Standard and custom objects, relationships and record types
How a designer's data-model choices shape what users see and type: standard objects before custom ones, lookup vs master-detail vs hierarchical vs junction, roll-up summaries and cross-object formulas, Contacts to Multiple Accounts, and record types with their page layout assignment.
Given a scenario, describe how core Salesforce objects function, how that can affect end-user experience, and when to use and customize them.
~8 min read · 13 practice questions ·
What the exam expects
- Decide when a standard object (Lead, Case, Activities) fits and when a custom object with a tab is justified.
- Choose lookup, master-detail, hierarchical or a junction object from what users must see, what happens on delete and who can access child records.
- Reduce data entry with roll-up summary fields (master side) and cross-object formulas (child side).
- Explain the user impact of Contacts to Multiple Accounts and of record types, including layout assignment by record type and profile.
Key terms: master-detail (tight parent-child link where the master controls deletion, ownership and sharing of the detail); junction object (custom object that is the detail in two master-detail relationships, modelling many-to-many); roll-up summary field (master-side field that counts or sums detail records); cross-object formula (formula that reads fields on a related parent record); record type (a variant of an object with its own business process, picklist values and page layouts).
Key facts
- Detail
- Always on the detail (child) object
- Detail
- Clear the value of this field
- Detail
- Up to 2 per custom object
- Detail
- Not available; set to the master's owner
- Detail
- Only if every record has a lookup value
- Detail
- COUNT, SUM, MIN, MAX on the master
- Detail
- Up to 10 relationships; not in default values
- Detail
- Saved as a completed task
- Detail
- Not in Account & Contact report type
- Detail
- One layout for all profiles or one per profile
Sources for this section (8)
- Create Object Relationshipstrailhead.salesforce.com (opens in a new tab)
- Object Relationships Overviewhelp.salesforce.com (opens in a new tab)
- Considerations for Object Relationshipshelp.salesforce.com (opens in a new tab)
- Roll-Up Summary Fieldhelp.salesforce.com (opens in a new tab)
- What Is a Cross-Object Formula?help.salesforce.com (opens in a new tab)
- Quick Actionshelp.salesforce.com (opens in a new tab)
- Considerations for Relating a Contact to Multiple Accountshelp.salesforce.com (opens in a new tab)
- Create Record Typeshelp.salesforce.com (opens in a new tab)
- Why does a Hikes related list appear on the Trail page when the lookup is on Hike?
- When must a custom relationship to User be hierarchical rather than a lookup?
- Why can't a roll-up summary total invoices related to Account by a lookup?
- What decides which page layout a user sees for a record type?
The questions are free to read. Answers with their sources and self-grading are included with the pack.
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