# Parent–Child Forms

As Smart Forms become more complex, it is often necessary to **link related business entities together** rather than treating each form as an isolated screen.\
ONEWEB supports this requirement through the **Parent–Child Form pattern**, which allows two existing Entities to be connected seamlessly.

While a simple **one‑to‑one (1‑1)** relationship within an Entity can be handled by mapping keys directly in a module, more advanced applications require **navigation and interaction across multiple Entities**.\
The Parent–Child configuration addresses this need.

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#### What Is a Parent–Child Form?

A **Parent–Child Form** links two Entities:

* **Parent Entity** – the primary or originating business object
* **Child Entity** – a related business object that depends on or extends the parent

This configuration enables users to move smoothly between related forms without manually searching for data or re‑entering key information.

***

#### Why Use Parent–Child Forms?

Parent–Child Forms are especially useful when:

* Business entities are frequently accessed together
* Users need to transition between related data screens
* Context should be preserved during navigation

For example:

* From a **Sales Order** form, users can directly open the related **Customer** form
* From a master record, users can drill down into related detail records

This pattern is common in enterprise applications where users regularly move between connected business objects.

***

#### How Parent–Child Forms Improve User Experience

Using Parent–Child Forms helps to:

* Eliminate redundant searches using IDs or keys
* Preserve business context during navigation
* Reduce user effort and task completion time
* Improve workflow efficiency across modules

Instead of navigating back and forth or searching manually, users can move naturally between related forms as part of their work process.

***

#### Design Perspective

Within **Smart Form design best practices**:

* Use Parent–Child Forms to model real‑world business relationships
* Keep parent and child responsibilities clearly separated
* Avoid excessive chaining of entities that may confuse users
* Combine Parent–Child navigation with clear UI cues

Parent–Child Forms should feel like a **natural extension of the user’s workflow**, not a technical construct.

{% hint style="info" %}
**Note:** For a complete list of configuration properties and advanced setup details for Parent–Child Forms, refer to the **Utilities** section in the\
<https://docs.oneweb.tech/oneweb/reference/app-designer-reference.>
{% endhint %}


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