Check out your new orange creamsicle logo in Salesforce! I'll highlight some of the updates in the Summer '08 release in the next few blog entries.

One of the highest impact features is the ability to create Cross-Object Formulas - meaning you can use parent record fields on a child record. FINALLY! Prior to this release, various workarounds had to be used ... such as creating workflow to copy a value over, embedding an s-control, etc. Now cross-object formulas will solve the problem.

Some standard real-world examples of this functionality are placing the Account Number on the Opportunity, or creating a Discounted Amount formula on the Opportunity referencing a Discount Percentage on the Account.

Here's a cross-object formula I just created for a client. They used a different commission percentage based on whether the account was a new or repeat buyer. So, on the commission custom object, I referenced the "# of Opportunities" roll-up summary field on the Account to determine whether or not the account had previously purchased and then used that information to determine the commission rate.

My formula took me from the Commission custom object to Opportunity to Account - but you can reference up to five relationships. Here's my resulting formula:

IF(Opportunity__r.Account.Num_of_Opportunities__c>1, 5/100, 6/100)

Check it out and let us know if you have any of your own cool uses for cross-object formulas.