Relationships between records
Records rarely stand alone. A service request may refer to a customer, asset, location, contract, or previous inspection. A warranty case may connect a customer resource, claim, repair, shipment, and evidence. Relationships let users move through that context without copying the same facts into every place.
References
Section titled “References”A reference is a field that points from one record to another record. The source record stores the link, and the target record remains its own governed object.
For example:
- a service request references the affected asset;
- an inspection references the site where it happened;
- a warranty case references the customer resource it covers;
- an approval references the request it belongs to.
A reference does not automatically merge two records. Each record keeps its own fields, history, permissions, and lifecycle.
Related records
Section titled “Related records”Related records are records shown because a relationship connects them. A detail page may show records that point to the current record, records the current record points to, or records collected through a configured related-data section.
Related sections help users answer questions such as:
- what work has happened for this asset;
- which contacts belong to this organization;
- which cases reference this contract;
- which board items or module records are connected to this object.
Parent-child structures
Section titled “Parent-child structures”Some information belongs inside one record as child rows. This is useful when the child information does not need its own separate lifecycle, comments, access, or detail page.
Other child information needs to be an independent record. In that case, the child may reference a parent record and appear as related data. If access should be governed by the parent, the record type can be configured for containment.
The difference is important:
- child rows are part of one record;
- ordinary references link independent records;
- containment is an explicit access and governance choice for child records.
Access to linked records
Section titled “Access to linked records”Reading one record does not automatically grant access to every linked record. If a user can read the current record but cannot read the referenced target, Moltaro may show that the linked record is restricted instead of exposing its details.
This keeps the relationship honest without leaking information. A restricted linked record means the relationship exists, but the current user does not have permission to inspect the target record.
Where to go next
Section titled “Where to go next”- Read Related data to understand how relationships appear on detail pages.
- Read Records for the base record concept.
- Read Access and governance for the rules that shape visibility and responsibility.