Search Results delete_primary_key_column




Overview
Explore in AI Chat

Overview

The APPS.AD_DD package is the Oracle E-Business Suite database object registration utility. Its role is to maintain the Applications Data Dictionary — the metadata repository that describes the physical database objects (tables, columns, and primary keys) belonging to registered EBS applications. In Oracle EBS 12.1.1 and 12.2.2, this metadata underpins critical runtime and administrative functionality, including the Oracle Forms-based "Help > Diagnostics > Examine" and "Dictionary" features, flexfield and descriptive flexfield processing, and various concurrent programs that introspect table structures at runtime. AD_DD is classified as an OTHER API, indicating it is a low-level administrative utility rather than an end-user-facing business API. It operates directly against the FND data dictionary base tables and their translated (_S) views, writing rows that describe each registered object. The package is marked VALID with eight documented subprograms and no dependent packages referencing it, confirming its position as a standalone metadata maintenance tool.

Key Procedures and Functions

  • REGISTER_TABLE — Registers a table (or synonym-backed object) into the applications data dictionary, establishing its application ownership and descriptive attributes.
  • REGISTER_COLUMN — Registers an individual column of a previously registered table, recording its name and metadata so the column becomes visible to dictionary-driven forms and utilities.
  • REGISTER_PRIMARY_KEY — Defines a primary key constraint entry for a registered table.
  • UPDATE_PRIMARY_KEY — Modifies attributes of an existing registered primary key, such as its associated sequence or identifying information.
  • REGISTER_PRIMARY_KEY_COLUMN — Adds a column to an existing primary key definition, supporting composite key structures.
  • DELETE_PRIMARY_KEY_COLUMN — Removes a column from a registered primary key definition.
  • DELETE_TABLE — Removes a table and its associated dictionary registration from the applications data dictionary.
  • DELETE_COLUMN — Removes a previously registered column from the data dictionary.

Together these subprograms provide complete lifecycle management — create, update, and delete — for the three primary dictionary entity types: tables, columns, and primary keys.

Tables Accessed

AD_DD reads from and writes to the core Application Object Library dictionary tables, accessed through APPS synonyms. FND_TABLES and its translated view FND_TABLES_S store table-level registration records. FND_COLUMNS and FND_COLUMNS_S store column-level records. FND_PRIMARY_KEYS and FND_PRIMARY_KEYS_S hold primary key definitions, while FND_PRIMARY_KEY_COLUMNS holds the individual columns composing each key. FND_APPLICATION is referenced to resolve or validate the owning application of a registered object. DUAL is used for standard scalar evaluations. The _S views supply language-translated descriptions where applicable, ensuring dictionary entries appear correctly in localized environments.

Usage Notes

AD_DD is not intended for routine end-user invocation. It is typically called by EBS administrative utilities, by the AD (Applications DBA) toolset during table and index registration, and by install or upgrade scripts executed through AD Administration or AutoConfig-driven processes. Developers who create custom tables may invoke AD_DD to register those tables so that Help > Diagnostics > Examine and the Dictionary Editor form can display them; the Dictionary Editor itself is the graphical interface most commonly backed by these procedures. Because direct manipulation of the FND dictionary tables is unsupported and risky, all registration and deletion should be performed exclusively through AD_DD subprograms or the supported forms front end, and never through ad hoc DML. In 12.1.1 and 12.2.2 the package remains unchanged in contract, with the ONLINE patching model in 12.2.2 requiring particular care that dictionary changes are made in the correct editioned environment.