A common requirement in Dynamics 365 is to have a view with columns from related entities. Unfortunately, we cannot enable Quick Find Columns for the related entities as the out-of-the-box version of Dynamics 365 only supports columns for the main entity. So, to meet the requirement, we need a workaround – and that, friends, is the topic of today’s blogpost. How to add Quick Find Columns from related entities. Read on…

It’s actually a pretty simple 4-step process:

1. Create a Calculated Field on the entity where you want to add Quick Find columns from the related entity.

2. In the newly created Calculated Field, define an Action to populate the field from the related entity's field.

3. Add the Calculated Field to the Quick Find column.

4. Publish the entity.

And that's it! Now, when a record is created, it simply populates the Calculated Field from the related entity field. Can it really be so quick and easy? The proof is in the pudding, so let’s look at an example:

Our example is on the Order Product entity where a Calculated Field called Order ID is created which populates the Order ID from the Order entity. Later, the same field is added to the Quick Find columns of the Order Product entity.

1. Create a custom Calculated Field Order ID on Order Product entity where this custom field is populated as Order ID (i.e., System field) from Order entity.

2. Add the custom Calculated Field Order ID to the Add Find Columns of Quick Find Sales Order Details view as shown:

3. Publish the Order Product entity.

4. Search Order Product view with the Order ID. Below is the view from Order Product entity which is placed in a dashboard.

Advantages of this solution:

• No code, just configuration.
• Updating of existing records will occur automatically. No need to worry about a one-time update.

Disadvantages of this solution:

• Duplicate column data (not applicable if it is just one or two columns).

Hopefully this well help next time you need a view with columns from related entities. Dont forget to subscribe to our blog for more tips and tricks!

Happy Dynamics 365’ing!