Search Results create_trans_step




Overview
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Overview

APPS.HR_TRANSACTION_API is a server-side PL/SQL package body that provides the core programmatic interface for Oracle EBS Oracle Human Resources (HR) and Oracle Advanced Benefits (OAB) transaction processing. It implements the "HR API" transaction framework, which manages the lifecycle of transactional business events — hires, terminations, employee changes, benefits elections, and payroll-related actions — through a controlled, multi-step process. The package encapsulates the mechanism by which a business event (a "transaction") is created, associated with an approval routing (a "transaction step"), supplied with attribute values, and later updated or deleted. Because it is classified as a public API by ETRM, it is intended for direct invocation from forms, concurrent programs, and customer extension code, unlike private internal packages.

Key Procedures and Functions

The documented API comprises 33 procedures and functions. Users searching for create_transaction_step will find that the relevant entry point is CREATE_TRANSACTION_STEP, which establishes the step record that links a transaction to an approval activity. Complementary routines in this area include:

  • CREATE_TRANSACTION — creates the parent HR API transaction record, the anchor object for all downstream steps and values.
  • CREATE_TRANS_STEP — creates a transaction step record, used in association with the transaction creation flow.
  • CREATE_TRANSACTION_STEP — the primary documented procedure for inserting a step against an existing transaction.
  • GET_TRANSACTION_STEP_INFO — returns the transaction step identifier and object version number for a given item type, item key, and activity. As shown in the source excerpt, it queries HR_API_TRANSACTION_STEPS and returns NULL when no step exists.
  • TRANSACTION_STEP_EXIST — a Boolean-style existence check for a transaction step.
  • UPDATE_TRANSACTION_STEP and DELETE_TRANSACTION_STEP — modify and remove step records respectively.

The package also supplies value-handling routines: SET_VARCHAR2_VALUE, SET_NUMBER_VALUE, SET_DATE_VALUE, SET_BOOLEAN_VALUE, their GET_* counterparts (GET_VALUE, GET_VARCHAR2_VALUE, GET_NUMBER_VALUE, GET_DATE_VALUE, GET_DATE2CHAR_VALUE, GET_BOOLEAN_VALUE), and the original-value accessor family (GET_ORIGINAL_VALUE, GET_ORIGINAL_VARCHAR2_VALUE, GET_ORIGINAL_NUMBER_VALUE). These routines populate and retrieve the attribute values attached to a transaction or step.

Tables Accessed

Through APPS synonyms the package reads and writes several tables. HR_API_TRANSACTIONS stores the parent transaction header, while HR_API_TRANSACTION_STEPS holds the step records central to create_transaction_step. HR_API_TRANSACTION_VALUES stores the attribute values set by the SET_* routines. Workflow integration is provided by WF_ITEMS, WF_ACTIVITY_ATTR_VALUES, and WF_ITEM_ATTRIBUTE_VALUES, which connect transactions to the Oracle Workflow engine. Business-specific tables include BEN_ICD_TRANSACTION (Advanced Benefits), PER_PAY_TRANSACTIONS (payroll), and PQH_SS_APPROVAL_HISTORY (approval history).

Usage Notes

HR_TRANSACTION_API is typically invoked within the HR transaction processing framework, most often triggered indirectly by the HR forms or by business event handlers rather than called directly from end-user screens. Custom integrations and extensions use it to programmatically create transactions, add steps, and set attribute values before submitting them for approval. Because it is referenced by 63 other packages, direct modification of the underlying tables is discouraged; the API should be used to preserve object version numbers, validation, and workflow synchronization. Developers should honor the standard HR API conventions — initialization, object versioning, and commit handling — when calling these routines from custom code.