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Associated Entities

An associated entity is an entity that is created and maintained in the context of a specific relationship attribute on a parent entity. It exists as a dependent data structure linked directly to the parent through that relationship.

When to Use Associated Entities

Associated entities are useful when a parent entity has a relationship attribute that requires its own structured definition. Rather than referencing an independently defined entity, you create an associated entity that belongs to that relationship — for example, an address record associated with a contact, or a line item associated with an order.

Associated entities differ from regular entity references in that they are created within the parent entity's relationship and are closely bound to that context.

Creating an Associated Entity

  1. Open the parent entity in the Project Navigator.
  2. Navigate to the Relationships tab in the entity editor.
  3. Click the Add Relationship button.
  4. Enter the Foreign Key Type Name Attribute.
  5. Select the Associated Entity.
  6. Select the Target Entity Attribute.
  7. Select the Data Type.
  8. Click Finish.

The associated entity appears in the entity editor under its parent relationship.

Viewing and Editing an Associated Entity

  1. Open the parent entity in the Project Navigator.
  2. Navigate to the Relationships tab.
  3. Click one of the relationship rows you added.
  4. Edit the relationship properties in the right-side Properties sidebar.

Changes are applied to the associated entity relationship configuration.

Deleting an Associated Entity

  1. Open the parent entity.
  2. Navigate to the Relationships tab.
  3. Select the associated entity.
  4. Click Trash and confirm.

Deleting an associated entity removes it from the parent relationship. It does not affect other entities in the manifest.

Associated Entities vs. Extended Entities

Concept Description
Associated entity Created within a parent entity's relationship attribute. Bound to that relationship context.
Extended entity Inherits attributes from a core entity and adds custom attributes on top.
Custom entity Defined independently from scratch and can be referenced by any manifest or entity.