Search Results dbms_describe




Overview
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Overview

DBMS_DESCRIBE is a standard Oracle-supplied PL/SQL package owned by the SYS schema. It provides a programmatic interface for interrogating the signature of stored PL/SQL program units, returning metadata such as the argument names, data types, modes (IN, OUT, IN OUT), and positional attributes of a specified procedure or function. Within the Oracle E-Business Suite 12.1.1 and 12.2.2 environments, this package functions as a foundational metadata utility rather than a business application component, and it does not carry an Oracle EBS API classification beyond "OTHER." Its primary role is to support runtime introspection and dynamic invocation patterns used throughout the technology stack.

The package is reported as VALID and deployed alongside both its specification and package body. It is a dependency of a broad range of Oracle-supplied components, and because it is granted to PUBLIC, it is directly callable by any schema in the E-Business Suite database, including the APPS schema and any custom schema.

Key Procedures and Functions

The ETRM documentation lists a single documented program unit within this package:

  • DESCRIBE_PROCEDURE — The core routine of the package. It accepts a stored program unit identifier and returns a description of that unit's parameters, including parameter names, datatypes, and modes. It is the mechanism by which Oracle Forms, Reports, and other EBS components inspect the interface of a stored procedure before invoking it dynamically. The procedure populates PL/SQL index-by tables (arrays) with the parameter attributes rather than returning a single scalar value, enabling callers to iterate across all arguments of a target program unit.

No additional documented procedures or functions appear in the metadata for this package. Parameter lists are intentionally not reproduced here, as the ETRM extract provided records only the procedure name and its general purpose.

Tables Accessed

DBMS_DESCRIBE does not read from or write to application tables. Its operation is based on the Oracle data dictionary, drawing signature information from internal dictionary views and structures maintained by the database itself. Because the documented metadata does not list any EBS tables referenced via APPS synonyms, this package performs no DML against E-Business Suite business tables. Its dependency list is confined to database infrastructure packages such as STANDARD and DBMS_STANDARD, confirming that its scope is strictly limited to PL/SQL runtime metadata inspection.

Usage Notes

DBMS_DESCRIBE is most commonly invoked in the following contexts:

  • Dynamic PL/SQL invocation: Generic utilities that must call an unknown stored procedure at runtime use DBMS_DESCRIBE to determine the parameter profile before constructing a dynamic call via DBMS_SQL or EXECUTE IMMEDIATE.
  • Oracle Forms and Reports: EBS forms and report engines rely on the package indirectly to reconcile form-level declarations with database-side program units.
  • Custom diagnostics and integration code: Developers writing custom wrappers or integration routines use it to introspect procedure signatures, particularly when building metadata-driven interfaces.
  • Tooling and administration: Database utilities and development tools call it to display or validate stored program interfaces.

Because the package is granted to PUBLIC, it can be invoked directly from the APPS schema or any custom schema without additional grants. It should be treated as a read-only introspection utility; it does not modify data and carries no application-level security significance. Developers should note that the package reflects the current state of compiled program units and will not report timing or performance attributes.