Relate Data Objects Flow Step

Use the Relate Data Objects flow step to relate two data objects between connectors.

App Xchange connectors populate the cache with external system data. When integrating multiple systems, the Relate Data Objects flow step establishes necessary relationships between disparate cached datasets.

Step Inputs

In the Edit Step menu, you can add details about the step configuration as needed for your flow.

Object 1

Connector: Choose the connector containing the first data object you want to relate.
Object: Choose the first data object you want to relate.
Unique Identifier: This field is automatically populated based on your Object 1 choice. Additional fields will display below for each foreign key or reference field in Object 1. Enter an identifier in the appropriate fields to establish the relationship to Object 2.
Embedded Target?: Enable this to include the child data objects in the flow step. For example, a comment on an RFI is a child object.

Object 2

Connector: Choose the connector containing the second data object you want to relate.
Object: Choose the second data object you want to relate.
Unique Identifier: This field is automatically populated based on your Object 2 choice. Additional fields will display below for each foreign key or reference field in Object 2. Enter an identifier in the appropriate fields to establish the relationship to Object 1.
Embedded Target?: Enable this to include the child data objects in the flow step. For example, a comment on an RFI is a child object.

Step Output

This flow step outputs a JSON object containing the data from both related objects, with nested objects for child data if embedded targets are included. The relationship also displays in the data object's Object Record Detail page. For more information, see Object Record Detail. If you need to unrelate these data objects later, use the Unrelate Data Objects flow step.

Example Use Case

For an example of how to use the Relate Data Objects flow step, assume you need to relate some Procore RFIs to their respective replies. For Object 1, you would specify the connector as Procore v2, the data object type as RFIs v1. The ID is automatically assigned as the unique identifier, as it is the only field within the data object's definition. To relate a Procore RFI with an ID of 14791841, you would input 14791841 as the value for the ID. The key locator pattern, crucial for locating the key within the data object's JSON structure, is assumed to be pre-configured for the ID field.

Figure 1

Object 2 follows the same structure as the first object but represents the other side of the relationship. In Figure 2, Object 2 is defined as an RFI reply from Procore with a unique identifier of ID, which has a value of 1.

Figure 2

Optionally, if comments on the RFI were embedded as child data objects, you could enable Embedded Target?, to include them in the relationship for referenced purposes. To do so, select the location rfi_id and define the key, 1.

In this case, the child data object is considered for the purpose of finding a relationship between a RFI and an RFI Reply. However, this is possible.

(Child data objects in this case are not considered data objects for the purpose of finding a relationship between a RFI and an RFI Reply.)

Figure 3

When run, this flow step establishes a relationship between a specific Procore RFI and its reply. If configured to so, it also incorporates related comment data.

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