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SFDC: Add App Logic-Automate a field update using workflow

Anonymous User5266 13-Mar-2015

Previously we learn how to create a basic app and do things like create and relate objects, and customize the standard user interface. From this point we learning advanced point-and-click development to further enhance the underlying database and improve the UI.

A company can operate more efficiently with standardized internal procedures and automated business processes. In Salesforce, we can use workflow rules to automate our procedures and processes. Workflow rules can trigger actions (such as email alerts, tasks, field updates, and outbound messages) based on time triggers, criteria, and formulas.

Automatically populating a field with a default value is a common business rule. Recall that you did something similar already using a lookup field on two related objects.

Scenario: A Line Item can “look up” merchandise and give the user a choice of which item they want. But what if, rather than having a user choose, populating the field was done automatically? That’s when you need a workflow rule, so that depending on different conditions, Salesforce can automatically populate a field with the appropriate value, and without user intervention.

Inspect the Line Item Detail Page

To get started, quickly review the Invoice and Line Item objects.

1. Select the Warehouse app from the app picker, then click the Invoices tab.

2. Open any invoice, and then open the detail page for a line item. Notice there’s no price field for the line item

 

SFDC: Add App Logic-Automate a field update using workflow

 

We need to create a new field for the Line Item object called Unit Price. We don’t want users creating their own price, and since the price is already stored in the Merchandise object, we can populate this field automatically using a neat feature called a workflow rule. 

Create a Unit Price Field

The steps for creating the new Unit Price field are essentially the same as when you created the Price field on the Merchandise object except this time name the field Unit Price.

1. From the Line Item tab or record, click the Quick Access menu (the tab that pops out from the right side of the window), hover over View Fields and click New. (If you aren't on the Line Item object already, in Setup click Create > Objects. Then click Line Item, and in the Custom Fields and Relationships section, click New.)

2. For the data type, select Currency and then click Next.

3. Fill in the custom field details as follows.

• Field Label: Unit Price

• Length: 16

• Decimal Places: 2

4. Leave the defaults for the remaining fields by clicking Next on subsequent screens until you can Save.

5. Now go back to an existing Invoice and add a new Line Item. Notice there's a new field for Unit Price, but you have to populate that field manually. You want this field to populate automatically, so click Cancel, and add this new functionality.

 

SFDC: Add App Logic-Automate a field update using workflow

 

Automatically Populate the Unit Price Field

To automatically populate the new Unit Price field, create a workflow rule.

1. From Setup, click Create > Workflow & Approvals > Workflow Rules.

2. Optionally, read the brief introduction, click Continue, and then click New Rule.

3. Select the Line Item object, and click Next.

4. For the rule name, enter Populate Unit Price, and for the description enter something like Populates the Line Item object’s Unit Price field with the value of the Merchandise object’s Price field.

5. For evaluation criteria, select created.

6. In the first rule criteria row, for the field select Line Item: Quantity, for the operator select greater or equal, and for the value enter 1.

7. Click Save & Next.

Note: It makes sense to fire this workflow rule only for new line item records because you are effectively assigning a default field value when creating a new record. Later on, users might need to adjust the price of merchandise in each line item (for example, to offer discounts).

 

SFDC: Add App Logic-Automate a field update using workflow

 

Continuing on, the next step is to assign an action to the workflow rule to update the Unit Price field automatically.

1. Click the drop-down list that reads Add Workflow Action and choose New Field Update.

2. In the Name field, enter Copy Unit Price.

3. In the Field to Update list, choose Line Item and then Unit Price.

4. Select the option to use a formula to set the new value. Before continuing, confirm that your screen matches the following.

SFDC: Add App Logic-Automate a field update using workflow

5. Click Show Formula Editor, and then click Insert Field.

6. In the first column choose Line Item >, in the second column choose Merchandise >, and in the third column choose Price.

