If the five address styles that Receivables provides do not suit the requirements of the countries in which you do business, you can create your own, custom address styles. You can then use these custom address styles for entering addresses for your customers, banks, suppliers, payments, and remit-to sites.

To create a custom address style:

1. Choose address style database columns.

   Attention: When you set up a new address style you must decide which columns from the database you are going to use and how you are going to order them. See: Choosing address style database columns.

2. Map address style to database columns.

   Define the appearance of your flexible address window and the information it will include. See: Mapping address style to database columns.

3. Add address style to the address style lookup.

   Add the address style name to the Address Style Special lookup so that you will be able to assign the style to countries and territories. See: Adding a new style to the address style lookup.

4. Assign the address style to the appropriate country using the Countries and Territories window. See: Assigning an address style to a country.

Choosing address style database columns

To choose address style database columns:

Decide which columns from the database you are going to use and how you are going to order them.

All the seeded address styles use the following database columns. See: Address Style Mappings.

• Bank Addresses

  • AP_BANK_BRANCHES.ADDRESS_LINE1

  • AP_BANK_BRANCHES.CITY

  • AP_BANK_BRANCHES.STATE

  • AP_BANK_BRANCHES.ZIP

• Customer and Remit-To Addresses

  • HZ_LOCATIONS.ADDRESS1

  • HZ_LOCATIONS.CITY

  • HZ_LOCATIONS.POSTAL_CODE

  • HZ_LOCATIONS.STATE

• Supplier Addresses

  • PO_VENDOR_SITES.ADDRESS_LINE1

  • PO_VENDOR_SITES.CITY

  • PO_VENDOR_SITES.STATE

  • PO_VENDOR_SITES.ZIP

• Payment Addresses

  • AP_CHECKS.ADDRESS_LINE1

  • AP_CHECKS.CITY

  • AP_CHECKS.STATE

  • AP_CHECKS.ZIP

For example, notice in the Japanese address style that the address element called Province maps onto the STATE database column and that in the United Kingdom/Africa/Australasia address style the address element called County also maps onto the STATE database column.

We recommend that all custom address styles also include at least the above database columns because these address columns are used extensively throughout Oracle Receivables for printing and displaying.

Mapping address styles to database columns

To map address styles to database columns:

To do this mapping, you must create a new context value for each of the descriptive flexfields as described in this table:

1. Using the Application Developer responsibility, navigate to the Descriptive Flexfield Segments window.

2. Query the appropriate address descriptive flexfield and uncheck the Freeze Flexfield Definition check box.

3. Navigate to the Context Field Values region. This region contains the address styles that have already been defined for the flexfield.

4. Enter a name and description for your new address style. The name should be a short, unique code similar to the ones already provided.

5. Choose Segments, then create address elements for your address style. Each segment consists of a database column, which will store the address information, and the prompt the user will see inside the address window. The columns you assign to your address elements are restricted to the address columns that have been predefined for the flexfield.

   You can also define any validation you want to use on a particular segment of your address in this region. To do this, enter an existing Value Set, or choose Value Set, then enter a new value set. See: Address Validation.

6. Recheck the Freeze Flexfield Definition check box, then save your new address style.

7. Follow the above steps to set up the same address style for each address descriptive flexfield that you use.

   The address styles must be identical across all address flexfields; otherwise, you risk creating addresses that are incompatible with different windows.

Adding a new style to the address style lookup

To add a new style to the address style lookup:

1. Using the Application Developer responsibility, navigate to the Application Object Library Lookups window.

2. Query the ADDRESS_STYLE lookup.

   Receivables displays all of the address styles used by Flexible Addresses.

3. To add your new address style, enter the following information:

   • Language

   • Code

     This must correspond exactly to the name you assigned your flexfield context value in the Context Field Values region of the Descriptive Flexfield Segments window.

   • Meaning

     This should correspond to the short description you provided for your address style in the Context Field Values region of the Descriptive Flexfield Segments window.

   Note: Do not enter a start or end date.

4. Enable this style by checking the Enabled check box.