Results for “preference_order”

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

Overview

The IGS_EN_TIMESLOT_PREF table is a core entity within the Oracle E-Business Suite Student System (IGS) module, which provides the enrollment and academic scheduling framework used by higher-education institutions. This table captures the preferences associated with a particular priority within the enrollment time-slot assignment process. In practical terms, it allows an institution to define an ordered set of preference values that drive how a student or student group is positioned relative to a given enrollment priority — a mechanism central to controlling the sequence in which students gain access to course registration windows.

The table resides in the IGS schema alongside the broader IGS_EN_* family of enrollment objects. According to the heuristic Data Vault classification mined from the foreign-key structure, this object is satellite-leaning. In Data Vault modeling terms, this suggests the table behaves as a descriptive satellite attached to a hub or link (its parent, IGS_EN_TIMESLOT_PRTY), holding attribute detail — the preference ordering and coding — rather than acting as an independent business hub. This classification is a modeling suggestion only and reflects the dependency pattern visible in the FK relationships.

Key Information Stored

The documented physical schema for release 12.1.1 contains eleven columns. The most significant include:

• IGS_EN_TIMESLOT_PREF_ID — the surrogate primary key, uniquely identifying each preference record. It is enforced by the IGS_EN_TIMESLOT_PREF_PK constraint and is also carried in a unique index (IGS_EN_TIMESLOT_PREF_U1), making it the strongest identifier for a single row.
• IGS_EN_TIMESLOT_PRTY_ID — the foreign key to IGS_EN_TIMESLOT_PRTY, tying each preference to its parent priority. This column forms part of the business-key candidate identified by the IGS_EN_TIMESLOT_PREF_UK unique index.
• PREFERENCE_ORDER — defines the ordinal position or sequencing of the preference within its priority, determining precedence when multiple preferences exist.
• PREFERENCE_CODE — holds the coded value representing the specific preference type or option.
• PREFERENCE_VERSION — supports versioning of preference definitions, allowing controlled evolution of configuration over enrollment cycles.
• SEQUENCE_NUMBER — an additional ordering or grouping attribute used in processing logic.

The remaining columns are standard EBS audit and concurrency fields: CREATED_BY, CREATION_DATE, LAST_UPDATED_BY, LAST_UPDATE_DATE, and LAST_UPDATE_LOGIN. Distinguishing the surrogate key (IGS_EN_TIMESLOT_PREF_ID) from the business-key candidate (IGS_EN_TIMESLOT_PRTY_ID combined with related discriminators per the unique index) is essential for correct join design and data integrity analysis.

Common Use Cases and Queries

Typical administrative and reporting scenarios include auditing which preferences are attached to a priority, verifying the ordering applied to time-slot distribution, and reconstructing the configuration active during a past enrollment cycle using PREFERENCE_VERSION.

A representative query retrieves all preferences for a given priority:

• SELECT p.igs_en_timeslot_pref_id, p.preference_order, p.preference_code, p.preference_version FROM igs_en_timeslot_pref p WHERE p.igs_en_timeslot_prty_id = :prty_id ORDER BY p.preference_order;

Analysts frequently join to the parent priority to present human-readable context, and filter by PREFERENCE_VERSION to isolate a specific configuration snapshot. Change-tracking reports exploit the LAST_UPDATE_DATE and LAST_UPDATED_BY columns to identify recent modifications to enrollment rules.

Related Objects

• IGS_EN_TIMESLOT_PRTY — the parent table; joined via IGS_EN_TIMESLOT_PREF.IGS_EN_TIMESLOT_PRTY_ID = IGS_EN_TIMESLOT_PRTY.IGS_EN_TIMESLOT_PRTY_ID. This is the sole documented foreign-key relationship and the primary dependency.
• IGS_EN_TIMESLOT_PREF_PK / _UK / _U1 — the primary key, business-key, and unique index constraints that enforce and expose row identity.
• The wider IGS_EN_* enrollment entity family, which consumes priority and preference configuration during time-slot generation and registration window assignment.

Because the documented metadata records only one FK, integration work should treat IGS_EN_TIMESLOT_PRTY as the authoritative parent and validate any additional dependencies directly in the target instance.