Results for “ak_foreign_keys”

AI-generated from documented ETRM metadata — verify critical details on the linked pages.

Overview

AK_FOREIGN_KEYS is a metadata repository table owned by the AK (Common Modules-AK) schema in Oracle E-Business Suite 12.1.1 and 12.2.2. It stores the definition of foreign key constraints registered against database objects in the Oracle Application Object Library's object dictionary. Each row describes a single foreign key relationship for an object, capturing the parent unique key it resolves to, the owning database object, and the constituent columns. The table acts as the master reference for foreign key definitions used by the AK dictionary and by components such as region relations and translated (TL) foreign key metadata.

Under a heuristic Data Vault classification derived from its foreign key structure, this table is hub-leaning. It behaves as a central hub keyed by FOREIGN_KEY_NAME, with relationships to AK_OBJECTS and AK_UNIQUE_KEYS acting as links to the referenced object and unique key definitions, while the ATTRIBUTE1..15 descriptive columns and audit columns act as satellite-style payload. This classification is a modeling suggestion rather than a physical design representation.

Key Information Stored

The table contains 26 documented columns. The most significant are:

• FOREIGN_KEY_NAME — the surrogate primary key and the sole component of AK_FOREIGN_KEYS_PK. It uniquely identifies each foreign key definition.
• DATABASE_OBJECT_NAME — the object on which the foreign key is defined; foreign key to AK_OBJECTS.
• UNIQUE_KEY_NAME — the referenced unique key that the foreign key resolves to; foreign key to AK_UNIQUE_KEYS.
• APPLICATION_ID — identifies the owning Oracle EBS application context.
• ATTRIBUTE_CATEGORY and ATTRIBUTE1 through ATTRIBUTE15 — flexible descriptive attributes for extensible metadata.
• LAST_UPDATE_DATE, LAST_UPDATED_BY, CREATION_DATE, CREATED_BY, LAST_UPDATE_LOGIN — standard EBS audit columns for change tracking.
• ZD_EDITION_NAME — the editioning column introduced for the 12.2 online patching (Edition-Based Redefinition) model.

A secondary unique index, AK_FOREIGN_KEYS_U1, is defined on (FOREIGN_KEY_NAME, ZD_EDITION_NAME), which functions as the business-key candidate spanning the edition-aware identity of the row.

Common Use Cases and Queries

AK_FOREIGN_KEYS is primarily queried for metadata reporting, dependency analysis, and impact assessment during customization or upgrade work. A typical pattern joins the table to AK_UNIQUE_KEYS to resolve the referenced key definition for a given object:

• Listing foreign keys for a database object: SELECT FOREIGN_KEY_NAME, DATABASE_OBJECT_NAME, UNIQUE_KEY_NAME FROM AK.AK_FOREIGN_KEYS WHERE DATABASE_OBJECT_NAME = :name.
• Resolving the parent unique key: join AK_FOREIGN_KEYS to AK_UNIQUE_KEYS on UNIQUE_KEY_NAME.
• Enumerating constituent columns: join to AK_FOREIGN_KEY_COLUMNS on FOREIGN_KEY_NAME.
• Edition-aware reporting: filter or group by ZD_EDITION_NAME when querying 12.2.2 data to isolate the appropriate edition.
• Audit tracking: use LAST_UPDATE_DATE and LAST_UPDATED_BY to report on recent metadata changes.

Because "ak_foreign_keys_pk" is the documented primary key, queries that filter by FOREIGN_KEY_NAME leverage that index for efficient lookups.

Related Objects

The following objects are the most significant dependencies, based on documented foreign key relationships:

• AK_OBJECTS — referenced via AK_FOREIGN_KEYS.DATABASE_OBJECT_NAME; supplies the object definition.
• AK_UNIQUE_KEYS — referenced via AK_FOREIGN_KEYS.UNIQUE_KEY_NAME; supplies the referenced unique key.
• AK_FOREIGN_KEY_COLUMNS — references AK_FOREIGN_KEYS.FOREIGN_KEY_NAME; holds the column-level breakdown.
• AK_FOREIGN_KEYS_TL — references AK_FOREIGN_KEYS.FOREIGN_KEY_NAME; stores translatable foreign key metadata.
• AK_FLOW_REGION_RELATIONS — references AK_FOREIGN_KEYS.FOREIGN_KEY_NAME; links flow region relations to foreign key definitions.