MTL_SYSTEM_ITEMS_TL
Schema: INVmasterPer inventory orgLanguage-stripedThe item master's translation companion — item description and long description in every installed language, one row per item per organization per language
Filter to one LANGUAGE or item joins multiply by installed languages; SOURCE_LANG marks the row the others were translated from (see quirks #tl-tables).
What the badges mean
- Schema: INV
- Schema: the Oracle product schema that owns the table (INV, ONT, WSH, PO, BOM, WIP, MRP, MSC, AR, AP, GL, HR, APPLSYS) — tells you which product family the object belongs to, not who can query it.
- master
- Data class: what the table holds — master data, transaction documents, control/configuration, interface/staging, or an APPS-schema view.
- OU-striped (ORG_ID)
- Rows are scoped to an operating unit. A landed extract carries every operating unit’s rows — filter or join on
ORG_ID, and don’t confuse it withORGANIZATION_ID(see the quirks guide). - Per inventory org
- Rows are scoped to an inventory organization (plant or warehouse) via
ORGANIZATION_ID— a different partition from OU-striped tables (see the quirks guide). - Language-striped
- The table carries a
LANGUAGEcolumn (a _TL translation table or FND_LOOKUP_VALUES) — one row per language. Filter to oneLANGUAGEor a join multiplies rows (see the quirks guide). - View
- This is an APPS-schema convenience view, not a physical table. Extract the base tables it joins instead — views can be slow at scale and aren't guaranteed stable across patches.
Structural facts — how the table is partitioned, not a trap by itself
Join & extract hazards — verify before you rely on this
Translations
MTL_SYSTEM_ITEMS_TL holds the per-language translation rows for MTL_SYSTEM_ITEMS_B — one row per LANGUAGE. Filter to one LANGUAGE or rows multiply.
Fields
6 fields · 3 key
6 fields.
| # | Field | Description | Type | Flags |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | INVENTORY_ITEM_ID | Item id | NUMBER | Primary-key field |
| 2 | ORGANIZATION_ID | Inventory organization | NUMBER | Primary-key field |
| 3 | LANGUAGE | Language of this row — one row per installed language per item/org | VARCHAR2 | Primary-key field |
| 4 | SOURCE_LANG | The language this row's text was translated from | VARCHAR2 | |
| 5 | DESCRIPTION | Item description in this row's language | VARCHAR2 | |
| 6 | LONG_DESCRIPTION | Long item description in this row's language | VARCHAR2 |
Field provenance: hand-curated. 3 key fields.
Boilerplate SQL
Starting point for reading MTL_SYSTEM_ITEMS_TL on Databricks — real DATE columns need no conversion, and the org anchor is already in place. The optional LAST_UPDATE_DATE watermark is included. Set your Unity Catalog location, schema, and org values below; they’re substituted into the SQL and the copy button.
6 parameters not filled: <catalog>, <schema>, <inventory_org_id>, <language>, <INVENTORY_ITEM_ID>, <watermark>
-- ============================================================
-- Table : MTL_SYSTEM_ITEMS_TL — The item master's translation companion — item description and long description in every installed language, one row per item per organization per language
-- Purpose: Column-selected read of MTL_SYSTEM_ITEMS_TL — auto-generated from field metadata
-- Grain : One row per inventory org (ORGANIZATION_ID) + INVENTORY_ITEM_ID
-- Notes : Auto-generated skeleton for Oracle EBS R12 data landed in your lakehouse. Dates are real DATE/TIMESTAMP columns — no conversion needed. WHO audit columns omitted (see the quirks guide); the optional LAST_UPDATE_DATE watermark filter supports incremental extracts.
-- ============================================================
SELECT
t.INVENTORY_ITEM_ID AS "Item id",
t.ORGANIZATION_ID AS "Inventory organization",
t.LANGUAGE AS "Language of this row — one row per installed language per item/org",
t.SOURCE_LANG AS "The language this row's text was translated from",
t.DESCRIPTION AS "Item description in this row's language",
t.LONG_DESCRIPTION AS "Long item description in this row's language"
FROM <catalog>.<schema>.MTL_SYSTEM_ITEMS_TL t
WHERE
t.ORGANIZATION_ID = <inventory_org_id> -- inventory org, NOT the operating unit — see quirks guide #two-orgs
AND t.LANGUAGE = '<language>' -- one language or rows multiply; translations fall back to SOURCE_LANG
-- AND t.INVENTORY_ITEM_ID = <INVENTORY_ITEM_ID>
-- AND t.LAST_UPDATE_DATE >= TIMESTAMP '<watermark>' -- WHO watermark, bulk-stamped by batch jobs; see quirks guide #who-columns
ORDER BY t.INVENTORY_ITEM_ID;Verified September 2026
Relationships
Diagram of 1-hop neighbors — join details below. FND lookup decode and translation edges are highlighted; they’re the joins newcomers most often get wrong.
Join details
ON MTL_SYSTEM_ITEMS_B.INVENTORY_ITEM_ID = MTL_SYSTEM_ITEMS_TL.INVENTORY_ITEM_ID AND MTL_SYSTEM_ITEMS_B.ORGANIZATION_ID = MTL_SYSTEM_ITEMS_TL.ORGANIZATION_ID AND MTL_SYSTEM_ITEMS_TL.LANGUAGE = '<language>'
More Item & Product Master tables
- MTL_UNITS_OF_MEASURE_TLThe unit-of-measure master — both the 3-char UOM code and the 25-char unit name, the UOM class, and the base-unit flag, one row per unit per language
- MTL_UOM_CONVERSIONSIntra-class UOM conversion rates to each class's base unit — both standard conversions and item-specific overrides, distinguished by the item id
- MTL_CATEGORIES_BThe category master — one row per category code combination, with the SEGMENTn flexfield columns the category name concatenates from, keyed by the flexfield structure
- MTL_CATEGORY_SETS_BCategory set definitions — validation rules, control level (master-org vs org-level), the multiple-assignments flag, and the default category new items inherit
- MTL_CROSS_REFERENCES_BItem cross-references — maps items to external identifiers (GTINs, superseded part numbers, customer and supplier part numbers) by cross-reference type, either per organization or org-independent
- MTL_ITEM_CATEGORIESThe item-to-category assignment — one row per item, organization, category set, and category; the bridge every category rollup crosses