What is EFF in BI

Flexfields Series: Extensible Flexfields (EFF) Explained

Overview

Introduced with Fusion Applications, Extensible Flexfields (EFF) extend the functionality ofDynamic Flexfields (DFF) by adding features that expand on their scale and scope.

In essence this is done by decoupling the flexfield segment values and context from the transaction database tables, storing them in sets of child tables. This allows an unlimited number of both segments and contexts to be used to support a more varied and wide ranging collection of addition information. For example an extra information segment called "Seat Preference" can apply in both the contexts of Air Travel or Land Travel.

As you will note from the screenshots below, in basic terms this is implemented using many of the same concepts as DFF's, but adding a few intermediate entities to support further extension. This includes a context supported by one or moreCategories, which themselves can be organized into a hierarchy structure if so desired and may be dynamically displayed based on aUsage value.

The categories are shown to the end user in the left-hand sidebar for selection, and offer the related context-sensitive segments arranged into something known as Logical Pages. As also shown below for multi-row EFF values the UI automatically uses a table to allow for data entry and display as opposed to single-value text fields.

Example: Person Extra Information

The following example shows an out-of-the-box implementation of the the Person Extra Information Template EFF (PER_PERSON_EIT_EFF), and illustrates how this can allow you to both configure the implementation to fit your needs or to add the implementation by creating your own segments and related categories, contexts, and pages. There are extensive steps on the planning, design and implementation of EFF's in both the standard documentation and also product-specific implementation guides. See the references section at the end, and as such this article just provides an illustative overview of the main features.

This first screen (click to enlarge) shows the HCM users Manage Person page that displays the EFF at run-time. Note how the multi-value Disciplinary Details context is implemented as a table to support multiple segment rows.

So let's see where this is setup. First we go to the Manage Extensible Flexfields task in the Setup and Maintenance screens. Here we can search for the EFF we're after. As you can in this small set of results there are EFF's for Product Items, Jobs, Organizations, and People (click to enlarge). Check your product-specific implementation guide for more details on what is available for your functionality. 

Upon editing one of the EFF's listed the next screen (click to enlarge) shows the detail and you'll notice the addition (compared with DFF) of theCategory intersection against which child Contexts and Pagesare stored. In this simple case there is only one category although you'll notice that each of the additional contexts can have single or multiple row behavior. Let's look at theDisciplinary Details context.

This context shows five segments available which are used based on the runtimeUsage setup - again actually singular (i.e. global) in this example (click to enlarge).

If we drill into the Disciplinary Level segment we see the attribute properties that control the fields display and constraints (just like DFF's), including theValue Set assigned. The screenshow below shows the LOV values used in this case.

The five context-sensitive segments shown above related to the Disciplinary Details context are displayed together in aLogical Page. As mentioned this is defined under each Category, under thePages tab, as shown below (click to enlarge).

The following is a very simple summary of the general implementation steps used for EFF's, with much more detail to be found inthe documentation:

1. Identify the extensible flexfield and create a new context for multirows.
2. Define segments for the context.
3. Associate the context to the EFF category on the page.
4. Add the context to the EFF page.
5. Deploy the flexfield and test.

Including Flexfields In Integration

Both EFF and DFF flexfields are available in most different integration capabilities, so extra information is not just stored but also shared. 

For use with reports and analytics both flexfield types have the "BI Enabled" property on the edit segment attributes page which can be used to ensure it is populated in the related RPD. These are then shown in the Subject Areas in the BI Catalog.

Most functional web services also include support for related flexfields (both DFF and EFF). For example theItemService includes a createItem operation that allows you to populate the EFF for additional information, along with dedicated delete operations. The same is true for the WorkerService SOAP service or the Release 10 General Availability of the 'Employee' RESTful service (<your env>/hcmCoreApi/resources/latest/emps) which has POST support for creating new records and has child /PersonDFF and /PersonEFF resources. This was summarised inRelease9 and detail on these can be found in Oracle Enterprise Repository and our own Release 10 content coming soon.

References

• Details on EFF's are included in Oracle Enterprise Repository, search assets by type and the more commonly used flexfields are listed with useful details such as context and segment details and which pages they are exposed on. 
• Although discontinued in Release 8, the Oracle Fusion Applications Extensibility Guide for Business Analysts hasSection 4 useful flexfield detail. 
• For an overview and specifically on-premises extensions then look at the Fusion Applications DevelopersGuide
• Product Implementation Guides such as for Global HCM - Chapter 18 or for Product Information Management Chapter 16.

[注]

Flexfield is a way of capturing business data which has not been captured in the pages.

弹性域是一种捕获业务数据的方式，专门捕获在页面上无法捕获到的业务数据。主要有两种，DFF（Descriptive Flexfield）和 EFF（Extensible Flexfield）。

Descriptive Flexfield has been introduced to capture additional business data which are required for the business but no standard UI region has been put in the pages.

DFF 用于捕获附加的业务数据， 这些附加的业务数据在特定的业务上是被需要的，但是在标准的UI上不被体现。

Navigator - Workforce Structure - Manage Job - Search for "Manager" - Username - Highlight Flexfield - Configure DFF。