Value Sets: Notes

Arideep Mukherjee
ERPWebTutor
11/9/2011
 Value Sets: Notes

Valueset – A Beginner Guide

Value set is primarily a container for your values, you define your value set such that it can control the types of values
that are allowed into the value set (either predefined or non-validated). You can specify the format of your values.
Oracle Application Object Library uses value sets as important components of key flexfields, descriptive flexfields, and
Standard Request Submission (value sets for report parameters for your reports that use the Standard Request
Submission feature).

Usage of Value sets

After you register your Flexfields & report parameters, if you are using independent or dependent value sets, you can
enter values into each corresponding value set using the Segment Values form.
Values for the Value Sets, we are defining will be kept in the Oracle Application Object Library tables.

Types of Value sets

Character
Number
Time
Standard Date, Standard Date Time
Date, Date Time

Note: When creating value sets using the date format, use the format types Standard Date and Standard
Date Time.

Security type in value set

By Security Rules window, we can define value security rules for ranges of flexfield and report parameter values.
There are two levels where you must activate Security, the one at value set level and other at individual segment or
parameter level. You make Flex field Value Security available for your value set by choosing Hierarchical Security or
Non-Hierarchical Security for the Security Type. When you make security available for a value set, all segments and
report parameters that use that value set can use security. You then enable security for a particular segment or
parameter.
Choose Hierarchical Security, If you want Security on a parent value to cascade down to its child value or else you can
choose Non-Hierarchical Security.

Character Formatting Options for a value set:

Numbers Only (0 - 9)
o We cannot prevent users from entering a value that contains the radix character.
o Cannot be used in Translatable Independent and Translatable Dependent value sets.
Uppercase Only
o Here also we cannot use in Translatable Independent and Translatable Dependent value sets.
Right justify and Zero fill Numbers
o If you have selected Numbers Only (0 - 9) flag, then it won’t allow you to affect this flag.
o We are recommended to use this in Accounting Flex fields.
Minimum and Maximum Value Range
o Your Minimum/maximum value may not be longer than the maximum size you specify for this value set.
o Once you specify a range of values, you cannot define a new valid value that falls outside this range.
o The Minimum Value and Maximum Value fields can therefore allow you to create a value set with a
validation type of None.

Validation Types for a value set:

There are several validation types that affect the way users enter and use segment or parameter values:

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 Value Sets: Notes

None (No validation at all)

o Allow users to enter any value
o Only Format Validations will be done
Independent
o Provides a predefined list of values
o Values are stored in an Oracle Application Object Library table
Dependent
o Same like Independent Value Set, except the List of Values shown to you will depends on which the
Independent value you have selected in the Prior Segment
o Must define your independent value set before you define the dependent value set that depends on it
o Advisable to create your independent values first
o Must create at least one dependent value for each independent value, or else it wont allow you to enter
into that segment or field

Edit Information:

In this case ‘XXCC_FA_MAJOR_CATEGORY’ is the independent value set. After this is set up we need to add the
values for this dependant value set. As per the previous note we must define the values for the Independent
value set prior to defining the values for the dependant value set.

Navigation:

(R) System Administrator > Application > Validation > Values

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 Value Sets: Notes
Search for the value set: XXCC_FA_MINOR_CATEGORY

In the above screenshot, note that the Independent Value is ‘Furniture and Fixtures’. This suggest that when
‘Furniture and Fixtures’ is selected on one segment the valid values that will be available on the dependant
segment will be one of:

Equipment
Office

Table
o It use your own application tables as value sets for flex field segments and report parameters instead of the
special values tables which Oracle Applications provides.
o You can also use validation tables with other special arguments to make your segments depend on profile
options or field values
o You can use any existing application table, view, or synonym as a validation table

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 Value Sets: Notes
o If we are using non registered table for our value set, then we have to Create the necessary grants and
synonyms to APPS Schema
o The value column and the defined ID column in the table must return a unique row for a given value or ID
o If the Hidden Id column is provided the value passed to the report will be Hidden and not the Value column
o Similarly, when you specify :$FLEX$.Value_Set_Name, your flex field segment or report parameter defaults
to always use the hidden ID column to compare with your WHERE clause
o We can use Special BIND variable such as :$PROFILES$.Option_name, :$FLEX$.Value_set_name, :block.field
in the WHERE clause
o We can also display additional columns.

Below is a sample table validated value set:

Edit Information:

This contains the table information, columns to be displayed and where conditions:

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 Value Sets: Notes

Special
o Special validation value sets allow you to call key flex field user exits to validate a flex field segment or
report parameter using a flex field within flex field mechanism. You can call flex field routines and use a
complete flex field as the value passed by this value set
Pair
o Pair validation value set allows user to pass a range of concatenated Flex field segments as parameters to a
report
Translatable Independent & Translatable Dependent
o These value sets are similar to Independent and Dependent value sets except that translated values can be
displayed to the user. Translatable Independent and Translatable Dependent value sets allow you to use
hidden values and displayed (translated) values in your value sets. In this way your users can see a value in
their preferred languages, yet the values will be validated against a hidden value that is not translated
o We can convert the Independent value set to a Translatable Independent value set, or a Dependent value
set to a Translatable Dependent value set

Which Oracle table store Value sets and underline information?

FND_FLEX_VALUE_HIERARCHIES
FND_FLEX_VALUE_SETS
FND_ID_FLEX_SEGMENTS
FND_FLEX_VALUE_NORM_HIERARCHY
FND_FLEX_HIERARCHIES
FND_FLEX_VALUE
FND_FLEX_VALIDATION_EVENTS
FND_FLEX_VALUE_RULE_LINES
FND_FLEX_VALUE_RULE
FND_FLEX_VALUE_RULE_USAGE
FND_RESPONSIBLITY
FND_TABLES
FND_FLEX_VALIDATION_TABLES

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 Value Sets: Notes

Method to programmatically upload flexfield value:

FNDLOAD is utility which can be used for moving value set across different environment. There will be a separate note
on FNDLOAD.

Restrictions on Value Sets:

Yes, here are some listed one:

Table Validated Value Sets

o We cannot use table-validated id value sets for any accounting flexfield or any other key flexfields.
o We cannot use :$FLEX$, :$PROFILES$ in table name, value and id of table validated value sets.
o We cannot use DISTINCT clause in any of the column fields or in the WHERE clause of a table validate
value set.
o In an id value set, the value can be non-unique but id should be unique. In a non-id value set, value
should be unique.
o We can only use columns selected for the table-validated value set must be of type NUMBER, DATE or
VARCHAR2.
o Support for SQL expression in columns of Table Validated value sets will be obsolete in future release.
Translatable Independent and Translatable Dependent Valuesets
o The Numbers Only and Uppercase Only option cannot be used.
o Must have "Char" format type.
Special/Pair valuesets
o Special/Pair value sets are user-exit value sets . PL/SQL APIs will not be able to validate them.

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