Book Image

Force.com Enterprise Architecture - Second Edition

By : Andrew Fawcett
Book Image

Force.com Enterprise Architecture - Second Edition

By: Andrew Fawcett

Overview of this book

Companies of all sizes have seen the need for Force.com's architectural strategy focused on enabling their business objectives. Successful enterprise applications require planning, commitment, and investment in the best tools, processes, and features available. This book will teach you how to architect and support enduring applications for enterprise clients with Salesforce by exploring how to identify architecture needs and design solutions based on industry standard patterns. There are several ways to build solutions on Force.com, and this book will guide you through a logical path and show you the steps and considerations required to build packaged solutions from start to finish. It covers all aspects, from engineering to getting your application into the hands of your customers, and ensuring that they get the best value possible from your Force.com application. You will get acquainted with extending tools such as Lightning App Builder, Process Builder, and Flow with your own application logic. In addition to building your own application API, you will learn the techniques required to leverage the latest Lightning technologies on desktop and mobile platforms.
Table of Contents (23 chapters)
Force.com Enterprise Architecture - Second Edition
Credits
Foreword
About the Author
Acknowledgements
About the Reviewers
www.PacktPub.com
Customer Feedback
Preface
Index

Package dependencies and uploading


Packages can have dependencies on platform features and/or other packages. You can review and manage these dependencies through the usage of the Package Detail page and the use of dynamic coding conventions, as described here.

While some features of Salesforce are common, customers can purchase different editions and features according to their needs. Developer Edition organizations have access to most of these features for free. This means that as you develop your application, it is important to understand when and when not to use those features (this is done in order to avoid unwanted dependencies that might block or inhibit the adoption of your application).

By default, when referencing a certain Standard Object, field, or component type, you will generate a prerequisite dependency on your package, which your customers will need to have before they can complete the installation. Some Salesforce features, for example Multi-Currency or Chatter, have either a configuration or, in some cases, a cost impact to your users (different org editions). Carefully consider which features your package is dependent on.

Most of the feature dependencies, though not all, are visible via the View Dependencies button on the Package Detail page (this information is also available on the Upload page, allowing you to make a final check). It is good practice to add this check into your packaging procedures to ensure that no unwanted dependencies have crept in. Clicking on this button for the package that we have been building in this chapter so far confirms that there are no dependencies.

For dependencies that are not shown, it is a good idea to make sure that the features enabled for your testing orgs are clear, thus any other dependencies will show during installation or further testing.

Later in this book, we will be discussing Lightning Components. If you're packaging these, you will be implicitly imposing the need for your customers to utilize the Salesforce My Domain feature. This is not enforced at installation time, so it is an optional dependency. However, users will not be able to use your packaged Lightning Components without first enabling and configuring My Domain.

Uploading the release and beta packages

Once you have checked your dependencies, click on the Upload button. You will be prompted to give a name and version to your package. The version will be managed for you in subsequent releases. Packages are uploaded in one of two states, beta or release, as described shortly.

We will perform a release upload by selecting the Managed - Release option from the Release Type field, so make sure you are happy with the objects created in the earlier section of this chapter, as they cannot easily be changed after this point.

Once you are happy with the information on the screen, click on the Upload button once again to begin the packaging process. Once the upload process completes, you will see a confirmation page as follows:

Packages can be uploaded in one of two states, as described here:

  • Release: Release packages can be installed into subscriber production orgs and can also provide an upgrade path from previous releases. The downside is that you cannot delete the previously released components, or change certain things, such as a field's type. Changes to the components that are marked global, such as Apex code and Visualforce components, are also restricted. While Salesforce is gradually enhancing the platform to provide the ability to modify certain released aspects, you need to be certain that your application release is stable before selecting this option.

  • Beta: Beta packages cannot be installed into subscriber production orgs; you can install only into Developer Edition (such as your testing org), sandbox, or Partner Portal created orgs. Also, Beta packages cannot be upgraded once installed; this is the reason why Salesforce does not permit their installation into production orgs. The key benefit is in the ability to continue to change new components of the release to address bugs and features relating to user feedback.

Tip

The ability to delete previously-published components (uploaded within a release package) is, at the time of writing this book, in pilot. It can be enabled by raising a support case with Salesforce Support. Once you have understood the full implications, they will enable it.

At this stage in the book, we have simply added some Custom Objects, so the upload should complete reasonably quickly. Note that what you're actually uploading to is AppExchange, which will be covered in the following sections.

Tip

If you want to protect your package, you can provide a password (this can be changed afterwards). The user performing the installation will be prompted for it during the installation process.

Optional package dependencies

It is possible to make some Salesforce features and/or base package component references (Custom Objects and fields) an optional aspect of your application. There are two approaches to this, depending on the type of the feature.

Dynamic bindings

For example, the Multi-Currency feature adds a CurrencyIsoCode field to the Standard and Custom Objects. If you explicitly reference this field, for example, in your Apex, Visualforce pages or Lightning pages or components, you will incur a hard dependency on your package. If you want to avoid this and make it a configuration option (for example) in your application, you can utilize dynamic Apex and Visualforce. Lightning value bindings are dynamic in nature, though aura:attribte element type references will form a compile time reference to the specified objects.

Extension packages

If you wish to package component types that are only available in subscriber orgs of certain editions, you can choose to include these in extension packages. For example, you may wish to support the Professional Edition, which does not support record types. In this case, create an Enterprise Edition extension package for your application's functionality, which leverages the functionality from this edition.

Tip

Note that you will need multiple testing organizations for each combination of features that you utilize in this way to effectively test the configuration options or installation options that your application requires.