06 Sunday Sep 2015
Posted in Apex
There are instances where we need to write APEX code when the desired functionality cannot be achieved through point and click. Following are the links which talks about APEX best practices:
https://developer.salesforce.com/page/Apex_Code_Best_Practices
Enjoy writing good apex code!
05 Saturday Sep 2015
Posted in Uncategorized
It is possible to call a flow from APEX class since Summer’14 release with the help of Flow.Interview class. Here is an example below.
Map params = new Map();
params.put(‘RatecardId’, ratecard.Id);//Passing RateCard Id to the flow as a parameter
params.put(‘OptyId’, Optyid);//Passing Opportunity Id to the flow as a parameter
Flow.Interview.Update_RateCard_after_Opty_Creation RFlow = new Flow.Interview.Update_RateCard_after_Opty_Creation(params);//Calling the flow “Update_RateCard_after_Opty_Creation” which is active in Salesforce.
RFlow.start(); //Start method invokes an autolaunched or user provisioning flow
There is an useful article which Andrew has written on the same topic and here is the link http://andyinthecloud.com/2014/10/26/calling-flow-from-apex/
01 Tuesday Sep 2015
Posted in Apex
Tags
There may be instances where we need to use NOT LIKE in SOQL(I got to use it recently in my project) and using it in SOQL is little more counter intuitive unlike LIKE.
For instance, we want to fetch Id from Job where Status=Complete,Type contains ‘Physiotherapy’ and it should not contain ‘Pain Management’, for instance Type=’Physiotherapy Pain Management’ should not be fetched and the correct query is as follows:
select id from Job__c where Job_Status__c=’Complete’ and Type__c LIKE ‘Physiotherapy%’ and (NOT Type__c LIKE ‘%Pain Management%’)
You might get MALFORMED_QUERY … unexpected token: ‘not’ or MALFORMED_QUERY … unexpected token: ‘like’, if you try any similar variants as below which would not work:
select id from Job__c where Job_Status__c=’Complete’ and Type__c LIKE ‘Physiotherapy%’ and NOT Type__c LIKE ‘%Pain Management%’
select id from Job__c where Job_Status__c=’Complete’ and Type__c LIKE ‘Physiotherapy%’ and NOT (Type__c LIKE ‘%Pain Management%’)
select id from Job__c where Job_Status__c=’Complete’ and Type__c LIKE ‘Physiotherapy%’ and Type__c NOT LIKE ‘%Pain Management%’
Happy sharing!
29 Saturday Aug 2015
Posted in Apex
Tags
Suppose, we have 2 record types(Lets say Sales and Support) in Opportunity and when we create an Opportunity through APEX code, we need to populate the record type as Sales. We cannot hard code the record type Id in the code when we create the Opportunity as it varies based on Organization(Sandbox/Prod).
Following code would help to get the desired RecordTypeId:
Map sObjectMap = Schema.getGlobalDescribe();//This returns a map of all sObject names (keys) to sObject tokens (values) for the standard and custom objects defined in your organization.
Map recordType sObjectMap.get(‘Opportunity’).getDescribe().getRecordTypeInfosByName();//From the map sObjectMap, getDescribe which returns the describe result for Opportunity (contains all the describe properties for the sObject Opportunity) and getRecordTypeInfosByName method return maps that associate RecordTypeInfo with record IDs and record labels, respectively for Opportunity.
Id rtId = recordType.get(‘Sales’).getRecordTypeId();//getRecordTypeId returns the ID of the record type ‘Sales’.
There is another way to get the RecordType using SOQL(subjective to SOQL limit) which is as follows:
RecordType RecType = [Select Id From RecordType Where SobjectType = ‘Opportunity’ and DeveloperName = ‘Sales’];
There is a wonderful post in Salesforce Stackexchange about the best approach to get the recordtype id and the link for the same is RecordType Id best approach
Happy coding! Please let me know your comments as always.
28 Friday Aug 2015
Posted in Aggregate functions, Apex, SOQL
Aggregate functions in SOQL:
Aggregate functions in SOQL, such as SUM(),MAX(),COUNT() and AVG() are used to summarise the data in a query.
Suppose,we want to sum the Duration of all the Billable Jobs on a custom object Job, the query can be as follows:
AggregateResult[] groupedResultsBillable;
groupedResultsBillable=[select sum(Duration__c) from Job__c where Job_Billable__c=true];
Note that any query that includes an aggregate function returns its results in an array of AggregateResult objects.
