Search Results string2plsql_header




Overview
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Overview

APPS.AP_WEB_PARENT_PKG is a PL/SQL package within the Oracle E-Business Suite Payables module that supports the Oracle Internet Expenses (OIE) web-based expense reporting framework. Its principal role is to transform delimited or line-oriented string data received from the expenses web interface into structured PL/SQL record and array collections that downstream logic can consume. In effect, the package acts as a parsing and marshalling layer between the browser-side expense report payload and the server-side records maintained in AP_WEB_DFLEX_PKG and related utilities. The package is classified as an "OTHER" API, indicating it is an internal, non-public interface intended primarily for use by other Oracle Payables components rather than by external integrators. The ETRM metadata records four documented program units and dependency references to AP_EXPENSE_REPORT_PARAMS and PA_PROJECTS. Its header comment ($Header: apwxexps.pls 120.5) and the reference to bug 1143452 confirm its lineage as a long-standing component of the expense submission code path.

Key Procedures and Functions

  • STRING2PLSQL_HEADER — The procedure directly associated with the user's search term "string2plsql_header". It parses a long string representing expense report header information and populates an expense report header record defined in AP_WEB_DFLEX_PKG.ExpReportHeaderRec. It also accepts a session flag indicating whether project-related functionality is enabled, and its primary line parameter is declared IN OUT NOCOPY LONG, reflecting its role as a streaming parser. Output is delivered through a NOCOPY OUT parameter, minimizing copying overhead for large payloads.
  • STRING2PLSQL_RECEIPTS — Parses receipt-related and line-level expense data, populating expense report line arrays, up to ten custom field arrays (Custom1_Array through Custom10_Array), and an error stack used to accumulate receipt processing failures. It accepts session flags for tax enablement and project enablement, and shares the header record with the header parser.
  • STRING2PLSQL — The general-purpose string-to-PL/SQL conversion routine that underpins the package's parsing behaviour, providing the core logic used across the specialised header and receipts procedures.
  • MAPCUSTOMARRAYTOCOLUMN — Maps the parsed custom field arrays to their corresponding descriptive flexfield column targets, ensuring that custom attribute values captured on the web form are routed correctly into the expense structures.

Tables Accessed

The package references AP_EXPENSE_REPORT_PARAMS, which stores expense report configuration parameters and supplies the %TYPE anchor for the ExpenditureType_Array collection (pa_expenditure_type). This confirms a read dependency used to interpret expenditure type values during header processing. PA_PROJECTS is referenced to support project-related expense entry, consistent with the P_IsSessionProjectEnabled parameter that gates project validation logic. Access occurs through APPS synonyms in the standard EBS manner, and both tables are read rather than written by this package.

Usage Notes

AP_WEB_PARENT_PKG is not a user-invoked API. It is called internally by the Oracle Internet Expenses submission flow, typically triggered from the expenses web pages and the associated server-side controllers that assemble the expense report payload. The package is referenced by six other packages, confirming its position as a shared utility in the OIE call stack. Because the header parser streams data through a LONG IN OUT NOCOPY parameter, callers must supply a properly initialised buffer and expect it to be consumed or advanced during processing. Customisations should not call these procedures directly; instead, developers extending expense entry should use the documented public interfaces in AP_WEB_DFLEX_PKG and related packages, treating AP_WEB_PARENT_PKG as an internal implementation detail subject to change between 12.1.1 and 12.2.2.