Businesses commonly require the auto-creation of a child record whenever a parent record gets created. For example, as soon as an account gets activated, we need to auto-create an opportunity for that account, and we need to set the opportunity close date to the last date of the current quarter. To satisfy this type of business requirement, a developer normally writes an Apex trigger, but there are a few other ways to achieve it, without writing code:

We will use Process Builder to solve this business requirement.

Let's consider a business scenario. Suppose that Joe Thompson is working as a system administrator at Universal Containers. He has received a requirement from the management to auto-create a contract as soon as an account gets created in Salesforce, and to auto-populate these values in the new contract:

Creating a process

To solve the preceding business requirement, we will use Process Builder. In the runtime process, we will auto-create a contract record whenever a new account record gets created. To do this, follow these instructions:

1. In Lightning Experience, click on Setup (gear icon) | Setup | PLATFORM TOOLS | Process Automation | Process Builder; click on the New button, and enter the following details:
   • Process Name: Enter the name of the process. Enter Auto create new Contract as the Process Name. It must be within 255 characters.
   • API Name: This will be auto-populated, based on the name. It must be within 77 characters.
   • Description: Write some meaningful text, so that other developers or administrators can easily understand why this process was created.
   • This process starts when: This allows you to select when you want to start your process. The following options are available:
     • A record changes: Select this option if you want to start your process when a record is created or edited.
     • It's invoked by another process: Select this option if you want to invoke your process from another process. This allows you to create an invocable process. An invocable process is a process that starts when another process invokes it. In Chapter 3, Building Efficient and Performance-Optimized Processes, we will discuss a few use cases in detail.

In this case, select A record changes. The fields should appear as follows:

2. Click on the Save button when you have finished. It will redirect you to the process canvas, which will allow you to create the process by clicking, not code.

Adding an object and evaluation criteria

Once you are done defining the process properties, the next task is to select the object upon which you want to create a process and define the evaluation criteria:

1. Click on the Add Objectnode, as shown in the following screenshot:
   

2. This will open a window on the right-hand side, where you will have to enter the following details:

   • Object: Start typing, and then select theAccountobject.
   • Start the process: For Start the process, select only when a record is created. This means the process will fire only at the time of record creation.
   • Recursion – Allow process to evaluate a record multiple times in a single transaction?: Select this checkbox only when you want the process to evaluate the same record up to five times in a single transaction. It might reexamine the record, because a process, Workflow Rule, or Flow may have updated the record in the same transaction. In this case, leave the box unchecked. The window should appear as shown in the following screenshot:

3. Once you are done, click on the Save button. Just as in Workflow Rule, once you have saved the panel, it doesn't allow you to change the selected object.

Adding process criteria

After defining the evaluation criteria, the next step is to define the process criteria. This is similar to the rule criteria in Workflow Rule. Once the process criteria are true, the process will execute with the associated actions:

1. To define the process criteria, click on the Add Criteria node, as shown in the following screenshot:
   

2. Now, enter the following details:
   • Criteria Name: Enter a name for the criteria node. Enter Always in Criteria Name.
   • Criteriafor Executing Actions: Select the type of criteria that you want to define. You can select Formula evaluates to true, or Conditions are met (a filter to define the process criteria), or No criteria-just execute the actions! In this case, select No criteria-just execute the actions! This means that the process will fire for every condition. The window should look as follows:

3. Once you are done, click on the Save button.

Adding an action to a process

Once you are done with the process criteria node, the next step is to add an immediate action to create a contract. For this, we will use the Create a Record action, available in Process Builder. You can add multiple immediate and scheduled actions for a particular criteria node. The only limitation is the maximum number of criteria nodes that you can add in one process, which is 200. Immediate actions are executed as soon as the evaluation criteria are met.

Scheduled actions are executed at a specified time. We will add an immediate action with the following steps:

1. We need to add one immediate action to auto-create a record. For this, we will use the Create a Record action, available in Process Builder. Click on Add Action, available under IMMEDIATE ACTIONS, as shown in the following screenshot:

2. Now, enter the following details:

   • Action Type: Select the type of action. In this case, selectCreate a Record.
   • Action Name: Enter Create Contract record in Action Name.
   • Record Type: Select the object that you want to create a record for. Start typing, and then select the Contract object.
   • Set Field Values: Certain fields are required when you create a record. When you select the object that you want to create a record for, Process Builder automatically displays the required fields for that record in each row. In this case, a row for Account ID and Status shows automatically. When setting a value for a given field or a field you have added, the available value types are filtered, based on the field that you have selected. The available value types are:
     • Currency: You can manually enter a currency value.
     • Boolean: This allows you to choose a true or false Boolean value.
     • DateTime or Date: You can manually enter a DateTime or Date value.
     • Formula: You can easily create a formula, using functions and fields.
     • Global Constant: This allows you to choose a global constant to set a value to null or an empty string. For example, choose $GlobalConstant.Null or $GlobalConstant.EmptyString
     • ID: You can manually enter a Salesforce ID.
     • MultiPicklist: This allows you to choose one or more multi-select picklist values.
     • Number: You can manually enter a number value.
     • Picklist: This allows you to choose a picklist value.
     • Reference: This allows you to choose a value, based on a field on the record or on a related record.
     • String: You can manually enter a string value.

