Basics of Component Interface

Component Interfaces

It enables synchronous access to a People Soft component from another application.

A component interface is a set of application programming interfaces (APIs) that you can use to access and modify People Soft database information pro-grammatically. 

Component interfaces can be used to integrate one application with another application or with external systems

A component interface maps to one, and only one, PeopleSoft component. However, you can create multiple component interfaces for the same component. You create component interfaces in PeopleSoft Application Designer. Record fields on the component are mapped to the keys and properties of the component interface. Methods are used to find, create, modify, or delete data.

Component Interface Architecture

The component interface architecture comprises three fundamental elements—components, component interfaces, and the component interface API.

Every component interface has the following main attributes:

·         Name.

·         Keys (Get keys, Create keys, and Find keys).

·         Properties and collections (fields and records).

·         Methods.

Name

Each component interface requires a unique name that is specified when the component interface is created. The calling programs use the name of the component interface to access properties and methods.

Keys

Keys are special properties containing values that retrieve an instance (Get keys) or a list of instances (Find keys) of the component interface. When you create a new component interface, Get and Find keys are created based on the search record definition for the underlying component. However, you can add, remove, or change keys in PeopleSoft Application Designer. Create keys are created for components that have the Add action enabled.

Properties

Properties provide access to both component data and component interface settings. Component interfaces include two types of properties: standard and user-defined.

·         Standard properties are assigned automatically when a component interface is created.

Standard properties can be set to true or false. These properties are not displayed in the PeopleSoft Application Designer. Examples of standard properties include InteractiveMode, GetHistoryItems, and EditHistoryItems.

·         User-defined properties map to record fields on the PeopleSoft component and are displayed in the PeopleSoft Application Designer.

A property can correspond to a field or a scroll (collection). You can control which user-defined properties are included on the component interface.

Collections

A component interface collection is a special type of property that corresponds to a scroll. It contains fields and subordinate scrolls as defined in its underlying component. By default, each collection uses the name of the primary record for the underlying scroll.

Methods

Two main types of methods are available: standard and user-defined.

·         Standard methods are those that are available for all component interfaces.

The Find, Get, Save, and Cancel methods are automatically generated by PeopleSoft Application Designer when a new component interface is created. The Create method is created for components that have the Add action enabled. In the component interface designer, standard methods are highlighted in gray.

·         User-defined methods are created in PeopleSoft Application Designer to provide added functionality to the component interface.

These methods are functions that are made accessible through the component interface. Each function maps to a user-defined method. In the component interface designer, user-defined methods are highlighted in blue.

Understanding Keys

Get keys:

These keys automatically map to search key fields in the search record for the underlying component. You must change Get keys only if you modify the keys of the component after you create a component interface.

Find keys:

These maps to both search key fields and alternate search key fields in the search record for the underlying component. You can remove any Find keys based on alternate search key fields that you don’t want to make available for searching.

Create keys:

If the underlying component allows the Add action, then Create keys are generated for the component interface automatically. They map to fields marked as Srch (search) in the search record for the component (or the add search record, if one is specified).