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title: Accessing Data with a Standard Controller
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# Accessing Data with a Standard Controller

Every standard controller includes a getter method that returns the record specified by the `id` query string parameter in the page URL. This method allows the associated page markup to reference fields on the context record by using `{!object}` syntax, where _object_ is the lowercase name of the object associated with the controller. For example, a page that uses the Account standard controller can use `{!account.name}` to return the value of the `name` field on the account that is currently in context.

**note:** For the getter method to succeed, the record specified by the `id` query string parameter in the URL must be of the same type as the standard controller. For example, a page that uses the Account standard controller can only return an account record. If a contact record ID is specified by the `id` query string parameter, no data is returned by the `{!account}` expression.

As with queries in the Lightning Platform API, you can use merge field syntax to retrieve data from related records:

-   You can traverse up to five levels of child-to-parent relationships. For example, if using the Contact standard controller, you can use `{!contact.Account.Owner.FirstName}` (a three-level child-to-parent relationship) to return the name of the owner of the account record that is associated with the contact.
-   You can traverse one level of parent-to-child relationships. For example, if using the Account standard controller, you can use `{!account.Contacts}` to return an array of all contacts associated with the account that is currently in context.