The Salesforce Data Model

Salesforce Platform FoundationsThe Salesforce Data ModelObjects, fields, relationships and naming conventions in depth: every field type and its gotchas, lookup vs master-detail, junctions, polymorphic fields, Big Objects, External Objects, Custom Metadata vs Custom Settings, field history, describe calls and data skew.Beginner · about 75 minutesWhat you will learn

Decode Salesforce API names and suffixes (__c, __r, __mdt, __e, __b, __x, __kav, __Share, __History, __ChangeEvent)

Choose the right field type and avoid the common gotchas of formula, roll-up, picklist, encrypted and long text fields

Pick lookup, master-detail, junction, hierarchical or external relationships and predict their delete, sharing and reparenting behaviour

Work with record types and polymorphic fields (WhoId, WhatId, OwnerId) in SOQL and Apex

Decide between custom objects, Custom Metadata Types, Custom Settings, Big Objects and External Objects

Use describe information efficiently from Apex and recognize data skew risks in a design

Contents

Objects: standard and custom

API names and suffixes

Field types and their gotchas

Relationships

Record types

Polymorphic fields

Schema Builder

Special object families

Field history tracking and Field Audit Trail

Describe information in Apex

Designing a data model: worked example

Data skew: an introduction

Best practices

Common pitfalls

Hands-on exercises

Key takeaways