Parameter passing across records

Parameter passing allows you to define a relationship between two fields that are not directly connected by a relationship, but instead are linked together through a series of records that have relationships defined between them.

In a typical relationship between records in a Business Record diagram, a relationship is defined between a master record and its child record, and the parameter passed is defined (typically) by the primary/foreign key relationship between the two records.

Advanced parameter passing takes this further, allowing you to specify parameters that will pass through one or more records in a relationship chain.
Figure: Advanced parameter passing

This screenshot illustrates advanced parameter passing.
In order for the passing to work, the following must be true:
  • You must have specified the proper fetch order of the records. The record containing the primary key must be fetched prior to the record containing the foreign key. This is set up by specifying the fetch order.
  • You must have specified proper settings for the occurrences property. Advanced parameter passing will only work if the occurrences property is set to either 1-0 or 1-1 on the relationships between the involved records. Failure to meet this criteria will result in a pair of error messages: the first where the error occurs, the second locating the source of the error.