PeopleSoft 8 is the first major enterprise resource planning system to provide a full end-to-end Unicode implementation. This project was primarily undertaken in PeopleTools, the underlying technology behind all PeopleSoft Applications, and involved significant changes to well over 5 million lines of code yet was completed in less than 5 months. Unlike most Unicode conversion projects, this project involved high-level tools where not only the underlying technology needs to be changed but also the higher-level application definitions built using these tools. The move to Unicode required minimal disruption to the existing application definitions and business rules built using the toolset.

This paper discusses techniques used in the conversion, with a focus on cross-platform, multi-tier systems, including supporting a full Unicode system against:

• 7 database management system backends
• 8 back-end operating system platforms, including IBM EBCDIC platforms
• 15 third-party integrated products
• Unicode Executable support on Win95/Win98

Additionally, we'll examine some of the techniques used in the project to accomplish Unicode integration while other major development work was in progress and how operating system specific issues were solved.