A few months ago, I came across some peoplecode which had variables declared as ComponentLife. Intrigued, I tried to look it up in PeopleBooks but could not find anything that describes this declaration. Then I raised a SR with Oracle Support seeking clarification and after many days of back and forth and pestering, I finally received some information that made a little sense. This was also documented in Doc ID 2089442.1 (My Oracle Support) later. The information provided in this document is still not self explanatory so I thought I would share a little example that demonstrates how it works and how it differs from a Component variable declaration.
From Doc ID 2089442.1:
"ComponentLife is added for NUI search,.A new type of component PC object “ComponentLife” for search page is used to create the PC application objects. They will be in component scope.
The difference between the Component and Componentlife is that Component scope is for the current row in the component, whereas ComponentLife scope is for all the records. These variable don't lose scope when you navigate from one row to another row. The scope is for the life of the component.
Please note that this scope is not recommended anywhere other than the Search use case."
What I understood is that variables declared with a ComponentLife scope persist across search results. In contrast, variables declared with Component scope will only persist for the current search result.
Why would we need this? As mentioned in Doc ID 2089442.1, it appears that starting with 8.54, the NUI search uses this type of declaration a lot. Also, it seems like a very handy method to pass data across search results.
Note: This declaration only works with Fluid pages. I tried using ComponentLife in a Classic page but it does not work as expected.
I built a small Fluid page to demonstrate the way ComponentLife declaration works.
Test Fluid Page:
I built a fluid page for URL Definitions (Classic Version: Main Menu > PeopleTools > Utilities > Administration > URLs).
Test Fluid Component:
For the purposes of demonstration and saving time, I am using PT_SEARCHPAGE as a search page for my component which is not recommended by Oracle. Please refer Doc ID 2063953.1: E-FLUID: What is the PT_SEARCHPAGE Fluid Page and should it be used? before considering using this as a search page option for Fluid.
Search View:
SearchInit PeopleCode:
In the SearchInit PeopleCode, I declared and assigned a ComponentLife and a Component variable.
PageActivate PeopleCode:
In the PageActivate PeopleCode, I am just printing both the variables to see if the values persists.
Demo Video:
Check out this video >>>> ComponentLife Demo Video
Environment Details: HCM 9.2 PUM Image 12 - PeopleTools 8.54.08
From Doc ID 2089442.1:
"ComponentLife is added for NUI search,.A new type of component PC object “ComponentLife” for search page is used to create the PC application objects. They will be in component scope.
The difference between the Component and Componentlife is that Component scope is for the current row in the component, whereas ComponentLife scope is for all the records. These variable don't lose scope when you navigate from one row to another row. The scope is for the life of the component.
Please note that this scope is not recommended anywhere other than the Search use case."
What I understood is that variables declared with a ComponentLife scope persist across search results. In contrast, variables declared with Component scope will only persist for the current search result.
Why would we need this? As mentioned in Doc ID 2089442.1, it appears that starting with 8.54, the NUI search uses this type of declaration a lot. Also, it seems like a very handy method to pass data across search results.
Note: This declaration only works with Fluid pages. I tried using ComponentLife in a Classic page but it does not work as expected.
I built a small Fluid page to demonstrate the way ComponentLife declaration works.
Test Fluid Page:
I built a fluid page for URL Definitions (Classic Version: Main Menu > PeopleTools > Utilities > Administration > URLs).
Test Fluid Component:
For the purposes of demonstration and saving time, I am using PT_SEARCHPAGE as a search page for my component which is not recommended by Oracle. Please refer Doc ID 2063953.1: E-FLUID: What is the PT_SEARCHPAGE Fluid Page and should it be used? before considering using this as a search page option for Fluid.
Search View:
SearchInit PeopleCode:
In the SearchInit PeopleCode, I declared and assigned a ComponentLife and a Component variable.
PageActivate PeopleCode:
In the PageActivate PeopleCode, I am just printing both the variables to see if the values persists.
Demo Video:
Check out this video >>>> ComponentLife Demo Video
Environment Details: HCM 9.2 PUM Image 12 - PeopleTools 8.54.08
Great stuff Sasank, the video makes it very clear indeed! Top work.
ReplyDeleteThanks Simon! :)
DeleteSasank Wrote: "Then I raised a SR with Oracle Support seeking clarification and after many days of back and forth and pestering"
ReplyDeleteYes, my life every time I open an Oracle case!!!
Haha. True that! :)
DeleteSasank, thanks for this explanation. We can't see the video - is there some way to get access to it?
ReplyDeleteHi - Unfortunately, it appears that I lost access to this video myself. I will let you know if I find a copy in any of my archives (which is unlikely but I will try). My apologies.
Delete