Lookups

Lookup Reference

Lookups create relationships between objects. They're the relational backbone of your P9 data model.

Basic Lookup

A simple reference to another object:

field Customer type:Lookup label:"Customer" required:true

lookup Customer {
	lookupobjectname:"Account"

	displayfield {
		"Name"
		"Number"
	}
}

This creates a searchable dropdown that references the Account object, displaying the Name and Number fields.

Display Fields

Control what's shown in the lookup dropdown:

lookup Customer {
	lookupobjectname:"Account"

	displayfield {
		"CompanyName"
		"AccountNumber"
		"City"
	}
}

Multiple display fields show as columns in the lookup search results.

Filtered Lookups

Restrict available options based on conditions:

lookup AssignedTechnician {
	lookupobjectname:"Employee"

	displayfield {
		"Name"
		"Department"
	}

	filter {
		Role="Technician"
		Status="Active"
	}
}

Lookup with Allow Multiple

Allow selecting multiple records:

field Tags type:Lookup label:"Tags" optional:true

lookup Tags {
	lookupobjectname:"Tag"

	displayfield {
		"Name"
	}

	allowmultiple:true
}

Cascading Lookups

Create dependent lookups where one filters another using parent and parents blocks:

field Country type:Lookup label:"Country" required:true

lookup Country {
	lookupobjectname:"Country"

	displayfield {
		"Name"
	}
}

field City type:Lookup label:"City" required:true parent:Country

lookup City {
	lookupobjectname:"City"

	displayfield {
		"Name"
	}

	parents {
		Country {
			parentobjectfield: "Country"
		}
	}
}

field District type:Lookup label:"District" optional:true parent:City

lookup District {
	lookupobjectname:"District"

	displayfield {
		"Name"
	}

	parents {
		City {
			parentobjectfield: "City"
		}
	}
}

When the user selects a Country, the City dropdown automatically filters to show only cities in that country.

Building-Floor-Unit Cascade Example

field Building type:Lookup label:"Building" required:true linked-view:true advance-search:true

lookup Building {
	lookupobjectname:"Building"

	displayfield {
		"Name"
		"Number"
	}

	filter {
		Status="Active"
	}
}

field Floor type:Lookup label:"Floor" optional:true parent:Building

lookup Floor {
	lookupobjectname:"Floor"

	displayfield {
		"Number"
		"Name"
	}

	parents {
		Building {
			parentobjectfield: "Building"
		}
	}
}

field Unit type:Lookup label:"Unit" required:true parent:Building

lookup Unit {
	lookupobjectname:"Unit"

	displayfield {
		"Number"
		"Floor"
		"Status"
	}

	parents {
		Building {
			parentobjectfield: "Building"
		}
	}

	filter {
		Status in "Available,Reserved"
	}
}

Polymorphic Lookups

Reference multiple object types with a single field:

field RelatedTo type:Polymorphic label:"Related To" optional:true

polymorphic RelatedTo {
	default: "Contract"

	lookups {
		lookup Contract {
			lookupobjectname: "Contract"
			label:"Contract"

			displayfield {
				"Number"
				"Tenant"
			}

			filter {
				Status="Active"
			}
		}

		lookup WorkOrder {
			lookupobjectname: "WorkOrder"
			label:"Work Order"

			displayfield {
				"Number"
				"Status"
			}
		}

		lookup Invoice {
			lookupobjectname: "Invoice"
			label:"Invoice"

			displayfield {
				"Number"
				"Total"
			}
		}

		lookup Tenant {
			lookupobjectname: "Tenant"
			label:"Tenant"

			displayfield {
				"Name"
				"Number"
			}

			show:['Leasing' in Company.Modules]
		}
	}
}

The user first selects the object type, then searches within that object. Polymorphic lookups are useful for:

• Activity logs that can be linked to any record
• Notes and comments on any object
• File attachments shared across modules
• Payments that can apply to different document types

Conditional Polymorphic Options

Show/hide polymorphic options based on company modules:

polymorphic Payee {
	default: "Supplier"

	lookups {
		lookup Tenant {
			lookupobjectname: "Tenant"
			label:"Tenant"

			displayfield {
				"Name"
				"Number"
			}

			filter {
				Status="Active"
			}

			show:['Leasing' in Company.Modules]
		}

		lookup Supplier {
			lookupobjectname: "Supplier"
			label:"Supplier"

			displayfield {
				"Name"
				"Number"
			}

			filter {
				Status="Active"
			}
		}

		lookup Employee {
			lookupobjectname: "Employee"
			label:"Employee"

			displayfield {
				"Name"
				"Number"
			}

			filter {
				Status="Active"
			}
		}
	}
}

Self-Referencing Lookups

Objects can reference themselves for hierarchical data:

@object CostCenter

field Name type:Text label:"Name" required:true

field ParentCostCenter type:Lookup label:"Parent" optional:true

lookup ParentCostCenter {
	lookupobjectname:"CostCenter"

	displayfield {
		"Name"
		"Code"
	}
}

Linked View Navigation

Enable navigation from the parent record to view all related child records:

field Building type:Lookup label:"Building" required:true linked-view:true advance-search:true

lookup Building {
	lookupobjectname:"Building"

	displayfield {
		"Name"
		"Number"
	}
}

The linked-view:true attribute allows users to click through and see all records that reference a particular Building.

Lookup in Table Details

Define lookups within table detail blocks:

tabledetail LineItems {
	field Product ischild type:Lookup label:"Product" required:true
	field Quantity ischild type:Number label:"Qty" required:true
	field UnitPrice ischild type:Money label:"Unit Price" required:true

	lookup Product {
		lookupobjectname:"Product"

		displayfield {
			"Name"
			"SKU"
			"UnitPrice"
		}

		filter {
			Status="Active"
		}
	}
}

Lookup Behavior Summary

Feature	Description
Search	Type-ahead search across display fields
Create inline	Option to create a new record without leaving the form
Clear	Nullable lookups can be cleared
Navigation	Click through to view the referenced record
Linked view	View all records that reference this record
Cascading	Dependent filtering based on parent selections
Multi-select	Select multiple records with allowmultiple:true