DATA LOADING IN ORACLE APPS 

Data loading or data migration is loading of data of one legacy system( previous system holding data ) to oracle base tables . this can be done by a systematic procedure . first data of legacy system is loaded into excel sheet then its loaded into staging table (custom table ) then some validations are applied in procedure and that procedure is run to transfer specific validated data from staging table to interface table . After storing data in interface table its further transferred in base table through standard API .

1. Excel sheet
2. Staging table ( alternatively called custom table )
3. Interface table ( use of interface table can be omitted )
4. Base table

What is API ?

APIs are stored procedures that enable you to insert and update data in Oracle Applications. For example, by using APIs, you can insert a customer record in Oracle Applications.

Sample usage of open interfaces for conversion purpose:

3-step process:

• Load: Get the data from the flat file into the staging table
• Validate: Assess the quality of the data by calculating and evaluating metrics.
• Transfer: Insert data into interface table / call APIs with values in staging table

Data loading and data migration are different concepts

Data migration may refer to the front end data transfer rather than table data transfer

Data migration can also be done by following methods.

1. Migration to Oracle – using open interface / API
2. Migration to Oracle – Oracle Utilities (FNDLOAD )
3. Migration to Oracle – Third party tools

The Generic Loader (FNDLOAD) is a concurrent program that can move Oracle Applications data between database and text file representations. The loader reads a configuration file to determine what data to access. For information on specific configuration files consult the Open Interfaces Guide for your product group. 

For exa if you want to copy a whole concurrent program from a test instance to production instance along with its all details , like value sets ,parameters etc. then by using FNDLOAD command you can do that .