Keys and indexes
Learn about the use of keys and indexes in Aurea CRM.
Aurea CRM uses indexes to quickly retrieve specific records. Indexes are also used to associate linked records in the database using Aurea CRM's internal search engine. There are often several indexes available in an info area; one of the indexes is the unique key. This key uniquely identifies a record in Aurea CRM.
Each field in the index requires a certain number of places (see Key Table in the appendix in the vertical-specific manuals for details of the indexes in all info areas).
Keys
A record in Aurea CRM has its own unique key. The key always contains information on the record's parent(s), if applicable. For example, the contact key includes the keys of the company and person for which the contact was added. Key fields are stored in records and are used to link records with one another. For example, contact records include fields that store the company key and person key, thereby associating the record with a specific company and person within that company.
For companies, persons and contacts, the key is composed as follows (the number of places required by individual fields are indicated in brackets):
| Info area | Key length | Key fields and places |
|---|---|---|
| Company | 6 | Co.Gr.(2) + Co.No.(4) |
| Person | 12 | Co.Gr.(2) + Co.No(4) + Pe.Grp.(2) + Pe.No.(4) |
| Contact | 16 | Co.Gr.(2) + Co.No(4) + Pe.Grp.(2) + Pe.No.(4) + Date(4) |
Persons are assigned to companies using the company group and number (Co.No. and Co.Gr.) in their key. The key for contact records in turn uniquely references both the company and person keys (if applicable).
The person key fields are empty in company-related records, i.e. records that are stored for a company, not a specific person in a company. In this case, the conditions Pe.No. = <empty> and Pe.Grp. =
<empty>" return true. This can be used to determine whether a record is company-related or person-related.
If your workflow includes companies, persons and contacts, you can display the persons assigned to each company and the contacts stored for the company or person.
The key is used to determine which records should be displayed. For example, to display the persons assigned to a company, the first 6 places in the person key (Co.Gr. + Co.No.) should match the company key.
In effect, you have three options when displaying contacts:
| Option | Compare | Compare with |
|---|---|---|
| person-related | 12 places | Co.Gr.(2) + Co.No.(4) |
| company-related | 12 places | Co.Gr.(2) + Co.No(4) + Pe.Grp.(2) + Pe.No.(4) |
| both person and company-related contacts | 6 places | Co.Gr.(2) + Co.No(4) + Pe.Grp.(2) + Pe.No.(4) + Date(4) |
Indexes
As well as the unique keys, alternative indexes are available in many info areas. Indexes are a combination of fields (e.g. Co.Gr. + Co.No, + Pe.Grp. + Pe.No. + Date). Note that apart from the key, indexes do not generally identify a record uniquely. For example, one of the indexes available for contacts is the date and time of the contact. However, there may be any number of contacts scheduled for the same time.