Question 192 - Certified Data Architect discussion

According to the Salesforce documentation, a relationship field is a field that allows linking one object to another object in Salesforce. There are different types of relationship fields that have different characteristics and behaviors, such as master-detail, lookup, indirect lookup, external lookup, etc.

To recommend a type of relationship field for this scenario, where legacy inventory data will be stored in a custom child object called Inventory__c, inventory data should be related to the standard Account object, the Inventory__c object should inherit the same sharing rules as the Account object, and anytime an Account record is deleted in Salesforce, the related Inventory__c record(s) should be deleted as well, a data architect should recommend:

Master-detail relationship field on Inventory__c, related to Account (option B). This means creating a field on the Inventory__c object that references the Account object as its parent. A master-detail relationship field establishes a parent-child relationship between two objects, where the parent object controls certain behaviors of the child object. For example, a master-detail relationship field can:

Inherit the sharing and security settings from the parent object to the child object. This means that the users who can access and edit the parent record can also access and edit the related child records.

Cascade delete from the parent object to the child object. This means that when a parent record is deleted, all the related child records are also deleted.

Roll up summary fields from the child object to the parent object. This means that the parent object can display aggregated information from the child records, such as count, sum, min, max, or average.

Master-detail relationship field on Account, related to Inventory__c (option A) is not a good solution, as it reverses the direction of the relationship. This means creating a field on the Account object that references the Inventory__c object as its parent. This is not possible, as a standard object cannot be on the detail side of a master-detail relationship. Indirect lookup relationship field on Account, related to Inventory__c (option C) is also not a good solution, as it is a special type of relationship field that allows linking a custom object to a standard object on an external system using an indirect reference. This is not applicable for this scenario, as both objects are in Salesforce and do not need an external reference. Lookup relationship field on Inventory__c related to Account (option D) is also not a good solution, as it establishes a looser relationship between two objects than a master-detail relationship. A lookup relationship field does not inherit sharing and security settings from the parent object to the child object, does not cascade delete from the parent object to the child object, and does not roll up summary fields from the child object to the parent object.