As discussed briefly in a previous section, a foreign link refers to a link to another record in the database. When editing the foreign link, we indicate the type of the record that you will let the user select.

Foreign links are extremely useful when designing a data model, because they allow relationships between completely different parts of the database to be established.

The simplest way to create a foreign link is to select the area of the data model using the Link (Dropdown) entry box. The area of the database you select must be accessible from the current record. For example, you can select a parent of the current type, a sub-field of the current record, or any similar relationship to any other link in the current record. The system will automatically try to determine how that link should be found.

If your link refers to a part of the database that is recursive (that is, it is hierarchically self-referential), you may find that the user can expand and drilldown. If you do not wish them to do this, you can use the option to Suppress Link Drilldown in the Advanced section of the Field Definition.