Published at: 2026-09-17
Core terms
This page summarizes the most commonly used concepts in the Business Customization Platform. See the corresponding topic for configuration instructions, scope, and limitations.
Platform and development
| Term | Description |
|---|---|
| Business Customization Platform (PaaS) | The platform capability layer for business modeling, interface design, process automation, access control, data governance, and application release. |
| Visual configuration | Customizing business features through forms, designers, and rule configuration in Setup without writing code directly. |
| Metadata | Data that describes system configuration, such as objects, fields, layouts, permissions, and processes. It is different from business data such as accounts and orders. |
| API Name | The system identifier for an object, field, or other configuration in development and integration scenarios. |
| APL | A development extension capability for implementing functions, classes, and complex backend business logic. |
| PWC | A development capability for extending pages, components, and frontend interactions. |
Data model
| Term | Description |
|---|---|
| Object | A container for one type of business data, such as accounts, orders, delivery records, or equipment ledgers. |
| Record | A specific item of business data in an object, such as one delivery record. |
| Standard object | A built-in platform object that supports a standard business scenario. |
| Custom object | An object that an enterprise creates for its own business. |
| Field | An object property that stores a piece of business information, such as an amount, date, or owner. |
| Primary attribute | The field used to identify and display the key information for a record. |
| Object relationship | A data association between objects, usually created through a Lookup or Master-Detail Relationship. |
| Lookup | A field type that associates the current record with a record from another object. |
| Master-Detail Relationship | A special object relationship in which a detail record depends on its master record. Permissions and lifecycle are usually controlled by the master object. |
| Reference | A field that displays the value of a field from a related object in the current object. |
| Formula | A field that automatically calculates a result from a formula. |
| Roll-Up Summary | A field that aggregates related data. |
| Record Type | A classification that distinguishes business branches within the same object and can be associated with different layouts and processes. |
| Life Status | A system field that identifies whether a record is active, voided, or in another lifecycle state. |
| Global Option Sets | A set of standard options that multiple objects or fields can reuse. |
| Global variable | An enterprise-level variable that can be reused in rules, processes, or development logic. |
Interfaces and applications
| Term | Description |
|---|---|
| Page layout | Configuration that controls how fields, components, and operations appear on a details page, form page, or list page. |
| Layout rule | A rule that dynamically controls whether a field is visible, required, or read-only based on page state or field values. |
| Platform application | A collection of work entry points organized for a type of business or user. |
| CRM application view | An application-view template that combines menus, a homepage, and an applicable scope. |
| CRM menu | A collection of entry points to objects, pages, and other features within an application. |
| CRM Home | The homepage or workspace that users see after entering a CRM application. |
| Custom page | A Web, mobile, or H5 page built with layouts and components. |
| Main navigation | A top-level application entry point on the Web or mobile client. |
| Applicable Scope | The users, departments, or roles to which an application, view, layout, or page applies. |
| Component | A reusable unit of content or interaction on a page. A component can be provided by the platform or custom-developed. |
Rules and automation
| Term | Description |
|---|---|
| Validation Rules | Rules that check business conditions before data is saved. If a condition is not met, they block submission and notify the user. |
| Duplicate Rules | Rules that identify duplicate records by specified fields and conditions. |
| Object mapping rule | A definition of how fields in different objects correspond so that business operations can populate and reuse data. |
| Object conversion rule | A rule that converts data from a source object into a target object. |
| Approval Process | A process for human decision scenarios such as approval, rejection, and co-signature. |
| Workflow | Lightweight automation triggered by a data change, time, or condition that automatically updates fields, sends reminders, or performs other actions. |
| Business Process | A cross-role collaboration process that combines manual tasks, approvals, system actions, waits, and branches. |
| Pipeline | A process that advances through business lifecycle stages and manages stage tasks and completion conditions. |
| Flow | An orchestration capability for complex logic such as variables, branches, loops, interface interactions, data operations, and AI nodes. |
| Trigger | A condition that determines when a process or rule starts. |
| Node | A processing unit in a process, such as an approval, task, wait, branch, or automatic node. |
| Post-action | An operation that runs automatically after a rule or process is triggered. |
| Process instance | A specific run created when a process is triggered. |
| To-do | An approval or business task assigned to a user for processing. |
Organizations and permissions
| Term | Description |
|---|---|
| Org Structure | The departments, users, reporting relationships, and multi-organization relationships in an enterprise. |
| Business role | A permission container for business users that assigns menus and business operations. |
| Administrative role | A permission container for system administrators that assigns administrative capabilities. |
| Functional permission | Controls which menus, buttons, and operations a user can access. |
| Object permission | Controls whether a role can view, create, edit, or delete data for an object. |
| Field permission | Controls whether a role can view or edit a field. |
| Data Permission | Controls which specific records a user can access. |
| Data owner | The user who has primary management responsibility for a business record. |
| Assigned Department | The organizational department to which a business record belongs. |
| Data sharing rule | A rule that shares records with specified recipients based on the owner, department, organization, or conditions. |
| Related Teams | A group of people who collaborate on a record and receive access based on their member roles. |
| Temporary permission | Data access granted during approval or business-process handling and revoked when the task ends. |
Data governance and globalization
| Term | Description |
|---|---|
| Import and export | Writing business data to or outputting it from platform objects in bulk through files. |
| Bulk processing | Importing, exporting, updating, deleting, or migrating many records. |
| Data cleansing | The governance process for identifying and correcting incomplete, nonstandard, or incorrect data. |
| Data audit | The capability to check data quality against rules and track exceptions. |
| Data archiving | Moving infrequently used historical data into the archive scope to manage its lifecycle. |
| Language Support | The capability to display UI terms, object and field names, or business data in a user’s language. |
| Time Zones | The capability to display the same point in time in an enterprise’s or user’s time zone. |
| Regional Formats | The capability to display dates, times, numbers, and other values according to regional conventions. |
| Multi-Currency Management | The capability to manage the base currency, transaction currencies, exchange rates, and amount conversion. |
| Address Format | Configuration that defines address fields, order, validation, and assembly by country or region. |
Templates, plugins, and releases
| Term | Description |
|---|---|
| Print template | A template that outputs object data in PDF, Excel, Word, or a custom format. |
| Email Template | A reusable email-content template that includes a subject, body, and business fields. |
| Business Plugin | Extension capabilities for scenarios such as online documents, e-signatures, and SMS. |
| Sandbox | An environment copy isolated from production for development, testing, training, or release rehearsals. |
| Production environment | The environment that runs the enterprise’s live business and business data. |
| Change set | A release container for packaging and migrating metadata between associated environments. It does not migrate business data. |
| Outbound change set | A metadata collection sent from the current environment to a target environment. |
| Inbound change set | A metadata collection received by a target environment and awaiting validation or deployment. |
| Validation | A check that determines whether a change set can be deployed without writing configuration. |
| Deployment | Writing validated metadata to the target environment. |