Recruiting 8.9 Letter Generator

With HR 8.9, the Recruiting Solutions module was complete overhauled. Both the functionality and the code were rewritten. The code was changed to be more SOA (a fancy TLA for an API that uses web services to communicate). I think that once I get a good grasp on the design, it will make more sense. But the functionality was also changed on the front end. And the functionality wasn't improved...

One of the biggest headache's I have had with Recruiting 8.9 is the letter generation process. Instead of using the SQR's from previous releases, a new PSJob HRSLETTR was developed. The new App Engines are simple enough to understand and the process for creating letters seems simple. The devil is always in the details. If you install PeopleSoft and Microsoft Word to their default locations, the HRSLETTR PSJob will not work.

Good QA on that one...

Here is why: the default install location (at most organizations I have been) is x:\psoft\ps_home. The default install location for MS Word is c:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office\Officexx\ or c:\PROGRA~1\MICROS~1\Office\Officexx\.

The parameters the App Engine HRS_MERGE (part of the PSJob HRSLETTR) stores in its' State Records are as follows:

-HRS_PSHOME %%PS_HOME%% -HRS_WINWORD %%WINWORD%%\WINWORD.EXE

So, if we translate those for our default values and add them to the default App Engine parameters, they are:

-CT ORACLE -CD HR89FIT -CO PS -CP OPRPSWD -R dji_RecruitmentLetterGen -I 644 -AI HRS_MERGE -OT 6 -FP z:\psoft\HR89FIT\appserv\prcs\HR89FIT\log_output\AE_HRS_MERGE_644\ -OF 14 -HRS_PSHOME z:\psoft\HR89FIT -HRS_WINWORD C:\progra~1\micros~1\office\office11\WINWORD.EXE

When you add up the total characters in the parameter list, they exceed the 256 character limit for the field HRS_MERGE_AET.PS_HOME and the WINWORD path is truncated.

There are two simple changes that can avoid this problem. First, install MS Office to c:\Office instead of the default path. Second, when running the process in batch, use a short Run Control ID. (When the process is kicked off online, an auto-generated Run Control ID is created. The ID is fixed length, so if you can test it and the letters are created, the process will work.)