abp/docs/en/low-code/foreign-access.md

//[doc-seo]
{
    "Description": "Control access to related entities through foreign key relationships using Foreign Access in the ABP Low-Code System."
}

Foreign Access

Foreign Access controls how related entities can be accessed through foreign key relationships. It determines whether users can view or manage related data directly from the referenced entity's UI.

Access Levels

The ForeignAccess enum defines three levels:

Level	Value	Description
None	0	No access from the referenced entity side. The relationship exists only for lookups.
View	1	Read-only access. Users can view related records from the referenced entity's action menu.
Edit	2	Full CRUD access. Users can create, update, and delete related records from the referenced entity's action menu.

Configuring with Attributes

Use the third parameter of [DynamicForeignKey]:

[DynamicEntity]
public class Order
{
    [DynamicForeignKey("MyApp.Customers.Customer", "Name", ForeignAccess.Edit)]
    public Guid CustomerId { get; set; }
}

Configuring with Fluent API

AbpDynamicEntityConfig.EntityConfigurations.Configure(
    "MyApp.Orders.Order",
    entity =>
    {
        entity.ConfigureProperty("CustomerId", prop =>
        {
            prop.SetForeignKey("MyApp.Customers.Customer", "Name", ForeignAccess.Edit);
        });
    }
);

Configuring in model.json

Set the access field on a foreign key property:

{
  "name": "CustomerId",
  "foreignKey": {
    "entityName": "LowCodeDemo.Customers.Customer",
    "displayPropertyName": "Name",
    "access": "edit"
  }
}

Examples from the Demo Application

Edit access — Orders can be managed from the Customer page:

{
  "name": "LowCodeDemo.Orders.Order",
  "properties": [
    {
      "name": "CustomerId",
      "foreignKey": {
        "entityName": "LowCodeDemo.Customers.Customer",
        "access": "edit"
      }
    }
  ]
}

View access — Visited countries are viewable from the Country page:

{
  "name": "LowCodeDemo.Customers.VisitedCountry",
  "parent": "LowCodeDemo.Customers.Customer",
  "properties": [
    {
      "name": "CountryId",
      "foreignKey": {
        "entityName": "LowCodeDemo.Countries.Country",
        "access": "view"
      }
    }
  ]
}

UI Behavior

When foreign access is configured:

ForeignAccess.View

An action menu item appears on the referenced entity's data grid row (e.g., a "Visited Countries" item on the Country row). Clicking it opens a read-only modal showing related records.

ForeignAccess.Edit

An action menu item appears on the referenced entity's data grid row (e.g., an "Orders" item on the Customer row). Clicking it opens a fully functional CRUD modal where users can create, edit, and delete related records.

ForeignAccess.None

No action menu item is added. The foreign key exists only for data integrity and lookup display.

Permission Control

Foreign access actions respect the entity permissions of the related entity. For example, if a user does not have the Delete permission for Order, the delete button will not appear in the foreign access modal, even if the access level is Edit.

How It Works

The ForeignAccessRelation class stores the relationship metadata:

• Source entity (the entity with the foreign key)
• Target entity (the referenced entity)
• Foreign key property name
• Access level

The DynamicEntityAppService checks these relations when building entity actions and filtering data.

See Also

• model.json Structure
• Reference Entities
• Fluent API & Attributes