Component Interface(CI) Interview Questions & Answers

Component Interface...

PeopleSoft Component Interface (CI) exposes a PeopleSoft Component for synchronous access to other applications written in PeopleCode, Java or C++. We can consider CI as the means by which PeopleSoft enforces encapsulation by limiting external access to just what is made available through the CI and nothing more.
A CI also executes the business logic included in the Component. As such, it provides a higher level of data validation to the data that is being loaded into the Component when compared to direct SQL inserts.
PeopleSoft also provides a Component Interface Tester to validate the CI and Excel To CI to manage loading data.
You can have as many CIs pointing to a Component as you want. But a Component Interface can point to only one Component.
Attributes of a Component Interface
A Component Interface has the following five attributes.

• Name
• Keys
• Properties
• Collections
• Methods

Name
The Name of the Component Interface is the unique name by which we can identify the CI. Calling the CI is also done with the help of this name.
Keys
These are special properties that can retrieve the values from a CI. The three types of keys that a Component Interface has are the following:
Get Keys: These keys return one instance of the Component Interface. These keys are created based on the search record and map to the Search Keys in the search record.
Find Keys: These keys return a list of instances of the CI. These too are created based on the search record and map to the combination of Search Keys and Alternate Search Keys of the Search record.
Create Keys: Create keys are created only when the associated Component has the Add action enabled.
Properties
Properties of a CI provide access to the Component Interface’s settings and the data from the underlying Component. We can broadly classify properties into two:
Standard Properties: There are some properties that get assigned automatically when a CI gets created. These standard properties cannot be viewed through the Application Designer. Some examples for such properties are InteractiveMode, GetHistoryItems etc.
User Defined Properties: These properties map to the record fields on the Component. These are displayed in Application Designer and you can choose the properties that need to be included in the Component Interface.
Collections
This is a special property that corresponds to a scroll area. It can contain fields or subordinate scrolls, as is the case in the Component. The default name of a collection would be same as that of the primary record for the underlying scroll.
Methods
Methods are functions that perform a specific task on a CI at runtime. Runtime access to each method is governed by the security level that you have for the specific method. Like Properties, Methods too can be classified into two:
Standard Methods: These are the methods that are available for all CIs. Certain standard methods like Find, Get, Save and Cancel get created automatically when CI is created. The Create method is created only if the underlying Component has the Add action enabled.
User Defined Methods: In addition to the standard methods, we can create our own functions and expose them through the CI as methods for added functionality. Such methods are called user-defined methods. Each user defined method maps to a function. Such methods are highlighted in blue in the Component Interface Designer.

Tags: Component Interface, Index

1. Define component interface?

    PeopleSoft Component Interface (CI) exposes a PeopleSoft Component for synchronous access to other applications written in PeopleCode, Java or C++. We can consider CI as the means by which PeopleSoft enforces encapsulation by limiting external access to just what is made available through the CI and nothing more. A CI also executes the business logic included in the Component. As such, it provides a higher level of data validation to the data that is being loaded into the Component when compared to direct SQL inserts. PeopleSoft also provides a Component Interface Tester to validate the CI and Excel to CI to manage loading data. You can have as many CIs pointing to a Component as you want. But a Component Interface can point to only one Component.

2. Architecture of CI? Or what are the main elements in the component Interface?
    Main elements of component Interface
• Component interface name
• Keys
• Properties and collections
• Methods

3. Difference between get, create and find keys?                                                                                      Get keys: - These are mapped to the fields marked as search in the component’s search record. Automatically “Search key” fields in search record become Get keys.
We cannot change it.
Find keys: - These are mapped to fields marked as Alt or Search in the component search record. You may remove Find keys that you do not wish to make available for searching.
Create Keys: - It is generated from the key fields for the search record. If Add search record is present then its key fields are taken. We cannot change it.

4. What are the properties of CI?                                                                                                             The Fields in the level 0 in the component are the properties of the component.
Properties of a CI provide access to the Component Interface’s settings and the data from the underlying Component. We can broadly classify properties into two:
Standard Properties: There are some properties that get assigned automatically when a CI gets created. These standard properties cannot be viewed through the Application Designer. Some examples for such properties are Createkeyinfocollection Developer can further control the exposed Getkeyinfocollection field properties.
Findkeyinfocollection
Property Info collection
GetHistoryItems (Update/Display mode or Correction mode)
EditHistory Items
InteractiveMode..
User Defined Properties: These properties map to the record fields on the Component. These are displayed in Application Designer and you can choose the properties that need to be included in the Component Interface.

5. How to provide security to the CI?                                                                                                           • Open the Permission list (PeopleTools – Security – Permissions lists – Permissions)
• On the Component Interface tab
• Add row and select the newly created Component Interface
• Edit the permissions to give permission for the standard methods by click on FullAcess(All) button
• Get, Create, Save, cancel, find.

6. How to invoke CI using the PC?                                                                                                               • Establish a user section
• Get the component interface definition
• Populate the create keys
• Create an instance of the component interface
• Populate the required fields
• Save the component Interface.

&Session = GetSession();
&CI = &Session.GetcompIntfc(CompIntfc.INTERFACE_NAME)
&CI.KEY_FILED_NAME = ‘NEW’
If not &CI.Create () Then
Populate required fields
Else
Populate other fields
End-if;

Populate the other fields

If not &CI.Save () Then
Else
End-if;

7. Steps to test CI?                                                                                                                                      • Using the Component Interface tester (Tools – Test Component Interface)
• Give values in the tester for options
• Get Existing, Create new, Find and perform the operation from the CI Tester

8. What are the collections in CI?                                                                                                           This is a special property that corresponds to a scroll area. It can contain fields or subordinate scrolls, as is the case in the Component. The default name of a collection would be same as that of the primary record for the underlying scroll.

