID)
(SELECT CLASSID || '_R'
      , VERSION
      , CLASSDEFNDESC
      , TIMEOUTMINUTES
      , DEFAULTBPM
      , STARTAPPSERVER
      , ALLOWPSWDEMAIL
      , SYSDATE
      , 'DMD'
   FROM PSCLASSDEFN
  WHERE CLASSID IN (
      SELECT DISTINCT CLASSID
        FROM PSROLECLASS
       WHERE ROLENAME IN (
           SELECT ROLENAME
             FROM PSROLEUSER
            WHERE ROLEUSER = 'DMD_R')))

Don’t forget to add the sign-on times:

INSERT INTO PSAUTHSIGNON (CLASSID, DAYOFWEEK, STARTTIME, ENDTIME)
SELECT CLASSID || '_R'
     , DAYOFWEEK
     , STARTTIME
     , ENDTIME
  FROM PSAUTHSIGNON
 WHERE CLASSID IN (
     SELECT DISTINCT CLASSID
       FROM PSROLECLASS
      WHERE ROLENAME IN (
          SELECT ROLENAME
            FROM PSROLEUSER
           WHERE ROLEUSER = 'DMD_R'))

We add the pages to the new permission lists, but set Display Only to 1:

INSERT INTO PSAUTHITEM (CLASSID, MENUNAME, BARNAME, BARITEMNAME, PNLITEMNAME, DISPLAYONLY, AUTHORIZEDACTIONS)
(SELECT CLASSID || '_R'
      , MENUNAME
      , BARNAME
      , BARITEMNAME
      , PNLITEMNAME
      , 1 DISPLAYONLY
      , AUTHORIZEDACTIONS
   FROM PSAUTHITEM
  WHERE CLASSID IN (
      SELECT DISTINCT CLASSID
        FROM PSROLECLASS
       WHERE ROLENAME IN (
           SELECT ROLENAME
             FROM PSROLEUSER
            WHERE ROLEUSER = 'DMD_R')))

4. Create the new Read-Only Roles

INSERT INTO PSROLEDEFN
(ROLENAME, VERSION, ROLETYPE, DESCR, QRYNAME, ROLESTATUS, RECNAME, FIELDNAME, PC_EVENT_TYPE, QRYNAME_SEC, PC_FUNCTION_NAME, ROLE_PCODE_RULE_ON, ROLE_QUERY_RULE_ON, LDAP_RULE_ON, ALLOWNOTIFY, ALLOWLOOKUP, LASTUPDDTTM, LASTUPDOPRID, DESCRLONG)
(SELECT SUBSTR(ROLENAME, 1,28) || '_R'
      , VERSION
      , ROLETYPE
      , DESCR
      , QRYNAME
      , ROLESTATUS
      , RECNAME
      , FIELDNAME
      , PC_EVENT_TYPE
      , QRYNAME_SEC
      , PC_FUNCTION_NAME
      , ROLE_PCODE_RULE_ON
      , ROLE_QUERY_RULE_ON
      , LDAP_RULE_ON
      , ALLOWNOTIFY
      , ALLOWLOOKUP
      , SYSDATE
      , 'DMD'
      , DESCRLONG
   FROM PSROLEDEFN
  WHERE ROLENAME IN (
      SELECT DISTINCT ROLENAME
        FROM PSROLEUSER
       WHERE ROLEUSER = 'DMD_R'))

5. Add the read only permission lists to the read only roles

INSERT INTO PSROLECLASS(ROLENAME, CLASSID)
(SELECT SUBSTR(ROLENAME, 1,28) || '_R'
      , CLASSID || '_R'
   FROM PSROLECLASS
  WHERE ROLENAME IN (
      SELECT DISTINCT ROLENAME
        FROM PSROLEUSER
       WHERE ROLEUSER = 'DMD_R'))

6. Update the user profile with the new read only rolenames

UPDATE PSROLEUSER
   SET ROLENAME = SUBSTR(ROLENAME, 1,28) || '_R'
 WHERE ROLEUSER = 'DMD_R'

And that’s it, although you may well also need to perform the following:

• Run Portal Security Sync (to sync security up).
• Bounce the App Server and clear cache (my App Server didn’t pick up the signon times from the cloned permission lists until I did this).
• Run SJT_OPR_CLS (Refresh the Security Join Table that contains the Operator and Classid data)
• Close and reopen your Web Browser and clear it’s local cache.

Widely known tip

Most techies who’ve looked under the covers will be aware of PSPCMPROG. It’s the underlying table where PeopleCode is storeed. This isn’t immediately useful however as the actual code itself is stored in the PROGTXT field in binary so it’s not easily accessible. This isn’t an insurmountable issue however as there are a couple of routines to decode the field (an SQR and a Java version, both by David L Price). I’ve not used either method personally, but a colleague has used the SQR version with great success.

