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Overview

AK_FLOW2_PVT is a private PL/SQL package in the APPS schema that supports the Oracle E-Business Suite "Flow" framework used by the Application Object Library and the Oracle EBS user-interface personalization and diagnostics infrastructure. Flows in this context represent the navigational and object-relational model that describes how EBS pages, regions, and region items are linked together. The package provides the runtime services needed to transfer flow definitions and their associated metadata between an EBS environment and external representations, most commonly during diagnostics, cloning, and metadata transport activities.

The package is classified as an API of type "PVT" (private). It is not intended to be called directly by external consumers; instead, it is invoked internally by public packages such as AK_FLOW_PUB and AK_FLOW_GRP, both of which are documented as referencing AK_FLOW2_PVT. AK_FLOW2_PVT itself depends on AK_FLOW_PUB, AK_ON_OBJECTS_PUB, and FND_API, and calls the Oracle SYS.STANDARD package. The status of the object is documented as VALID in the ETRM metadata.

Key Procedures and Functions

The documented package exposes three procedures:

• DOWNLOAD_FLOW — Serializes a defined flow and its constituent metadata so that it can be extracted from the current EBS instance. This is the mechanism by which flow definitions are exported for later reuse, comparison, or transport.
• UPLOAD_FLOW — Performs the inverse operation of DOWNLOAD_FLOW: it accepts an externally supplied flow representation and loads it into the AK_FLOW* tables in the current instance. It is the primary entry point for importing flow metadata.
• UPLOAD_FLOW_SECOND — A companion to UPLOAD_FLOW that handles the secondary phase of the load. Because flows involve both base and translated tables, and because region and region-item relationships must be resolved after the parent flow and pages exist, a second pass is required to complete referential linkage.

No parameter signatures are documented in the ETRM metadata; consistent with the PVT classification, the procedures are treated as internal implementation details rather than a public interface contract.

Tables Accessed

The package reads and writes the core Flow metadata tables, all referenced through APPS synonyms:

• AK_FLOWS and AK_FLOWS_TL — the base and translated definitions of a flow.
• AK_FLOW_PAGES and AK_FLOW_PAGES_TL — the pages that compose a flow, including their translated titles.
• AK_FLOW_PAGE_REGIONS — the regions associated with each flow page.
• AK_FLOW_PAGE_REGION_ITEMS — the individual items contained within a region.
• AK_FLOW_REGION_RELATIONS — the relationships between regions that determine navigation and display order.
• PLITBLM — the PL/SQL integer table type used internally for bulk processing during upload and download operations.

These tables collectively define the complete flow structure, so the package touches essentially every table in the AK_FLOW family to preserve referential integrity during import and export.

Usage Notes

AK_FLOW2_PVT is invoked indirectly. It is referenced by AK_FLOW_GRP, AK_FLOW2_PVT itself (recursive internal calls), and AK_ON_OBJECTS_PVT. In practice, administrators and developers reach it through the public flow APIs (AK_FLOW_PUB) or through the Flow group processing package rather than through direct calls. It may also be exercised by internal diagnostic or metadata-transport concurrent programs that move flow definitions between instances.

Because it is a private package, customizations should not call AK_FLOW2_PVT directly. Any extension should target the supported public API layer. The package is valid in both Oracle EBS 12.1.1 and 12.2.2; its dependencies and table references are unchanged across those releases according to the ETRM metadata.