Search Results fnd_context




Overview
Explore in AI Chat

Overview

FND_CONTEXT is a utility package in the Oracle E-Business Suite APPS schema that provides a generic mechanism for initializing application context attributes within Oracle's session-based context architecture. Context areas in Oracle EBS are security and session-state constructs that allow an application to store and retrieve environment-specific values — such as user identity, organization identifier, or responsibility — without repeatedly querying the database. These context areas must be created in the database using the SQL CREATE CONTEXT statement, which binds a context namespace to a PL/SQL package. FND_CONTEXT serves as the trusted package that Oracle invokes through this binding to populate context attributes at runtime.

The package is intentionally minimal. Its sole documented purpose is to act as the callback package referenced by CREATE CONTEXT statements, calling DBMS_SESSION.SET_CONTEXT to assign a name/value pair into a named context area. Because the local context management infrastructure restricts writes to the package named in the CREATE CONTEXT directive, FND_CONTEXT provides a standardized, reusable entry point that any context namespace can reference, avoiding the need to create a separate callback package for each context.

Key Procedures and Functions

The ETRM metadata for this object documents a single procedure:

  • INIT — This is the generic routine used to initialize an attribute value inside a given context. The context's namespace must already exist before INIT is called; the namespace is created by the CREATE CONTEXT command, which associates the context area with an initialization package or procedure. INIT accepts the context name, the attribute name, and the attribute value, and it sets that attribute by delegating to DBMS_SESSION.SET_CONTEXT. The procedure is declared AUTHID CURRENT_USER, meaning it executes with the privileges of the calling user.

No other procedures or functions are documented. The package history header (AFSCCTXS.pls, version 115.0, dated 2003) indicates this interface has been stable and unchanged for the considerable span of the product's lifecycle.

Tables Accessed

FND_CONTEXT does not read or write any application tables. As documented, its only dependencies are the Oracle-supplied packages DBMS_SESSION and DBMS_UTILITY, referenced through APPS synonyms. DBMS_SESSION is the mechanism by which the context attribute is actually set; DBMS_UTILITY is referenced within the package body for supporting functionality. Because no EBS tables are touched, the package introduces no direct database I/O overhead and cannot violate table-level access controls.

Usage Notes

FND_CONTEXT is invoked in two related ways. First, a database administrator creates a context area bound to this package, for example: CREATE CONTEXT PO USING FND_CONTEXT;. Thereafter, application or custom code calls fnd_context.init('PO', 'my_name', 'my_value') to populate the attribute. This pattern is common in customizations that require secure, session-scoped values — for example, multi-tenant filtering, organizational access control, or row-level security policies built on Virtual Private Database (VPD). Because the context is populated through the trusted package, values cannot be spoofed by arbitrary SQL.

Typical invocation points include forms-level triggers, concurrent program initialization routines, and custom PL/SQL APIs that run within an EBS session. The package is referenced by one other documented package in ETRM, reflecting its role as a shared infrastructure dependency. Developers should ensure the context namespace exists prior to calling INIT and should be aware that context values persist for the duration of the database session unless explicitly cleared.