Defining Segments
Use the Segments window to define segments for your flexfield. The window title includes the current flexfield's name. If your flexfield definition is frozen (that is, the Freeze Flexfield Definition check box is checked), this window prevents you from invalidating your existing flexfield data by not allowing you to enter the Enabled field or the Value Set field.
You can define as many segments as there are defined segment columns in your flexfield table. You can create a new segment for your flexfield by inserting a row.
Prerequisites
To define segments:
1. Enter a name for the segment that you want to define.
Your segment name should begin with a letter and use only letters, numbers, spaces or underscores ( _ ). The segment prompts get their default values from this field. The flexfield view generator will use your segment name as a column name and change all spaces and special characters to underscores ( _ ). See: Segment Naming Conventions.
Your flexfield does not display disabled segments. You can define as many segments as there are defined segment columns in your key flexfield combinations table.
Suggestion: To protect the integrity of your data, you should not disable a segment if you have already used it to enter data.
3. Select the name of the column you want to use for your flexfield segment.
Suggestion: If you are defining more than one segment in the same structure at one time, ensure that you use unique columns for each segment. If you attempt to use a single column for more than one segment in the same structure, you cannot save your changes or compile your structure. Columns you choose for your segments do not disappear from your list of values until you save your work.
4. Enter the segment number for this segment.
This number indicates the relative position in which this segment appears in a flexfield window. A segment with a lower segment number appears before a segment with a higher segment number. Dependent segments should occur after the segment they depend upon in the flexfield window.
You receive a warning message if you enter a segment number that is already defined for your flexfield. This warning is only a reminder that the segment number is in use. If you attempt to freeze a flexfield in which two segments share the same segment number, the flexfield does not compile.
Suggestion: For most flexfields, if you give your segments widely spaced numbers (such as 10, 20, 30...) to indicate their relative positions, you can add segments to your structure more easily. Adding segments still disables all your existing cross-validation rules and shorthand aliases for this flexfield structure, however.
Note that the Accounting Flexfield requires consecutive segment numbers beginning with 1 (such as 1, 2, 3, ...).
Warning: Changing the order of your segments invalidates all existing cross-validation rules and shorthand aliases for this flexfield structure.
5. Indicate whether you want this segment to appear in the flexfield window. If your segment is not displayed, you should provide a default type and value so that the user does not need to enter a value for this segment. If you do not display a segment but also do not provide a default value for it, your users may see error messages when using this flexfield.
Warning: If you are defining the Accounting Flexfield, you must display all segments. Hiding segments will adversely affect your application features such as Mass Allocations.
6. If you are defining the Accounting Flexfield, decide whether you should check the Indexed check box. For details on the Accounting Flexfield, see the Oracle General Ledger User's Guide. If you are defining any other Oracle Applications (key) flexfield, you can skip the Indexed check box.
The Oracle General Ledger applications use the Indexed field for the Optimization feature. What you enter here does not affect Oracle Applications key flexfields other than the Accounting Flexfield, but the value may or may not affect key flexfields in custom applications (depending on whether those applications have logic that uses the value of this field).
Indicate whether you want the database column in the combinations table used to store this key segment to have a single-column index. You should create indexes on segments you expect to have many distinct values (instead of just a few distinct values). The Oracle General Ledger products' Optimizer does not drop existing indexes.
If you set up a new structure of the same flexfield, this value defaults to the value in the first structure you set up.
8. Indicate whether you want to require a value for this segment. If you do, users must enter a value before leaving the flexfield window. If not, the segment is optional.
Attention: All segments in your Accounting Flexfield must be required.
If this segment is required but depends on an optional segment, then this segment will become optional if a user leaves the depended-upon segment blank.
9. Indicate whether to allow security rules to be used for this segment. Otherwise any defined security rules are disabled.
If the value set for this segment does not allow security rules, then this field is display only.
10. If you want your flexfield to validate your segment value against the value of another segment in this structure, then choose either Low or High in the Range field. Segments with a range type of Low must appear before segments with a range type of High (the low segment must have a lower number than the high segment). For example, if you plan two segments named "Start Date" and "End Date," you may want to require users to enter an end date later than the start date. You could have "Start Date" be Low and "End Date" be High. In this example, the segment you name "Start Date" must appear before the segment you name "End Date," or you cannot compile your flexfield.
If you choose Low for one segment, you must also choose High for another segment in that structure (and vice versa). Otherwise you cannot compile your flexfield.
If your value set is of the type Pair, this field is display only, and the value defaults to Pair.
See Also
Key Flexfield Segments Window
Defining Key Flexfields
Defining Key Flexfield Structures
Descriptive Flexfield Segments Window
Flexfield Qualifiers
Defining Descriptive Flexfield Structures
Context Field Values
Choosing Your Value Set
Defaulting Segment Values
Segment Prompts and Display Lengths
Accounting Flexfield: page
Use the Key Flexfield Segments window or the Descriptive Flexfield Segments window to define your flexfield structure. See: Key Flexfield Segments window, Descriptive Flexfield Segments window.