Create an Indirect Lookup Relationship

Add an Indirect Lookup Field

An indirect lookup relationship is a new field type introduced with Salesforce Connect. It links an external object to a standard or custom object in the same way that a regular lookup relationship links standard or custom objects. In this task, you link Order to Accounts based on their Customer ID fields, resulting in a new related list on the Account page.

1. From Setup, type External Objects into the Quick Find text box. Select External Objects. Select Order.
2. Next to the customerID field, click Edit and then click Change Field Type.
3. Select Indirect Lookup Relationship as the data type, and click Next.
4. For the Related To value, select Account and then click Next.
5. For the Target Field value, select Customer_ID__c and and click Next.
6. Enter 18 as the field length. Leave the other options with their defaults. Click Next.
7. To make the field visible to all profiles, select the checkbox next to Visible and click Next.
   Note: In a real production setting, you would carefully analyze who should have access to order data.
8. Leave all the checkboxes in their default state and click Save. A new Orders related list is added to the Account page layouts.
   Note: If the Orders related list is not visible on the Accounts page layout, try refreshing the page or adjusting the page layout: Setup > Object Manager > Accounts > Page Layouts > Account (Sales) Layout
9. Check your work!
   • From the App Launcher , select Sales and then select the Accounts tab. Select All Accounts to view all accounts.
   • Click any sample account to see its details. Scroll to the bottom to view a list of orders.
     
10. In the External ID column, click an order number to see that order's data. Note that only metadata—the layout or schema of the external tables—is synchronized into Salesforce. The data itself is read dynamically in real time. It is never duplicated into the Salesforce environment.