Adding Global Descriptive Flexfields

You can define up to 50 descriptive flexfields during registration, and then import and export them to Oracle E-Business Suite General Ledger.

About Descriptive Flexfields

Descriptive flexfields are user-defined fields that enable you to capture additional attributes about segment values. For example, a Product segment could contain descriptive flexfields for Color and Size. There are two types of descriptive flexfields:

• Global descriptive flexfields are applied to all segments in an application, and both the flexfield and its associated property must be unique. You cannot reuse either the name or the property of a global descriptive flexfield in either another global or a context-sensitive flexfield.
• Context-sensitive descriptive flexfields are applied only to specific segments, and both the flexfield and its associated property can be reused in other segments.

To illustrate the usage of global versus context-sensitive descriptive flexfields, suppose you have three segments: Account, Entity, and Product. If you have an attribute that applies to all three segments, you can create a global descriptive flexfield and it will be added to all of your segments. However, if you have an attribute that applies to only two of the segments, you can create a context-sensitive flexfield and add it only to the two segments to which it applies.

For more information about descriptive flexfields, see Overview of Flexfields in Oracle Applications Cloud Configuring and Extending Applications.

To add a global descriptive flexfield:

1. In Add Global Descriptive Flexfields, click Add.
2. Enter the Flexfield Name, and then specify whether or not the flexfield is required. The name must be unique for global descriptive flexfields.
3. In Column, click the drop down menu and select the attribute location (1-50) for the flexfield. This field determines the location of the value for this flexfield in the import and export files.

   When you select an attribute location for either a global or a context-sensitive descriptive flexfield, that location is no longer available to be selected by another flexfield. For example, if you select the Attribute 3 location for a global descriptive flexfield, when you add another global or context-sensitive descriptive flexfield, Attribute 3 is no longer displayed in the drop down menu.

4. In Property, click the drop down menu and perform an action:
   • To create a new property for the flexfield, select (Add New Property) and then click Next. Continue to Adding a New Property for a Flexfield.
   • Select an existing property for the flexfield and then click Next to return to Add Descriptive Flexfields. When you select an existing property for a global descriptive flexfield, that property is removed from the drop down list and you can no longer select it for other global or context-sensitive descriptive flexfields.

Adding a New Property for a Flexfield

1. By default, the property name is "DFF {Flexfield Name}". Optionally, change the name or enter a description for the property, and then click Next.
2. Specify the parameters for the property:

   Parameter	Description
   String Case	Specify whether the property should be in Upper Case, Lower Case, or Mixed Case.
   Invalid Characters	Specify the invalid characters for the property. Click in the Invalid Characters field and then select the invalid characters from the provided list.
   Minimum Length	Enter the minimum text length for the property. The default value is 0.
   Maximum Length	Enter the maximum text length for the property. The default value is 240, and you cannot increase the maximum past 240.
   Use Allowed Values List	Select to restrict entry in the property field to only those values listed in Allowed Values.
   Include Blank Entry	Select to allow this property to be left blank.
   Allowed Values	Enter the values that you want to be displayed for this property. Enter a value and then hit Tab to enter the next value. Select Use Allowed Values List to restrict user entry only to the values in this field.
   Default Value	Enter a default value for the property.
   Inheritance	Select whether or not to use positional inheritance for this property. See Inheriting Properties.

3. Click Next to return to Add Global Descriptive Flexfields. The global descriptive flexfield that you added is displayed with a default name of the attribute location and the flexfield name that you entered, for example, "Attribute 1 - Color".
4. Click Add to add another flexfield, or click Next to continue the registration.