Salesforce Connect - Quick Start | Apex Developer Guide

Salesforce Connect is a cloud integration service that has a game-changing performance in the world of Salesforce. As with the help of this service, you can easily access any of your backend systems from Salesforce.org. I’m sure you’ve sensed the smell of relief so far. Let us deeply understand Salesforce Connect and what it does.

Imagine you’ve got a company that deals with multiple complex processes daily. Now, what would you do if you want to access all the data from your ERP to your new Salesforce org? In such a case, getting all your data via copy/paste or extracting will be overwhelming and time-consuming. Using methods like creating custom codes or taking the help of dynamic links will require many brains. Moreover, any of these methods will not allow you to access real-time updates, as well.

To deal with these dizzy issues, Salesforce Connect can save you. Salesforce Connect is a framework that acts as a bridge to connect Salesforce ERP to any foreign databases. With this, not only would you access any data but also modify or append data in real-time.

Before deep-diving any further, let us see why Salesforce Connect is a must-have requirement for you and your business.

● You frequently need to access a small amount of data from time to time.

● You continuously monitor the real-time entries in databases like an ERP.

● You’ve got extensive bulky data that will require a tonne of time to export in your Salesforce org.

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How Does It Work?

In this framework, external objects are used throughout the process. These external objects efficiently map out every external database entity that can be called out via external web service callouts.

Till now, you might’ve got an overall idea of what external objects are. They are just like custom objects that come with unique abilities and functions. These functions also create some advantages while having some limitations as well.

Given below are some of the functions and limitations of external objects.

● You can READ the data.

● You can WRITE the data but up to an extent.

● Data is NOT STORED in your Salesforce org account.

● You CAN’T SHARE the data.

● You can use TABS and LAYOUTS.

● You can ACCESS to reports and analytics up to an extent.

For connecting the link with external data, Salesforce Connect used specially designed adapters for this. Some of the most commonly used adapters are-

1. OData 2.0 adapter or OData 4.0 adapter

2. Cross-org adapter

3. Custom adapter created via Apex

Integrating External Data Unit

To set up the Salesforce Connection successfully, you’ll need to construct external data sources and define desirable external objects. To complete the whole process and start utilizing the Salesforce Connection, you’ll need to integrate the external data using relationship fields. In general, there are three types of relationship, and a user can use for external objects. These are-

● Lookup relationships

● External Lookup relationships

● Indirect Lookup relationships.

All these relationships are adopted in specified and unique conditions. This also means each of them comes with its pros and cons.

A lookup relationship is a special king that can only be used in a situation. An external database should already include a separate column to identify Salesforce records by their unique 18 characters IDs. This relationship links a child custom or external object to a parent's custom object.

On the other hand, External Lookup relationships also link the child custom or external object with the parent custom objects. In this, a child’s external object gets its value from the specified External Column Name.

Indirect Lookup relationships work differently as compared to the previous two relationships. Besides the general process of linking the parent and child object, you can select the fields according to your will. Just choose any custom unique, external ID field from the parent object and match it against the child’s related field. The specified External Column Name determines the values in the child.

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Wrapping It Up

Again, setting all these up can be done by everyone, including non-specialists. But how will you cope up with the errors and issues in a middle way? Taking help or consultations from experts will always save you a tonne of time and more brains. Moreover, getting the upper hand in Salesforce stuff will help your business to skyrocket easily and quickly. If you wish to talk to us for any help with Salesforce connect, installation, or migration, please reach out to us. We are more than happy to help you out.