Understanding the Oracle File System

Before you start to explore the apis and library codes , that define your Oracle Application product to understand it in detail or debug your custom code, this basic overview should help you to look at the right place in Oracle File system.

If you are techno functional person, who have access to several instances of Oracle apps, then in order to identify the database you need to dig in, go to
Menu->Help-> Oracle Application to find the details.

Once you identify the box, the most important file that stores the informaton of various path corresponding to the different product installed is .env.For example, APPL_TOP identifies the top level directory path of Oracle Application and FA_TOP defines the top level directory of the product, Oracle Fixed Assets and so on. Now if you are extending the functionality of Oracle ERP, by defining a new product, the first step of doing the same would be to create an entry here for your top level directory.



So APPL_TOP is the topmost directory in Oracle Application.Each product will have its own sub directory.Since products can exist at different version levels, the version is typically reflected in the subdirectory name.

Important Note: Multiple releases and product versions cannot exist in a single APPL_TOP directory.

Inside the Product Subdirectory:



Following are some of the key sub directories in the product Directory that can be of interest, while understanding the product, and extending its functioanility:

forms: It ontains Oracle Forms files. Oracle Forms may be portable source files (.fmb files) or generated runtime files (.fmx files). The installation utility generates form files by converting the .fmb source file to.fmx runtime files. The source files are stored in AU_TOP/forms sogeneration of runtime files can be done more easily.A subdirectory exists for the language(s) installed. This subdirectory isnamed according to the language, e.g., /US for American English forms,/D for German forms, /F for French forms.

include: It contains header (.h) files. These files may be required by the files contained in the lib directory for the relinking process. Not all products have an include directory.

lib: At some time, you may need to relink Applications programs, for example if you upgrade the Oracle8i server. The lib subdirectory contains files pertinent to the process of relinking Applications programs:object files: (.o files), one for each C program to relink.library file: (.a file) the compiled C code common to that product’sprograms.makefile: (.mk file) specifying how to relink the .o file(s) with the .a file(s)to create the newly linked C programs.

patch :Any updates to Oracle Applications data or data model use a directory
named patch to store the patch files. Patch files are grouped by release

For more details on the directory structure of the latest release you may refer the
R12 Oracle Applications Concepts