SF-Data-Arch Data Modeling and Database Design Practice Question
An administrator wants to convert an existing custom lookup relationship on the 'Project' object pointing to the 'Client' object into a master-detail relationship. Which precondition must be satisfied before this conversion can be completed successfully?
⚠ Common exam trap
Candidates often believe Salesforce will automatically populate missing values or ignore empty lookup fields during a conversion to a master-detail relationship.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
All existing child records must have a non-null value populated in the lookup field.
Converting a lookup relationship to a master-detail relationship requires that every existing child record currently in the database possesses a populated, valid value for the lookup field. If any orphan records exist where the lookup field is blank, the database cannot establish the mandatory parent-child integrity required by master-detail semantics, causing the conversion operation to fail.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
All existing child records must have a non-null value populated in the lookup field.
Why this is correct
Master-detail relationships require every child record to reference a parent, so the lookup field must be populated on all existing Project records before conversion. Null values would leave orphaned children, which Salesforce rejects during the conversion process.
- ✗
The parent object must have fewer than 10,000 child records associated with it.
Why it's wrong here
Salesforce supports up to 10,000 master-detail relationships per parent object in standard configurations, but this specific architectural governor limit does not prevent converting a single lookup relationship when orphan records are absent.
- ✗
The organization-wide default for the child object must be set to Public Read/Write.
Why it's wrong here
Master-detail relationships dictate that the child's sharing and security settings are strictly controlled by the parent object, rendering the child's independent sharing setting irrelevant to whether the structural schema conversion succeeds.
- ✗
All custom reporting types referencing the objects must be temporarily deleted prior to conversion.
Why it's wrong here
Deleting custom report types is unnecessary; conversion fails only when the lookup field is referenced by a roll-up summary field, or the child object already has one. The temptation is that report dependencies do block some schema changes, but custom report types never prevent master-detail conversion.
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JA
Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official Salesforce exam blueprint
This SF-Data-Arch practice question is part of Courseiva's free Salesforce certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the SF-Data-Arch exam.