Using Relationships

A business object relationship lets two business objects collaborate. More specifically, it lets the records included in the objects work together. In a relationship, business objects can belong to other business objects or simply be associated with other objects.

Each relationship contains these objects:

Parent object: This object is the center of a relationship with one or more child objects. Only a master object can function as a parent object.
Child object" This object is the supplier of additional data to a parent object.

An incident object can have a relationship with a notes object so you can track notes pertaining to a specific incident. Because incident is a master object, it becomes the parent to notes, the child object.

Business Object Relationships

The Link Field

Records in a relationship link through a constraint that specifies how records find each other. In most cases, a relationship uses the standard constraint, a parent link field, which is included in the child and stores the RecID of the parent. Sometimes a special constraint is required or an additional constraint is needed in the parent. In these cases, a relationship relies on a Link field.

A Link field is a special system field that stores the RecID of a record. It also stores a category for identifying and linking records in a business object relationship. When you create a master-child or standard-child object, the system creates the parent link field for you.

Relationship Types

Contains: The child object belongs to, and is dependent on, the parent object. The child record is loaded, saved, and deleted with its parent. These relationships are listed under the Relationships and Relationships v2 tabs.
Associates. The child object is relevant to the parent object, but does not belong to the parent. The child object is independent. These relationships are only listed under the Relationships v2 tab.

Relationship Types

Embedded Relationships

You can extend contains and associates relationships to embedded relationships. An embedded relationship is a special relationship where the child object is embedded into the parent to display one special child record.

You always embed a single object into a parent. The single object can be a member of a business object group.

Embed the Address.Phone object into the employee object so that a home phone (one special record) displays on a contact record. You can also embed the entire address group into the employee object to display phone numbers, mailing addresses, and email addresses.

Groups in Relationships

Groups can be part of a relationship, and can function as a parent or as a child. How they function depends on whether the group is a master or standard group.

Adding a Relationship to a Business Object

Within the Configuration Console, open the business object that you want to be the parent. For example, open the incident object.

Select the Relationships tab. The relationships list appears.

Click Add New. A list of objects appears.

Select the object that you want to relate (the child object). For example, select the task object. The Relationship Details page appears.

Enter information into the fields.

--fields--

Field	Description
Display Name	The relationship name to be viewed in the HEAT interface
Internal Reference Name	The internal reference name for this relationship. The system stores this name in the database.
Relation To	The relation to the child object. This value is automatically generated.
Relationship Is Audited	Automatically creates an entry in the audit history log when this object is modified. See Accessing the Audit History.
Full Text Search Enabled	Enables the relationship to be included in full-text searches. For a queries to return related objects, at least one field in the business object and related objects must be enabled for full-text search.
Prevent Delete when Relationship exists	Prevents deleting this object if an relationship exists.
This Business Object	Defines how many child records are permitted relative to the parent business object (cardinality): Zero or One: This choice gives a parent record in this object either a zero-to-one or a one-to-one relationship with a single child record. For example, an employee (parent) can have one Service Level Agreement (child). Exactly One: This choice gives a parent record in this object a one-to-one relationship with a single child record. For example, an employee (parent) can have one Service Level Agreement (child). Zero or Many: This choice gives a parent record in this object either a zero to many or a one-to-many relationship with its child records. For example, an employee (parent) has many incidents (children). Many: This choice gives a parent record in this object a one-to-many relationship with its child records. For example, an employee (parent) has many incidents (children).
Associates with Contains	Defines the binding type: Associates with: Binds primary business objects as an associated relationship. Child records are kept even if the parent record is deleted. Contains: Binds the current business object as a parent object in a parent-child relationship. If the parent record is deleted, the child record identified in the relationship will be deleted.
Profile	Defines the cardinality of the target business object: Zero or One Exactly One Zero or Many Many Examples: One contains many or one contained in many (one-to-many): One employee (parent) can have many incidents (children). Or one alert (parent) can be sent to many employees (children). One associates with one (one-to-one): One employee (parent) has only one Service Level Agreement (child). Many associates with many (many-to-many): An employee (child) can be a member of more than one group object (parent).
Primary Key	Select the field to share data for this business object from the drop-down list.
Equals To Use Link Table	Defines how the data is passed between records: Equals to: In an associated relationship, two objects are considered related when the field value in the business object field equals another field value in another business object field on the right. Once selected, you should specify the field under this business object and the related object. Use Link Table: Used for many-to-many relationships. In a many-to-many relationship, two objects are considered related when the appropriate record containing RecIDs of two objects exists in a link table. When you select this radio button, you can use the default Fusion Link table, which contains standard constraints called parent link fields (housed in the child and store the RecID of the parent), or you can enter another database table to be used as a link table.
IsAsymmetric	Check if the relationship is asymmetrical.
Commonly Used	Check if this relationship is commonly used.
Condition	Adds a condition as an additional restriction, combining fields from the current business object and functions from the functions folder. The business objects are considered related only if the condition is evaluated as true. Click the link. The Relationship Condition page appears. Select the fields or functions. Click Remove This Condition to delete the condition. For an example, see Hiding Related Items in Closed Status.
Group object type selector	Use this to set the child type from the parent. In a one-to-one relationship, you can specify a field on the parent object that dictates the child object type. For example, you can use a field on the incident parent object to specify the type of form shown. Select a parent object field type drop-down list. The child object must be in one of the child tabs on the object user interface. When the type field changes, the child object type changes, using matching values where possible. If there is no child object, a new one is automatically created using the original type. If the type field value cannot be matched to a child object type, the child object link is removed.
Update This Object's Fields	Defines how to push the data from the target object to this business object. To do so, add fields to be updated for this business object, if needed, upon meeting the condition. These fields are updated when a relationship is established, such as when creating a child record or when linking two objects. Click Add to add a table row for specifying data to push from the parent to child business object (for example, pushing the Priority of the incident into the task child object). Select the business object field to be updated from the Set Field drop-down list. Select the corresponding field in the target business object to be updated.
Update <Target Object> Fields	Add fields to be updated for the target business object, if needed, upon meeting the condition. Click Add to add a table row. Select the target business object field to be updated from the Set Field drop-down list. Select the corresponding field in the business object to be updated.

Click Save

from the toolbar.