The Weekend Picklist: What successful data migration looks like, debugging Lightning Web Components, and more!

Every weekend, we’ll be delivering our top headlines – highlights from the previous week for you to enjoy with a cup of coffee!

1. What Makes a Good Test Class in Salesforce?

Testing your code may feel like a chore, but it’s the best way to identify and fix any potential errors or defects before they cause problems in production.?Whether you’re a developer or not, it’s essential you understand the importance of testing code. In essence, code is the power behind business processes and issues that may occur during production (and these can be quite costly).?

Test classes can be broken down into three types: Unit Tests (the most basic of all) take an individual method when given an output and return a specific output – if it does not, the test has failed. Integration Tests validate that the smaller units of code work well together without any unexpected behavior. And finally, we have Functional Tests. Considered to be the most ‘realistic’ of all, these are used to test the business logic of our code, ensuring that the code works as expected in a real-life scenario.?

For any of the aforementioned tests to work, keep in mind these must be focused, reliable, and comprehensive. Once these three criteria have been met, it’s time to further augment them by designing code to utilize dependency injection (this is where our code’s external dependencies can become replaceable during a test execution).?[Read More]

2. Complete Guide to Salesforce Duplicate Rules?

We all know them, we all hate to see them!?Duplicate records are a challenge all Salesforce Admins face, and they introduce the ever-present question: what is the best prevention technique to handle them? And, more importantly, what is the?cure??

To begin with, let’s check the types of rules one can use to identify duplicates. Matching rules will identify “what field” and “how” to match. Then we have duplicate rules, which use matching rules to control “when” and “where” to find duplicates.?

Standard duplicate rules are out-of-the-box matching rules provided by Salesforce for Accounts, Contacts, and Leads. Next up are custom duplicate rules, which are created by building custom solutions.?

Next up is prevention. These are the six Salesforce duplicate rules you need to activate – these will help you get to grips with how Salesforce duplicate rules work before moving on to more advanced options such as Account Exact Name Rule, Account Name Fuzzy Match, Leads & Contacts, and more.?

And finally, finding a cure. Salesforce users can manually merge selected records by selecting “source of truth” by field.?

The definition of what a duplicate actually is differs by organization, and then again by Salesforce Object. That’s why deduplication takes careful planning and continuous monitoring.?[Read More]

3. Three Steps for a Successful Salesforce Data Migration

Data migration is one of the most challenging projects faced by Salesforce Admins.?The process of transferring data from one system to the next may seem like an easy concept for those not already familiar with the process. But, in reality, the work needed before the?actual?transfer is incredibly complex. Here are the three phases you should follow:?

1. Preparation: The most critical phase of all! Creating a traditional plan with timelines, dependencies, and milestones is the only way to go. Ask yourself planning questions – for example, when will you review the data mapping documentation with your stakeholders??
2. Migration: The method you choose to transfer data from the source system to your Salesforce will depend on many factors, such as the project team members you’re working with, the volume of records you need, and so on.?
3. Quality Assurance: What Salesforce environment will be used for quality assurance (QA), user acceptance testing (UAT), and the migration to production? Remember, for QA, UAT, and production migration runs, ensure that dates land on days when you can dedicate the time needed for the jobs to run.?[Read More]

4. Top Solutions to Debug Lightning Web Components?

Lightning Web Components (LWC) use modern web development standards, including HTML and JavaScript, to create powerful and reusable components for Lightning Experience and other websites. However, as with any development effort, debugging and troubleshooting can be a significant part of the process. We have broken down the following options for you:?

1. Browser Developer Tools:?One of the most basic and widely used ways to debug LWC (and the frontend part in general), is to use the browser’s developer tools.
2. Salesforce Lightning Inspector Extension:?Another useful tool for debugging LWC is the Lightning Web Components Inspector – a browser extension for Google Chrome that allows you to inspect LWC on the page and see the component’s properties and state, as well as the component’s events and their associated handlers.?
3. Online Playgrounds:?These permit developers to experiment with LWC in isolation, without the need to deploy them to a Salesforce org.?
4. Debugging Directly in IDE:?Here, developers can set breakpoints, step through code, and inspect variables, all without leaving the IDE interface.

By using these debugging tools and best practices, developers can streamline the development and maintenance process, simplifying the task of debugging LWC and ensuring that their code is secure and optimized for performance. [Read More]

5. Launch Renewal Opportunities with Salesforce Flow

Recurring business with existing customers is a key source of revenue for some organizations – whenever revenue is due, the sale needs to be tracked through the pipeline in Salesforce to ensure that information is reflected across the sales pipeline and product trends, etc.?

Let’s set the scene... you are working as a Salesforce Admin and have received a request to automate renewal opportunities when certain opportunities are “closed won”.?[Read More]?