Conversation
Intel
US
Last activity: 8 Jul 2025 10:43 EDT
Unable to use parameterized existing reusable employee data page in autocomplete to retrieve data from external system
Trying to pull employee data from external system using auto complete and store basic details on to work object. We have existing reusable data pages which are parameterized and already using in auto complete in theme cosmos. trying to use same data page in constellation and its not working. tried all options. See attachment for more details Is there anyway we can implement OOB without creating DX component.
Pegasystems Inc.
GB
@kumms there are two things that stand out immediately:
@kumms there are two things that stand out immediately:
- Can you provide details of the property from Case Designer - this is what Constellation is expecting. Something like:
- I suspect the Case Designer view might be empty for the parameters if you look at this from the Constellation app? IF so are the dynamic fields, set as relevant records? You might need to recreate the field in case designer for the parameters to pass property.
- Do the dynamic fields even exist? Remember Constellation is stateless UI, the error could be accurate as you have not got the field in the form SO nothing is passed via the DX API as a parameter. Have a look at the Console and Tracer to see if this is the case.
- Remove the "required" configuration on the paramters tab of the Datapage configuration. Experiment with this, as this is the cause of your run time error - mandatory means it needs to exist BEFORE you run the Datapage (point 2). Removing this has helped me in the past, especially when the field doesn't exist (yet). OR we've had to hide this field until the dynamic parameters exist, then run it, so that you don't get this error.
- This field should be a Data Reference, not picklist. Technically this is referencing data, in theme-cosmos you are then setting 3 fields from the response.
- It is not done this way in Constellation. If you build a Data Reference > to a data object > that is sourced from an external SOR then you get alot of this for free AND
- You will get some additional presentation options like
- See https://support.pega.com/discussion/fields-functionality-fields-associa… for a great guide from @AydınToprak on the change in data mindset AND
- https://support.pega.com/discussion/source-dropdown-external-system-rec… for configuring this exact scenario from @KubaP
- You will get some additional presentation options like
- It is not done this way in Constellation. If you build a Data Reference > to a data object > that is sourced from an external SOR then you get alot of this for free AND
Sorry for the long reply, hopefully that helps
Intel
US
Thanks for the reply. I have gone through and understood all the concepts. But this is peculiar scenario. I don't want to load the data initially as we do have 100 thousands of employees. SO in theme cosmos we have implemented such a way that as you type & starts with min 2 characters system fires api and retrieve data and shows 20 or 20 records in auto completes and user will select the record.
Tried without parameter and system hangs as data page try to retrieve all records or if I give 10 as count it only retrieves only top 10 doesn't matter what you type is only shows those 10 records. I would like use all existing reusable data pages in constellation.
Can we have call on 7th july to go through.
Pegasystems Inc.
GB
@kumms to clarify, my suggestion was not to remove the parameter, just not to make it mandatory on the datapage settings > as that is what is causing your UI issue. However, as your drop down is separated from the parameter fileds, you'd have to hide the autocomplete until such time as the paramters are inputed on the form/screen. Remember, Constellation has a stateless UI, the DX API call or the autocomplete will fire as soon as the form (assignment) is loaded (you can check this in console)
Given you don't want to load the full results, which is understandable, this suggests to me even more that you should be using a Data Reference. This has an Advanced Search pattern, sometimes referred to as "Search and Select", which can help protect your API - it will require the user to enter search results for you to display the corresponding results.
I'm not only recommending this because its the correct Data Model but its also much easier to implement than the approach with an autocomplete and seperate fields for capturing the paramteers.
See:
@kumms to clarify, my suggestion was not to remove the parameter, just not to make it mandatory on the datapage settings > as that is what is causing your UI issue. However, as your drop down is separated from the parameter fileds, you'd have to hide the autocomplete until such time as the paramters are inputed on the form/screen. Remember, Constellation has a stateless UI, the DX API call or the autocomplete will fire as soon as the form (assignment) is loaded (you can check this in console)
Given you don't want to load the full results, which is understandable, this suggests to me even more that you should be using a Data Reference. This has an Advanced Search pattern, sometimes referred to as "Search and Select", which can help protect your API - it will require the user to enter search results for you to display the corresponding results.
I'm not only recommending this because its the correct Data Model but its also much easier to implement than the approach with an autocomplete and seperate fields for capturing the paramteers.
See:
- https://support.pega.com/discussion/list-view-search-and-select-ux-patt…
- https://docs.pega.com/bundle/platform/page/platform/user-experience/sea…
- In this, you'll see pySearchPageName gives you a hook to further protect your Datapage that calls the the API. If the parameters are empty, you can return no results and not call your API.
Intel
US
@MarcCheong Thanks for taking time.
I do understand search and select and was able to implement but main problem still persist. Business users to used to search employee data by typing id or name or email without knowing their details in theme cosmos Pega applications and other applications (not pega). we are missing that feature in constellation. It will be great if we have meeting and go through the issue.
Pegasystems Inc.
GB
@kummsyou're correct, a 1 to 1 replication of the "autocomplete" design pattern that then find that result in ANY column does not exist in Constellation. Without your own DX component, there would be no way to achieve that. However, you could also look at displaying a data reference as a simple table - this has a native search box that searches all columns. This achieves the same business outcome, although not with the same UI.
