Tech Talk: Rich New Features in Winter 10 Release Preview FAQ

This is the FAQ for the Tech_Talk:_Features_in_Winter_10_Release webinar.

Contents


Can we pass dynamic SQL in batch apex query locator?

Yes

Not sure how she went from selecting profiles to editing the setting in mass.

You can select the one or many profiles you want to mass update by selecting the Action checkbox next to the desired Profiles. Then double-click on the setting you want to mass update.

Can we start work on it from tomorrow.?

The Winter'10 release schedule is available at trust.salesforce.com. If you want to sign up for a Pre-Release environment, register here: http://developer.force.com/releases/

Are you able to Copy Standard Object changes from Sandbox to Production through the new functionality?

Like new fields on standard objects? Sure.

can I schedule a batch job or does it always have to be manually started

You can schedule apex including batch apex with the new Scheduled Apex feature which is in pilot. please contact salesforce.com support to see if you can get included in the Pilot.

can workflows be packaged

Not on standard objects.

I heard that the Salesforce API v16 will be deprecated after Winter '10/ API v17 is released. Is this true?

No

can have diff filter criteria lookup for each recordtype?

No, not in the current release.

whats the size limit for this custom settings list? can you also do non-primitive typed lists?

A. 10 MB of cached data per organization; 300 fields per custom settings;

CASE in triggers (whats that?)

I believe you are referring to the new ability to deploy Apex Triggers on CaseComments.

Can you create a Filter on a Contact name lookup field to only show Contacts associated to a specific Account?

No, not in the current beta release.

Anything else. not supported..what about sandboxa to sandboxB?

Pretty much anything that's available in the Metadata API, except for profiles, is supported

does sandbox to production support everything which eclipse IDE does today?

Not quite. Profiles are not supported

Is there a limit on the number of apex schedules you can have?

A. 10 queued or active scheduled jobs.

For the Sandbox to Production deployment ... does it bring over all the Field Level Security, validation rules, fields, page layouts, etc when bringing over a new custom object?

No, you must select each component independently.

What type of licenses are associated with the high volume Customer Portal User ?

There is a new license type for High Volume Users.

will Inline Comments in Formulas count towards formula size limits?

Comments count against the character and byte size limits in formulas.

can custom settings be used for seed data? for example, a zip code lookup table.

Yes, depends on how you implement the logic. But you could seed a zip code lookup component and then write the value to a custom object to store the data.

will scheduler for batch ship at the same time of batch apex?

they are two independent features. batch apex is GA with Winter '10. Scheduled Apex is Pilot with Winter '10. And you can schedule apex that is not batch apex. Just to differentiate the two features.

will batch apex be able to call out to a web serviuce

Yes. You can perform callouts from batch Apex classes

do testmethods get re-run in PROD when you deploy to PROD from sandbox?

Yes. Any time you deploy to Prod, all tests are run

isBlank() ..does it work on long text areas?

No

can the new push changes feature allow you to do so when doing a SF-to-SF org migration (such as whe 2 orgs are merging)?

Push changes, you mean change sets? It has to be from sandbox to production, prod to sandbox, or sandbox to sandbox. All orgs must be affiliated with the same prod org.

Can you describe the content API feature - upload bulk of documents

There is more information in the winter'10 release notes: https://na1.salesforce.com/help/doc/en/salesforce_winter10_release_notes.pdf

does bulk data api have any impact around governor limits on Apex, or is it still inserting in batches of 200?

No relationship to Apex and its governor limits. There are separate limits around Bulk API, such as 10,000 records per batch. See the new Bulk API Developer's Guide for more details on limits

Lookup filters: will users know the list is filtered?

Not necessarily. You can add some custom help text to that lookup field to notify them if you need to.

Are there any new reporting or analytic features in this release?

Yes - visit https://www.salesforce.com/community/winter10/sales-cloud/analytics/dashboard-microscope.jsp

Can you add products directly to the quote object or do you have to go back to the Oppty first?

You can add them directly to the quote.

does bulk loader facility bypass any apex/workflow triggers

No. If you have apex triggers or workflow logic enabled, when the bulk API processes those records, those events are initiated.

The Realtime Quote feature - is it just for Quotes object or can I email PDF for my Opportunity object also?

The PDF is created from the quote.

If the object is already on Production, can I delete a field in Production by not including it in the Package?

You can't process deletes with change sets, you must do this manually.

what's the difference between isblank and isnull?

Use ISBLANK and BLANKVALUE to determine if fields of any type (except picklists) are empty. In previous releases, you had to use different functions depending on the data type of the field. For example, you could use ISNULL and NULLVALUE to determine if an email was empty, but you had to use LEN()=0 to determine if a text field was empty.

are these features available on all editions? or just EE?

Please check the release notes for information about each features and its supported editions: https://na1.salesforce.com/help/doc/en/salesforce_winter10_release_notes.pdf

Will the new look up filter features be available on all editions?

Yes - all editions, it will be in Beta.

will the functionality the speaker is referring to now, i.e. quotes, be available in PE?

Currently the pilot is for EE and UE customers.

Will custom settings be available via the metadata API or webservice API?

Custom Settings are exposed in the webservice API. For example, you can see the custom settings in the force.com schema explorer to run queries.

Will lookup filters be packageable?

Not at this time

How does the bulk api handle errors on individual rows?

The Bulk API documentation is available here for more information: https://na1.salesforce.com/help/doc/en/salesforce_winter10_release_notes.pdf

Is there a contact record for each high volume portal user?

Yes, there is.

How can the line items in the quote be sorted?

You can sort the related list of quote line items when editing the quote page layout.

Is the help hover over for all standard fields in all objects?

Yes

Is the high volume portal user applicable for Partner portal users (PRM) as well?

