Search Results ff_load_contexts_pkg




Overview
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Overview

APPS.FF_LOAD_CONTEXTS_PKG is a PL/SQL package in the Oracle E-Business Suite applications schema that supports the maintenance of descriptive flexfield context data. In Oracle EBS, a descriptive flexfield consists of a structure (sometimes called a context field) and a set of context-sensitive segments. The "contexts" themselves are the individual values that the context field may take, and each context determines which segments are displayed and validated when users enter data in a form. FF_LOAD_CONTEXTS_PKG exists to validate context names and to load (insert or update) context definitions into the flexfield metadata tables that back the Descriptive Flexfields form and the underlying Application Object Library structure.

The package is classified in ETRM documentation as an OTHER API, meaning it is a documented but internal utility rather than a formally published public interface. It operates on the same tables used by the Flexfields Configuration forms, and its dependency listing shows it reading and writing FF_CONTEXTS and FF_CONTEXTS_S while being referenced by the FF_CONTEXTS_BRI database trigger and by other packages.

Key Procedures and Functions

ETRM documents two procedures or functions for this package:

  • VALIDATE_NAME — Validates a context name. This routine checks that a supplied context name is well formed and permissible for insertion into the flexfield context tables, preventing duplicate or invalid context identifiers from being committed. It provides the naming-rule enforcement used before a context row is created or updated.
  • LOAD_ROW — Loads a single context row into the descriptive flexfield context tables. This procedure is the workhorse of the package: given the context definition data, it performs the insert or update of the context record (and its translation/sequence row) so that the context becomes available to the flexfield structure.

No parameter lists are documented in the ETRM metadata, and none are asserted here.

Tables Accessed

  • FF_CONTEXTS — The base descriptive flexfield contexts table. It stores the context code, the owning application and descriptive flexfield, the context prompt, and related attributes. FF_LOAD_CONTEXTS_PKG reads and writes this table when loading or validating a context row.
  • FF_CONTEXTS_S — The translated (language-specific) contexts table, keyed by context and language. The package maintains the descriptive context name and description text through this table so that context prompts display correctly per language.
  • PLITBLM — A PL/SQL internal table type reference shown in the dependency listing. It supports the package's internal array processing; it is not a business data table.

The documented dependency list also shows the package references the APPS schema and STANDARD, consistent with normal package compilation dependencies.

Usage Notes

FF_LOAD_CONTEXTS_PKG is an internal maintenance utility, not an end-user API. It is typically invoked in three contexts:

  • Flexfield configuration forms — When an administrator defines or copies a descriptive flexfield context through the Descriptive Flexfields setup forms, the form logic calls into the ff_load_contexts_pkg routines to validate the context name and to persist the context row and its translations.
  • Database triggers — The dependency listing shows APPS.FF_CONTEXTS_BRI (a before-insert row trigger on FF_CONTEXTS) references this package. This trigger enforces validation on direct inserts into the context table, ensuring the package's name validation applies even when rows are inserted outside the form.
  • Migration and loader scripts — Because LOAD_ROW accepts a fully described context, it is used by data-migration and flexfield-loading routines that seed contexts across environments (for example, moving a flexfield definition from a development instance to production).

Consultants should treat the package as a supporting component of the flexfields infrastructure. Direct calls from custom code should be limited to loader scenarios, and all invocations should respect the validation enforced by VALIDATE_NAME. Because it is owned by APPS and classified as an internal (OTHER) API, Oracle does not guarantee signature stability across releases; the metadata shown reflects the 12.1.1 and 12.2.2 ETRM documentation.