Those with black belt in XML are familiar with the technique of building a FetchXML expression for NOT IN clause (e.g. accounts with no activities) and then sneaking that XML into a view definition to create non-editable view that returns the desired results.

What about the rest of us who don’t have the skillz or guts to edit customization.xml file?

• Add a rollup field that counts the child records
• Build a view that returns records where this field is zero

It’s not a real-time condition but is simple to build and use. In addition, the counter can be used as a quick visual indicator on the form itself if, for example, child records are not in the readily available subgrid.

Note: This tip was actually produced by Joel but since he’s too buzy or lazy to put this in writing, I’m taking all the credit.