Search Results validate_desccols

Overview

The APPS.FND_FLEX_DESCVAL package is a public Oracle E-Business Suite API that validates Descriptive Flexfield (DFF) data before it is written to the underlying application table. Descriptive flexfields allow implementers to attach customer-specific, attribute-style segments to standard Oracle forms without modifying the base table. Because DFF segments may carry value sets, security rules, and context-sensitive dependencies, the values supplied by the user must be checked against the flexfield definition before they reach the database. FND_FLEX_DESCVAL provides that validation layer.

The package follows a staged pattern: context and column values are first loaded into PL/SQL global memory, validation is performed against the flexfield metadata, and error information is then exposed through a set of getter functions. This design separates value population from validation, allowing callers to validate a complete set of DFF column values in a single call. In the 12.1.1 and 12.2.2 code lines the package is classified as an OTHER API and is referenced by approximately 80 other packages within the APPS schema, reflecting its role as a foundational flexfield utility.

Key Procedures and Functions

The documented interface of FND_FLEX_DESCVAL consists of 28 procedures and functions, organized into setup, validation, and inspection groups.

• SET_CONTEXT_VALUE — Sets the descriptive flexfield context value into PL/SQL global memory in preparation for validation.
• SET_COLUMN_VALUE — Sets the value of a named DFF column in global memory. This procedure is overloaded for VARCHAR2, NUMBER, and DATE column types.
• CLEAR_COLUMN_VALUES — Clears all column values previously placed in global memory. Values are also cleared automatically after VALIDATE_DESCCOLS or VAL_DESC is invoked.
• VALIDATE_DESCCOLS — Checks descriptive flexfield information prior to inserting it into the underlying table, based on the context and column values held in memory.
• VAL_DESC — Performs the corresponding validation for the DFF and exposes the outcome through the getter routines.
• IS_VALID — Indicates whether the most recent validation succeeded.
• IS_SECURED — Indicates whether a segment is subject to value set security.
• VALUE_ERROR, UNSUPPORTED_ERROR, SERIOUS_ERROR — Error classification routines that distinguish value-level problems from unsupported or serious failures.
• ERROR_SEGMENT, ERROR_MESSAGE, ENCODED_ERROR_MESSAGE — Return the segment identifier and message text associated with a validation failure.
• SEGMENT_DELIMITER, SEGMENT_COUNT — Return the delimiter used to separate concatenated segments and the number of segments processed.
• CONCATENATED_VALUES, CONCATENATED_IDS, CONCATENATED_DESCRIPTIONS — Return the concatenated representation of segment values, internal identifiers, and descriptions respectively.
• SEGMENT_VALUE, SEGMENT_ID — Return the individual value and identifier for a given segment.

Tables Accessed

The package references two documented tables through APPS synonyms:

• FND_APPLICATION — Provides application-level metadata used to resolve the flexfield definition and its owning application.
• FND_DESCR_FLEX_CONTEXTS — Supplies the context definitions, including the context-sensitive segments that determine which columns require validation.

Usage Notes

FND_FLEX_DESCVAL is typically invoked from forms-based DFF validation logic, from concurrent programs that load flexfield data, and from custom PL/SQL that must validate DFF values before direct inserts or updates. The standard sequence is to call SET_CONTEXT_VALUE, populate columns with the SET_COLUMN_VALUE overloads, invoke VALIDATE_DESCCOLS or VAL_DESC, and then inspect IS_VALID along with the error and concatenation getters. Because column values are cleared after validation, callers must repopulate global memory for each validation cycle.