Using Relationships to Create Views in Dynamics 365 CRM

Relationships connect records throughout Dynamics 365 CRM. Once you understand how those relationships work, you can use them to create views that analyze information beyond the fields stored directly on a record. Dynamics 365 has two general relationship types: many-to-one and many-to-many. Each relationship type can appear in different ways, and those variations affect how you use related data in views.

Filter Accounts Based on Related Contacts

A classic many-to-one relationship connects two different record types. One common example is Contacts associated with an Account through the Company Name lookup. When you're working from the Account side of this relationship, you can create a view that filters Accounts according to information stored on their related Contacts. For example, you could create a view showing active Accounts that have at least one Contact in Minnesota. From the filter pane, select Add Related Entity. Because Account is the "one" side of the relationship, look under the one-to-many relationships and select Contacts (Company Name). You can then add a condition where the Contact's State equals Minnesota. The result is an Account view that displays an Account when at least one related Contact meets your criteria.

Filter Contacts Using Account Information

You can also approach the same relationship from the opposite direction. Suppose you want a view containing active Contacts whose companies are located in Texas. From the Contact view, add the related Account through the many-to-one relationship. In this direction, the relationship is represented as Company Name (Account). You can then apply a condition using information from the Account, such as State equals Texas. Be careful when selecting this particular relationship because Company Name can accept either an Account or Contact. Make sure you select the Account relationship when that's the information you want to use.

Add Columns from Related Records

Relationships aren't limited to filters. They can also provide additional columns for your views. For example, a Contact is associated with an Account through the Company Name lookup. That relationship allows you to display information from the Account directly in a Contact view. Select Edit Columns, choose Add Columns, and open the related data options. Locate Company Name (Account) and expand the relationship. You can then add Account fields, such as State, to your Contact view. This lets users see important Account information alongside Contact information without opening each related Account individually.

Use Hierarchies in Views

Hierarchies are another form of many-to-one relationship. Unlike a classic relationship between different record types, a hierarchy connects records from the same table. Parent and child Accounts are a common example. You can create a view showing active Accounts that have child Accounts by adding the appropriate Account relationship and checking whether related records contain data. You can also approach the relationship from the opposite direction and create a view of Accounts that have a Parent Account. Just like the Contact and Account example, a child Account view can display fields from the related parent Account. For example, you could show the child Account's Primary Contact alongside the Primary Contact from its parent Account.

Use Regarding Relationships to Analyze Activities

Regarding is a specialized many-to-one relationship used to track Dynamics 365 activities against other CRM records. Activities can include records such as:

• Emails
• Appointments
• Tasks
• Phone calls

For example, you could create a Lead view showing only Leads that have at least one tracked CRM activity. From the Lead view, add the related Activity entity through its Regarding relationship. You can then check whether at least one related Activity exists. You can make your view more specific by adding an Activity Type condition. For example, you could limit the results to Leads with at least one Phone Call activity. Alternatively, you can use the Phone Call relationship directly when you only need that activity type.

Create Views from the Activity Side of Regarding

You can also use the Regarding relationship while viewing Activities themselves. For example, create an Activity view that displays activities tracked to Leads. Using the Regarding relationship, you can specify that Regarding contains data for a Lead. You can also add related Lead information, such as the Lead Topic, as a column within the Activity view. You could modify the same approach to display activities tracked to Accounts or other record types enabled for activity tracking in your Dynamics 365 environment.

Filter Views with Activity Parties

Activity parties are another specialized relationship associated with Dynamics 365 activities. Party list fields appear in areas such as:

• The To and CC fields of an email
• Required attendees on an appointment
• Optional attendees on an appointment

Unlike a standard lookup, these fields can contain multiple records. Participants can also come from different CRM record types, including Contacts, Leads, and users. You can use the Activity Parties relationship to build views around these participants. For example, you could create an Activity view showing activities where you're the sending party. Activity Party filtering lets you define both who the party is and how that person participates in the activity. You can also approach the relationship from another direction. For example, you could create a Contact view containing Contacts who are parties on at least one CRM activity.

Use Many-to-Many Relationships in Views

Many-to-many relationships allow multiple records on either side to be related to multiple records on the other. Dynamics 365 provides two common versions:

• Classic many-to-many relationships
• Bridge relationships

The way you use these relationships in views depends on how the relationship is structured.

Filter Using a Classic Many-to-Many Relationship

Contacts and Marketing Lists provide an example of a classic many-to-many relationship. A Contact can belong to multiple Marketing Lists, while a Marketing List can contain multiple Contacts. You could create a Contact view that displays Contacts associated with a Marketing List. When editing the filter, select Marketing Lists from the many-to-many relationship options. You can also add conditions based on information stored on the Marketing List itself, such as requiring the Marketing List to have an Active status. One important limitation is that this approach applies to static Marketing Lists. Dynamic Marketing Lists determine membership through their own filters rather than creating the same underlying relationship with members.

Use Bridge Relationships to Filter by Connections

Bridge relationships provide another way to create many-to-many-style relationships while storing additional information about the connection. Connections are a common example in Dynamics 365. An Opportunity might be connected to multiple Contacts involved in the potential sale. The Connection record can then identify the role a particular Contact plays, such as stakeholder or decision maker. You can use this information in a view. For example, create an Opportunity view showing open Opportunities that have at least one Decision Maker. Add the Connections (Connected From) relationship and then filter the Connection Role to Decision Maker.

Combine Multiple Relationships in a Filter

Relationship-based filtering becomes even more useful when you begin combining relationships. For example, after creating a view showing Opportunities with a Decision Maker, you could add another related condition requiring that Contact to be located in Washington. The resulting view isn't simply showing open Opportunities. It's showing Opportunities that satisfy a specific relationship-based business question: which open Opportunities have a Decision Maker whose Contact record is in Washington?

Understand Connected From and Connected To

Connections use relationships in both directions, which means you'll encounter Connected From and Connected To when building filters. For example, if an Opportunity is connected to a Contact:

• The Opportunity may be the Connected From record.
• The Contact may be the Connected To record.

When building an Opportunity view, you might therefore use Connections (Connected From). When approaching the same relationship from a Contact view, you may instead use Connections (Connected To) and specify that the record on the other side is an Opportunity. Understanding the direction of the connection helps you select the correct relationship when building your view.

Get More from Your CRM Views

Relationships allow Dynamics 365 views to answer questions that can't be answered using fields from a single record alone. You can use related entities to identify Accounts based on their Contacts, Contacts based on their Accounts, Leads based on their activities, activities based on their participants, Contacts based on Marketing List membership, or Opportunities based on the people and roles connected to them. You can also bring fields from related records directly into views when the relationship supports it. By understanding many-to-one and many-to-many relationships, you can build much more targeted views and use the information already connected throughout Dynamics 365 CRM to analyze your data in new ways.