Generate Excel Spreadsheet from PeopleCode

PeopleBooks documents the built-in function GenerateQueryContentURL. It's a helpful function that lets you create a link to a query.


If you append the query criteria as URL parameters, you can bring the query up without prompting the user. This is handy when you've got a data page that contains your criteria—the link allows you to show more details to the user.


When you combine it with another PeopleTools function, ViewContentURL, you can launch a new window with the results of the query. It's a nice way to provide the user with additional data without derailing what they are currently doing.


It gets really interesting when you go off-PeopleBooks and use GenerateQueryContentURL's undocumented cousin:GenerateQueryContentExcelUrl. It takes the same parameters (and also can have the parameters appended to it).


Put it all together and you can launch an Excel spreadsheet with a single line of PeopleCode:


ViewContentURL(GenerateQueryContentURL(%Portal, %Node, "QUERY_NAME"
   , True, False) | "&BIND1=US001&BIND2=123456789");