7. Confirm that your screen matches the following, and then click Insert.

SFDC: Add App Logic-Automate a field update using workflow

 

8. Click Save, and then click Done to return to the detail page of the new workflow rule.

Point to Focus: In the formula, notice some new syntax, namely "Merchandise__r". You’ve seen __c used already, so what’s with the __r? That’s the platform’s object notation for a field that’s related to another object. You can use related fields to traverse object relationships and access related fields. In this case, the formula uses the relationship between the Line Item record and Merchandise object to get the corresponding Merchandise record's value for Price. 

Update Total Inventory When an Order is Placed

The inventory of merchandise should be automatically maintained as orders are placed.

·         When you create a new invoice ("Open" status), every new line item needs to decrease the total inventory by the number of units sold.

·         Similarly, updates to an existing line item need to update the total inventory by the difference in units sold.

There are a few different ways you can make this update. You could do this in Apex code, or by creating a Flow, or by creating another workflow rule. For simplicity, you’ll stick with workflow for now, but there is one minor problem to fix first, which is that the workflow field update won’t work with a lookup relationship. So the first step is to change the lookup to a master-detail. Fortunately, the platform makes such changes very easy.

1.       From Setup, click Create > Objects, and click Line Item.

2.       Scroll down to Custom Fields and Relationships, and next to Merchandise click Edit.

3.       Click Change Field Type, and then select Master-Detail Relationship.

4.       Click Next, and then Save.

Now you can create the workflow rules.

1.       From Setup, click Create > Workflow & Approvals > Workflow Rules

2.       On the All Workflow Rules page, click New Rule.

3.       Select Line Item as the object, and click Next.

4.       In the Rule Name field, enter Line Item Updated.

5.       For Evaluate the rule when a record is: select created, and every time it’s edited

6.       In the Rule Criteria field, leave criteria are met selected.

7.       In the Field drop-down list, select Invoice: Status. In Operator, select equals. For Value, click the lookup icon and choose Open, and click Insert Selected.

8.       Click Save & Next.

9.       Click Add Workflow Action and choose New Field Update. The New Field Update wizard opens.

10.   In the Name field, enter Update Stock Inventory.

11.   In the first Field to Update drop-down list, select Merchandise. In the second, select Quantity

12.   Select Use a formula to set the new value.

13.   Click Show Formula Editor.

14.   Click Insert Field and choose Line Item > Merchandise > Quantity. Click Insert to add the field to the editor.

15.   Click Insert Operator and choose – Subtract.

16.   Click Insert Field and choose Line Item > Quantity. Click Insert to add the field to the editor.

1.       The completed formula should be Merchandise__r.Quantity__c - Quantity__c.

17.   Click Check Syntax, and make corrections if necessary.

18.   Click Save to close the New Field Update wizard and return to Step 3 of the Workflow wizard.

19.   Click Done.

 

Activate the Workflow Rule

This is a tiny step, but it’s an important one. By default, workflow rules are not active

1.       In Setup click Workflow & Approvals > Workflow Rules to get to the All Workflow Rules page.

2.       Next to Line Item Updated and Populate Unit Price, you’ll see an Activate link. Click the link next to each workflow rule.

 

Point to focus: Workflow rules are not activated by default because you might turn off workflow rules when running bulk processes. For example, you might want to update a whole bunch of records at the same time, and firing the workflow rule each time wouldn’t invalidate your processes. Workflow rules can also do things like send email updates, and you might not want to send thousands of emails when you’re doing a simple price change.

Try Out the App

Now try out the revised app and see how the new workflow rule implements your business logic.

1.       Click the Invoices tab and either create a new Invoice or edit an existing Invoice.

2.       Add a New Line Item and after you've chosen the Merchandise, click Save.

3.       Click back into the detail page for the new Line Item and notice how the first workflow rule you created automatically populated the Unit Price field by looking up the Price of the Merchandise that you selected. Cool!!

SFDC: Add App Logic-Automate a field update using workflow

**This document is referred from salesforce help tutorials

 


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