Search Results utl_i18_lib

Overview

SYS.UTL_I18N is a core Oracle database-supplied PL/SQL package body that provides globalization, internationalization, and character-set conversion services across the entire E-Business Suite stack. Within Oracle EBS 12.1.1 and 12.2.2, it is the foundational utility layer that allows application code, concurrent programs, and Oracle Forms to move data safely between different character sets, to map locale and language identifiers, and to produce XML-safe and SQL-safe literals regardless of the session's NLS configuration. The package is owned by SYS and reported as VALID in the ETRM catalog, with an API classification of OTHER, indicating that it is a system infrastructure package rather than a documented business API.

Because UTL_I18N resides in the SYS schema and is not referenced by any other database object according to the dependency record, it functions as a leaf dependency: many EBS components depend upon it, but it does not, in turn, depend on application objects. This makes it a stable, low-risk building block for multilingual deployments.

Key Procedures and Functions

The documented package metadata lists 26 procedures and functions. The most commonly encountered are:

• STRING_TO_RAW and RAW_TO_CHAR — convert character data to and from RAW byte representations, enabling byte-safe storage and transport of national-language text.
• RAW_TO_NCHAR — returns national character set data from a RAW value.
• ESCAPE_REFERENCE and UNESCAPE_REFERENCE — encode and decode character references, essential when embedding non-ASCII content into HTML or XML payloads.
• MAP_CHARSET, MAP_LANGUAGE_FROM_ISO, MAP_TERRITORY_FROM_ISO, and MAP_LOCALE_TO_ISO — translate between Oracle NLS identifiers and ISO-standard charset, language, territory, and locale codes.
• GET_DEFAULT_CHARSET, GET_DEFAULT_LINGUISTIC_SORT, and GET_DEFAULT_ISO_CURRENCY — return session or database defaults for charset, sort, and currency.
• GET_LOCAL_LINGUISTIC_SORTS, GET_LOCAL_TIME_ZONES, GET_COMMON_TIME_ZONES, GET_LOCAL_TERRITORIES, and GET_LOCAL_LANGUAGES — populate locale-aware list values used by setup and configuration screens.
• VALIDATE_SQLNAME and ENCODE_SQL_XML — validate SQL identifiers and produce XML-encoded SQL fragments.
• TRANSLITERATE — convert text between scripts.

Tables Accessed

The ETRM dependency record for SYS.UTL_I18N lists no application tables accessed through APPS synonyms. Its documented dependencies are internal: the SYS schema, the PLITBLM package, the STANDARD package, UTL_I18N itself, UTL_I18_LIB, and UTL_RAW. Consequently, the package operates entirely on the data passed to it and on Oracle's internal NLS and character-set metadata, rather than on EBS business tables.

Usage Notes

UTL_I18N is typically invoked indirectly. Oracle Forms, concurrent programs, and OAF pages rely on it whenever multilingual text must be converted, validated, or rendered. The package is referenced by three other packages in the ETRM catalog, confirming its role as a shared utility. Custom EBS extensions that handle multi-byte or multi-language data should call UTL_I18N rather than performing manual conversions, because the package correctly honors NLS_LANGUAGE, NLS_TERRITORY, and NLS_CHARACTERSET settings. Direct grants to UTL_I18N are generally reserved for SYS and highly privileged schemas, so custom code should be deployed with appropriate privileges or wrapped through an approved APPS-layer interface.