To select the fields, you can use field picker. To enter the values, use the text entry field and map the fields according to the following screenshot:

Use the formula to set the Contract Start Date dynamically, based on the preceding requirement; in this case, you should use the account created date + 90 days. Use Function to select DATEVALUE (it returns a date value for a DateTime), use the Field picker to select the Created Date field, use Operator to select +, and then enter 90, as shown in the following screenshot:

The new record'sCreated Byfield is set to the user that started the process by creating or editing a record.

3. Once you are done, click on the Save button to save the process's immediate action. The process will appear, as shown in the following screenshot:

Activating a process

As soon as you are done with the process creation, the next step is to activate it:

1. To activate a process, click on the Activate button, available on the button bar, as shown in the following screenshot:

2. A warning message will appear on the screen. Read it carefully, and then click on the Confirm button, as shown in the following screenshot:

3. When you click on the Confirm button, it will activate the process.

For activation, a process must have an action added to it. If a process doesn't have an action added to it, the activate button won't be clickable. After the activation of a process, it's impossible to make any changes to it. If you want to do that, you will have to clone the process, and save it as either a New Version or a New Process, which we will discuss later:

From now on, if you create a new account, you will see a contract created for the account by the process you made, as shown in the preceding screenshot.

Deactivating a process

If some active processes are no longer required by the business, you can deactivate them. To deactivate an activated process, open the process and click on the Deactivate button, as shown in the following screenshot:

After deactivation, Salesforce stops using the process to evaluate when an account record is created or edited. After you deactivate a process, any scheduled actions will still be there, in a queue for execution.

Deleting a process version 

If a process version is no longer in use, you can delete it. You can only delete those process versions that are in the Draft, Inactive, or Invalid Draft status. This means that you can't delete an active process. If you want to delete an active process version, you must deactivate it first, and then delete it. If a process version has scheduled actions, then you can't delete it; in such a case, you must wait until those pending actions have been completed or deleted. To delete a process, follow these instructions:

1. Navigate to Setup (gear icon) | Setup | PLATFORM TOOLS | Process Automation | Process Builder.
2. This will redirect you to the Process Management page. Click on the name of the process whose version you want to delete.
3. Identify the process version that you want to delete, and click on Delete, as shown in the following screenshot:

If your process has only one version and you delete that version, the whole process will be removed from the Process Management page.

There may be business use cases wherein a customer will want to update child records based on some criteria; for example, auto-updating all related opportunities to Closed Lost, if an account is updated to inactive. To achieve these types of business requirements, you can use an Apex trigger. You can also achieve these types of requirements using the following methods:

We will use Process Builder to solve these types of problems.

Let's look at a business scenario. Suppose that Alice Atwood is working as a system administrator at Universal Containers. She has received a requirement that once an account gets activated, the account Phone must be synced with the related contact Asst. Phone field. This means that whenever an account Phone field gets updated, the same phone number should be copied to the related contact's Asst. Phone field.

Follow these instructions to achieve the preceding requirement using Process Builder:

The properties window will look as follows:

In this case, leave the box unchecked. At the end of the process criteria, a window will appear, as shown in the following screenshot:

Select the Contacts object, and then click on the Choose button. To select the fields, you can use the field picker. To enter the value, use the text entry field. It will appear as follows:

From now on, if users try to update the Phone field of an active account, the process will automatically update the related contact's Asst. Phone field with the value available in the account's Phone field, as shown in the following screenshot:

Before testing the process, make sure that you have activated it.

Once you have activated a process, it doesn't allow you to make any changes to it. If you want to make any changes to an active process, you have to clone it and save it as either a New Version or a New Process.

Let's look at a business scenario. Suppose that Alice Atwood is working as a system administrator at Universal Containers, and she has created a process (Update_Contacts_Asst_Phone) to update the related contact's Asst. Phone field from the account's Phone field, once an account gets activated and after that related contacts Asst. Phone field must be synced with account Asst. Phone field. She has received another request from the business, saying that they want to add one more condition to the process. The entry criteria are such that the condition will work only for accounts wherein the billing country is the USA.

