Search Results create_grade_step

Overview

The APPS.HR_GRADE_STEP_API package body is a public PL/SQL application programming interface within the Oracle E-Business Suite Human Resources (HR) module. It provides programmatic control over grade step records, which define the individual steps or spinal points that comprise a grade spine in an organization's compensation and progression structure. In Oracle EBS, grade steps represent the discrete points employees occupy within a grade structure, and their maintenance is governed by datetracked (effective-dated) business rules. The package encapsulates the validation and write logic required to create, modify, and remove these records, ensuring that all datetrack and business group constraints are respected regardless of whether the operation originates from the standard HR forms, a concurrent program, or custom code. The source header indicates the package is maintained under the HR/payroll spine library (pespsapi.pkb), and it is classified in the ETRM repository as an API with the APPS schema owner.

Key Procedures and Functions

The documented API exposes three procedures, each corresponding to a standard datetracked DML operation on grade step data:

• CREATE_GRADE_STEP — Inserts a new grade step record. Based on the documented signature, the caller supplies an effective date, business group, spinal point and grade spine identifiers, a display sequence, optional audit columns (request ID, program application ID, program ID, program update date), and a flexible set of descriptive flexfield attributes (p_information_category and p_information1 through p_information23). A p_validate flag allows the procedure to run in validation-only mode, rolling back any changes while still reporting errors.
• UPDATE_GRADE_STEP — Modifies an existing grade step, applying the same datetrack and business group validation rules as the create operation.
• DELETE_GRADE_STEP — Removes or end-dates a grade step record in accordance with datetrack deletion semantics.

All three procedures follow the standard EBS API pattern: a p_validate mode for pre-checking without committing, mandatory effective date and business group parameters, and system-generated audit attributes. No parameter lists are invented here beyond what the documented source excerpt confirms.

Tables Accessed

The package operates primarily against the PER_SPINAL_POINT_STEPS_F table, accessed through its APPS synonym. This is the dated (F = "full"/datetracked) table that stores grade step definitions, linking a spinal point to a grade spine together with sequence and effective dating. The _F suffix indicates the table participates in Oracle HRMS datetrack, so all inserts, updates, and deletions are performed via the API's effective-date logic rather than by direct SQL. The flexible p_information1..23 parameters map to the descriptive flexfield columns on that table, letting callers populate organization-specific context attributes at the same time the core record is written.

Usage Notes

HR_GRADE_STEP_API is invoked whenever grade step data must be created or maintained programmatically. Typical callers include the Grade Steps and Grade Spine maintenance forms in the HR responsibility, concurrent programs or conversions that seed grade structures during implementation, and custom PL/SQL that integrates external compensation data into EBS. Because the package enforces datetrack and business group validation, direct DML against PER_SPINAL_POINT_STEPS_F is discouraged; the API should always be used so that effective dating, validation, and audit columns remain consistent. ETRM records two other packages referencing this API, confirming it is a shared dependency within the HR spine component. Developers should always set p_validate to TRUE during testing to inspect validation messages without committing.