Patent ID: 8510332

Claim:
A method, comprising: receiving a summary definition associated with a parent record that includes a function for summarizing data associated with one or more child records of the parent record in an on-demand database service and information specifying the child records of the parent record, wherein the summary definition is received by: receiving a selection of the parent record by the user; receiving the summary definition for the summary field by the user; and saving the received summary definition in a summary field of the selected parent record; determining whether there has been a change in the summary field associated with the summary definition; aggregating the data from the child records to form an aggregate based on the summary definition; and displaying the aggregate in the parent record, utilizing a processor, in response to a request for viewing the aggregate; wherein the parent record is of an object category, and the child records are each of a sub-category of the object category, such that the child records are categorized under the parent record.