Search Results dbms_feature_usage




Overview
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Overview

SYS.DBMS_FEATURE_USAGE is an Oracle Database-supplied PL/SQL package that belongs to the database kernel rather than to the Oracle E-Business Suite application schema itself. It resides in the SYS schema and operates at the database tier, where it provides the underlying instrumentation framework for Oracle's feature-usage tracking and database feature-usage sampling infrastructure. In the context of Oracle EBS 12.1.1 and 12.2.2, this package is present because every EBS instance runs on an Oracle Database home, and the database automatically deploys and maintains this package as part of its standard component set. Its business function is to capture, register, and report which database features are actually being exercised by the workload — including the EBS application workload — so that Oracle can support licensing compliance, diagnostics, and product improvement. ETRM classifies the object as OTHER, reflecting that it is not an EBS application API but an infrastructure package surfaced in the dependency chain of the EBS environment.

Key Procedures and Functions

The ETRM metadata records SYS.DBMS_FEATURE_USAGE as a VALID package with both a package specification and a package body, but documents zero public procedures or functions. No parameter lists are documented, and none should be assumed. The observable behavior of the package is defined by its dependency graph. SYS.DBMS_FEATURE_USAGE references SYS.STANDARD, the base package that supplies fundamental PL/SQL constructs, confirming it is an ordinary compiled PL/SQL unit. More significantly, it is referenced by SYS.DBMS_FEATURE_REGISTER_ALLFEAT, SYS.DBMS_FEATURE_REGISTER_ALLHWM, SYS.DBMS_FEATURE_USAGE itself (recursive reference), and SYS.DBMS_FEATURE_USAGE_INTERNAL. This reference pattern indicates that DBMS_FEATURE_USAGE acts as the outer-facing layer of the feature-usage subsystem, while registration of individual features is delegated to the ALLFEAT and ALLHWM registration packages and the heavy internal machinery is encapsulated in DBMS_FEATURE_USAGE_INTERNAL.

Tables Accessed

The ETRM metadata does not document any tables accessed via APPS synonyms for this package, which is consistent with its SYS ownership and database-tier role. Its supporting data structures are database-internal repositories maintained under SYS, not EBS application tables. Because DBMS_FEATURE_USAGE_INTERNAL performs the substantive work and DBMS_FEATURE_REGISTER_ALLFEAT and DBMS_FEATURE_REGISTER_ALLHWM register features and high-water-mark information, the persistent state consumed and produced by the subsystem is held in SYS-owned dictionary and sampling tables. No EBS product tables — such as those in the AP, GL, INV, or FND schemas — are read or written by this package, and administrators should not expect feature-usage queries to join to application tables without first extracting data through the supported database views.

Usage Notes

SYS.DBMS_FEATURE_USAGE is not invoked directly by EBS forms, concurrent programs, or application code. It is activated transparently by the Oracle Database when Automatic Workload Repository feature-usage sampling is enabled, and it is exercised by database background processes and internal registration calls. Oracle EBS DBAs typically encounter the package only through dependency validation reports — for example, when running utlrp.sql or reviewing invalid objects after a database upgrade or a 12.1.1 to 12.2.2 application upgrade. Because it is a SYS-owned kernel package, it must never be modified, recompiled manually, or wrapped by custom code. Any perceived need to call it from EBS customizations should be treated as a design error; the correct approach is to rely on supported database views and EBS diagnostic tooling. If the package or its dependents appear INVALID, the remedy is to recompile the database components through the standard database utilities, not through EBS AD utilities.