PeopleTools is the name of the 4GL originally created by PeopleSoft as the tooling for customizing its ERP suite.
The new version, Oracle PeopleTools 8.48, finishes the job of SOA compliance with native support of baseline web services standards such as WSDL, UDDI, WS-Security, BPEL, and WS-Addressing.
Previously, you could have still web service enabled PeopleSoft application messages through PeopleTools, but you would have required external adapters to actually convert the APIs to WSDL.
With the new Service Designer feature, a wizard is used to convert and publish app functions as processes that can be orchestrated. More importantly, because it supports WSDL and UDDI standards natively, it can also maintain version control of services that are exposed using PeopleTools.
In so doing, PeopleTools now fully support corer Fusion middleware pieces including the appserver, portal, and BPM (business process management) pieces.
And it also means that PeopleSoft processes written using PeopleTools can take advantage of Oracle Fusion XML Publisher, a feature that supports publishing of any XML document through popular formats such Adobe PDF or Microsoft Word.
Other new bells and whistles include a change impact analyzer feature that simulates what happens if a patch or upgrade is applied.
PeopleTools 8.48 is available now at no cost with standard maintenance. Additional items including XML Publisher require a limited use license.
