Relationship types, deletion options and custom metadata types
How to choose between master-detail, lookup, junction, self and hierarchical relationships from ownership, deletion, roll-up and limit requirements, when record types beat separate objects, and why custom metadata types hold deployable configuration.
Compare and contrast various techniques and considerations for designing a data model for the Customer 360 Platform (for example, objects, fields & relationships, object features).
~8 min read · 17 practice questions ·
What the exam expects
- Choose master-detail or lookup from ownership, sharing, deletion and roll-up requirements.
- Model many-to-many with a junction, self-references with a lookup, and user chains with a hierarchical relationship.
- Pick the lookup deletion option (clear, block, cascade) and spot the 100,000-record and relationship-count limits before build.
- Place leads, opportunities, products, price books, quotes, orders, assets, entitlements and cases in the standard Sales and Service model, and pick record types or separate objects.
- Recommend custom metadata types for configuration that must be deployed, packaged and referenced by formulas and Apex.
Key terms: master-detail (the parent controls the child's owner, security and deletion); lookup (a loose link with its own owner and no native roll-ups); junction object (a custom object with two master-detail relationships); cascade-delete (Delete this record also on a lookup); custom metadata type (deployable, packageable application metadata).
Guide map: where each information-architecture building block of the Exam Guide is taught:
- Unit
- "Single customer view: person accounts and identity resolution"
- Unit
- "LDV load performance: Bulk API and sharing deferral"
- Unit
- "Consistent writes: transactions, locking and upsert keys"
- Unit
- "MDM styles, matching, enrichment and canonical models"
- Unit
- "Business and technical metadata: classification and lineage"
- Unit
- "Survivorship rules for winning attribute values"
- Unit
- "Data governance programs: roles, stewardship and controls"
- Unit
- "Record access design: OWDs, hierarchies and territories"
- Unit
- "Virtualized data with Salesforce Connect external objects"
Sources for this section (1)
Key facts
- Detail
- Up to 2
- Detail
- 40 by default, hard maximum 50 by request
- Detail
- Up to 3 custom detail levels
- Detail
- Best practice: no more than 10,000
- Detail
- Master-detail only; use a flow on lookups
- Detail
- Clear the value of this field
- Detail
- Disabled by default; Salesforce enables it; bypasses sharing
- Detail
- Combined records across both objects over 100,000
- Detail
- Change sets and packages
Sources for this section (5)
- Relationships Overviewhelp.salesforce.com (opens in a new tab)
- Relationship limithelp.salesforce.com (opens in a new tab)
- Relationship Considerationshelp.salesforce.com (opens in a new tab)
- Roll-ups with Flowhelp.salesforce.com (opens in a new tab)
- Custom Metadata Typeshelp.salesforce.com (opens in a new tab)
- Why can't a custom object on the detail side of a master-detail relationship be routed to a queue?
- When does deleting a lookup parent fail even though the user has full object permissions?
- Why should a custom metadata type reference fields through Field Definition relationships rather than text?
The questions are free to read. Answers with their sources and self-grading are included with the pack.
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