Force.com Tips and Tricks -- Table of Contents -- Force.com Tips and Tricks -- Credits -- About the Authors -- About the Reviewers -- www.PacktPub.com -- Support files, eBooks, discount offers and more -- Why Subscribe? -- Free Access for Packt account holders -- Instant Updates on New Packt Books -- Preface -- What this book covers -- What you need for this book -- Who this book is for -- When to adopt cloud computing -- When to adopt Force.com for your project -- Conventions -- Reader feedback -- Customer support -- Downloading the example code -- Errata -- Piracy -- Questions -- 1. Learning to Fly with Force.com -- What is cloud computing? -- Infrastructure as a service (IaaS) -- Platform as a service (PaaS) -- Software as a service (SaaS) -- What is Force.com? -- What empowers Force.com? -- Multitenancy -- Metadata -- Understanding the Force.com stack -- Infrastructure as a service -- Database as a service -- Integration as a service -- Logic as a service -- User interface as a service -- Development as a service -- Force.com AppExchange -- Introduction to governor limits -- Salesforce environments -- Summary -- 2. Admin Tools -- Data Loader -- When to use Data Loader -- Strategy to import data -- Identifying data sources -- Data preparation -- Testing the data import -- Analyzing the test import -- Final data import -- Validating the import -- Using Data Loader for data export -- Using Data Loader for uploading attachments -- The Import wizard -- When to use the Import wizard -- Notes on data import -- Undoing data import -- Third-party tools for data integration -- Force.com Integrated Development Environment (IDE) -- IDE communication -- Force.com perspective -- Problems view -- Execute Anonymous view -- Apex Test Runner view -- Schema explorer -- Deployment -- Force.com Migration Tool -- AppExchange - cloud application marketplace.

DupeCatcher - real-time deduplication -- Milestones PM - project and task management -- Salesforce CRM dashboards -- Salesforce for Twitter and Facebook (v4) -- Appirio Contact Sync for Salesforce and Google Apps -- Ribbit for Salesforce -- SnapShot Change And Release Management -- Salesforce Adoption Dashboards (2011) -- Survey Force -- Draggin' Role -- Find Nearby - Accounts, Contacts, Leads - Managed, PE/EE/UE/DE -- AppExchange Dashboard Pack -- Action Plans - v3 - Unmanaged - EE, UE, and DE -- Project and Issue Management -- CloudConverter for Force.com -- Opportunity Planning Wall -- Data Loader - Salesforce integration -- Mass Edit + Mass Update + Mass Delete -- Implementation Cloud - project management app -- S-Docs - free document generator (PDF, Word, Excel) -- CMSForce 2 -- FormFactory quotes and invoices -- Chatter Usage Dashboards - Force.com Labs -- FinancialForce Accounting for Salesforce -- Professional Services Automation - PSA for Salesforce -- CVM Supplier Central Enterprise Edition -- CVM Supplier Locator -- Summary -- 3. Making Best Use of Salesforce Objects -- Understanding the field types -- Basic non-relational field types -- Relational field types -- Identity fields -- System fields -- The Name field -- Additional database features -- Considerations for relationships -- Types of objects -- Standard objects -- Account -- Contact -- Lead -- Campaign -- Opportunity -- Forecast -- Quote -- Product and price book -- Case -- Custom objects -- Design approach -- Data -- Relationships -- User interface -- Implementation steps -- Tips -- Custom objects -- Relationships -- Custom tabs -- Page layouts -- Record types -- Summary -- 4. Understanding Analytics -- Report types -- Tips and considerations for report types -- Defining report types -- Choosing object relationships -- Adding lookup fields -- Reports -- Organizing reports.

