A flexfield is a flexible data field
that your organization can customize to your business needs without
programming. Oracle Applications uses two types of flexfields, key
flexfields and descriptive flexfields. A key flexfield is a field
you can customize to enter multi-segment values such as part numbers, account
numbers, and so on. A descriptive flexfield is a field you customize to enter
additional information for which your Oracle Applications product has not
already provided a field.
Basic Business
Needs
Oracle Applications flexfields let you
satisfy the following business needs:
- Have "intelligent fields"--fields comprised of one or
more segments, where each segment has both a value and a meaning.
- Rely upon your application to validate the values or the
combination of values that you enter in intelligent fields.
- Have the structure of an intelligent field change depending on
data in your application.
- Capture additional information if you so choose.
- Customize data fields to your meet your business needs without
programming.
- Query intelligent fields for very specific information.
Definitions
Key Flexfields
A key flexfield is a field made up of segments,
where each segment has both a value and a meaning. You can think of a key flexfield
as an "intelligent" field that your business can use to store
information represented as "codes."
Most organizations use "codes" to
identify general ledger accounts, part numbers, and other business entities.
Each segment in the code represents a characteristic of the entity. For
example, your organization may use the part number code "PAD-NR-YEL-8
1/2x14" to represent a notepad that is narrow-ruled, yellow, and 8
1/2" by 14". But another organization may identify the same notepad
with the part number code "PD-8x14-Y-NR". Although both codes
represent the same part, they each have a different segment structure that is
meaningful only to the organization using that code.
A key flexfield is flexible enough to let
you use any code scheme you want to describe an entity. When your organization
initially installs an Oracle Applications product, your organization's
implementation team customizes all the key flexfields in that product to use
meaningful code segments to describe each key flexfield entity. Your organization
decides for each key flexfield, how many segments an entity has, what each
segment means, what values each segment can have, and what each segment value
means. Your organization can also define rules that govern what combination of
segment values are valid (cross-validation rules), or define dependencies among
the segments. The result is that your organization can use the codes it needs
rather than change its codes to meet someone else's requirements.
The Accounting Flexfield in your Oracle
Purchasing application is an example of a key flexfield that identifies a
unique chart of accounts. One organization may choose to customize the
Accounting Flexfield to have three segments called Company, Department, and
Account, while another organization may choose to customize the flexfield to
have five segments called Company, Cost Center, Account, Sub-Account, and
Product, as shown in Figure
2 - 20 in the Charge Account column.
A key flexfield looks like any other field
in a block. You can simply type into a key flexfield, the segment values you
want and separate each segment with a character called a segment separator. In Figure
2 - 20, the designated segment separator for the Accounting Flexfield is a
period ".". Alternatively, you can open a flexfield window for a key
flexfield to display a separate field for each of its segments. Figure
2 - 21, shows the Operations Accounting Flex window. The flexfield
segments, Company, Department, Account, Sub-Account, and Product each has a
field for data entry.
Combination of Segment Values
A combination of segment values,
also known as a key flexfield code combination, uniquely describes a
business entity stored in a key flexfield. When you change the value of one or
more segments in a key flexfield, you change the combination of segment values.
Descriptive Flexfields
A descriptive flexfield gives you room to
expand your forms, since Oracle Applications cannot predict all the possible information
you may want to track. Your organization can use descriptive flexfields to
capture additional information that is important and unique to your business.
A descriptive flexfield appears in a block
as a two character, unnamed field enclosed in brackets. Figure
2 - 22 shows the Enter Person window of the Human Resources Application.
The flexfield appears at the bottom right of the window.
A descriptive flexfield window appears when
you move your cursor into a customized descriptive flexfield. Figure
2 - 23 shows the Additional Personal Details descriptive flexfield window.
Your organization's implementation team can customize a descriptive flexfield to
include as many additional fields as your organization needs. These fields,
also called segments, appear in the descriptive flexfield window.
