Develop > Tailoring > Links > Understanding links > Advanced link editing features

Advanced link editing features

Simple links define the relationships between a specific field in a source record and a specific field in a target record. The Find and Fill options perform in a straightforward manner. A link query is built based upon a search argument, which contains the value of a field in the source file and the name of a field in the target file. These fields need to be Unique key fields for simple linking.

The system provides extended flexibility to define complex link expressions. For example, you can:

  • Define a specific query that uses more than one field to form the link query.
  • Specify the record list format that should be used when the link query finds more than one record.
  • Define a variable, rather than a specific name, to be used as the target file.
  • Manipulate the value of fields by using link expressions.
  • Specify that particular fields are copied from the target file to specific fields in the source file during the Fill operation without a requirement for identical field names.
  • Include multiple non-keyed fields on the link line structure of a keyed field, enabling those fields to be copied to the source form along with the data retrieved from the keyed field query.

Note Advanced link features are not available when using Virtual Join.