Get the sum of the duration using the following code:
Decimal dur;
for (AggregateResult ar : groupedResultsBillable) //loop through the results
{
dur=(Decimal)ar.get(‘expr0’);
}
Note: Any aggregated field in a SELECT list that does not have an alias automatically gets an implied alias with a format expri, where i denotes the order of the aggregated fields with no explicit aliases. The value of i starts at 0 and increments for every aggregated field with no explicit alias.
26 Wednesday Aug 2015
Posted in Uncategorized
Suppose, the requirement is to populate the Date field(let’s say Overtime date) on a custom object XYZ from the date time field(let’s say Job Start Date) upon record creation. Create a workflow and trigger it when the record is created on XYZ object. Workflow action will be a field update and it will be DATEVALUE(Overtime__c).
DATEVALUE – This function returns a date value from a date/time field or text expression. Additional points to note:
a. If the field referenced in the function is not a valid text or date/time field, the formula field displays #ERROR!
b.Dates and times are always calculated using the user’s time zone.
Please let me know for any comments/clarification.
25 Tuesday Aug 2015
Posted in Salesforce Tips
Tags
Welcome to Salesforce Tips! Everyday at work, we always get opportunity to learn new things in Salesforce and I thought if we can share it in few words(perhaps less than 250 words) as Salesforce Tips, it would be useful for the Salesforce community.
Here is the first tip:
Notes and Attachments permissions are determined based on the parent object.Specifically, user need to have Edit permissions on the parent object and read/write visibility to the parent record. In addition, “Notes and Attachments” related list should be visible on the page layout.
Happy sharing and look forward for more Salesforce Tips!
19 Wednesday Aug 2015
Tags
Requirement:
In my current project, based on Commencement Date of Resource, I need to send out email notification to several departments(HR, Payroll etc) and I need to do it if Resource completes 6, 12, 24 and 36 months. Basically, I had to add 6, 12,24 and 36 months to Commencement Date field and based on that date, I need to trigger Workflow notification(Time Trigger).
Analysis:
Salesforce help site https://help.salesforce.com/HTViewHelpDoc?id=formula_examples_dates.htm has a formula and it is as follows, but unfortunately it throws compilation error(Compiled formula is too big to execute (5,503 characters). Maximum size is 5,000 characters) when tried:
IF(
MOD( MONTH( Commencement_Date__c ) + 6, 12 ) = 2,
IF(
DAY( Commencement_Date__c ) > 28,
DATE( YEAR( Commencement_Date__c ) + FLOOR( ( MONTH( Commencement_Date__c ) + 6 ) / 12 ), 3, 1 ),
DATE( YEAR( Commencement_Date__c ) + FLOOR( ( MONTH( Commencement_Date__c ) + 6 ) / 12 ), 2, DAY( Commencement_Date__c ) )
),
IF(
OR(
MOD( MONTH( Commencement_Date__c ) + 6, 12 ) = 4,
MOD( MONTH( Commencement_Date__c ) + 6, 12 ) = 6,
MOD( MONTH( Commencement_Date__c ) + 6, 12 ) = 9,
MOD( MONTH( Commencement_Date__c ) + 6, 12 ) = 11
),
IF(
DAY( Commencement_Date__c ) > 30,
DATE( YEAR( Commencement_Date__c ) + FLOOR( ( MONTH( Commencement_Date__c ) + 6 ) / 12 ),
MOD( MONTH( Commencement_Date__c ) + 6, 12 ) + 1, 1 ),
DATE( YEAR( Commencement_Date__c ) + FLOOR( ( MONTH( Commencement_Date__c ) + 6 ) / 12 ),
MOD( MONTH( Commencement_Date__c ) + 6, 12), DAY( Commencement_Date__c ) )
),
IF(
MOD( MONTH( Commencement_Date__c ) + 6, 12 ) = 0,
DATE( YEAR( Commencement_Date__c ) + FLOOR( ( MONTH( date ) + 6 ) / 12 ) – 1, 12, DAY( Commencement_Date__c ) ),
DATE( YEAR( Commencement_Date__c ) + FLOOR( ( MONTH( Commencement_Date__c ) + 6 ) / 12 ),
MOD( MONTH( Commencement_Date__c ) + 6, 12), DAY( Commencement_Date__c ) )
)
)
)
Solution:
Thanks to Chris (http://www.salesforceweek.ly/author/chris) and the link http://www.salesforceweek.ly/2015/01/how-to-formula-add-months-to-date.html gives a good post about adding months to a Date.
