Left Joins

A left join is the default type for global joins. Use a left join to include all the records in the Parent table that meet the selection criteria and only those records in the Child table where the values in the fields you are joining are equal.

Example: You want a list of all opportunities whether or not they have associated activities. If the opportunity is associated with an activity, select it as well. The records shown in the Join Results column are returned by this query. The specific opportunity associated with an activity is indicated in parentheses to the right of the activity.

Source Selected Join Results
OPPORTUNITY Table ACTIVITY Table  
Opportunity1 Activity 1  

Opportunity1

Opportunity2

Opportunity3

Opportunity4

Opportunity5

Activity 3

Activity 4

Activity 6

Activity 7

Opportunity2 Activity 2  
Opportunity3 Activity 3 (Opportunity1)
Opportunity4 Activity 4 (Opportunity4)
Opportunity5 Activity 5  
  Activity 6 (Opportunity5)
  Activity 7 (Opportunity1)