CORE HR: Descriptive Flexfields on a Oracle Form

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

This is a frequently asked questions during many interview discussions. Even seasoned consultants may occasionally need to identify a DFF on a particular window. This section helps in the same.




Navigate into any HR form. As an example, you can see the DFF on the Terminate window. Once the window opens up, from the menu, select Help > Diagnostics > Examine. From 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 will 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.

Example: If you need to find the name of the Flexfield that is available on the termination window (End Employment), you can follow this sequence:

Query the employee record.
Click on Others Button and select ‘End Employment’.
When the Terminate window opens up, Click on Help menu and select Diagnostics > Examine




You may be prompted for an apps password. Enter the same.
When the Examine Field window opens up, open the contents of the Block field. Select the value $DESCRIPTIVE_FLEXFIELD$


Click on the Field drop down and you can see the name of the Flexfield. Select the same and the description can be found in the value field as shown below

Though this might seem very rudimentary, I have seen several consultants fumbling around, trying to find the information.

Another useful information for those who need to identify the base table behind this window, the same method can be used. Select the parameters as shown and you can see the complete query that fetches data to this window: