| Online Excel Reporting in PeopleSoft |
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| Thursday, 30 March 2006 | |||||
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I've been a little busy lately, so I asked my friend and fellow PeopleSoft expert David Vandiver if he would like to contribute an article to the blog. He came back with a very interesting post about generating Excel reports from PeopleCode using ISCripts (see below). Incidentally, if you have a great PeopleSoft approach or tip you'd like to share but don't want to start your own blog, feel free to send it to me ( This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it ) and I'll do my best to get it posted. And now, here's David's article: Want to add some cool features to PeopleSoft while you wait for Fusion? Want to start producing Excel documents well before XML Publisher is available? Then this blog entry is for you. I have built a free PeopleCode library that allows custom Excel reports to be built via a PeopleSoft web page. The end result allows an end-user to click a link or button and a separate PeopleSoft window will be launched giving an Excel document. And not just any plain Excel format, but a rich Excel document with fonts, color, formulas, and multiple worksheets. The code is part of an open source project at http://sourceforge.net/projects/sqr2xml, which also has a solution for producing Excel documents from SQR. How it works: PeopleSoft has a function called iScript (starting in Tools 8.1) that allows a developer to launch a new web window and build the HTML. It is a great tool to build a quick report (Purchase Order or Voucher Coversheet). Instead of creating HTML, I built XML data that Excel expects. Once the new window opens, it sees the XML schema in the file and will launch Excel. Any developer can code the XML, just like the HTML, using iScript. But to simplify the process, I created a library of functions the developer can call to write the XML. By using the library (which is in PeopleCode as well), the developer doesn't have to write XML or even understand what XML is. All the XML writing is done by the library of functions. I also wrote a manual that accompanies the free code. In the manual, you'll find more info on how this works, as well as all the functions you can call and their syntax. Some of the features are:
This code is already in use in several companies and universities in America and abroad, including the University of Houston (my current client). My hope is that the code can help customers get more out of PeopleSoft as they wait for Fusion. Feel free to write me if you want more information or want to share your successes. Code location: http://sourceforge.net/projects/sqr2xml Enjoy David Vandiver This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it VandiverHouse Consulting Inc.
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| Last Updated ( Friday, 31 March 2006 ) | |||||
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