Applications → Application Overview → About Applications → Relationships Between Items
An application uses its primary table to define a single type of primary item. The primary table determines the set of data fields the primary item contains. At runtime, when a primary item is created, it occupies a row in the primary table. This means that all items created in an application have the same set of data fields, but the value of any particular field will be specific to the particular item or row in the primary table.
An application defines one or more workflows. All of the workflows in an application create and process the same type of items. However, each workflow can be designed to process the various data fields in the item in a different way.
Primary items are created by Submit transitions. These transitions can be initiated directly by a user, or indirectly from an existing item through a Post, Subtask, Copy, or Publish transition. After items are created, they can be connected through a link or a relational field reference.
Links use a built-in attachment mechanism that is available in all workflows. Users can explicitly create links between existing items. Links can be created implicitly through Post, Subtask, Copy, or Publish transitions. With implicit link creation, a link can be created between the existing (original) item that is being transitioned and the new item.
Relational field references are often used to model parent-child relationships between items where the parent item stores a reference to one or more child items in a Relational field. This creates a one-way, one-to-one or one-to-many relationship.
You can also use relational field references to create multiple relationships, two-way relationships, and chains of relationships between items. An additional Relational field must be added to the primary table of the referencing item for each additional relational field reference. For example, to create a two-way relationship between items from two different applications, each primary table must define a Relational field that points to the primary table of the other application.
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