Upgrades can be expensive, but by keeping up with new features like PeopleSoft’s Event Mapping tool, your organization can alleviate the cost-burden of upgrades and enhancements, allowing for application optimization.
What is Event Mapping?
PeopleSoft Event Mapping is a tool to add custom code to delivered components, pages, records, and fields without modifying any delivered objects. This tool removes or greatly diminishes the impact and cost of customizations when implementing new PUM images. Although released in PeopleTools 8.55, PeopleTools 8.58 Event Mapping provides enhancements and further support to FieldDefault, FieldEdit, SearchInit, and SearchSave events.
The feature makes new PUM Image updates easier, cheaper, and faster, allowing customers to meet their unique business needs.
Event Mapping enables the user to inject a custom code before or after the delivered event code. The custom PeopleCode is kept separate from the delivered code, ensuring that the code won’t be overwritten by PeopleSoft delivered code during an upgrade. This PeopleSoft configuration also gives complete access to the component buffer.
For example, if a customization required a change to deliver PeopleCode, prior to the Event Mapping capability, the customer would need to customize that delivered PeopleCode. With this feature, users can now “inject” the new PeopleCode logic through a bolt-on Application Package, triggering through configuration within the delivered PeopleSoft Event Mapping pages.
This prevents the customer from having to maintain the customization when PeopleSoft provides new PUM Image releases that otherwise – pre-Event Mapping – would have over-written the customization, requiring re-application.
As a technical tool, using Event Mapping means you’ll be doing work in App Designer plus PIA configuration. You’ll need to develop application class PeopleCode, and know the portal registry navigation for your target component.
Starting in App Designer, using the Event Mapping tool allows you to add new fields to the delivered fluid page in HCM, like the fluid position management tool. Prior to this step, new fields can be added using the Drop Zone feature, which allows for customization of delivered pages without customizing delivered objects.
The goal is to make a field default to a value when the delivered field changes, which requires the implementation of code under the delivered field. When the delivered field changes, the other field will be set to a particular value.
PeopleSoft Event Mapping Navigation:
- Write application class PeopleCode
- Give the Application Package a name
- Give the App Class a name
- Edit the PeopleCode, and paste in the template code. Add the App Class name created.
- Define an App Class Related Content Service
- Navigate to PeopleTools > Portal > Related Content Service > Defined Related Content Service
- Here, you will change the URL type to Application Class information
- Find Portal Registry Navigation Path to the Target Component
- Use ctrl shift j for the Component Name, then Navigate to Enterprise Components > Find Object Navigation. Paste in the fluid component and copy the navigation content.
- Create an Event Map to tie the Related Content Service to the component-level PeopleCode event
- Navigate to PeopleTools > Portal > Related Content Service > Manage Related Content Service. Here, there will be a tab specifically for Event Mapping. You’ll see a list of existing Event Mapping entries. Click on Map Application Classes to Component Events, which will lead you to a portal of Content Reference links and allow you to make a new one. Make sure to check the “include hidden Crefs” option at the top of the page. You will have options for Page Level Event Mapping, Component Record Level Event Mapping, and Component Record Field Level Event Mapping.
A key consideration to make when using event mapping is providing proper documentation. Failing to make a record of event mapping can mean that its behavior is unidentified and could lead to it being lost in an upgrade. To prevent this, document changes you’ve made with Event Mapping, and ensure that you’re practicing correct portal registry navigation.
Elire’s PeopleSoft experts have successfully implemented the Event Mapping tool on clients like SavaSeniorCare, Alliant Energy, Perdeceo, and more. To learn more about PeopleSoft capabilities and PeopleTools that can optimize your PeopleSoft investments, read our blog post “PeopleTools 8.59 New Features and Enhancements,” and visit Elire’s PeopleSoft Services page.
