Custom Module linked to Account; Not Showing in Account Subpanel

[angela@visitVMA.com]

Hello Forum;

I am new to SugarCRM and I am doing some slight modifications for my use.

I created a Custom Module and added a field to Relate the module to an Account. When I create a new record in the Custom Module and save it, it displays a link to the related Account. However, when I navigate to the related Account record, the related Custom Module record is not displayed in the subpanel.

I can of course go to the subpanel, click the "Select" button and find the record I just created from the Custom Module. However, it seems like this should happen automatically.

As a reference, I want this Module to work pretty much exactly like the Contacts Module.

Am I missing something?

Any thoughts are very much appreciated!

Thank you,
A.J.

[kbrill]

If you are using the "Relate Field" and NOT a actual relationship then the that "relationship" only shows up in the module and not the related module. Only actual relationships show up in the related modules.

Relate fields are not really relationships, for the relationship to show up in another module it would have to be converted to a one-to-many or a one-to-one relationship and you would delete the relate field and use the relationship instead.

[angela@visitVMA.com]

This worked - Thank you! I appreciate your fast response!

Also, your description of Relate fields versus Relationships really helped clarify the distinction between the two functionalities. Thank you!

[kbrill]

I am glad I could help.

Just to complete the job, I'd like to address (fer everyone else) why we have "relate fields" when at first glace they appear to merely be 1/2 relationships.

Relate fields are best used when they relate to hidden modules (since they are hidden (no tab) you cant really see the other side of the relationship anyway). I use them when the 'Relationship' is just a way to make a group of selections like if I wanted a list of Schools, I would make a module for schools, add all the schools and then use a 'Relate Field' in the other module to tie them together. Then I can add and remove schools without editing a dropdown list. I have also used them with a hidden module that was just a conduit to another database. I made a custom module whos table was just a view on a table in another database. This let me relate items to records in that other database and I didnt need "other end" of the relationship for that either.

Relate fields are also faster and more efficient database-wise than a standard relationship. Since there is only one end, there is no JOIN table to be included in each retrieve() event. The data is stored in the main table and so it can be retrieved from the database in one call instead of adding another INNER JOIN to the query.

[angela@visitVMA.com]

I appreciate the additional explanation, and I'm willing to bet there will be others that will, too!

From your example, I was able to solve a problem that I had made a "work-around" to deal with. Thank you!