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Dynamics 365 Community / Forums / Microsoft Dynamics CRM (Archived) / Multiple Look-Up Field...
Microsoft Dynamics CRM (Archived)

Multiple Look-Up Fields Back To Same Entity Type On Same Form

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Posted on by Community Member

We use the accounts entity, but we have various account types. One account type we have is a Group. Another account type is an Assocation. Groups are typically part of an Assocation. (But it is not a child-parent relationship.)

We currently have a lookup field on the Group account form to display & link to the related Assocation account. Sometimes, however, a Group Account can be apart of more than 1 Assocation. Is it possible to insert a second duplicate Assocation field (Assocation #2) to the Group account form to display & link a second related Assocation account?

I have heard this could be a bad idea but I'm not exactly sure the reasoning? Thanks!

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    GL-23071537-0 Profile Picture
    GL-23071537-0 on at

    Hi there!

    This is possible and you MIGHT do this if you are absolutely sure you will not have more than 2 associations affiliated with the group.  You also want to make sure the inverse relationship is not displayed (otherwise, the Account will have two areas on the left navigation that say Accounts--Confusing!!).

    If it were me, I might avoid doing it this way.  Generally what you are talking about is a Many-to-many relationship between associations and groups. (Associations have more than one group and groups have more than one association).  The best place to track  N:N relationships in CRM is with Connections.  With Connections, you can track other attributes about the relationship such as the nature of the relationship and the start date/end date of the relationship.  You can also add custom fields to Connections.

    The other issue with the Association lookups on the Account is when you query with Advanced Find--if you are looking for all Groups associated to a specific Association, you have to remember to include both Association fields in your query and group them with an OR.

    The only down side of using Connections if you want to use Association field in a mail merge, workflow, view, or chart--then the field needs to be on the Account record in order to be referenced.  How I've handled this in the past is named the lookup Primary Association (have workflow create a Connection for it), and then add any additional associations in Connections.

    Hope this helps!

  • Community Member Profile Picture
    Community Member on at

    Hi Gretchen! Thanks for answering my question & all the tips/advice you added in. It greatly helps!

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