To meet this business requirement, you will have to add one more condition to the existing process. For this, you will have to modify your process. As the process is already activated, the only possibility is to clone it. To clone a process, follow these instructions:

In this case, select Version of current process to create a new version of an existing process, as shown in the following screenshot:

The business requirements will appear, as shown in the preceding screenshot. Once you are done, click on the Activate button to activate the current version of the process. Salesforce automatically deactivates others active versions of the current process, if any exist.

Adding an Apex plugin to your process

Process Builder allows you to call an Apex class that includes methods annotated with @InvocableMethod. You can also pass the required value in Apex class variables:

To do this, select the Apex action in the process. In Chapter 3, Building Efficient and Performance-Optimized Processes, we will discuss a use case wherein the system can auto-delete open cases when an account is out of business, using an Apex class and calling it from Process Builder.

Often, a business will want to auto-post the details of records to Chatter groups. This is possible through Apex code, but there is a way to achieve it without code – that is, Process Builder. Process Builder has a specific action for this, called Post to Chatter. You can auto-post the record details to a Chatter group using the following methods:

Let's look at a business scenario. Suppose that Helina Jolly is working as a system administrator at Universal Containers. She has received a requirement to post opportunity details to the Sales Executive Chatter group, whenever an opportunity gets created with an amount greater than $1,000,000.

Follow these instructions to achieve this using Process Builder:

The process criteria will look as follows:

Immediate actions will appear as shown in the following screenshot:

From now on, if users create an opportunity with an amount higher than $1,000,000, the process will auto-post a textpost to the Chatter group Sales Executive, which will look as follows:

You can also achieve this through a combination of Flow and Process Builder. If you use Process Builder, you can only post a textpost, whereas if you use Flow, you can post a linkpost, textpost, and so on. It will also allow you to set CreatedById. For this, use the Record Create element and the FeedItem object.

If you have embedded the Flow in a Visualforce page, you will need to use the Inline Visualforce page on the opportunity object in order to achieve it.

Process Builder also allows you to send emails to users; for example, it allows you to send an email alert to the account owner as soon as an opportunity has successfully closed. 

Let's look at a business scenario. Suppose that Helina Jolly is working as a system administrator at Universal Containers. She has created a process (Post Opportunity Information to Chatter Group) to post opportunity details to a Chatter group if the amount is greater than $1,000,000. She receives another requirement, to send an email to the opportunity's account owner five days after its creation.

Follow these instructions to achieve this by using Process Builder:

Scheduled actions will appear, as shown in the following screenshot:

Now, this process will perform both of the jobs: posting the opportunity details to a Chatter group, and sending an email to the opportunity's account owner five days after record creation. The email will look as follows:

If you have embedded the Flow in a Visualforce page, you will need to use an Inline Visualforce page on the opportunity object to fulfill the preceding business use case.

To monitor a time-dependent action queue in Process Builder, follow these instructions:

This is because Process Builder uses a Flow Wait element to create a time-dependent action.

Process Builder also allows you to auto-submit a record to an Approval Process. Currently, the user has to manually submit a record for the Approval Process. You can achieve this type of requirement through the following methods:

Let's look at a business scenario. Suppose that Helina Jolly is working as a system administrator at Universal Containers. She has created a process (Post Opportunity Information to Chatter Group) to post opportunity details to a Chatter group, if the amount is greater than $1,000,000, and to send an email to the opportunity's owner. She receives another requirement: to auto-submit new opportunity records to the Approval Process if the amount is greater than $1,000,000. She has already created a one-step Approval Process for this. It will send an approval request to the CEO.

Follow these instructions to achieve this using Process Builder:

The process (Process Builder) will fail at runtime if it allows the initial submitter to manually select the next approver.

The immediate actions will look as follows:

It is not possible to submit any related records to the Approval Process using Process Builder.

Process Builder allows you to launch a Flow. Process Builder is another way to auto-launch a Flow. For example, there is a Flow that allows for the removal of followers from closed opportunity records. If you want this Flow to automatically execute whenever the opportunity status gets closed, you should use Process Builder. 

Some Flows don't require any user interaction to start; for example, a Flow of the type Autolaunched Flow. An Autolaunched Flow can be launched without user interaction; from Process Builder or the Apex interview.start method, for example.

Let's look at a business scenario. Suppose that Sara Bareilles, who is working as a system administrator at Universal Containers, has created a Flow to create a new opportunity using the Record Create element, as shown in the following screenshot:

Currently, she is using a custom button on the Account Page layout to call the Flow. She wants to use Process Builder to automatically fire the Flow whenever an account gets created. The VarD90DaysFromToday object is a date variable, and the VarTAccountId and VarTAccountName variables used in the preceding example are nothing but text variables. We will use Process Builder to pass the values in these variables.

Follow these instructions to call a Flow from the process:

The immediate actions will look as follows:

From now on, if an account gets created, Flow will automatically be executed by Process Builder, and a new opportunity will be created.