When we modify or delete data in the master form, the related forms (forms that reference data from the master form) may be affected. This article will introduce practical solutions using Automation Pro, guiding you through setting up rules and automations to keep related form data synchronized with changes in the master form.
Overview of Handling Related Form Data
There are three main approaches to keep related form data consistent with changes in the master form:
Synchronizing Updates
When the master form is updated, related form data is automatically updated to reflect those changes.Cascading Delete
When a record in the master form is deleted, all corresponding records in the related forms are also deleted.Cascading Clear
When a record in the master form is deleted, the related fields in the related forms are cleared, but the other data remains.
You can choose the approach that best fits your business needs. Below, we’ll explain each scenario and how to set it up.
What Happens to Related Form Data After Updating Master Form Records?
Related forms often reference master form data in two ways:
Some fields in the related form are filled directly from the master form.
Formulas or data linkages in the related form reference fields from the master form.
If you later change the data in the master form, the corresponding fields in the related form will not update automatically.
For example, if you fill the “Customer Tier” from the master form into the contacts form, changing the “Customer Tier” in the master form will not update the “Customer Tier” in the related form. We can see in the image below that after changing Mary’s customer tier from "Key Customer" to "Priority Customer" in the master form, the customer tier for Mary in the related form was not updated accordingly, still being "Key Customer". This can lead to inconsistencies.
How to Solve this?
Solution: Synchronizing Updates with Automation Pro
To keep related form data in sync with master form updates, use Automation Pro:
Set the modification of the master form data as the trigger action.
Filter related form records using the master form’s data ID.
Update or recalculate the relevant fields in the related form.
The detailed steps are already explained in the article [a], so they will not be repeated here. Please click the link to view the specific instructions.
What Happens to Related Form Data After Deleting Master Form Records?
When you delete data from the master form, the corresponding fields in the related form will show as “Invalid Data.” However, the field still keeps the master form’s data ID.
There are two possible follow-up scenarios:
If the master form data is restored:
The related fields and the relationship will be automatically restored.
If the related form data is modified after deletion:
The related field will be cleared, and the data ID permanently removed. The relationship cannot be restored and must be re-established manually if needed.
How to Solve this?
Automation Pro offers two ways to manage related form data after deleting master form records:
Solution 1 Cascading Delete
When you delete a master form record, all related records in the related form are deleted at the same time. For example, after deleting the record of Mary from the master form, you can see that the record related to Mary in the related form is also deleted synchronously.
How to Achieve this?
By adding a Delete Record node in the automation, data can be synchronously deleted. For specific configuration details, please refer to the figure below.
Solution 2 Cascading Clear
When you delete a master form record, the corresponding field in the related form is cleared, but other data in the related form is kept.
For example, after deleting the record of Mary from the master form, you can see that the value of the related field(Customer) in the related form is cleared.
How to Achieve this?
By adding an Update Record node in the automation, data can be synchronously deleted. For specific configuration details, please refer to the figure below.
Configuration Recommendations
How to choose the right cascading option:
If you need strict data consistency, we recommend using Cascading Delete.
If you want to keep the related form data, use Cascading Clear.
Note on restoring relationships:
If the master form data is restored, the relationship will also be restored—but only if the related form data has not been changed.
If you edit the related form data after deleting the master record, the related field will be cleared, and the original relationship cannot be restored.
Conclusion
With Automation Pro’s Cascading Delete and Cascading Clear features, you can flexibly manage related form data after deleting master form records. Choose the cascading operation that best fits your business needs to ensure your data is handled just the way you expect.
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