Many Parent Record Types to Many Child Record Types

In a many-to-many record type relationship, more than one field is defined on multiple child record types with Record is Parent checked. Each of these fields can refer to one or more parent record types as well. If many parent to many child associations are created, many sublists show on the parent record type instances. Each parent record can associate with various child records of various types.

Example of Many Parent Record Types to Many Child Record Types

An example of a many parent record types to many child record types relationship is one where there are:

Two parent record types: Hotel Room and Parking Space
Two child record types: Booking Reservation and Pricing Rate

Hotel rooms have:

Booking reservations
Information about seasonal pricing policy

Parking spaces have:

Booking reservations

Example setup:

Two parent record types: 1 - Hotel Room, and 2 - Parking Space
Two child record types: A - Booking Reservation, and B - Pricing Rate
Two list/record type custom fields applied to child record type A, where:
- Record is Parent box is checked for both fields
- The first field is a list/record type that refers to parent record type 1
- The second field is a list/record type that refers to parent record type 2, creating a many-to-many relationship
When the field definitions are saved, the Hotel Room parent record type shows sublists for Booking Reservation and Pricing Rate.
One list/record type custom field applied to child record type B, has the Record is Parent box checked, and the List/Record selection refers to parent record type 1

On parent record instances of type 1, there are two sublists. The first can associate instances of child record type A, and the second can associate instances of child record type B. On parent record instances of type 2, there is only one sublist which can associate instances of child record type A.

The following diagram shows the relationships between the parent and child instances.

Many parent record types to many child record types diagram.

Hotel Room 15 and the President Suite are instances of parent record type Hotel Room. These instances have two sublists:

The first sublist refers to Booking Reservations
The second sublist refers to Pricing Rates of hotel rooms

Hotel Room 15 has three associated reservations, shown as rows in a sublist on the parent record instance. These reservations are numbered 1, 2, and 3. Reservation #3 is also associated as a child of Parking Space 3, which is of record type Parking Space. This means that the customer reserved the hotel room together with the parking space.

Hotel Room instances have associated Pricing Rate instances that determine how hotel room rates are calculated. In this example, Hotel Room 15, which is a standard room, has two seasonal rates. Based on the reservation date, the room could have rates associated in a:

Summer Season Rate (Jun-Aug, 20% more) sublist
Winter Off-season Rate (Sep-May, 10% less) sublist

The President Suite hotel room has only one year-round Premium Rate associated with it (50% more). In this example, the room has no associated reservation.

Example of Many Parent Record Types to Many Child Record Types

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