Results for “ff_archive_items”

AI-generated from documented ETRM metadata — verify critical details on the linked pages.

Overview

The FF_ARCHIVE_ITEMS table is a core archival structure within the Oracle E-Business Suite FastFormula (FF) module, owned by the HR schema. Its documented purpose is to archive the results of evaluating database items during formula processing. When FastFormula routines execute against a set of database items — the discrete data elements a formula reads, writes, or references — the outcomes of those evaluations can be persisted into this table, providing a record of what values were derived, under what context, and at what point in time. In EBS 12.1.1 and 12.2.2, where FastFormula underpins payroll, compensation, benefits, accruals, and absence calculations, this archive supports auditability, troubleshooting, and reconciliation of formula behavior.

The heuristic Data Vault classification mined from its foreign key structure is satellite-leaning. In Data Vault modeling terms, this suggests the table behaves primarily as a descriptive satellite attached to a parent hub or link (here, FF_USER_ENTITIES via USER_ENTITY_ID), holding attributes and measurement-style values rather than acting as an independent hub of identities. It is not classified as a hub or link based on the documented relationships.

Key Information Stored

The table contains 12 documented columns. Central among them is ARCHIVE_ITEM_ID, which serves as the surrogate primary key through the FF_ARCHIVE_ITEMS_PK unique index. This is the sole documented unique index and therefore the only business-key candidate identified in the metadata. The remaining columns capture the substantive content:

• ARCHIVE_ITEM_ID — Surrogate primary key uniquely identifying each archived evaluation record.
• USER_ENTITY_ID — Foreign key to FF_USER_ENTITIES, the parent entity (typically the formula or user-defined context owner) this archived item belongs to.
• CONTEXT1 — A context discriminator providing scope for the archived evaluation.
• NAME — The name or label of the evaluated item.
• VALUE — The archived result of evaluating the database item.
• ARCHIVE_TYPE — Classifies the archive entry, distinguishing the nature or category of the archived record.
• OBJECT_VERSION_NUMBER — Optimistic locking column supporting concurrent updates.
• LAST_UPDATE_DATE, LAST_UPDATED_BY, LAST_UPDATE_LOGIN — Standard EBS audit columns recording who last modified the row and when.
• CREATED_BY, CREATION_DATE — Standard EBS audit columns recording row creation provenance.

The presence of both an archive-classification column and full WHO-column auditing indicates the table is designed for retention and forensic review rather than transactional throughput.

Common Use Cases and Queries

Typical scenarios include auditing what value a formula's database item resolved to during a payroll or compensation run, diagnosing why a calculation produced an unexpected result, and reconciling archived outcomes against reprocessed evaluations. A representative query joins the archive to its parent entity and its context child:

• Retrieve archived values for a given entity: SELECT ai.NAME, ai.VALUE, ai.ARCHIVE_TYPE FROM FF_ARCHIVE_ITEMS ai WHERE ai.USER_ENTITY_ID = :p_entity_id;
• Reconstruct item context: SELECT ai.ARCHIVE_ITEM_ID, aic.* FROM FF_ARCHIVE_ITEMS ai JOIN FF_ARCHIVE_ITEM_CONTEXTS aic ON aic.ARCHIVE_ITEM_ID = ai.ARCHIVE_ITEM_ID;
• Audit trail by date: filter on LAST_UPDATE_DATE and CREATED_BY to identify who produced or changed an archived evaluation.
• Reporting of formula evaluation outcomes for period-over-period comparison, grouped by ARCHIVE_TYPE and NAME.

Related Objects

• FF_USER_ENTITIES — Parent table referenced by FF_ARCHIVE_ITEMS.USER_ENTITY_ID; supplies the owning entity for each archived item.
• FF_ARCHIVE_ITEM_CONTEXTS — Child table referencing FF_ARCHIVE_ITEMS.ARCHIVE_ITEM_ID; holds the expanded context rows associated with each archived item.
• FF_ARCHIVE_ITEMS_PK — Unique index enforcing the ARCHIVE_ITEM_ID primary key constraint.
• FastFormula database item and formula definition tables in the HR schema, which define the items whose evaluated results are archived here.

Together these objects form the archival backbone for FastFormula database item evaluation, enabling retention, audit, and diagnostic review of formula-derived values across the EBS enterprise.