In earlier PeopleTools versions, the Drop Zones feature is introduced to add custom content (text or fields) to any Fluid / Classic page, without creating customizations to the component or PeopleCode. Beginning with PeopleTools 8.60, Drop Zones support is extended to Component Interfaces.

What are Component Interfaces?

Component interfaces provide a mechanism to access PeopleSoft components programmatically. For more details, refer PeopleBooks > Component Interfaces.

How are Component Interfaces designed and validated?

Component Interfaces are designed using Application Designer. Once created, the structure of the component interface should be maintained. Due to component structural changes and modifications, the structure of a component interface can become invalid. To correct an invalid component interface, you might have to delete properties for which appropriate fields or records no longer exist. If the structure of the source component has changed, you might have to delete old properties and re-add the new properties in the appropriate locations.

How Component Interfaces behave for Components with Drop Zones?

Existing Component Interfaces will not be affected by Drop Zones and will continue to work as it is. But if a requirement arises to include business logic from record fields of added to the component using Drop Zones configuration, then a new Component Interface must be created. 

Beginning with PeopleTools 8.60, Component Interfaces now support configurable drop zones. At design time, while creating a Component Interface, the availability of drop zones will be evaluated for the component. If drop zone configuration is detected, then the records and fields from the custom subpages gets added to the component interface properties list. These records and fields will be inserted at the appropriate scroll level as the other existing properties.

Sample Design of Component Interface with mapped Drop Zone sub-page:


  1. Leveraging a Drop Zone stub available on a component page. An example Drop Zone stub is shown below.

    Example of Drop Zone stub available on a component

     
  2. Creating a custom sub-page for the Drop Zone mapping with the same key structure as the component.

    A custom sub-page with the same key structure as the main component

     
  3. Configuring the drop zone to include the custom sub-page.

    Drop Zone Configuration

     
  4. Designing new Component Interface for the component: Component Interface design with record fields extended from Drop Zone added as properties in the CI.

    Component Interface Design with Properties from Drop Zone

     

These newly added properties added from Drop Zone custom sub-pages can be accessed in Run Time through Component Interface objects.

Since Component Interfaces are snapshots of a component at design time, whenever structural changes occur, like a record or field is added or deleted in drop zone sub-pages, the CI must be modified/re-created.

Find more information on Drop Zones here.