Standard web services API available in PeopleSoft?
I'm investigating integrating a 3rd party web application with PeopleSoft via web services. I'm not that familiar with PeopleSoft. After some initial investigation, it appears that in order to expose any PeopleSoft functionality as web services, you have to do some considerable configuration in the Integration Broker component of the PeopleTools module. It seems that you can either define internal PeopleSoft services with "service operations" and related "handlers" or you can create a PeopleSoft service for an existing "Component Interface." Then, you have to expose that PeopleSoft service as a web service.
Are there any standard, default, out-of-the-box web services available for a PeopleSoft system, or do you always need to go through the steps of defining them in the Integration Broker?
After looking at a system like Salesforce, which has a standard web services API, it seems like there might be something similar for PeopleSoft, but I'm not finding it. Am I on the right track in thinking that the Integration Broker is the only way to go, or am I just not aware of some standard web services API that exposes basic PeopleSoft functionaity as web services?
Answer
Integration Broker (IB) is what you need to expose business logic from peoplesoft and consume it with your 3rd party tool, or to consume a webservice from your tool in peoplesoft.
There are some out of the box messages, but most of them are made to have different PIA (PeopleSoft Internet Architecture) communicate.
Be aware, IB components were almost complemently remixed in peopletools version 8.47. So it's important to give your tool's version when talking about IB.
Never heard about a standalone API for implementing web services, outside of the IB framework. IB will use dedicated class to handle sending and reception of your messages. You mention it as the handler. And if a component interface need to be used it will be done throughout this class.