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Expand Upsert Capabilities

Overview 

Release provides powerful upsert features which take the standard Salesforce upsert functionality to a whole new level. The following sections describe each approach. In Release, you to specify the approach for each data set element independently. 

Release Virtual External IDs (VEID) 

Release virtual external ID (VEID) allows you to upsert records without having to know or define any Salesforce external ID fields or specify fields in Release as part of Release composite external IDs. During initial deployment to an empty destination org, the Release VEID manager captures source record IDs and creates associations between source and destination record IDs. Then, the Release VEID manager tracks any subsequent deployments of the same record IDs between any of your orgs.

If you are not starting with an empty destination org, refer to VEID Setup During A Development Cycle before proceeding.  

New users have a much quicker time to deployment, less ramp up effort, less frustration, and reduced learning curve. Experienced users can simplify their data set model and streamline their deployment performance.

To use VEID, simply select Virtual External ID from the Record Matching Method picklist on the data set Element Details tab, save the data set, and perform a deployment.

The Release VEID manager cannot match differing IDs of data records you create in an org by any method (such as a data loader or manual entry) other than an Release VEID org-to-org or version-control deployment. For VEID to be successful, the IDs of records created with a sandbox refresh, sandbox cloning, or tools other than Release VEID must match in your source and destination orgs. Refer to the links in this note for more information.

Release Composite External IDs (CEID) / Standard Upsert

Release allows you to concatenate fields to create composite IDs, rather than rely on traditional Salesforce external IDs. Release provides the following expanded capabilities for creating composite external IDs:

  • Select any object field to be an external ID, not just fields which are explicitly identified as external IDs in Salesforce.
  • Select multiple fields to create a composite external ID. For example, you can uniquely identify an account by combining its name and type.
  • Select one or more parent lookup fields as an external ID to uniquely match a record under the parent records instead of the entire org. This technique is useful for records which do not have a unique org-wide identifier.

To use CEID:

  1. In the data set editor on the Element Details tab, select Standard Upsert, Match First Found, or Skip Duplicate from the Record Matching Method picklist.
  2. For each field that comprises the composite ID, on the Object Fields tab, click the PROPERTIES (gear) icon, and select External ID.
  3. Save the data set.
  4. Perform a deployment.

Salesforce Formal External IDs (FEID) 

Release supports the standard Salesforce external IDs. For clarity, Prodly refers to these IDs as formal external IDs (FEID). To Release, FEIDs are the same as CEIDs. To use FEID, follow the steps for CEID above.

Options for Handling Duplicate Records 

Release record matching methods provide these ways to handle multiple matching records:

  • Update the first match found.
  • Skip the record entirely.
  • Perform a standard Salesforce upsert (that throws errors when more than one record matches).

The methods apply to both FEIDs you define in Salesforce and CEIDs you define in the field properties on the Object Fields tab.