Creating record associations
In BMC Helix Innovation Studio, you can create an association between two record definitions to define a relationship between them. You associate two record definitions so that you can use the data from one record for another record.
For example, you associate the Company record with the Location record. This association enables you to define the different locations for the same company.
While creating a record association, you specify the following parameters for the association:
- Cardinality—Type of relation between the records within the association, such as, one-to-one, one-to-many, and many-to-many.
- Constraint—Limitation for an association, such as, automatic deletion of the associated records. If record1 is associated to record2, and you delete record 2, then record1 is also deleted automatically.
Types of associations
The following table describes the different types of associations:
Type of association | Description |
|---|---|
Direct association | Defines a direct relationship between the two records in the association, such as, one-to-one and one-to-many relationships. Multiple fields of one record and multiple fields of other records can be a part of the association. Entries in two forms contains direct references to each other. For example, see the following image:
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Indirect association | Defines an indirect relationship between the two records in the association; the records can be related to each other using a third record, such as many-to-many relationship. Entries in two related forms do not have reference to each other. For example, see the following image:
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Self association | Defines a relationship in which a self record definition is associated to itself through a direct relationship. For example, employee Manager association. A manager belongs to the manager role and a manager also belongs to an employee role. The following image illustrates a self association:
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To create a record association
The following video helps you to create a record association. The video shows an older version of BMC Helix Innovation Studio. The previous product name was BMC Helix Innovation Suite. Although there might be minor changes in the UI, the overall functionality remains the same:
- Log in to BMC Helix Innovation Studio and navigate to the Workspace tab.
- Select the application or the library for which you want to create an association.
Select Associations > New.The Create Association window is displayed as shown in the following image:
Complete the fields as described in the following table:
Field
Action
Association Name
Type a unique name that identifies the association.
The association name must start with an alphanumeric character. Only alphanumeric characters, hyphens, underscore, and spaces are allowed in the association name.(Optional) Description
Provide a short description of the association.
First Record
Select the source entity or the starting point of your association. Note: The Application/Library scoped definitions are marked with an asterisk ( * ). Ensure that you follow the guidelines listed in Object-definition-scope before you select these definitions.
(Optional) Role of First Record
Provide a description for the first record, which explains the record in the context of the association.
To associate two records from a process, if you use the Associate Records element and select the Use Default Roles toggle key, then, the value you specify in Role of First Record is used. For more information about associating records from a process, see Creating-associations-using-Association-Service-Task.
Cardinality
Select any one of the following relationship among the record definitions:
- If you want to create a direct record association, select the cardinality as Has One or Has Many.
- If you want to create an indirect record association, select the cardinality as Many To Many.
Second Record
Select the target entity or the ending point of your association.
Note: The Application/Library scoped definitions are marked with an asterisk ( * ). Ensure that you follow the guidelines listed in Object-definition-scope before you select these definitions.(Optional) Role of Second Record
Provide a description for the second record, which explains the record in the context of the association.
To associate two records from a process, if you use the Associate Records element and select the Use Default Roles toggle key, then, the value you specify in Role of First Record is used. For more information about associating records from a process, see Creating-associations-using-Association-Service-Task.Add Constraints
To create a direct association, select any of the following constraints:
- If record is deleted, automatically delete all associated records: Deletes all the associated records if the first record is deleted. This constraint adds a Cascade Delete flag to the record association.
See the following image:
- Require a record to be associated in order to create a new record: Creates the second record only when the first record is created. This constraint is available only when you specify to delete all the associated records if the first record is deleted.
Note: A direct association is automatically created when you select any of the constraints.
Scope/Customization Options
Option to define the scope for association definition. This option further contains the following options:
- Application/Library (default)—To limit the use of the definition within the same Digital Service application or library.
- Public—To enable the definition to be used by all the applications or library and allow customizations for this definition.
Enable Association
Select this item to validate and implement the association in the two records.
- Click Save.
Where to go from here
Action | Reference |
|---|---|
Create a new record definition or modify an existing record definition by using Record designer. | |
Create a record instance. | |
Enable row level security. |