For me, this field isn’t quite the most useful on PSPCMPROG. You may have noticed that if you update the PeopleCode on a record, the record properties aren’t updated to reflect the change – I guess because the record definition itself hasn’t changed (although strangely Component and Page PeopleCode do update the timestamp on the corresponding Component/Page definition – so there’s a bit of an inconsistency there). So how do you check when and by whom a piece of Record PeopleCode was last updated? If you check the LASTUPDDTTM and LASTUPDOPRID fields on the PSPCMPROG record via SQL then it’s all recorded there. This snippet of knowledge has saved me (or at least expedited troubleshooting by showing me the correct person to ask about the change) innumerable times.

Lesser known tip

I’ve not really had much reason to look at the PSPCMNAME record in the past, however a colleague and I checked it recently and discovered the RECNAME and REFNAME fields. Every time you create some PeopleCode your code is parsed and a line inserted into PSPCMNAME for every reference to a Tools object. I assume that this is the record searched when using ‘Find Definition References’ within App Designer. However, now we know the SQL table behind this we can therefore query this table to quickly find out objects affected by code in a specified project, for example.

Both the company I currently work for and my previous employer had utilities to export project details to file, printing out settings and details from Tools objects to speed-up the documentation process (and we know how much techies love documenting!). Now we can add to that utility any objects that are affected but which aren’t included in the project.

When I posted a year or so ago that I’d heard Jesper Andersen say that the Fusion Applications suite wouldn’t GA until 2009 there was a fair bit of feedback (to put it politely – I even had to edit one comment for profanity), but now it seems more likely that Jesper was correct.

How much we read into this Gartner report is up to our own faith in Oracle, but statements like

‘Oracle plans to only sell Fusion to new customers and that “migrating the installed base to Fusion is no longer a near-term goal”.’

and

‘the 2008 Fusion applications will not include any core ERP products’

don’t fill me with confidence that we’ll see clients implementing Fusion any time soon.

It’s great news though for anyone hoping that the PeopleSoft product line remains around for a long time.

I’ll be setting it up in a VM and tinkering with it to see what it can do.  As a result I’d love to see screenshots, descriptions or – if you’re feeling particularly generous – some code if you’ve used MonkeyGrease in the past.  I’ll give full credit to anything used, and if you do send code I won’t use it on client site, purely for the purposes of demonstrating MonkeyGrease’s functionality.

I’m aware that others have blogged about this in the past, including Jim Marion, Rich Manalang and one of the Grey Sparling team, and there is a Google Group for it.  If there is anything else out there I’d love to know.  Once I’ve got all the info in I’ll post a consolidated write-up and include all the links.

For those new to MonkeyGrease, see here.

I must admit that I haven’t listened to the WebCast myself (to be honest I didn’t think there’d be much there that affects PeopleSoft in the short term) but after reading summary posts on a couple of other blogs it seems I was wrong.

The most surprising announcement for me was that going forward

“BEA WebLogic Server is now Oracle’s strategic JEE container and will be integrated into Fusion Middleware stack immediately; OC4J dev to continue though”

This was a bit of a shock as I expected Oracle App Server to be slowly pushed as the Web Server of choice. It’s a change of tack too as in many ‘prepare now to get a headstart for Fusion’ presentations I’ve got the impression that clients should be implementing what they perceive to be Fusion middleware components now, and I’d have had Oracle App Server down as one of those applications.

Antony Reynolds also says:

“But the surprising bit was the emphasis that Thomas Kurian made on Tuxedo. It seems as though the Tuxedo guys are being rehabilitated after years in the wilderness at BEA since the WebLogic acquisition. I was amazed at the increase in connectivity and functionality that has occurred in Tux since I last came into contact with it some ten years ago.”

I’ve tried to view the webcast to find out exactly what’s behind this but can’t seem to view it. I’ll post more if I can get it working …

EDIT: Mulling this over further, I think the decision to use WebLogic over Oracle’s own product is good news for the other acquisitions. If Oracle is willing to use a product that it deigns is superior instead of just using its own product ‘because it’s Oracle’ then that bodes well for any areas of functionality within PeopleSoft, Siebel etc that may be better than corresponding areas of eBusiness suite.

VMWare Server is great for creating the VMs, and you need it while you’re adding virtual disks etc. However once the VM is in place it may be worthwhile switching to VMWare Player. The Player is slightly faster but you can’t perform maintenance like add disks when using it. Also, they don’t co-exist on the same client machine, it’s either one or the other. To be honest, I just uninstall and install as it doesn’t take that long.

The issue I faced, and the reason for this post is that VMWare Server lets the user configure the IP Address assignments and DHCP ranges from within the application, while VMWare player doesn’t. This is a bit of an issue if you have a VM that you’ve configured with a static IP address in a non-default range, then when you switch to VMWare Player the static IP isn’t in the default range.

The secret to know is that the ability is still there, you just have to go looking for it. The utility you need is ‘vmnetcfg.exe’ and it’s under the VMWare Player install directory (i.e. ‘C:\Program Files\VMware\VMware Player’). From here you can configure the IP Ranges to be whatever you wish.