Results for “po_type_converter”

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

Overview

PO_TYPE_CONVERTER is a utility package in the Oracle E-Business Suite Purchasing module (APPS schema) whose sole purpose is to convert PL/SQL collection types from one element type to another. It does not perform business logic or validation; rather, it is a type-casting helper used by other Purchasing packages that must pass collections between APIs with differing signatures. The package exists because Oracle EBS public APIs, particularly within the Purchasing and Purchasing Line tables (PO) interfaces, frequently declare table-based (PL/SQL table) parameters using different VARCHAR2 widths and NUMBER types, and Oracle does not implicitly convert between collection types. The header comment ("$Header: PO_TYPE_CONVERTER.plb 120.3 2009/09/12") indicates this is a wrapped/shipped PL/SQL body maintained by Oracle, with the last source revision dated September 2009. ETRM classifies it as an "OTHER" API, meaning it is not a public business API but an internal helper referenced by other packaged code.

Key Procedures and Functions

ETRM documents seven procedures/functions, collapsing to two distinct overloaded names, TO_PO_TBL_VARCHAR1 and TO_PO_TBL_VARCHAR4000:

• TO_PO_TBL_VARCHAR1 — Converts an input table of PO_TBL_VARCHAR30 records into a table of PO_TBL_VARCHAR1 records. It truncates each element using SUBSTRB to a single byte, so it is intended for cases where a target API expects a one-character flag or indicator collection.
• TO_PO_TBL_VARCHAR4000 — An overloaded function that converts several source collection types into a table of PO_TBL_VARCHAR4000 records. Documented overloads accept input tables of PO_TBL_NUMBER (converted via TO_CHAR), PO_TBL_VARCHAR30, and PO_TBL_VARCHAR1. Each overload allocates the output collection, extends it to the input count, and copies/converts element by element.

All functions follow the same defensive pattern: if the input table is NULL, a NULL output is returned; otherwise a new collection is instantiated and populated, preserving element ordering and count.

Tables Accessed

The package operates entirely in memory on PL/SQL collections and queries no application tables. The only database object referenced through an APPS synonym is PLITBLM, which appears in the documented reference list; because this is a pure type-conversion utility, that reference most likely originates from dependency tracking of the collection type definitions rather than from runtime SQL against a base table. No inserts, updates, deletes, or explicit SELECT statements against Purchasing tables are performed by this package.

Usage Notes

PO_TYPE_CONVERTER is an internal helper, not a user-invocable API. It is typically invoked from within other PL/SQL packages—ETRM records it as referenced by nine other packages—whenever a calling routine holds data in one collection type but the target procedure requires a collection of a different width or base type. Typical scenarios include preparing interface data for Purchasing APIs, where line or distribution attributes must be coerced into the VARCHAR4000 or VARCHAR1 collection types expected by the receiving API. Because the functions are overloaded, the correct version is resolved at compile time by the actual argument type. The package is not exposed through Oracle Forms, concurrent programs, or business events; developers should call it only from custom PL/SQL that already works with the corresponding PO_TBL_* types. Note that TO_PO_TBL_VARCHAR1 silently truncates data to one byte and TO_PO_TBL_VARCHAR4000 built from PO_TBL_NUMBER applies an implicit TO_CHAR conversion, so callers should ensure the input values are compatible with the target width to avoid unintended truncation or formatting effects.