Flexfields Interview Questions

How many Key Flexfields are there in the HRMS Suite and what are they?

There are 6 Key Flexfields in HRMS application. They are:

• Job
• Position
• Grade
• People Group
• Cost Allocation
• Competency

Which Key Flexfields are required for setup prior to configuration and use of the application?

All Key Flexfields are required for setup.


Which Descriptive Flexfields are required for setup prior to configuration and use of the application?

No Descriptive Flexfields are required for setup.


What are value sets and are these required?

Value Sets are a way to define a set of values which can be used to validatevagainst segments of your flexfields. Value Sets can be shared by differentvsegments of the same flexfield, or by segments of any other flexfield. You do
not need to use value sets for validation. If no value sets are used, thenvusers can enter any alphanumeric value up to 150 characters.


Can you control which values are entered on any segment?

Yes. You can define cross validation rules in your value sets to control which combinations of values that can be selected or entered.

6) Is there anything you have to do after you have completed setup and configuration of all your flexfields?
Yes. After you have completed the definition of a key flexfield, you need
to run the Create Key Flexfield Database Items process concurrent process to
generate Database Items for the individual segments of the Flexfield. This
applies to your Job, Position, Grade and People Group Key Flexfields only. As
with any concurrent process, this is run under the navigation of Process and
Reports > Submit Processes and Reports.


Should you check 'Allow Dynamic Inserts' on all HRMS flexfields?

Yes. If this is not checked, you will not be able to enter new records in the respective flexfield windows.

After you have configured the structure, segments, value sets, etc, what should you do next to validate the flexfield structure?

You should freeze and compile the flexfield. Check your compilation request
under View > My Requests to ensure the compilation completed without error.


Entering Assignment form gives error:
APP-FND-00668: The data that defines the flexfield on this field may be inconsistent.
Action: FDFRKS could not find the structure definition for the flexfield specified by
Application = &APPL, Code = GRP and Structure number = 101 (APPID=801)

This error occurs because at least one segment hasn?t been defined for the People Group flexfield. You will need to define at least one segment. If you do not need this 'dummy' segment, you can define the segment as 'Enabled' but
leave 'Displayed' unchecked.


How do you know which descriptive flexfields are available on any form?

Enter into any HR form. From the menu, 

select Help > Diagnostics > Examine.

For the Block field, click the list of values (LOV) and select value $DESCRIPTIVE_FLEXFIELD$. Now click on the LOV for the Field field. In this LOV, you?ll see all descriptive flexfields available on the form. Upon clicking
any value here, this will populate the Value field with the full name of the descriptive flexfield.

Can the same flexfield structure have a different set of segments?

Yes. These are context-sensitve segments. These appear only when a
defined context exists. This can manually be where the user selects the
context. Or it can be automatic by referencing another segment and its value.

Which table holds the data for each Key Flexfield structure?

The following are the flexfield/table relationships:


Flexfield: Table:
Job PER_JOB_DEFINITIONS
Position PER_POSITION_DEFINITIONS
Grade PER_GRADE_DEFINITIONS
People Group PAY_PEOPLE_GROUPS
Cost Allocation PAY_COST_ALLOCATION_KEYFLEX
Personal Analysis PER_ANALYSIS_CRITERIA

Why aren't any of the key or descriptive flexfield windows opening when you click on them?

Make sure the following profile options in System Administrator are set to

Yes at the Site level:


Flexfields:Open Descr Window
Flexfields:Open Key Window

Is there a profile option or functionality to temporarily turn off flexfield validation?

No. There is no functionality to flag validation one way or another.

You have defined your Job Key Flexfield structure and segments. When you navigate to Assignment form, the Job field has no list of values.

You need to create the Job flexfield data on the Job form.

Navigation: US HR Manager > Work Structures > Job > Description

After this has been defined, you should now see data from Job field list of values on Assignment form. The same is applicable for Position and Grade on their respective forms. Out of all flexfields on Assignment form, the People
Group flexfield you can create your records without having to go to a separate form.

Question: What does DFF mean?

Answer: DFF is a mechanism that lets us create new fields in screens that are delivered by Oracle.

Question: Oh good, but can these new fields be added without modifying/customization of the screen?.

Answer: Yes, certainly. Only some setup is needed, but no programmatic change is needed to setup DFF.

Question: Why the word Descriptive in Name DFF?

Answer: I think Oracle used this terminology because by means of setup...you are describing the structure of these new fields. Or may be Oracle simply used a silly word to distinguish DFF from KFF(discussed in latter training lesson).

Question: Are these DFF's flexible?

Answer: A little flexible, for example, depending upon the value in a field, we can make  either Field1 or Field2  to appear in DFF.

Question: So we create new fields in existing screen, but why the need of doing so?

Answer: Oracle delivers a standard set of fields for each screen, but different customers have different needs, hence Oracle lets us create new fields to the screen.

Question: Are these new fields that get created as a result of DFF free text? I mean, can end user enter any junk into the new fields that are added via DFF?

Answer: If you attach a value set to the field(at time of setup of dff), then field will no longer be free text. The entered value in the field will be validated, also a list of valid values will be provided in LOV.

Question : Will the values that get entered by the user in dff fields be updated to database?

Answer: Indeed, this happens because for each field that you create using DFF will be mapped to  a column in Oracle Applications.

Question: Can I create a DFF on any database column?

Answer: Not really. Oracle delivers a predefined list of columns for each table that are meant for DFF usage. Only those columns can be mapped to DFF segments. These columns are named similar to ATTRIBUTE1, ATTRIBUTE2, ATTRIBUTE3 ETC. Usually Oracle provides upto 15 columns, but this number can vary. 

Question: Can I add hundreds of fields to a given screen?

Answer: This depends on the number of attribute columns in the table that screen uses. Also, those columns must be flagged as DFF enabled in DFF Registration screen. Don't need to worry much about this because all the ATTRIBUTE columns are by default flagged for their DFF usage.

Question: Hmmm, I can see that DFFs are related to table and columns...

Answer: Yes correct. Each DFF is mapped to one table. And also each segment(or call it field) is mapped to one of the attribute columns in that table.

Question: I want these fields to appear in screen only when certain conditions are met. Is it possible?

Answer: Yes, we have something known as Context Sensitive Descriptive Flexfields.

In Order to do this, we will follow the below steps(screenshots will follow) :-

1.    Navigate to the DFF Registration screen in Oracle Apps and query on Table AP_BANK_BRANCES. Now click on Reference Field

2.    Navigate to DFF Segments screen and query on the Title of the “Bank Branch” and Unfreeze the Flexfield and add segments as to Section "GLOBAL Data Elements" as shown in screenshots