No, the high volume portal user is for customer portal.

If an Apex job is scheduled, can I still run in manually to start instantly irrespective of the scheduled time?

Yes, the Apex Scheduler just sets a time and date to run some apex code. You can still invoke that same apex manually if you wish.

Under what scenario should we NOT enable the Bulk Loader option in Apex Data loader?

Remember the Bulk API is asynchronous and the soap-based api is synchronous so it depends on how you want to handle the transaction.

Can this new feature be called from the command line?

Bulk API is REST-based. Can submit HTTP requests and use tools like cURL

If the full sandbox is the source, what happens when it is refreshed?

A refresh is a copy of the prod org, so if you refresh, you blow away any changes on sandbox with a new sandbox

Is there a Linux version of the new Data Loader?

No

Can you explain how a page layout on a standard object will be made distributable in an AppExchange package? Many customers will have already made their own customisations, so this seems a tricky thing to deploy.

it will create a new page layout as included in the package. it won't override existing page layouts.

Can Apex batch jobs run more than once a day (e.g. once per hour)? What about a job that runs continually in a loop, rather like a background thread in a C# server app?

Yes, you can schedule apex more than once a day. But be aware that you can only have a max of 10 active or queued apex schedules. More information about Scheduled Apex here: http://www.salesforce.com/us/developer/docs/apexcode/index.htm

How much customization can be done to the template which generates the PDF quote?

You can change the company logo.

is the new deployment feature only for custom objects, or can other things be deployed as well (i.e layouts, code)

Its not only for custom objects. But it is being released in beta, so be aware that it might not support all possible components.

Batch API will be packageable?

Do you mean Batch Apex? If so, yes, since Batch Apex is implemented as an Apex Class which are package-able.

What are those Batch Gov limits in last slide? are going to be a subset of the Apex Gov limits?

each batch within a batch apex request will apply the governor limits of an Apex Web Service (as listed in the Apex Reference Guide)

What happens if duplicate objects are deployed?

Metadata API deployment is by name, and a duplicate object would be seen as the same object. If they were exactly the same, then nothing would happen. If the deployed object had a small change to it, that change would be made in the target object.

How is the quote template tied to the opportunity, e.g., can one have a different .pdf template for different record types?

A quote is a child to the Opportunity. An Opportunity can have multiple quotes.

for sandbox to production updates. How does it handle conflict resolution ?

It updates existing customizations. So be careful when you deploy a change set and make sure to verify/validate it is appropriate.

Any changes for Governor Limits ????

No

Are custom settings only relative to profiles and users?

No. you can create a custom setting of type "list" which is a static set of data that all users can access accordingly. the hierarchy custom settings are relevant to an org wide setting, profile settings, or user. but a list custom setting is a static set of data that you can apply to everyone regardless of user, profile.

Is that an actionPoller used to drive the % completed slider?

Yes, it was an actionPoller that queried the AsyncApexJob object for the % completed value for that specific batch job.

How many columns can we have on the custom profile list view?

You can add up to 15 columns in a single list view.

Custom Settings - can we export/import custom settings via metadata api?

Yes, via the web services api (not metadata api). In other words, a query call can extract all data of a custom setting.

Batch Apex - can we pass data between the batches and/or parent apex execution?

Yes, there are ways to pass variables across batches.

do we need to turn on these great dashboard features or are they automatic?

They are automatically enabled, assuming you enabled the new charts engine in Summer '09.

can the site guest user trigger workflow on a custom object? I tried this and it does not work, why?

A Force.com Site can invoke a trigger on a custom object, assuming the Site Profile has the proper permissions.

Code Summary - will something similar be available in the IDE?

Not in Winter '10.

Can we have multiple quote layouts?

Yes

Do "Batch Transactions" count towards API limits? I heard a comment stating processing "millions" of records.

No, they do not count against the API.

I saw a while ago Quotes would be in pilot and confess that I had to step away during this teleconference, is that still part of the plan?

Yes, Quotes will be in Pilot for Winter '10.

Are Settings 'editable' at run time? ie.. can you set a 'setting' for a user based upon action / choices etc?

Yes, you can update custom settings at run time through apex code.

why would one NOT use the bulk data loader feature?

Remember Bulk API is asynchronous so you won't get the synchronous response from the API. So if you need to know the response before proceeding with your processing, the synchronous soap API might be better.

The batch apex is async - does that mean the items within a single batch will be processed in some random order or that 2 completely different batches could be processed in any order?

Within a batch apex job, you will have many batches (with at most 200 records). Those chunks or batches can run in any order.

will bulk api be supported by command line dataloader?

Yes.

Can you filter on custom user settings?

Yes, you can reference custom settings in apex code and filter out the unnecessary data.

is quote pdf feature also available on other objects (i.e. ability to create a pdf of certain fields)?

No, but you could create this functionality using Visualforce2PDF for any object.

will bulk api skip the validation rule or exceptions in the trigger code

No

Is Knowledge a companion product of Solutions or is it a completely separate product? E.g. It will have a cost per user?

It's a separate product. Please contact your Salesforce Account Executive for pricing.

Are the Inboud/Outbound deployments logged in the Audit Trail?

Yes

Is an activity/task automatically logged into the record for a user who creates a quote?

No

Can we apply approvals around the quote object?

Yes

Is there an additional fee for Content?

Yes, there is. Please go to salesforce.com for more information.

Who do we contact for pilot Quote's

Please contact Salesforce.com Support.

Is it possible to extend bulk API to stream data?

Right now you have to know ahead of time what the batch size is.

Will 3rd party tools be able to take advantage of the Bulk API?

After GA, yes.

Will batch apex be able to call out to a web service?

Yes. You can now perform callouts from batch classes.

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