ARM_FORMATS, small table, one decisive column

Five columns worth knowing, and one of them, SOURCE_FORMAT_ID, is the documented reason a format fix never touches an existing reconciliation.

Note: In ARCS, Oracle's account reconciliation module, a format defines how an account is reconciled: the method and the screen. This table stores formats and their snapshots, and it is the doc-level proof of how snapshotting works.

All ARCS table references hang off Tables & views; what a format is, in workflow terms, is on Profiles & formats.

RuleRead snapshots by SOURCE_FORMAT_ID, and treat the zero-difference flag as the enforcement switch it is.

Neverassume the method decode beyond what the reference states. Two codes are documented; verify the rest in your pod.

◆ The columns, all five that matter, verbatim against the reference.

Column	What it holds
FORMAT_ID	Primary key.
SOURCE_FORMAT_ID	Only set for format snapshots used by instances. This column is the doc-level proof that a reconciliation points to a copy of its format, not the format itself.
RECONCILIATION_METHOD	A = Account Analysis, B = Balance Comparison, per the reference. The application also offers Variance Analysis formats; verify how those are coded in your own pod before hard-coding a decode.
ZERO_UNEXPLAINED_DIFF_REQUIRED	Y or N. The workflow gate: when Y, the preparer cannot submit until Unexplained Difference reaches zero.
OBJECT_VERSION_NUMBER	Optimistic locking, incremented on every update. On every ARM table; useful as a cheap change detector.

◆ Why this small table matters, the snapshot proof, and the enforcement flag.

Small table, large consequences. SOURCE_FORMAT_ID is why fixing a wrong format means delete, change the profile, recopy, the sequence on the dictionary page: the instance carries a snapshot row, and editing the original changes nothing it points to. And ZERO_UNEXPLAINED_DIFF_REQUIRED is the single flag that decides whether close-week discipline is enforced by the system or left to habit. Reference: ARM_FORMATS.

THE USE CASE, SIMPLIFIED

The problem: Format snapshots drift from their sources and nobody can see it.

What we build: SOURCE_FORMAT_ID drives a nightly drift report, snapshot against source.

What you get: Drifted formats arrive as a list, before they become mysteries.

Format sprawl across hundreds of profiles?

We inventory formats from this table, flag the snapshots that drifted from their source, and standardize with the zero-difference gate on.

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Terms on this page

SOURCE_FORMAT_ID: Set only on snapshots used by instances. The proof.
method codes: A Account Analysis · B Balance Comparison, per the reference.
the gate: ZERO_UNEXPLAINED_DIFF_REQUIRED = Y blocks submit until zero.
snapshot: The copy an instance points to. Editing the original changes nothing.