Search Results set_transfer_mode

Overview

SYS.OWA is the Oracle Web Agent package body shipped with the Oracle database and surfaced within the Oracle E-Business Suite 12.1.1 and 12.2.2 technology stack. It provides the low-level PL/SQL runtime that underpins the PL/SQL Web Toolkit, allowing database-resident code to generate HTTP output and read the CGI environment presented by the web listener (for example, Oracle HTTP Server with mod_plsql, or the Oracle Application Express / Embedded PL/SQL Gateway). Within EBS, OWA is the foundation layer beneath packages such as HTP, HTF, OWA_UTIL, and OWA_COOKIE, and it is the mechanism through which the framework marshals the request environment into PL/SQL variables and emits buffered page content back to the browser. The package is owned by SYS and is classified as OTHER, reflecting its role as an infrastructure/runtime API rather than a business-facing EBS interface. Its documented interface comprises eleven procedures, including the routine the user searched for, SET_TRANSFER_MODE.

Key Procedures and Functions

The documented entry points address CGI initialization, page output, and session credential handling:

• INITIALIZE — Establishes the initial state of the OWA environment for a request.
• INIT_CGI_ENV — Populates the internal CGI variable arrays. The package body stores variable names such as SERVER_SOFTWARE, SERVER_NAME, GATEWAY_INTERFACE, REMOTE_HOST, REMOTE_ADDR, AUTH_TYPE, REMOTE_USER, HTTP_USER_AGENT, SERVER_PROTOCOL, SERVER_PORT, SCRIPT_NAME, PATH_INFO, PATH_TRANSLATED, HTTP_REFERER, and HTTP_COOKIE. Two overloads are documented, one accepting a value array in fixed positional order and one accepting separate name and value arrays; the latter concatenates multiple HTTP_COOKIE entries into a single value.
• GET_LINE — Returns a single buffered output line.
• GET_PAGE — Retrieves the accumulated page buffer.
• GET_PAGE_CHARSET_CONVERT — Returns page content converted to the requested character set.
• GET_PAGE_RAW — Returns the raw, unconverted page buffer.
• RESET_GET_PAGE — Clears the page buffer and associated retrieval state.
• SET_USER_ID — Sets the user identity used for authenticated requests.
• SET_PASSWORD — Supplies the credential paired with the user identity.
• SET_TRANSFER_MODE — Controls how generated page content is transferred back to the client, governing the output mode applied when the response is written.

Tables Accessed

The documented metadata records no table references for SYS.OWA via APPS synonyms. This is consistent with its design: the package operates on in-memory PL/SQL arrays and session-level state (cgi_var_name, cgi_var_val, num_cgi_vars, and the output buffer) rather than on database tables. Any persistence or application data access in an EBS flow originates from the calling code, not from OWA itself.

Usage Notes

OWA is invoked indirectly rather than directly by developers. When an EBS page is served through mod_plsql or the PL/SQL Gateway, the agent calls OWA entry points to capture CGI variables and to buffer and transmit HTP/HTF output. The package is referenced by two other packages in the documented metadata, confirming its role as a shared dependency. Custom PL/SQL procedures deployed under the EBS web listener transparently rely on OWA for request context; direct calls to SET_TRANSFER_MODE, SET_USER_ID, or SET_PASSWORD are rare and should be reserved for advanced scenarios in which response transfer behavior or authenticated identity must be overridden. In Oracle EBS 12.1.1 and 12.2.2, OWA is not used in Oracle Forms-based flows, which use the Forms listener rather than the PL/SQL Gateway.