Results for “get_segment_column”

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

Overview

The APPS.FND_FLEX_APIS package body is a foundational Oracle E-Business Suite utility that exposes metadata about key and descriptive flexfields to other application code. It belongs to the Application Object Library (FND) layer and is validated in both EBS 12.1.1 and 12.2.2. Rather than performing transactions against business data, it answers structural questions: which segments make up a flexfield, what column names back each segment, how segments are delimited in concatenated values, and whether descriptive flexfield segments are set up or marked as required. In effect, it is the shared introspection layer that lets forms, concurrent programs, and other PL/SQL packages reason about flexfield configurations without hard-coding them.

Its central importance is reflected in the dependency graph: FND_FLEX_APIS is referenced by 128 other packages while itself not being referenced by any single database object at a higher level. This makes it a low-level dependency that many higher-order flexfield and accounting routines rely upon for consistent segment metadata.

Key Procedures and Functions

The documented API surface comprises fourteen procedures and functions, organized around three functional themes.

• Segment lookup and numbering: GET_QUALIFIER_SEGNUM, GET_ENABLED_SEGMENT_NUM, GET_SEGMENT_COLUMN, and GET_SEGMENT_INFO resolve a qualifier or segment position to its ordinal number, backing column name, and general attribute information for a given flexfield structure.
• Delimiter handling: GET_SEGMENT_DELIMITER and its global variant GBL_GET_SEGMENT_DELIMITER return the character used to separate segments when a flexfield value is concatenated into a single string.
• Descriptive flexfield setup checks: The IS_DESCR_SETUP, IS_DESCR_REQUIRED, and DESCR_SETUP_OR_REQUIRED functions (each paired with a GBL_ global counterpart) determine whether a descriptive flexfield context is configured and whether its segments are mandatory. GET_DFF_GLOBAL_REQ_SEGS_INFO and GET_DFF_CONTEXT_REQ_SEGS_INFO return aggregated information about globally required and context-specific required segments.

The GBL_ prefixed variants mirror their standard counterparts, typically operating against global or cached session-level state for repeated calls.

Tables Accessed

All table access occurs through APPS synonyms, and the package operates in read-only fashion against flexfield definition metadata.

• Key flexfield definition tables: FND_ID_FLEX_STRUCTURES, FND_ID_FLEX_SEGMENTS, and FND_ID_FLEX_SEGMENTS_VL supply structure and segment definitions used by the segment lookup routines.
• Descriptive flexfield definition tables: FND_DESCRIPTIVE_FLEXS, FND_DESCR_FLEX_CONTEXTS, and FND_DESCR_FLEX_COLUMN_USAGES provide context and column usage definitions consumed by the descriptive flexfield setup and required-segment checks.
• Supporting value and attribute metadata: FND_FLEX_VALUE_SETS, FND_SEGMENT_ATTRIBUTE_TYPES, and FND_SEGMENT_ATTRIBUTE_VALUES supply value set references and segment attribute metadata needed to interpret segment behavior.

Usage Notes

FND_FLEX_APIS is an internal, callable utility rather than an end-user or open interface API. It is invoked by other PL/SQL packages and by Oracle Forms code that must dynamically discover flexfield structure at runtime, for example to build segment prompts, validate concatenated values, or enforce that required descriptive flexfield segments have been populated before a record is saved.

Because it is referenced by 128 packages but references none in return, customizations should treat it strictly as a read-only metadata service. Custom code may safely call its functions to obtain segment columns, delimiters, or required-segment information, but it must never be modified or recompiled independently, as invalidating this central package would cascade to a very large portion of the FND flexfield code base. Its metadata lookups are typically cached by callers where performance is a concern.