Difference between "link" and "relate" fields

SuiteCRM Forum - English Language Developer Collaboration
1

Hello.

I am creating some custom fields that get information from a related object, but there appears to be two ways of doing it, using either “relate” or “link” fields. For example:


$dictionary["WMSS1_Contact_Interested_In_Case"]["fields"]["wmss1_contact_interested_in_case_cases"] = array (
  'name' => 'wmss1_contact_interested_in_case_cases',
  'type' => 'link',
  'relationship' => 'wmss1_contact_interested_in_case_cases',
  'source' => 'non-db',
  'module' => 'Cases',
  'bean_name' => 'Case',
  'vname' => 'LBL_WMSS1_CONTACT_INTERESTED_IN_CASE_CASES_FROM_CASES_TITLE',
  'id_name' => 'wmss1_contact_interested_in_case_casescases_ida',
);
$dictionary["WMSS1_Contact_Interested_In_Case"]["fields"]["wmss1_contact_interested_in_case_cases_name"] = array (
  'name' => 'wmss1_contact_interested_in_case_cases_name',
  'type' => 'relate',
  'source' => 'non-db',
  'vname' => 'LBL_WMSS1_CONTACT_INTERESTED_IN_CASE_CASES_FROM_CASES_TITLE',
  'save' => true,
  'id_name' => 'wmss1_contact_interested_in_case_casescases_ida',
  'link' => 'wmss1_contact_interested_in_case_cases',
  'table' => 'cases',
  'module' => 'Cases',
  'rname' => 'name',
);
$dictionary["WMSS1_Contact_Interested_In_Case"]["fields"]["wmss1_contact_interested_in_case_casescases_ida"] = array (
  'name' => 'wmss1_contact_interested_in_case_casescases_ida',
  'type' => 'link',
  'relationship' => 'wmss1_contact_interested_in_case_cases',
  'source' => 'non-db',
  'reportable' => false,
  'side' => 'right',
  'vname' => 'LBL_WMSS1_CONTACT_INTERESTED_IN_CASE_CASES_FROM_WMSS1_CONTACT_INTERESTED_IN_CASE_TITLE',
);

or


$dictionary["Email"]["fields"]["case_id"] = array  (
            'name' => 'case_id',
            'type' => 'relate',
            'dbType' => 'id',
            'rname' => 'id',
            'module' => 'Cases',
            'id_name' => 'case_id',
            'reportable' => false,
            'vname' => 'LBL_WMSS1_CASE_ID',
            'audited' => true,
            'massupdate' => false,
);

$dictionary["Email"]["fields"]["case_name"] = array (
            'name' => 'case_name',
            'rname' => 'name',
            'id_name' => 'case_id',
            'vname' => 'LBL_WMSS1_CASE_NAME',
            'type' => 'relate',
            'link' => 'cases',
            'table' => 'cases',
            'join_name' => 'cases',
            'isnull' => 'true',
            'module' => 'Cases',
            'dbType' => 'varchar',
            'len' => 100,
            'source' => 'non-db',
            'unified_search' => true,
            'importable' => 'required',
            'studio' => true,
            'inline_edit' => false,
);

I was wondering if anyone could explain the difference between the two approaches?

Thanks,

Carl

2

Ok, I think I am being dense. One is used to represent a relationship (one-to-one, one-to-many or many-to-one) and holds that information in a separate table, whereas the other represents a one-way many-to-one relationship, and holds that information in the child table.

In the first case, SuiteCRM will automatically create a subpanel in the parent object.

Are there any other functional differences?

Thanks,

Carl