Working with reports -- Creating reports -- Building custom summary formulas -- Bucketing in reports -- Using conditional highlighting -- Subtotaling the report results -- Filtering on reports -- Tips for entering filter criteria -- Tips for filter logic -- Running reports -- Scheduling a report -- Printing and exporting reports -- Report charts -- Combination charts -- Dynamic reports -- Dashboards -- Working with dashboards -- Dashboard filters -- Dashboard data refresh -- Analytic snapshots -- Tips for analytic snapshots -- Tips on source reports -- Tips on target objects -- Summary -- 5. Setting Up Development Environments -- Building apps on Salesforce -- What is an environment? -- Production environment -- Development environments -- Sandbox orgs -- Configuration-only sandbox -- Developer sandbox -- Full sandbox -- Typical uses of sandboxes -- Tips for creating or refreshing a sandbox -- Developer Edition orgs -- Individual versus partner DE -- When to use individual DE org -- When to use partner DE org -- Tips and best practices -- Choosing a development environment -- Development considerations -- Testing environments -- When to use a Partner Test Edition org -- When to use a sandbox org -- Various development scenarios -- Scenario 1 -- Scenario 2 -- Scenario 3 -- Migrating changes between environments -- Migrating changes manually -- Establishing a change process for production org -- Best practices for change processes -- Tracking changes -- Metadata migration -- Migration using change sets -- Best practices for using change sets -- Migrating metadata files -- Application lifecycle management -- Production development -- Developing with sandbox -- Isolating development and testing -- Multiple project development with integration, UAT, and staging -- Developing enterprise applications -- Summary.

6. Tools and Destinations that Every Force.com Developer Should Know -- Tools for developers and admins -- Choosing the right IDE -- Force.com IDE based on Eclipse -- Using Eclipse already? -- Developer console based on your browser -- Sublime Text plugin for Force.com -- Exploring objects, fields, and relationships using Schema Browsers -- Schema Builder -- Force.com Explorer -- SoqlXplorer -- Data Loaders -- Data Loader for Windows -- Force.com Excel Connector -- LexiLoader for Mac OS -- Utility tools and apps for productivity boost -- Force.com migration tool -- Salesforce Workbench -- Force.com Security Code Scanner -- Force.com Utility Belt -- Trapdoor (Mac OS only) -- Toolkits and libraries -- Destinations -- developer.force.com -- Open source goodness -- Queries and troubleshooting -- Summary -- 7. Writing Better Apex Code -- Understanding the language basics -- Using the correct nomenclature for code files -- Language constructs -- Finding what's different with static keywords -- Simplifying the loops -- Making constants better with enums -- Reducing script statements -- Advanced Apex -- Security data access via the with sharing keyword in classes -- Enforcing CRUD and FLS -- Writing better SOQL queries -- Query-required fields only -- Using SOQL for loops -- Executing selective and index-based queries -- Combining multiple SOQLs to avoid governor limits -- Fixing SOQL that returns a single record -- Making the most out of dynamic SOQL -- Variable binding in SOQL -- Taking care of errors and security -- Taking control on DML operations -- Controlling transaction commits and rollbacks -- Fine-tuning with extra DML options -- Error handling during DML operations -- Decoding the Apex Describe Information -- Getting info about sObjects and associated fields -- Accessing/updating the sObject records based on field names.

Getting SobjectType from ID -- Instantiating classes dynamically -- Writing better triggers -- Understanding the order of execution for triggers -- Writing triggers to handle bulk data -- Multiple triggers on an sObject -- Handling XML in Apex -- Handling JSON in Apex -- Packaging considerations with Apex -- API version -- Changing API versions -- Editing a class in your browser -- Editing a class in Force.com IDE (Eclipse) -- Apex testing tips -- Isolating test data from org data -- Testing with various profiles -- Letting your class know about the test context -- Apex REST web services -- API versioning with REST web services -- Knowing the limits -- Tracking resource (limit) usage -- Using Debug Logs in the Setup area -- Using the logging features of the Developer Console -- Summary -- 8. Writing Better Visualforce Code -- Knowing the Visualforce architecture -- Reusing the platform's native look and feel -- Starting the page design with native headers -- Native detail sections/forms -- Styling tables to look like native grids -- Printing messages in a native style -- Native (standard) versus custom controllers/extensions -- Reusing VF code -- Including other VF pages -- Defining templates or page layouts -- Defining your own components -- Limiting view states -- Use the view state inspector -- Using static when possible -- Trimming the view state by using transient variables -- Identifying a transient variable -- Avoid multiple forms -- Query-required fields only -- More tips and tricks on the view state -- Flexible pages using field sets -- Speeding up Ajax calls -- Using the immediate attribute -- Re-rendering required components only -- Demarcating using action regions -- Global variables and functions -- JavaScript remoting -- Public versus global - using the right access modifier.

Making the most out of the method arguments and return types.