As per the above link, I tried the following formula which adds n months(6,12, 24 and 36 month) works perfectly fine(including leap years) where n means :
DATE ( /*YEAR*/ YEAR(Commencement_Date__c) + FLOOR((MONTH(Commencement_Date__c) + n - 1)/12), /*MONTH*/ CASE(MOD(MONTH(Commencement_Date__c) + n, 12 ), 0, 12, MOD(MONTH(Commencement_Date__c)+ n, 12 )), /*DAY*/ MIN(DAY(Commencement_Date__c), CASE(MOD(MONTH(Commencement_Date__c) + n,12), 9, 30, 4, 30, 6, 30, 11, 30, 2, /* return max days for February dependent on if end date is leap year */ IF(MOD(YEAR(Commencement_Date__c) + FLOOR((MONTH(Commencement_Date__c) + n)/12), 400) = 0 || (MOD(YEAR(Commencement_Date__c) + FLOOR((MONTH(Commencement_Date__c) + n)/12), 4) = 0 && MOD(YEAR(Commencement_Date__c) + FLOOR((MONTH(Commencement_Date__c) + n)/12), 100) <> 0 ), 29,28), 31)) )
Please let me know your comments as always.
15 Saturday Aug 2015
Posted in Process Builder
It has been a long time:), let me share few posts on Process Builder and Flows which I have been using them recently.
Requirement:
Need to update a lookup field in an object. We have a Location field as a lookup in a custom object(say Rate Card). This should get populated from Account’s location when a new rate card is created. Account is a lookup field in the Rate Card and it is a required field.
Analysis:
Earlier, the requirement could only be achieved through APEX code as we cannot use Workflow Field update for lookup fields, but with the introduction of Process Builder, it is possible to update lookup field through Process flow. Wow, it’s a boon for developers:)
Solution:
Create a process as per the screenshot below:
The process will be executed upon Rate Card record creation.
Check if Location field is empty and if so, update it:
Create an Immediate action to update the Location field:
Note the value, we have taken Rate Card’s account’s location and updated in Location field of Rate Card.
There is a salesforce article on How to auto populate Look up Field using Process Builder
Limitation: You cannot Update Lookup field from formula/text field
Please let me know for any comments/clarification.
P.S: It is possible to update lookup field using Visual flow. Please find the screenshot below which shows account id update(account is a lookup field in Opportunity object) in Record update step in Visual flow.
Visual flow update
26 Sunday Apr 2015
Tags
Salesforce Dev questions, Salesforce Developer interview questions, SFDC developer interview questions, SFDC interview questions
Recently, I took the interview with a Consulting company and it was a pure technical round of interview. I thought of sharing the questions and please find them below:
1. What is Cloud computing and salesforce?
2. 3 Best practices of SOQL
3. Whats the difference between 15 and 18 digit Id?
4. What is without sharing option and why is it given by SF?
5. Purpose of static resource
6. Suppose there is a field called priority in accounts and if its greater than 5, we need to update associated contact records. how will you do it?
7. Following the previous question, what will happen if you write the trigger on before update?
8. What is Cross object workflow and its limitations?
9. Can you check null pointer exception in try catch block?
10. Can you check DML governor limits in try catch block?
11. Is apex always run in system mode?
12. What are standard controllers, controller extensions and custom controllers?
13. What’s the issue in the below code :
for (Account a : trigger.new) {
for (Contact c : [select id,otherphone from contact where accountid =:a.id]) {
c.OtherPhone= a.Phone;
update c;
}
}
14. Given the following Force.com page markup and assuming the controller and each extension include an action method named “go,” which class method will be invoked when the user clicks on the commandButton?
15. A Force.com page has a command button that directly calls the doSomething() method shown below, where the MyCustomException is a class that extends the System.Exception class
public void doSomething(){
} throw new MyCustomException(‘An error message.’);
Where would the exception be displayed to the user?
16. How do you make a Web service callout(outbound)?
17. How do you call a method in the class asynchronously in SFDC?
18. What is @isTest(SeeAllData=true)?
19. How do you make sure that your test class covers +ve and -ve scenarios?
20. Whats the advantage of using inline CSS?
21. If there is a trigger on account object and if you insert data through data loader lets say 200 records and on 200th record, the trigger fails, will it roll back or will it commit 199 records?
22. How do you get the contact name from accounts when you write SOQL?
23. Force.com has already provided functionalities OOB, so when you get the requirement, how do you approach it?
24. What is SaaS, PaaS and IaaS?
26. What is the action attribute in command button signifies in VF page?
27. What is batch apex, apex scheduling?
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