Creating simple associations between classes

Save time and create more comprehensive reports by creating relationships between classes based on their matching properties. For example, you can associate a department name with the department budget, and then include the association in your financial report.

  1. In the header of Dev Studio, click Create > Data Model > Association.
  2. Create an association record:
    1. In the Label field, enter a title or description for the association.
      Note:

      The words SELECT, ORDER, and JOIN are restricted.

    2. In the Context section, in the Apply to (class) field, press the Down arrow key, and then select a class to which the association applies.
    3. In the Add to ruleset list, select the ruleset in which you want to include the association.
    4. In the upper-right corner of the tab, click Create and open.
  3. Define associations between classes:
    1. On the Data Access tab, in the Target type list, select the other class to which you want to link.
      The Selected type and Target type fields show the associated classes.
    2. In the Foreign key list, select a property of the Selected type class that you want to link with the property of the Target type class.
    3. In the Key list, select a property of the Target type class that you want to link with the property of the Selected type class.
  4. In the upper-right corner of the tab, click Save.
What to do next: By associating properties of two classes, you create an association rule that you can include as a column in your report to improve the process of creating reports. For more information, see Adding columns to reports.