Note: We refer to the fields that appear in a customized
descriptive flexfield as segments even though they differ from the segments
that make up a single value in a key flexfield.
Each segment in a descriptive flexfield
window has a name, and can have a set of valid values. Your organization can
define dependencies among the segments or customize a descriptive flexfield to
display context-sensitive segments, so that different segments appear depending
on the values you enter in other fields or segments.
As shown in the Additional Personal Details
flexfield window in Figure
2 - 23, your organization might customize the descriptive flexfield to
display fields that store more information about the employee, such as Drivers
License Number and Global ID.
Range Flexfield
A range flexfield is a variation of
a key flexfield that allows you to input a low and a high combination of segment
values so that you can express a range of key flexfield combinations.
Structure
A structure is a specific
configuration of flexfield segments. If your organization's implementation team
adds or removes segments, or rearranges the order of segments in a flexfield,
you get a different structure.
Major Features
Flexfield Window
Both key and descriptive flexfields display
flexfield windows. A flexfield window displays the segments of a flexfield as
individual fields with field prompts.
Choose the List of Values... icon or
Edit Field... from the Edit menu to display key flexfield windows.
Note: Single segment key flexfields and range flexfields
display all of their segments in fields on the form and are therefore not
displayed in a flexfield window.
For a descriptive flexfield, you can define
whether you want the flexfield window to automatically appear when you navigate
to a customized descriptive flexfield. If you set a user profile option called Flexfields:
Open Descr Window to No, the window does not open unless you choose Edit
Field... from the Edit menu. If you set the user profile
option to Yes, a flexfield window automatically opens when you navigate
into a customized descriptive flexfield except in a folder.
Automatic Segment Validation
Some flexfields can validate the segment
values that you enter against a list of valid values. If you enter an invalid
segment value, a list window appears so that you can choose a valid value from
the list.
Automatic Segment Cross-Validation
A key flexfield can perform automatic
cross-validation of segment values according to rules your organization defines
when it customizes that key flexfield. A cross-validation rule defines whether
a value of a particular segment can be combined with specific values of other segments.
When you finish entering segment values in your key flexfield window, your
application checks to see if it is a valid combination of values before it
updates the database. If you enter an invalid combination, a modal window
appears with a message telling you to choose a combination that is already
defined.
Dynamic Insertion
Dynamic insertion allows you to create a
combination of segment values for a key flexfield without using a combinations
form. During the implementation of a key flexfield, your organization can
either explicitly define a list of valid code combinations for the key
flexfield using a combinations form, or allow you to create valid combinations
as you enter values in the key flexfield for the first time on a form other
than the combinations form. Your organization can also specify cross-validation
rules for a key flexfield so that you can only define specific code
combinations during dynamic insertion.
Multiple Flexfield Structures
In some applications, different users may
need a different arrangement of flexfield (key or descriptive) segments. Or,
you might want different segments to appear in a flexfield depending upon, for
example, the value of another field.
Depending on the flexfield, your
organization can define multiple segment structures for the same flexfield. The
flexfield can display different prompts and fields for different users based on
a data condition in a form or application database.
Your Oracle General Ledger application, for
example, can provide different Accounting Flexfield structures for users of
different sets of books. The Oracle General Ledger application determines which
flexfield structure to use based on the value of a profile option called GL Set
of Books Name.
Shorthand Flexfield
Entry
Shorthand flexfield entry lets you enter
key flexfield data quickly using alias names that represent valid flexfield
combinations or patterns of valid segment values. Your organization can specify
which key flexfields use shorthand flexfield entry, and define shorthand aliases
for those key flexfields to represent complete or partial sets of key flexfield
segment values. Once your organization customizes a key flexfield to use
shorthand flexfield entry, you can set the user profile option
Flexfields:Shorthand Entry to take advantage of this feature.
Flexfield Value Security
Flexfield value security allows your
organization to restrict the set of key flexfield segment values you have
access to during data entry. The security is based on a your responsibility and
the access rules your organization defines.
