Method Community

Hi.

I was wondering, what is the use and significance of the Entity table?

And is it possible to know which table a screen is based off of ?

Thx,

~Joe

 Hi Joe,

The entity table is a special table :) It encompasses the Customer, Vender, Employee and Other name tables into one. So you can think of it as the Customer being a ‘subset’ of the Entity table for instance. The reason this is done is so that you can for example be able to write a check to an employee, to a vendor or even to your customer in the case of a refund.  If the entity table didn't exist then you wouldn't be able to do that and my many other cross-table functionality that is possible. It is done this way behind the scene in QuickBooks as well. The entity table cannot be modified, instead modification can be done to the 'subset' tables.

Yes, it is possible for you to see which table a screen is based off of.  All you need to do is to go to Customize > Screen, select edit for the screen in question then right click in the design area of the screen. A little box will appear and you'll have the option to "Show Summary" - here all the information about that screen is listed.  This is a really neat new feature we added, it helps so much when you are trying to do customization.

Hi Amanda,

Thank you for the info.

If the table is indeed 'special' and meant for behind the scenes purposes, I have a couple other questions about it.

1) Why is it that I can create a new screen based off this table if its data is intended to be from the subsets?

2) Will data enterred into this table appear in other tables as well?

3) Can altering or bypassing the sub-tables provide complications with the intended functionality of the Entity table?

--------------------

Always curious,

~Joe

 Hello Joe,

1. It is not recommended that you create a screen based off entity table. It would be best if you did that via the subset tables.  If you can tell me what you are trying to do then we can guide you in the right direction.

2. Think of using the Entity table for data retrieval. So if you have a dropdown and for instance you wanted to filter vendor and employee then you can use the Entity table and show all your vendors and Employees, otherwise you wouldn't be able to see both types in one dropdown. For data entry it is best if you use the specific or 'subset' tables.

3. Not that I'm aware of.

Thanks again Amanda.

"...If you can tell me what you are trying to do then we can guide you in the right directions..."

Curiosity was all this was,

I wasn't trying to accomplish anything in particular with this table. I am merely attempting to gain a deeper understanding of how method works and how each piece (from entire tables on down to specific actions) function and affect the whole.

I also am a stickler for "bullet proofing" programs. If there is something I shouldn't do, or that is "not recommended" ... Eventually someone will try it, so i can't resist the urge to test method's integrity  ;-).

Thank you for your repsponse.

I am looking forward to the reply on "Default screens - documentation.".

~Joe

Is "Contact" also a subset of "Entity"?

Hi John,

Sorry for the late reply. This must have got lost in the crowd.

Contact is not a subset of Entity.  The Contacts table is a Method only table.  It has linked fields from the Entity table, but they are separate fields.  The Contacts table hold all of your contacts and does not sync to QuickBooks.

Hope this helps,

- Adam