EBS - Flexfield

A flexfield is a field made up of sub-fields, or segments.

A flexfield appears on your form as a pop-up window that contains a prompt for each segment.

Each segment has:

• a name
• and a set of valid values.

A segment is represented in your database as a single table column.

The end user enters a segment value into a segment while using the application. Generally, the flexfield validates each segment against a set of valid values (a “value set”) that are usually predefined.

You can think of a value set as a “container” for your values. You choose what types of values can fit into your value set: their length, format, and so on.

There are two types of flexfields:

• key flexfields
• and descriptive flexfields.

Key flexfield is a meaningful/business code based generally on the concatenation of attributes value of an entity instance.

For example, an organization might use the part number “PAD-NR-YEL-8 1/2×14” where each part is significant such as:

• PAD - a notepad
• NR - narrow-ruled,
• YEL - yellow,
• 8 1/2×14 - with a screen of 8 1/2 by 14.

Descriptive flexfields are aims to add additional information that would not otherwise appear in the application.

Each field or segment in a descriptive flexfield has a prompt, just like ordinary fields, and can have a set of valid values.

• Overview of Flexfield Concepts