Search Results vc_arr

Overview

OWAPUB.OWA is the public synonym for the Oracle Web Agent (OWA) package shipped with the Oracle HTTP Server / PL/SQL Toolkit embedded in Oracle E-Business Suite 12.1.1 and 12.2.2. It is owned by SYS and classified in ETRM as OTHER, reflecting its role as a server infrastructure package rather than an application business API. The package provides the low-level runtime interface between the PL/SQL Agent (mod_plsql) and the PL/SQL procedures invoked through a Database Access Descriptor (DCD). When a browser request reaches the PL/SQL Agent, OWA is responsible for bootstrapping the cartridge environment, parsing and exposing CGI environment variables, capturing the buffered output produced by the invoked PL/SQL procedure, and returning that output to the HTTP listener. Because the package is a public API used by the Web Toolkit, the EBS application tier depends on it for every mod_plsql-served page, including many older EBS self-service and administrative flows.

Key Procedures and Functions

ETRM documents eleven callable units. INITIALIZE returns an integer status and is invoked when a DCD is first activated, performing one-time cartridge setup. INIT_CGI_ENV exists in two overloaded forms: one accepting a parameter-value array, and one accepting a count, name array, and value array, and populates the CGI environment variables visible to the invoked procedure. GET_LINE retrieves the next line of the user procedure's buffered output and reports the rows remaining through an OUT parameter. GET_PAGE is the primary page-retrieval routine, returning the accumulated page into an htp buffer array while updating the row counter. GET_PAGE_CHARSET_CONVERT and GET_PAGE_RAW provide charset-converted and unconverted page retrieval variants respectively. RESET_GET_PAGE clears the page buffer state so subsequent GET_PAGE calls begin fresh. SET_USER_ID, SET_PASSWORD, and SET_TRANSFER_MODE configure authentication identity and the transfer mode used when returning content to the client. Package-level declarations also expose the vc_arr type, CGI variable arrays and counters, authentication scheme, protection realm, user credentials, IP address, and host name.

Tables Accessed

The documented metadata lists no tables referenced through APPS synonyms. OWA operates entirely in memory, holding CGI variables, authentication context, and page buffers in PL/SQL package state. Persistence of session and credential information, where required, is delegated to the PL/SQL Agent configuration and the DCD definition rather than to database tables. Any implicit access to data dictionary objects occurs only through normal package resolution and privilege checks at execution time.

Usage Notes

OWA is not intended for direct invocation by application developers. In EBS 12.1.1 and 12.2.2, it is driven internally by the mod_plsql PL/SQL Agent whenever a request is routed to a procedure through a DCD. The package is referenced by two other packages in the documented metadata, confirming its position as a shared infrastructure dependency. Custom code that produces web output should use HTP and HTF rather than calling OWA directly; the OWA entry points exist so the Web Toolkit can manage request initialization, output capture, and response transfer. Because the package is owned by SYS and marked RESTRICT_REFERENCES for WNDS, RNDS, WNPS, and RNPS, it is safe to call from SQL contexts, but its use remains confined to the web cartridge layer. Changes to this package are controlled by Oracle and should never be modified in a customer instance. Failures involving get_page typically manifest as truncated or blank web responses and are diagnosed through PL/SQL Agent logs and DCD configuration rather than through application-level debugging.