Search Results add_mdata_section

Overview

CTXSYS.CTX_DDL is the Oracle Text (formerly interMedia Text) Data Definition Language package supplied by Oracle in the CTXSYS schema. Within Oracle E-Business Suite 12.1.1 and 12.2.2, it provides the administrative interface used to create, configure, and maintain the text indexing infrastructure that underpins full-text search and document retrieval features. Rather than storing data itself, CTX_DDL defines the preferences, section groups, and index metadata objects that Oracle Text uses when building and synchronizing a CONTEXT or CTXCAT index. Because many EBS modules — including Advanced Product Catalog (AMV/EGO), iStore (ICX), CRM/JTF, Contracts (OKC), Projects (PA), and Receivables (AR) — depend on Oracle Text for keyword searching, CTX_DDL is a foundational utility package. The ETRM metadata classifies it as an OTHER API owned by CTXSYS with VALID status and confirms that it is heavily referenced across the EBS schema stack, including via APPS and APPLSYS synonyms.

Key Procedures and Functions

The documented interface exposes roughly seventy procedures and functions, grouped logically into preference management, section group management, section definition, and index maintenance utilities.

• Preference management: CREATE_PREFERENCE and DROP_PREFERENCE instantiate and remove named preference objects that control index behavior; SET_ATTRIBUTE, UNSET_ATTRIBUTE, and WHEN assign or clear attributes on those preferences (such as lexer, wordlist, storage, or filter settings).
• Section group management: CREATE_SECTION_GROUP and DROP_SECTION_GROUP define and delete the container that holds all section definitions; SET_SEC_GRP_ATTR, UNSET_SEC_GRP_ATTR, ADD_SEC_GRP_ATTR_VAL, and REM_SEC_GRP_ATTR_VAL manipulate section-group-level attributes and their values; SET_SECTION_ATTRIBUTE and UNSET_SECTION_ATTRIBUTE operate on individual section attributes.
• Section definition: ADD_ZONE_SECTION, ADD_FIELD_SECTION, ADD_SPECIAL_SECTION, ADD_STOP_SECTION, ADD_ATTR_SECTION, ADD_MDATA_SECTION, ADD_NDATA_SECTION, and ADD_MVDATA_SECTION register the various tagged-section types — zone, field, special, stop, attribute, and metadata (single and multi-valued) — that allow documents to be searched by structured markup.

Together these procedures are typically called during index creation and configuration, not during routine runtime search processing.

Tables Accessed

CTX_DDL does not operate on application business tables directly. Per the documented metadata, it relies on supporting Oracle infrastructure objects and packages rather than EBS base tables. Its dependencies include SYS types ANYDATA, ODCINUMBERLIST, ODCIRIDLIST, and ODCIVARCHAR2LIST, and the STANDARD package. Documented tables referenced through APPS synonyms include DBMS_ASSERT, DBMS_LOB, DBMS_OUTPUT, DBMS_SQL, PLITBLM, and UTL_RAW — all of which are supplied PL/SQL packages rather than data tables, used for assertion checking, LOB handling, output, dynamic SQL, raw manipulation, and PL/SQL table utilities. All index metadata that CTX_DDL manipulates is persisted within the CTXSYS-owned Oracle Text data dictionary views and tables, which the package reads and writes internally when preferences or section groups are created or dropped.

Usage Notes

CTX_DDL is invoked primarily by Oracle Text administrative operations and by other CTXSYS packages such as CTX_ANL, DRIIXS, DRIENT, DRISGP, DRVDDL, DRVDML, and DRVXTAB during index build and synchronization. In EBS, it is referenced by module-specific and shared packages including ICX_POR_INDEX_REBUILD_PKG, which drives iStore search index rebuilds. Administrators commonly execute CTX_DDL procedures directly from SQL*Plus or through EBS concurrent programs (for example, index optimization and rebuild requests) to configure pre-existing indexes or to troubleshoot search behavior. Custom development should treat CTX_DDL as a CTXSYS-owned API: it must not be modified, and any customization should call its documented procedures from application schemas via the standard APPS/CTXSYS synonyms. Because it is referenced by more than nine packages and schemas ranging from AMV to PUBLICALS, changes to preference or section-group definitions should be coordinated with a corresponding index rebuild to take effect.