Relationship Help

[tj@estreet.com]

I know, call Dr. Phill or Dear Abbey right?
NOT THAT KIND OF RELATIONSHIP HELP!
I have hard coded the following new field in accounts/vardefs et al

 Accounts/vardefs.php
   'zone' => 
  array (
    'name' => 'zone',
    'vname' => 'LBL_ZONE',
    'type' => 'num',
    'len' => 5,
    'dbType' => 'varchar',
  ), 
  

which is all well and good, but I would like to create a field of 'type' => 'relate', then in Contacts/vardefs which rerturns the zone of all contacts in ListView on basis of the zone of thier related accounts.

I have tried variations on

 Contacts/vardefs.php
    'zone' =>
        array (
            'name' => 'zone',
            'rname' => 'zone',
            'id_name' => 'account_id',
            'vname' => 'LBL_ZONE',
            'type' => 'relate',
            'table' => 'accounts',
            'module' => 'Accounts',
            'source' => 'non-db',
        ), 
  

but I am clearly missing something. If I get this, I believe there are a number of seemingly unrelated threads wherein I will be able to provide some insights/assistance in kind (mass update fields, campaigns, search sort filter etc)

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.
TJ