Working with Joins

Overview

From the Tables screen, you can add, edit, and view the table joins. A "join" is used to define a relationship between two tables in a database, thereby allowing the system to access fields in both tables. Joins are used throughout Cheetah Digital to give you access to fields beyond just what's in the source table for whatever asset you're creating. For example, you can access fields in a joined table when you define a Filter, or create Personalization within a message.

Note: This feature is not available for Load and Send Tables.

A common example of a join is connecting a Customer table (which contains contact information about an individual) with an Order table (which contains purchase order information). This type of join is called a "one-to-many" join because one customer can make multiple purchases. You could further join the Order table to an Order Item table that contains the details of the items contained in each purchase.

Cheetah Digital supports two different types of joins -- a "system join" (sometimes referred to as an "existing join") and a "property join."A "system join" is defined on the Table screen, and can be thought of as a more permanent join method, as these joins can't be deleted once defined. System joins are also faster than property joins. A property join is a "one-off" join method that's used in a specific context, such as creating Filter logic, and isn't saved. This topic focuses on how to create a system join.

Note: When creating a system join, it must be set up in the many-to-one direction. In the above example, you would select the Purchase table (the "many"), and create the join to the Customer table (the "one"), and not the other way around. Also, joins should be created only in one direction, not both.

Features

 Create a New System Join

Click here

 View or Edit a System Join

Click here

 Activate / Deactivate System Joins

Click here

 Reorder System Joins

Click here