The standard link between documents in Flexi refers to an automatically created link. Flexi creates this link automatically when a certain process is performed with a document. This can include, for example, creating an invoice from an order or creating a delivery note from an invoice. There are many more such cases.

However, a situation may arise where you need to link documents that are not directly related to each other by default, and you therefore need to create the link manually in order to maintain mutual traceability of documents.

That is exactly what user-defined links are for. Their code list can be found in the Tools module under User Link Types.

The link itself can then be found on the specific documents where it was created, under the Links button. Behind this button, both types of links are available: the standard one, which is created automatically by Flexi, and the user-defined one, which is created manually or automatically by the user.

For some agendas, the Links button is not available; however, a button dedicated exclusively to user-defined links is available instead.

Before we can create a user-defined link, we must first define its type. A similar parallel can be found with documents, where each document also requires its own document type.

As mentioned in the introduction, user link types can be found in the Tools module under Code Lists, in the User Link Types item.

Let's open the code list of types and look at the options for creating a new entry. This is done, as elsewhere in the application, by clicking the New button.

As soon as the new link type editor opens, we can see that it is divided into a manually created link and an automatically created link. Let's now look at the properties of each.

Note:

A link can never be created without a type, so creating the link type must always be the first step.

Let's look at the first — and in terms of configuration, the simpler — of the two available options. As the name suggests, every instance of this link must be created manually. It therefore follows that you will always need to create the link from one document to another.

A manual link can also be used outside the application via the API; if you are interested, please refer to our documentation.

As an example, we will create a link between an asset and a purchase invoice. It may happen that goods you have purchased are classified as assets, and you may want to be able to look up the relevant asset from the invoice, or vice versa.

The basic link configuration described above might look something like this. It is important to select both the primary and secondary destination. It must be clear from which record the link should primarily be created, and to which record the link will point. You can additionally define whether you want the link to also be visible from the secondary record.

On the Texts and Labels tabs, you can add supplementary information about the link type, which helps you organize the link type agenda. On the Administration tab, you can restrict the validity of the given type, similarly to other code lists.

Let's save the link type and proceed to creating the link itself. As the name implies, this will be done manually by the user.

Open the links panel on the relevant purchase invoice and switch to the User Links tab. Here, click the New button to create a new link.

On the first page of the link creation wizard, select the previously created link type and you will be able to proceed to the next page.

On the second page, all that remains is to select the asset to be linked to the purchase invoice. For other use cases, selecting the record to link is analogous.

Clicking the Finish button creates the link. It will then be accessible both from the relevant invoice and from the relevant asset. You will simply be able to click through to the linked record.

Let's look at the second type — which is likely more complex to configure. As the name again suggests, this link will be created automatically. Such a link can be established between documents where its creation makes sense and where the two records share a common binding field.

An automatic link can only be created for a 1:N relationship — for example, a sales invoice and a job order (an invoice can have 1 job order, while a job order can appear on N invoices). For instance, if you look at the sales invoice register, these are all fields that contain an ID and a reference to another register. Sales invoices and purchase orders are in an N:N relationship and therefore cannot be used.

Let's look at an example of an automatic link between a purchase invoice and a payment order line item. If you use payment orders in Flexi and add invoices to them, you may have noticed that no link is created between the invoice and the payment order (or its line item). We can therefore use this automatically created link to streamline the process of finding which payment order a given invoice is included in.

The link type configuration might look like this. As mentioned, the key requirement for creating an automatic link type — and the link itself — is a shared binding field between the two registers being used. In the case of a purchase invoice and a payment order line item, this shared field is the invoice itself, which is referenced in the payment order line item. The link can therefore be created not between the invoice and the payment order itself, but between the invoice and the payment order line item.

Again, you can add supplementary information such as Texts and Labels, which are particularly useful for organizing the link type agenda. You can also restrict the validity of the link type on the Administration tab.

Let's save the link type and see how the link is automatically created when the designated process is performed — in our case, when an invoice is added to a payment order. The payment order will automatically add the invoice to its line items.

The automatically created link is visible only on the primary record — that is, the register specified in the link type under the Display on form field. In this case, the link will therefore only be found on the purchase invoice.

Opening the link takes you to the payment order line items, where you can easily use the Payment Order column to find which payment order the line item (and therefore the invoice) belongs to.

Further examples of automatic user-defined links include: