Table extension functionality allows sharing for inheriting fields with from a parent table. Administrators Tables are extended by administrators and developers extend while creating tables during table creation.
Typically, tables are extended to create Table extension is used for a set of records that to share information with each other.
In the use case listed below, the Task table has multiple extensions:
| Original table | Extended tables |
|---|---|
| Task |
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A An extended table extending another table is called a child table, and a the original table extended by it is called a parent table. A child table in its turn can be both a parent and a child at the same timealso be extended, i.e., a child table can have child tables itself.
| Info |
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When a child table is created, its list and form views are copied from a parent table, taking into account views of sections and related lists. You can set up these views later. Refer to the Form Layout and List Layout articles to learn more. |
Table extending causes the following:
- Cross-table linking between the new table and the extending one;
- System fields are created in the new table (like the sys_id field).
Necessary Tools
| Notetip |
|---|
Role required: admin. |
Instance administrators can use the All Tables tool to understand the relationships between the tables. To perform this, please complete the steps below:
- Navigate to System Definition → Settings → All Tables;.
- Select the table you want by typing its title in the search bar;.
- Navigate to this table;.
- The value in the Parent field is the title of the parent table, the one the current table is sharing fields with.
| Tip |
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Also, the parent table can be known when you are just in the tables list if you have previously configured your list layout to display the Parent field. For more information, please refer to the List layoutLayout article. |