Before you can assign a sequence to number documents, you must define which documents are to be numbered.
Defining a sequence is different from assigning a sequence to a series of documents.
A sequence's definition determines whether a document's number is automatically generated or manually entered by the user.
A sequence's assignment, that is, the documents a sequence is assigned to, is defined in the Sequence Assignments form.
You specify a combination of four rules that define any given document for assignment to a specific sequence name.
You can then assign a different (numbering) sequence to each document definition.
The four rules, that when combined, define what documents a selected sequence assigns numbers to are:
| Application | You select the application that generates the documents you wish to number. For example, to number sales invoices, you select Oracle Receivables. |
| Category | You select a document category to identify a logical subset of documents. For example, if you do not want to number all invoices in Oracle Receivables, you can choose to number only the category of sales invoices. A category identifies a table that stores transactions entered (documents generated) using an Oracle E-Business Suite application. The Category values you can choose from to define a document are dependent upon the application you select. |
| Set of Books | You select the chart of accounts for your business that is affected by the documents you wish to number. You may optionally enable this rule through the Document Flexfield. |
| Method | You select the method that your documents are entered, automatic or manual. You may optionally enable this rule through the Document Flexfield. Automatic is when a concurrent process, such as an external program, is set up to enter transaction data into an Oracle E-Business Suite product. Manual is when a document is manually entered using a form in an application. |
For each unique document definition there can only be one active sequence assignment. A document definition consists of the Application, Category, and the optional Document Flexfield segments Set of Books and Method
Attention: When assigning sequences to a document definition, each active sequence can be assigned to only one unique combination of application and category (i.e., application table).
An active sequence assignment does not have a post dated end date. That is, the assignment's end date is not before the current date.
An active sequence assignment either has no end date, or an end date that is not before the current date.
A sequence assignment and its dates of effectivity are defined on the Sequence Assignments form.
A sequence definition must be active as well. That is, the sequence definition's end date (as opposed to its assignment's end date) must not be before the current date.
A sequence definition and its dates of effectivity are defined on the Document Sequences form.
When you define a document sequence, you give the sequence a name, and define how the sequence numbers each document by:
Choosing whether numbers are automatically generated in sequence, or entered manually by the user.
Entering the initial value or first number in the sequence.