Results for “hxc_pref_definitions”

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

Overview

HXC_PREF_DEFINITIONS is a core configuration table within the HXC schema, owned by the Time and Labor Engine product in Oracle E-Business Suite 12.1.1 and 12.2.2. The table stores preference definitions — the master metadata records that describe each configurable preference available to the Time and Labor application. A preference in this context is a named, flexfield-backed setting whose permissible values are defined once and then applied across organizational hierarchies, enabling administrators to control behavior such as time entry validation, approval routing, and calculation rules without modifying application code.

The object is documented as VALID in the ETRM repository for release 12.2.2 and carries nine physical columns. Its documented primary key is HXC_PREF_DEFINITIONS_PK on PREF_DEFINITION_ID. The data vault classification, derived heuristically from the foreign-key topology, is hub-leaning: HXC_PREF_DEFINITIONS acts as the central anchor for preference identity, concentrating the unique list of preference codes, while downstream tables hold hierarchical and contextual application of those preferences. Modeling this object as a hub — with PREF_DEFINITION_ID as the business key and descriptive attributes carried in a companion satellite — is a reasonable analytical design.

Key Information Stored

The documented column list is compact, and the most significant columns are as follows.

• PREF_DEFINITION_ID — the surrogate primary key and the single documented unique index (HXC_PREF_DEFINITIONS_PK). This is the value propagated to child tables and the recommended join key for all downstream reporting.
• CODE — the functional identifier for the preference definition. Developers and configuration scripts typically reference preferences by CODE rather than by numeric ID; it functions as the strongest business-key candidate alongside the primary key.
• DESCRIPTIVE_FLEXFIELD_NAME — names the descriptive flexfield that supplies the valid values and validation logic for the preference. This column is the link between the preference framework and the Oracle Flexfields infrastructure, and it determines how preference values are rendered and validated in the UI.
• OBJECT_VERSION_NUMBER — the optimistic locking column used by the Oracle Application Framework (OAF) and the standard EBS concurrency model. Any update through the application layer increments this value and must be supplied correctly in API or direct-DML scenarios.
• CREATED_BY, CREATION_DATE, LAST_UPDATED_BY, LAST_UPDATE_DATE, LAST_UPDATE_LOGIN — the standard EBS WHO columns, recording the user and timestamp of row creation and last modification. These support audit queries and data lineage reporting.

Notably, the table contains no effective-date, start-date, or end-date columns in the documented schema; the definition itself is a static master record, and any temporal or hierarchical scoping is delegated to child tables.

Common Use Cases and Queries

The primary practical use of HXC_PREF_DEFINITIONS is resolving a human-readable preference code to the surrogate key required by downstream joins, and enumerating the preferences available in an environment.

• Enumerating configured preferences — a simple reporting query lists all definitions, optionally filtered by code pattern: SELECT pref_definition_id, code, descriptive_flexfield_name FROM hxc.hxc_pref_definitions ORDER BY code;
• Resolving code to ID — before joining to hierarchy data, map the code: SELECT pref_definition_id FROM hxc.hxc_pref_definitions WHERE code = :p_code;
• Audit and change tracking — using LAST_UPDATED_BY and LAST_UPDATE_DATE to identify recently modified preference definitions during implementation cutover or post-patch verification.
• Migration and comparison — comparing the CODE and DESCRIPTIVE_FLEXFIELD_NAME pairs between a development and a production instance to detect configuration drift.
• Driver-query pattern — joining HXC_PREF_DEFINITIONS to HXC_PREF_HIERARCHIES on PREF_DEFINITION_ID produces the full picture of a preference and every hierarchy node where it applies, which is the standard basis for documenting Time and Labor preference setup.

Related Objects

The documented foreign-key relationship identifies the principal dependent object, and additional related objects are commonly encountered in the same functional area.

• HXC_PREF_HIERARCHIES — the documented child table; its PREF_DEFINITION_ID column references HXC_PREF_DEFINITIONS. Each row records the application of a preference definition within a particular organizational hierarchy node.
• HXC_PREF_VALUES — the value-level table that stores the actual preference settings applied at hierarchy levels; it depends transitively on definitions through the hierarchy table.
• HXC_PREF_DEFINITIONS_PK — the primary key constraint/index on PREF_DEFINITION_ID, referenced by the hierarchy foreign key.
• FND_DESCRIPTIVE_FLEXS — the flexfield registration table in the Application Object Library, referenced logically through DESCRIPTIVE_FLEXFIELD_NAME to resolve value sets and segment definitions.
• FND_FLEX_VALUES / FND_FLEX_VALUE_SETS — supply the permissible values for the flexfield named on the definition row.
• HXC_TIME_ATTRIBUTES — associated HXC configuration table frequently queried alongside preferences when documenting Time and Labor setup.

All joins should key on PREF_DEFINITION_ID; queries against CODE should be treated as lookups only, since CODE is a business-key candidate rather than the enforced primary key.