Connections in CRM 2011

In simple words, 'Connections in CRM 2011' is a feature by which you could define relation between two entities ( including custom entities).
For Instance, an account namely AP could connect to a contact Mr.George as an employee(connection role).

In a connection, One record is related to another record based on a connection role.

A Connection always provides 2 options for us.

1. To Another (To another enitity record)
2. To Me (To the logged in User)

How could we establish connection from Main Page:

But the Connection button gets disabled if more than one records were selected.

How could we establish connection from Entity form:

Its possible to view all exisiting connections of a particular record by clicking on the 'Connections' left navigation item.

The key players of 'Connections' feature are 2 entities.

1. Connection Entity ( Can be customized)-Relationship between two entities.

2. Connection Role Entity( Can NOT be customized) -Role describing a relationship between a two records.

Connection Role is the key element of a Connection which makes it meaningful.

How could we configure a Connection Role in CRM 2011:

Configuring a Connection Role in CRM 2011 involves 3 steps.

1. Describe Connection Role-- This includes defining  new name for the connection role and choosing  a connection role category.

2. Select record types

3.Choose mathing Role (Optional)-- This is a kind of intellisense

For instance, If you choose Role (To) in a Connection then CRM will automatically populate the Connection Role (From) if a matching role already defined.

So lets create a Connection based on the configured Connection role.

Here we go !

How to enable Connections at Entity Level in CRM 2011:

When you create an entity, you could decide enable/ disable Connections with the following setting.