Search Results get_inst_type




Overview
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Overview

The APPS.PQH_INST_TYPE_PKG package is a small, single-purpose PL/SQL utility within the Oracle E-Business Suite HR/Payroll module. It belongs to the PQH product prefix, which corresponds to Public Sector/HR legislative and organizational functionality. The package is declared with AUTHID CURRENT_USER, meaning its procedures execute with the privileges of the invoking user rather than the definer, a design choice that allows callers to see only the organization data they are authorized to access.

The business function of this package centers on determining the "installation type" associated with a given organization. In Oracle HRMS, organizations can be classified in various ways through organization classifications and the flexible date-tracked HR_ORGANIZATION_INFORMATION table. The get_inst_type function abstracts away the logic needed to look up this classification and return it as a simple VARCHAR2 value, sparing callers from writing their own HR_ORGANIZATION_INFORMATION queries.

The header comment ($Header: pqhipedin.pkh 115.1 2002/10/18) indicates the package has been stable since at least Oracle 11.5.x, and it continues to be catalogued in ETRM for both 12.1.1 and 12.2.2. It is referenced by three other packages, confirming it acts as a shared utility rather than a standalone API.

Key Procedures and Functions

Only one documented program unit is exposed by the package specification:

  • get_inst_type — A function that accepts an organization identifier and returns a VARCHAR2. Its purpose is to retrieve the installation type value associated with the specified organization. The function name is the primary search term ("get_inst_type") and represents the sole public entry point of this package.

No other procedures or functions are documented in the ETRM metadata for this package. The package body presumably contains the implementation logic, but no additional public routines are catalogued.

Tables Accessed

The documented table referenced via an APPS synonym is:

  • HR_ORGANIZATION_INFORMATION — This is the core HRMS table that stores miscellaneous, date-tracked organization attributes. It is organized by organization, an information type (ORG_INFORMATION1 through ORG_INFORMATIONn columns), and effective dates. The get_inst_type function reads this table to resolve the installation type value for the supplied organization, filtering by the appropriate information type and effective date range.

The package does not write to this table; its role is read-only retrieval. Because HR_ORGANIZATION_INFORMATION is date-effective and multi-tenant (organization-based), the function must correctly select the currently active record.

Usage Notes

As a low-level utility, PQH_INST_TYPE_PKG.get_inst_type is typically invoked from other PL/SQL packages, from Oracle Forms-based HRMS screens, or from custom code that needs to branch on organization installation type. The three referencing packages noted in the metadata confirm that it is consumed programmatically rather than through a direct concurrent program or standalone form.

Developers using this package should note the following:

  • Because the package is AUTHID CURRENT_USER, the calling user must have SELECT privilege on HR_ORGANIZATION_INFORMATION; normal APPS-level grants satisfy this for standard EBS users.
  • The organization identifier passed in must be a valid ORGANIZATION_ID that exists in the HR organization hierarchy.
  • Callers should handle a NULL return when no matching installation type record exists for the organization, as the function returns VARCHAR2 and does not raise a NO_DATA_FOUND exception in typical usage.
  • The package is not documented as an official public API; it is an internal utility, so direct use in customizations carries the usual caveats regarding support and future changes.

Given its narrow scope and longstanding stability, PQH_INST_TYPE_PKG serves as a lightweight accessor for organization installation type, supporting higher-level HR and Public Sector processing that depends on that classification.