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Overview
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Overview

IBU_KNOWLEDGE_GRP is a PL/SQL package owned by the APPS schema that provides the server-side search entry point for Oracle iSupport and the Oracle Knowledge Base. It is classified as a GRP (group) API, meaning it acts as a grouping or wrapper layer that receives simple object parameters from Java-based clients, converts them into Advanced Managed View (AMV) record and table types, and then delegates to the underlying record-type API. In Oracle EBS 12.1.1 and 12.2.2, this package is the mechanism through which the iSupport knowledge search user interface, including the self-service Knowledge Base pages, retrieves matching knowledge documents.

The package header carries the identifier $Header: ibugkbs.pls 120.0 2005/09/12, indicating that it is a long-standing component of the iSupport knowledge infrastructure and has remained stable across the 12.x releases. Its purpose is to expose the full-text and parameter-driven "specific search" functionality to external callers without requiring those callers to construct AMV structures directly.

Key Procedures and Functions

The documented API exposes two overloads of a single procedure, SPECIFIC_SEARCH.

  • SPECIFIC_SEARCH (first overload) — Accepts the caller's search criteria as plain object parameters, including a repository table, a free-text search string, an "updated in days" filter, application and category identifiers, area and content arrays, parameter operator and parameter search string arrays, and pagination controls such as rows requested and start row position. It returns result sets through table-typed OUT parameters covering rows returned, the next row position, the total row count, and a result varray, together with the standard FND_API return status, message count, and message data. Internally this overload converts the incoming object parameters into AMV record types and invokes the record-type API.
  • SPECIFIC_SEARCH (second overload) — Provides the same logical search but is documented as returning the result array directly from AMV via an x_amv_result_array OUT parameter, rather than the table-typed outputs used by the first overload. This variant exists so that callers who already operate against AMV result structures can avoid an additional conversion step.

Both overloads follow the standard EBS PL/SQL API conventions, accepting p_api_version, p_init_msg_list, and p_validation_level and returning the standard x_return_status, x_msg_count, and x_msg_data triple.

Tables Accessed

The ETRM metadata documents a single referenced table: PLITBLM, accessed through an APPS synonym. PLITBLM is an Oracle Text (interMedia) support table used in full-text indexing operations. Its presence confirms that SPECIFIC_SEARCH relies on Oracle Text infrastructure to evaluate the free-text p_search_string and the supporting parameter search string arrays. The remaining knowledge repository and category data are reached indirectly through the AMV and record-type layers that this grouping package delegates to, so no other base tables are attributed directly to IBU_KNOWLEDGE_GRP in the documentation.

Usage Notes

IBU_KNOWLEDGE_GRP is intended primarily for programmatic invocation from Java. The header comment states explicitly that the API "is called by java," which reflects its role as the bridge between the iSupport Java middle tier and the PL/SQL knowledge search engine. Typical invocations occur when a user submits a search on the iSupport Knowledge Base or self-service search page, when paginated result sets must be produced for a results list, and when category-scoped or subcategory-inclusive searches are requested.

Because it is a grouping API rather than a form-bound or concurrent-program API, it is not registered against an Oracle Forms block or a concurrent program; callers reach it through JDBC or through custom PL/SQL that mimics the Java call pattern. Customizations should call the documented SPECIFIC_SEARCH overloads rather than any underlying record-type API directly, and should supply a valid p_api_version and inspect x_return_status for FND_API.G_RET_STS_ERROR and G_RET_STS_UNEXP_ERROR. Because the package is not referenced by any other documented package, its surface area is self-contained and safe to invoke without dependency-ordering concerns beyond the AMV and Oracle Text prerequisites.