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Overview
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Overview

SYS.OWA_CUSTOM is a core Oracle-supplied PL/SQL package belonging to the Oracle Web Agent (OWA) toolkit that underpins the Oracle HTTP Server's mod_plsql PL/SQL gateway, including the Apache-based technology stack used by Oracle E-Business Suite Releases 12.1.1 and 12.2.2. It resides in the SYS schema with a VALID status and exposes a public synonym (OWA_CUSTOM) through which PUBLIC and application schemas may invoke its functionality.

The package is best understood as the authentication customization hook of the OWA framework. Rather than hard-coding authorization behavior, the OWA runtime delegates the determination of whether a requested database procedure should be executed for the current end user to OWA_CUSTOM. It therefore embodies the "custom authorization" extension point that EBS administrators and developers use when the default OWA security model does not match their site's authentication requirements, for example when integrating single sign-on solutions, external LDAP directories, or custom session validation logic in front of EBS web applications.

Key Procedures and Functions

  • AUTHORIZE — The single documented entry point in the ETRM 12.2.2 metadata (classified under owner APPS as OTHER). The AUTHORIZE procedure is invoked by the OWA gateway before a protected PL/SQL procedure is executed. Its purpose is to return an authorization decision and, where applicable, to emit the response that challenges the caller (for example, a browser-based authentication prompt). Implementations typically call OWA_SEC functions to retrieve the username and password supplied by the client, validate those credentials against a repository, and then either allow execution to continue or write an appropriate denial response via OWA_UTIL. Custom code may replace or wrap the shipped body to introduce site-specific policy. No parameter list is documented in the ETRM metadata and none is asserted here.

Tables Accessed

The ETRM metadata records two tables referenced through APPS synonyms:

  • OWA_SEC — The OWA security package that supplies the client-supplied credentials (username and password) to AUTHORIZE. It is the primary data source used by the authorization logic to identify the requestor.
  • OWA_UTIL — The OWA utility package used to produce output for the HTTP response, such as the authentication challenge or an error message when authorization is refused.

Both are components of the OWA toolkit rather than EBS application tables; AUTHORIZE itself performs no direct DML against EBS business data in the documented configuration.

Usage Notes

OWA_CUSTOM is invoked implicitly by the mod_plsql/OWA runtime, not by Oracle Forms or standard concurrent programs. Because the package owner is SYS and a PUBLIC synonym exists, application schemas (notably APPS) can reference OWA_CUSTOM.AUTHORIZE directly from custom PL/SQL, but the canonical use is as the authorization callback configured for the PL/SQL gateway.

Typical scenarios include customizing web entry-point authentication in EBS 12.1.1 and 12.2.2, enforcing SSO or guest-access rules, and building bespoke authorization checks for external-facing PL/SQL pages. As with any SYS-owned object, modifications should be performed through a supported patching or customization mechanism so that Oracle patches do not silently overwrite site-specific logic. The ETRM metadata shows AUTHORIZE as the only documented procedure, and no other packages are documented as referencing OWA_CUSTOM, so any extension should be treated as a controlled, site-specific customization.