PSQuery is an online PeopleTools functionality heavily used by business analysts and key users to gain information from the PeopleSoft application without the need of development or database SQL knowledge. The biggest con of PSQuery is that you end up with one static list of data, which is usually exported to Excel for further enhancement and analysis.

From PeopleTools 8.50, you now have the ability to create more in-depth analyses and productivity using drilling URLs.

When you build a query using Query Manager, you can define drilling URLs that are associated with this query using the expression option. These settings are saved into the database, along with prompt, criteria, and so on, as part of the metadata for this query. When you execute this query through Query Manager or Query Viewer, the query results page shows results as links, which you can click to be redirected to a different page in a new browser. You can create URLs for:

• Other PSQuery, for more in-depth information about a subject, actual drilldown functionality
• PIA Component, direct link to components where the keys for the search page of the component are extracted from the selected columns in the query
• External URL, non PeopleSoft URLs, for example Vendor sites
• Attachment URL, direct link to an attachment that is stored in the database or file system
• Free Format URL, any type of URL you want to construct, can be used for example to deep link to other non-PeopleSoft applications

So how does one create a drilling URL?

With the release of PeopleTools 8.52, you will be able to do all your PeopleSoft Business via the Ipad. Yes,  PeopleSoft applications is able to run in the Safari Browser on an iPad. However, some PeopleSoft applications operate better on iPads than others. PeopleSoft is not constrained by technology like Adobe Flex/Flash, therefore no problems there. For more information regarding the Ipad certification, click here.

One of the new functionality in PeopleSoft 9.1 is Forms and Approval Builder. According to Oracle in a recently posted blog ‘Finally a paperless office with PeopleSoft Forms & Approval Builder’ the Forms and Approval Builder will help to make paper and e-mail based forms a thing of the past. After reading the blog, I was excited but also wondering what is this Forms and Approval Builder and is it really what it is said out to be?

Remember the last time you had to fill in a form? It first took you forever to find the form you needed. And once you filled in the information, you put the form on your managers desk, but you actually have no clue if he/she has signed it or if it is still lying there on the desk between all his/her papers. As well, you can’t find the copy of the last form you submitted so that you could check what you have previously requested.  Or your form is lost somewhere and you have no clue what the status is.   I believe this happens in many organisations. Even though self service and manager self service has become a standard in most companies, there are still some paper based forms that support certain business processes. One of the reasons these forms still exist is because the amount of requests are minimal a year, so why create a customized solution if the process doesn’t happen often?;  Or the business process happens often and the functionality still needs to be created; Or a business process  is only temporary. For all these reasons, PeopleSoft has created the Forms and Approval Builder.

Forms and Approval builder is a common definitions tool that helps organizations to replace paper forms with electronic forms that are

PeopleSoft Setup Manager has replaced the manual table loading sequence since PeopleSoft version 8.9. However, there are still some people reluctant to use it. For this reason, I will give a short recapitulation of what the setup manager is, how it works and why you should or shouldn’t use it.

What is the PeopleSoft Setup Manager?

The PeopleSoft Setup Manager is a tool for automating PeopleSoft application configuration. In other words, the Setup Manager helps you implement PeopleSoft modules by selecting configuration sets as a project and producing a step-by-step list of setup tasks that is specific to succesfully setup your PeopleSoft system.

How does the Setup Manager work?

The words one must remember when explaining the setup manager are implementation project and setup task list.

On 28 October PeopleTools 8.52 is presented as generally available download via eDelivery. PeopleTools 8.52 is certified to upgrades for 8.9 and later applications. Release notes for PeopleTools 8.52 can be found here.

For a quick overview of this Tools release see previous post.

PeopleTools PeopleBooks is also available via this link.