Fixing ORA‑38803 “Edition is Unusable” After Applying AD/TXK 15 in Oracle E‑Business Suite R12.2

 After applying AD/TXK 15, ad_zd.grant_privs is failing:

EBS R12.2: ORA-38803: edition is unusable

Description
AD_ZD.grant_privs routine should not be trying to access unusable editions as these are not accessible and maintained by the DB. This fix also includes the enhancement to warn the user if actualize_all did not actualize_all objects in the patch edition.

SQL> exec ad_zd.grant_privs('SELECT','MTL_SYSTEM_ITEMS_VL','<schema/role name>');
BEGIN ad_zd.grant_privs('SELECT','MTL_SYSTEM_ITEMS_VL','<schema/role name>'); END;

*
ERROR at line 1:
ORA-38803: edition is unusable
ORA-06512: at "APPS.AD_ZD", line 1382
ORA-06512: at "SYS.DBMS_SQL", line 1177
ORA-06512: at "APPS.AD_ZD", line 1365
ORA-06512: at line 1

Solution

Please check the versions of ADZDXS.pls and ADZDXB.pls. If they are lower than 120.25.1202000.24 and 120.52.12020000.100, respectively, please perform the following steps:


1. Download and review the readme and pre-requisites for patch 36303698.

2. Ensure that you have taken a backup of your system before applying the recommended patch.

3. Apply the patch in a test environment.

4. Confirm the following file versions:

ADZDXS.pls should be 120.25.12020000.24 or higher

ADZDXB.pls should be 120.52.12020000.100 or above

You can use the commands like the following:

strings -a $AD_TOP/patch/115/sql/ADZDXS.pls | grep $Header

strings -a $AD_TOP/patch/115/sql/ADZDXB.pls | grep $Header

5. Retest the issue.

6. Migrate the solution as appropriate to other environments.

Cause

The issue was caused by upgrading to AD/TXK 15.

A higher version of ADZDXS.pls is required.

References

• MOS Doc ID 3030872.1 – After Applying AD/TXK Delta 15, AD_ZD.GRANT_PRIVS Fails With ORA‑38803
• Oracle E‑Business Suite Online Patching Guide
• AD/TXK 15 Patch Documentation

CONCLUSION

If you encounter ORA‑38803: edition is unusable after applying AD/TXK 15, the root cause is typically outdated AD_ZD code files.

Applying Patch 36303698 and ensuring the correct versions of ADZDXS.pls and ADZDXB.pls will resolve the issue.

----

SQL>

 Set linesize 200 pagesize 30

col codelevel for a20

select abbreviation, codelevel FROM AD_TRACKABLE_ENTITIES WHERE abbreviation in ('txk','ad');SQL> SQL> SQL>

ABBREVIATION                   CODELEVEL

------------------------------ --------------------

ad                             C.15

txk                            C.15

Please check the versions of ADZDXS.pls and ADZDXB.pls. If they are lower than 120.25.1202000.24 

and 120.52.12020000.100, respectively, please perform the following steps:

[applmgr@hostname  IHFNAPP]$ strings -a $AD_TOP/patch/115/sql/ADZDXS.pls | grep -i Header

/* $Header: ADZDXS.pls 120.25.12020000.23 2022/01/19 05:19:39 jwsmith ship $ */

[applmgr@hostname IHFNAPP]$ strings -a $AD_TOP/patch/115/sql/ADZDXB.pls | grep Header

/* $Header: ADZDXB.pls 120.52.12020000.98 2023/06/13 19:39:09 jwsmith ship $ */

Under APPS user

[applmgr@hostname sql]$ ls -tlr

total 60

-rwxr-xr-x. 1 applmgr dba  3790 Jan  1  2002 ADZDXS.pls

-rwxr-xr-x. 1 applmgr dba 56102 Jan  1  2002 ADZDXB.pls

[applmgr@hostname sql]$ sqlplus apps/xxxxxxxx

SQL*Plus: Release 10.1.0.5.0 - Production on Tue Jan 20 16:29:13 2026

Copyright (c) 1982, 2005, Oracle.  All rights reserved.

Connected to:

Oracle Database 19c Enterprise Edition Release 19.0.0.0.0 - Production

SQL> @ADZDXS.pls

Package created.

Commit complete.

Disconnected from Oracle Database 19c Enterprise Edition Release 19.0.0.0.0 - Production

[applmgr@hostname sql]$ sqlplus apps/xxxxx

SQL*Plus: Release 10.1.0.5.0 - Production on Tue Jan 20 16:29:30 2026

Copyright (c) 1982, 2005, Oracle.  All rights reserved.

Connected to:

Oracle Database 19c Enterprise Edition Release 19.0.0.0.0 - Production

SQL> @ADZDXB.pls

Package body created.

Commit complete.

OR APPLY PATCH

Apply patch [required]

Apply the patch with ADOP:
  adop phase=apply patches=36303698