9. Can you write user defined methods in CI? How?  Yes,                                                                      Right Click on CI – View PeopleCode – on method Event

10. What is the PC event which is available in CI?  Method Event

11. How to catch error messages in CI?                                                                                                        This function needs to be called when ever methods like Find, Save, Create methods return false.
Error text and Error type can be printed in the log message for any other action in to the log message.

Function CheckErrorCodes()
      &PSMessages = &Session.PSMessages;
     &ErrorCount = &PSMessages.Count;
         For &i = 1 To &ErrorCount
              &ErrorText = &PSMessages.Item(&i).Text;
             &ErrorType = &PSMessages.Item(&i).Type;
         End-For;
  End-Function

12. When should I be using a component interface?

If you need to insert/update/delete data through PeopleCode, and your PeopleCode will require replicating a lot of existing business logic that already exists in a component then a component interface is the best approach. Once you learn how to use them, they will be the fastest and most robust solution for such cases. If you are performing simple changes, then using a CI becomes overkill as there is an overhead to using a CI on both the system and on development time. Similarly, large amounts of batch processing may be too much for a CI to handle or may be considerably slower using a CI.

13. When I create my component interface, why can't I see any Getkeys?

The search record for your component does not have any search keys defined. Go back and define search keys as these are used as Getkeys.

14. Why are my Findkeys missing certain fields?

Findkeys are derived from search and alternate search keys on the component search record. If you have a key but it is neither a search key nor alternate search key, then it will not be available as a Findkey.

15. When I test my component interface, why do I get a "Not Authorized" error?

Check that your component interface is included in a permission list that you have access to. Also check that you have access to all possible methods (Get, Save, Create, Cancel, Find). If you delete a component interface through application designer, it is also removed from any associated permission lists so this may be another reason why your new component interface (with the same name) is not authorized any more.

Also, make sure you are not trying to do something in your code that the CI can't do. For example, if your CI doesn't have a create method, you can't set security for it, so you will get a not authorized error if you have code that attempts to perform a create. This is because the authorization error is usually the first error to be displayed.

16. When automatically building a component interface, why are some fields missing?

Sometimes application designer gets it wrong. For instance, if the same field exists in scroll 1 and scroll 2, it may put the field in just one scroll level. It may also have problems with certain key/search key/alternate search key fields between the search record and the scroll level records. Normally you just need to check your CI and add any missing fields.

17. Why does my component interface not have a Create method?

Create is only available if the underlying component allows Add mode. If it doesn't then you can't create anything in the component, and thus you can't create anything using the component interface. The create method will be disabled in the component interface properties.

18. Can I override my Component Interface methods?

Yes, you can write additional PeopleCode for your component interface methods. Simply go to the method (Cancel, Find, Get, Save, Create), right-click and select view PeopleCode.

19. My PeopleCode didn't copy any data to a collection. Why not?

Make sure that all the fields that you are copying to in a collection actually exist in the component interface! If any are missing you can get unexpected results or none at all.

20. My PeopleCode didn't update the value of a field. Why not?

Check that the field is actually in your component interface. Also make sure that the field properties are not set to Read Only Access. (Double click on the field in the component interface).

21. The same field is in different scrolls but they do not have the same value

For example, at scroll 0 you might have the field EFFDT set to 01/01/2009. You want the EFFDT field to get the same value in scroll 1, so you write code to set it from the value in level 0 but it isn't working. If this is the case, check the field name in the component interface, you may find that PeopleSoft has automatically renamed it. For example, it might be EFFDT at level 0 but something like EFFDT_1 in level 1 of the component interface.

22. What underlying tables define security access to Component Interfaces?

The association between a permission list (CLASSID) and a component interface (BCNAME) is stored in the PeopleTools table PSAUTHBUSCOMP.

23. What delivered role / permission give access to all the delivered CIs?

The role is Standard Non-Page Permissions. The permission list is HCSPCMPINT.

24. I get the error No Rows Exist for Specified Keys

But I have double checked that the key values being passed are correct and exist in the database. What's going on? This could be row level security at work. Don't forget that a CI uses the security implemented by the underlying component. Are you sure that the user running the CI has the appropriate row level security to view the data? Confirm by querying against the search record of the underlying component. Row level security may also be at work if you are getting errors entering valid values into a field where the prompt table relies on row level security.

25) What is method? What are the different types of method?
Methods: - A method is an object that performs a very specific function on a component interface at run-time.
Standard methods and user-defined methods.
Standard methods: - Automatically generated upon the creation of a new component Interface in Application.
Apart from the Standard methods there are Standard methods available for the use with any collection.
User-Defined methods: - User-defined methods are those that you can create to meet the requirements of an individual component interface.

26) Traversing the Collections in the Component Interface?
COLL_JOB – Collection
Coll_JOBItm – Row in the collection.
&COLL_JOBCol = &CI_JOB_DATA.COLL_JOB;
For &i = 1 to &COLL_JOBCol.Count
&COLL_JOBItm = &COLL_JOBCol.Item (&i);
&COLL_JOB_JRCol = &COLL_JOBItm.COLL_JOB_JR;
For &J = 1 to &COLL_JOB_JRCol.Count
&COLL_JOB_JRItm = &COLL_JOB_JRCol.Item (&j);
&COLL_JOB_JRItm.KEYPROP_EFFDT =;

27) How do you login in correction mode in the Component Interface?
Get History Items and Edit History items property should be set to true.
Get History Items alone: - Update display all - modes will be used.