Search Results method_desc

Overview

IGS_AS_ANON_METHOD_V is a reporting view owned by the APPS schema in the Oracle E-Business Suite Student System (IGS) product family. It is documented with a VALID status and is described in the ETRM repository as a view that "stores anon methods." In practice, the view exposes the set of anonymous grading methods defined within the institution's assessment configuration, one row per combination of load calendar type, anonymous method code, and assessment type. Because grading anonymity is a controlled setup concern in the Student System, this view is most commonly consumed for setup verification, validation of lookup-driven descriptions, and downstream reporting where a human-readable label for an anonymous grading method is required.

The object is a conventional relational view rather than a materialized view, so it reflects the current state of the underlying tables at query time. It presents a small, narrow result set that joins the anonymous method definition to its assessment type and resolves the method code into a descriptive label through a lookup function. This makes it suitable for use in concurrent programs, BI Publisher data models, and ad hoc SQL executed against the APPS schema.

Underlying Base Objects

The view text is defined over two base objects joined in the FROM clause:

• IGS_AS_ANON_METHOD ANON — the driving table holding the anonymous method records, including the load calendar type, method code, assessment type, and standard WHO audit columns.
• IGS_AS_ASSESSMNT_TYP ASSES — the assessment type reference table, joined with an outer join condition (ANON.ASSESSMENT_TYPE = ASSES.ASSESSMENT_TYPE(+)).

The outer join is significant: anonymous methods whose assessment type has no matching row in the assessment type table are still returned, with the assessment type description column evaluated as NULL. No additional base objects are documented in the metadata beyond these two tables, and the description resolution is performed by an in-line function call rather than a further join. The ETRM metadata records no separately documented referenced base objects, so the view text itself is the authoritative statement of lineage.

Key Columns

• LOAD_CAL_TYPE — the load calendar type associated with the anonymous method, delimiting the teaching period context in which the method applies.
• METHOD — the anonymous grading method code held on the base table.
• METHOD_DESC — the description of the method, derived by calling IGS_GE_GEN_004.GENP_GET_LOOKUP with the lookup type 'IGS_AS_ANONYMOUS_GRADING_TYPE'. This is the column most commonly targeted by searches for "method_desc."
• ASSESSMENT_TYPE — the assessment type code linked to the anonymous method.
• ASSESSMENT_TYPE_DESC — the description from the assessment type table. The documented ETRM column listing renders this as ASSESSMENT_TYPE_DESCRIPTION, while the view text aliases it ASSESSMENT_TYPE_DESC; both refer to the same attribute.
• CREATED_BY, CREATION_DATE, LAST_UPDATED_BY, LAST_UPDATE_DATE, LAST_UPDATE_LOGIN — the standard audit columns tracking row creation and modification.

Common Use Cases and Queries

Typical applications include verifying that anonymous grading methods have been configured with valid lookup values, reporting the available methods per load calendar type, and joining the view to assessment or grade tables where a descriptive method label is needed.

• List all methods with descriptions for a calendar type:
  SELECT load_cal_type, method, method_desc, assessment_type, assessment_type_desc FROM apps.igs_as_anon_method_v WHERE load_cal_type = :p_cal_type;
• Detect methods whose lookup description failed to resolve:
  SELECT method, assessment_type FROM apps.igs_as_anon_method_v WHERE method_desc IS NULL;
• Detect orphaned assessment type references:
  SELECT load_cal_type, method, assessment_type FROM apps.igs_as_anon_method_v WHERE assessment_type_desc IS NULL;

Because METHOD_DESC depends on a lookup function call, consumers should confirm that the IGS_AS_ANONYMOUS_GRADING_TYPE lookup contains values for every METHOD returned; otherwise the description column will be NULL even though the underlying method record is valid.