Unicode in PeopleSoft 8: Case Study of a Large-Scale Heterogeneous Unicode Implementation
Intended Audience: |
Manager, Software Engineer, Systems Analyst |
Session Level: |
Intermediate |
PeopleSoft 8 is the first major enterprise resource planning system to
provide a full end-to-end Unicode implementation. This project was
primarily undertaken in PeopleTools, the underlying technology behind all
PeopleSoft Applications, and involved significant changes to well over 5
million lines of code yet was completed in less than 5 months. Unlike most
Unicode conversion projects, this project involved high-level tools where
not only the underlying technology needs to be changed but also the
higher-level application definitions built using these tools. The move to
Unicode required minimal disruption to the existing application definitions
and business rules built using the toolset.
This paper discusses techniques used in the conversion, with a focus on
cross-platform, multi-tier systems, including supporting a full Unicode
system against:
- 7 database management system backends
- 8 back-end operating system platforms, including IBM EBCDIC platforms
- 15 third-party integrated products
- Unicode Executable support on Win95/Win98
Additionally, we'll examine some of the techniques used in the project to
accomplish Unicode integration while other major development work was in
progress and how operating system specific issues were solved.
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