Confused: What is the difference between a lookup column to make a relationships and using Relationships feature?

[Anonymous]

I'm watching lots of tutorial videos to try and find the answer to the subject line.

I see the Name column (Primary Name column) but

• Is this the Primary key?
• And can it be changed to anything else?
• Do we have to use the Keys feature to create our own keys? Does this clash with Primary Name column?

As said I've read the official docs and many tutorial videos but would appreciate a simple, clear explanation.

Thnks!

[Amik]

Hi @Anonymous ,

Is this the Primary Key

I wish Microsoft did not call it a Primary Name Column because it often confuses people. The Primary Name Column and the Primary Key are not the same thing. The actual primary key column in Dataverse is the system GUID field. The Primary Name column is the column which will be displayed to users for Lookups when building Model Driven Apps and it is the field which will appear in the dropdown menu for the related Table. You can also leverage this relationship to return columns from the related tables in a Canvas App. 

And can it be changed to anything else?

If you want a Primary Name column to "behave" like a primary key or unique identifier, you can change the Primary Name column to Auto-Number after you save the table. This can help keep the column unique and not empty. I would caveat however that this does not guarantee uniqueness (because you can re-seed the column, and any blanks which may have existed will not be retrospectively updated). If you need to guarantee uniqueness, you can also investigate setting up Duplicate Detection Rules and Alternate Keys: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-platform/admin/set-up-duplicate-detection-rules-keep-data-cl...

Do we have to use the Keys feature to create our own keys? Does this clash with Primary Name column?

Using the keys feature or creating your own keys is not mandatory because all Microsoft Dataverse table rows have unique identifiers defined as GUIDs. However, if you need to integrate with an external data source, you can create alternate keys which you can use to correspond to a unique identifier used by the external data store. This would not clash with the Primary Name column, which, as noted above, is used for a different purpose.

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-apps/developer/data-platform/define-alternate-keys-entity

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[Anonymous]

Thank you for your clear and concise answer. Can you answer my subject line question:
Would/Should I use the Create Relationships to make a relationship between tables or should I use Lookup columns to make the relationships~?

[Amik · Accepted solution]

@Anonymous -

Difference between New relationship and Lookup

Both options perform the same function.

Whether you are selecting the New relationship button (accessed via the Relationship button in the Table), or selecting Lookup when you add a new column to a table, a relationship will be created.

However, creating a Lookup column creates the most basic level relationship – which is a one-to-many link between the two tables.

When you select New relationship, you can include a Many-to-many relationship and define the advanced behaviours from the outset (referential, parental, custom). Note however that after creating a Lookup column, these options also become available because the Lookup column is added to the Relationships section.

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[Anonymous]

That's a perfectly clear, concise answer. Thank you very much for clearing that up. Please can you rewrite all the MS documents 😋