Table Inheritance Overview

Applies To: Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R3, Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R2, Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 Feature Pack, Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012

A table can extend from or derive from another table. Each table has the SupportInheritance property and the Extends property, which together control table inheritance.

The default for each new table is to implicitly extend from the Common table. The extension from the Common table cannot be set or seen in the Extends property. A variable that is declared of a specific table also implicitly inherits methods from the xRecord class.

In the terminology for table inheritance, we say that the derived table extends its base table. But we never use the terms parent or child to explain tables in an inheritance relationship. The terms parent and child can be used to describe foreign key relationships between tables.

Important

When you upgrade from Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 to Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012, some tables are converted to use table inheritance. If you have customized those tables in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009, the upgrade system is not able to upgrade those tables.

In This Section

• Inheritance Terminology

• When to Use Table Inheritance

• Walkthrough: Creating Base and Derived Tables

• Data Operations in X++ on Base and Derived Tables

• Selecting Data from a Table Inheritance Hierarchy

See also

Tables, Views, and Maps

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