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Overview

FND_FLEX_DESCVAL is an Oracle E-Business Suite PL/SQL package owned by the APPS schema that provides the runtime validation and decoding engine for descriptive flexfields. Descriptive flexfields (DFFs) allow implementers to attach additional, customer-defined attributes to standard EBS forms and tables without modifying the underlying database structure. When a user enters a value into a DFF segment, the value must be validated against the segment's registered value set, security rules, and context configuration. FND_FLEX_DESCVAL performs this validation and returns the identifier, concatenated value, and description associated with the validated combination. The package body is documented as VALID in both 12.1.1 and 12.2.2 and is classified under ETRM as API classification OTHER, indicating it is an internal engine rather than a formally published public API.

Key Procedures and Functions

ETRM documents 28 procedures and functions in this package body. They fall into four functional groupings.

• Context and column management: SET_CONTEXT_VALUE, SET_COLUMN_VALUE, CLEAR_COLUMN_VALUES. These routines establish the flexfield context and populate or reset the internal column-level state used during a validation pass.
• Validation entry points: VALIDATE_DESCCOLS, VAL_DESC, IS_VALID, IS_SECURED. VALIDATE_DESCCOLS processes multiple descriptive columns as a set, VAL_DESC validates a single descriptor value, IS_VALID returns whether a supplied value passes the flexfield's value set validation, and IS_SECURED determines whether the value is permitted under the segment's security rules.
• Error handling and messaging: VALUE_ERROR, UNSUPPORTED_ERROR, SERIOUS_ERROR, ERROR_SEGMENT, ERROR_MESSAGE, ENCODED_ERROR_MESSAGE. These register the failing condition and resolve the appropriate FND_MESSAGE text for display.
• Result decoding helpers: SEGMENT_DELIMITER, CONCATENATED_VALUES, CONCATENATED_IDS, CONCATENATED_DESCRIPTIONS, SEGMENT_COUNT, SEGMENT_VALUE, SEGMENT_ID. These utilities split, count, and reassemble the delimiter-separated strings that descriptive flexfields use to store concatenated values, identifiers, and descriptions.

Parameter lists are not inventoried in the ETRM metadata and should be confirmed against the deployed package specification.

Tables Accessed

The package body resolves data through APPS synonyms. FND_DESCR_FLEX_CONTEXTS stores each context definition, including the segment structure and the value set and validation attributes applied to each segment; it is the primary driver of validation behaviour. FND_APPLICATION is used to resolve application identifiers and names associated with flexfield definitions. FND_DESCRIPTIVE_FLEXS_VL, listed among the package's references, supplies the descriptive flexfield header definition, including the application, title, and concatenation attributes that govern how values and identifiers are assembled. The static dependency list also shows internal calls to FND_FLEX_SERVER, FND_FLEX_SERVER1, FND_FLEX_SERVER4, and FND_GLOBAL, confirming that the package delegates value set lookups to the flex server layer and reads session context through FND_GLOBAL.

Usage Notes

FND_FLEX_DESCVAL is invoked indirectly. Standard EBS forms that include a descriptive flexfield call it through the flexfield runtime, not directly. ETRM reports the package is referenced by 80 other database objects while referencing none of its own consumers, which confirms it is a foundational component positioned beneath the rest of the flexfield stack. The documented dependencies on FND_MESSAGE and DBMS_STANDARD indicate integrated error messaging and standard PL/SQL error raising. Custom code should treat this package as an internal implementation detail: direct invocation is not supported, parameter lists are undocumented externally, and Oracle may change signatures in patches. Customizations requiring descriptive flexfield validation should call the supported flexfield APIs (FND_FLEX_KEYVAL and related public packages) instead, leaving FND_FLEX_DESCVAL to the runtime that owns it.