psLens for Developers
Categories:
The Daily Grind
You are working on a customization. You need to check the structure of PSOPRDEFN, find which pages reference a specific record, or look up a Message Catalog entry. So you open a remote desktop session to the App Designer VM, wait for it to connect, launch App Designer, wait for it to load against the database, navigate through menus, and eventually find what you need. Then you do it again. And again.
On a busy day, you might spend more time looking things up than actually writing code.
How psLens Changes This
Instant Object Search
Type a record name, field name, or any PeopleSoft object identifier into psLens. Results render as you type. You skip the App Designer launch sequence and the menu walk entirely.
Search across all object types at once, or filter to exactly what you need: records, fields, pages, components, SQL objects, application packages, Application Engines, and more.
Understand Relationships
Click into any object and see its relationships immediately:
- Records: See all fields, key structure, related pages and components
- Fields: See every record that uses the field, plus translate values
- Pages: See the component and menu path
- Components: See pages, permission lists, and menu navigation
- Application Packages: Browse the full class hierarchy
Deep Links for Team Communication
Every object in psLens has a permanent URL. Instead of telling a colleague “look at the DERIVED_HR record in App Designer,” send them a link. They click it and see the full definition, no App Designer needed.
Useful for:
- Jira tickets and code review comments
- Slack conversations about technical issues
- Wiki documentation and runbooks
- Onboarding materials for new developers
Markdown Export
Export any object definition to structured Markdown. Use it to:
- Document your customizations
- Create change request descriptions
- Feed into AI tools (ChatGPT, Claude) for code analysis and generation
- Build team knowledge bases
Keep App Designer Access Tight
App Designer is a full development environment. It connects directly to your PeopleSoft database (two-tier), can modify any object, view all PeopleCode, and run arbitrary SQL. That level of access is appropriate for developers who are actively building, not for lookups.
Because App Designer is a Windows-only desktop client that requires specialized network access, most organizations provision dedicated VMs or terminal servers just to run it. That infrastructure needs to be maintained, patched, and secured.
When developers use psLens for day-to-day research, they spend less time in App Designer. That means fewer VM sessions, less infrastructure to maintain, and App Designer access stays scoped to the people who actually need it.
See Reducing App Designer Access for the full picture on access control.
What Developers Search Most
| Object | Why |
|---|---|
| Records | Check field types, key structure, and related language records |
| Fields | Find which records use a field, see translate values |
| SQL Objects | Look up SQL definitions without App Designer |
| Application Packages | Browse class hierarchies and understand code structure |
| Components | Understand page structure and security before making changes |
| Message Catalog | Find message numbers and text for error handling |