Microsoft Dynamics 365 Manual N:N Relationship

Hi Everyone,

Today i am going to explain how N:N relationship works in Microsoft Dynamics 365.

Lets gets started.

A manual many-to-many (N:N) relationship is not a true type of relationship, and will not appear in the N:N relationships node for an entity. It is a convenient way to describe how you can use a custom entity that has two lookup fields for the 1:N relationships to the two entities that you want to connect. This is known as a manual many-to-many (N:N) relationship because you create a custom entity instead of having the system create and maintain a hidden intersect entity.

The main benefit of creating a many-to-many (N:N) relationship in this way is that you can add custom fields to the intersect entity. In a native many-to-many (N:N) relationship, the intersect entity is hidden and custom fields cannot be added.

When you decide on the type of many-to-many (N:N) relationship to create, you have to know whether the organization must record additional information about the intersect entity.

In example, the native many-to-many relationship provided the required functionality that let multiple Contacts attend an Event, and a Contact attend multiple Events. However, because the intersect entity cannot be customized, additional details of a Contact's attendance cannot be recorded, such as the following:

·         Contact's registration status

·         User who recorded the registration information

·         When the contact registered to attend the event

·         If the contact has any specific requirements, such as accessibility or dietary requirements

If you have to store this additional information, you must create a manual many-to-many relationship. For example, in this scenario, create a custom entity that is named “Booking,” and then add fields to the Booking entity to record the additional data that is required. Then, from the Booking entity, create the following two 1:N relationships:

·         From Booking to Contact

·         From Booking to Event

By using the Booking entity as an intersect entity, the organization can track registration information that is related to both Events and Contacts, and still let multiple Contacts attend an Event, and a Contact attend multiple Events. When you create two 1:N relationships from the same entity in this manner, this can be described as a manual N:N relationship.

I hope this helps.

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