Leverage Salesforce's Fuzzy Logic with Custom Deduplication in Flow

Salesforce is a powerful CRM platform that offers various features and tools to help organizations manage their data effectively. One critical aspect of data management is handling duplicates, which can lead to inaccuracies, wasted resources, and a subpar customer experience. Salesforce provides a native deduplication feature that leverages its 'fuzzy logic' to identify potential duplicates based on configurable rules. In this blog post, we'll explore how Salesforce Administrators can harness the power of fuzzy logic and build custom deduplication fuzzy match tools within Flow using the `SearchIDsForDuplicates` Apex class.

Installing the Unmanaged Package:

Before we delve into the details of building the custom deduplication tool, let's start by installing the required components. You can easily install the unmanaged package by following this link: Install Unmanaged Package. This package contains the necessary Apex class `SearchIDsForDuplicates` and related components. Be sure to configure Duplication and Matching Rules for Accounts, Contacts and Leads prior to installation,.

Understanding the 'SearchIDsForDuplicates' Apex Class:

The `SearchIDsForDuplicates` Apex class is at the core of our custom deduplication tool. It allows Salesforce Administrators to identify records that match Admin-configured duplicate rules for Accounts, Contacts, or Leads within a Flow. The class uses Salesforce's native fuzzy logic to perform the duplicate search, providing administrators with a powerful and efficient tool for data deduplication.

How it Works:

The `SearchIDsForDuplicates` class is marked as `@InvocableMethod`, enabling it to be invoked by a Flow in Salesforce. Here's how the process works:

1. Input Data Preparation: The administrator configures the Flow to pass a list of `RecordId` objects as input. Each `RecordId` object contains the ID of a record to be checked for duplicates.

2. Search for Duplicates: The Apex class extracts the record IDs from the input `RecordId` objects and finds the object's API name based on the first record ID using the `getObjectApiNameById` method.

3. Retrieve Fields: It retrieves the list of fields that can be queried, created, and accessed for the specified object using `ObjectFieldsUtility.getQueryableCreateableAndAccessibleFields(objectName)`.

4. Execute Search: The class uses `DynamicQueryUtility.getRecordsByFields` to retrieve a list of sObjects that match the provided `recordIds` for the specified fields.

5. Leverage Fuzzy Logic: The `Datacloud.FindDuplicates.findDuplicates` method is employed to find potential duplicate records based on the sObjects retrieved in the previous step. Salesforce's powerful fuzzy logic is applied during this process, allowing for matches even with slight variations in data.

6. Process Results: The search results are processed to extract the duplicate records, and their IDs are stored in the `dupeRecordList`.

7. Return Output: Finally, the class prepares the output `Duplicate` object containing a list of duplicate record IDs (`outputMemberIds`) and returns it as a wrapper list.

Building the Custom Deduplication Flow:

With the `SearchIDsForDuplicates` Apex class available, Salesforce Administrators can build a custom Flow that integrates the deduplication feature seamlessly into their data management processes. Here's a general outline of the steps involved in building the Flow:

1. Create a new Flow in the Salesforce Lightning Flow Builder.

2. Add a Screen element to capture the necessary input from the user, such as selecting the object to deduplicate and providing the record IDs to check.

3. Utilize the "Apex Action" element in the Flow to call the `SearchIDsForDuplicates` class and pass the required input.

4. Process the results using Flow elements like Decision elements and Loop elements to handle the duplicate records accordingly.

5. Create output screens or actions to display the results and allow the user to take appropriate actions, such as merging duplicates or updating data.

Salesforce's native deduplication feature, coupled with the powerful fuzzy logic, provides a robust foundation for handling duplicate records effectively. By leveraging the `SearchIDsForDuplicates` Apex class within Flow, Salesforce Administrators can build custom deduplication fuzzy match tools tailored to their specific data management needs. This enables organizations to maintain data integrity, enhance customer experiences, and optimize business processes, making Salesforce a more potent tool in their arsenal.

To get started with building your own custom deduplication Flow, install the provided unmanaged package and explore the capabilities of the `SearchIDsForDuplicates` class in Salesforce. Happy deduplicating!