Using Visualforce in Salesforce1

Speakers
Sandeep Bhanot
Mobile Geek (both kinds)
@cloudysan

Safe Harbor
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This presentation may contain forward-looking statements that involve risks, uncertainties, and assumptions. If any such uncertainties materialize or if any of
the assumptions proves incorrect, the results of salesforce.com, inc. could differ materially from the results expressed or implied by the forward-looking
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Salesforce.com, inc. assumes no obligation and does not intend to update these forward-looking statements.

Introducing Salesforce1
All your past investments...
Drag and drop UI
customization
Notifications
Platform
Publisher
Actions
...now in the future
Download Salesforce1 App today
All Your
Customizations
All Your Devices
All Your CRM
All Your Apps
https://yourinstance.salesforce.com/one/one.app

Visualforce in Salesforce1
§ Where can I use it?
§ How do I use it?
§ How can I make it better?

Visualforce in Salesforce1
§ Where can I use it?
§ How do I use it?
§ How can I make it better?

Visualforce – Left Nav
Visualforce Pages in Left Nav
JavaScript navigation library available
sforce.one.navigateToSObject etc.

Visualforce – Publisher Actions
Visualforce Pages as Publisher Actions
(VF page needs to the extend Standard Controller for
use with Object Specific Publisher Actions)
JavaScript Pub-Sub library available to interact with the
publisher
publisher.setValidForSubmit
publisher.post
publisher.close

Visualforce – Page Layout
Visualforce Pages in Page Layouts
(VF page needs to the extend Standard Controller)

Visualforce – Mobile Cards
Mobile Cards - Visualforce Pages on
Record Detail
(VF page needs to the extend Standard Controller)

Visualforce in Salesforce1
§ <apex:page docType="html-5.0" …>
§ ‘Available for Salesforce Mobile apps’ flag enabled
§ VF page needs to the extend Standard Controller in order to use in the
Page Layout, Mobile Cards or Publisher Actions
Things to remember…

Visualforce in Salesforce1
§ Where can I use it?
§ How do I use it?
– UI/UX
– Business Logic & Data Binding
– Navigation
– Supporting multiple form factors
– Device Access
§ How can I make it better?

Visualforce in Salesforce1
§ Where can I use it?
§ How do I use it?
– UI/UX
– Business Logic & Data Binding
– Navigation
– Supporting multiple form factors
– Device Access
§ How can I make it better?

Visualforce in Salesforce1 – UI/UX considerations
Salesforce1 cannot auto-magically
(yes, it’s a word) make Visualforce
pages mobile-optimized

Visualforce UI/UX considerations
§ Design VF pages taking the limited real-estate in mobile into account
§ Decide which form-factors your page has to support - phone, tablet, both
§ Develop for the mobile context
– Use device features like geolocation, camera etc. where appropriate
– Mobile version of the page/app does not have to support all the bells and whistles –
less is more
– Optimize for your most common mobile use case – discovery, data entry, search etc.
§ <apex:page standardStylesheets="false">
§ Use Responsive Design principles (same as the Salesforce1 app)

Making Visualforce Pages Mobile Optimized
Mobile Design Templates
www.developerforce.com/mobile/services/mobile-templates

Making Visualforce Pages Mobile Optimized
Twitter Bootstrap
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1TbyDH0RaY
Using Visualforce and Bootstrap -
http://bit.ly/VisualStrap
Custom Bootstrap fork that works with default
Visualforce styling (Community developed)

Making Visualforce Pages Mobile Optimized
Ionic Framework
http://coenraets.org/blog/2014/02/sample-force-com-mobile-
application-with-ionic-and-angularjs/

Making Visualforce Pages Mobile Optimized
Ratchet
http://coenraets.org/blog/2014/03/building-mobile-apps-for-
salesforce-com-with-ratchet-2-0/

Making Visualforce Pages Mobile Optimized
jQuery Mobile
http://www.developerforce.com/mobile/getting-started/
html5/#jquery

Using Standard Visualforce Tags in Salesforce1
<apex:repeat> <apex:outputPanel>
Note: Representative sample only. This is not a
comprehensive list
<apex:pageBlock> <apex:pageBlockButtons>
<apex:pageBlockSection> <apex:pageBlockSectionItem>
<apex:pageBlockTable> <apex:inlineEditSupport>
<apex:detail> <apex:inputField>**
<apex:enhancedList> <apex:listViews> <apex:relatedList>
<chatter:*> <liveagent:*>
Works and
Supported
Supported,
but avoid if
possible
Not
Supported

Using Standard Visualforce Tags in Salesforce1
§ Try and avoid using standard Visualforce tags (which are optimized for
desktop) if possible.
§ Use standard HTML markup (<div>, <section>, <p>, <a>, <li> etc.) +
custom mobile-optimized CSS (e.g. Bootstrap) instead
§ If you have to use structure tags like <apex:pageBlockSection>, use 1
column layout.

Salesforce1 Style Guide
http://sfdc-styleguide.herokuapp.com/
Keeping Visualforce pages consistent with the Salesforce1 look and feel

Salesforce1 Style Guide
https://github.com/joshbirk/onestarter
OneStarter - An open-source jQuery plugin for easily making Visualforce
pages appear in the style of Salesforce1.

Visualforce in Salesforce1 - UI/UX summary
Dos Don’ts
Responsive design Desktop optimized design
Standard HTML markup and custom
CSS
Standard VF structure tags and CSS
Less is more Support every bell and whistle
Use Mobile Context (e.g. camera,
geolocation)
Recreate desktop functionality
Optimized for touch (e.g. larger tap
areas, HTML5 form inputs)
Optimized for click

Visualforce in Salesforce1
§ Where can I use it?
§ How do I use it?
– UI/UX
– Business Logic & Data Binding
– Navigation
– Supporting multiple form factors
– Device Access
§ How can I make it better?

§ Avoid ViewState (no <apex:form>)
§ Favor Single Page apps (full page rendering is expensive on mobile)
§ Consider JavaScript MV* Frameworks like AngularJS, Backbone etc. to
provide structure
Business Logic & Data Binding in Visualforce
Top 3 things to remember….

Business Logic & Data Binding in Visualforce
§ Invoke Apex Controller/Extension
methods from JavaScript
§ Avoids ViewState (better performance)
§ Stateless business logic
§ Front-end heavy (i.e. JavaScript)
development
JavaScript Remoting

Business Logic & Data Binding in Visualforce
§ Basic CRUD operations on SObjects
directly from JavaScript
§ Avoids ViewState (better performance)
§ Reduces server-side Apex code
§ Front-end heavy (i.e. JavaScript)
development
§ Replaces ForceTk/RemoteTk (in the VF
context)
Visualforce Remote Objects (new Pilot in Spring ’14)

Business Logic & Data Binding in Visualforce
§ Use <apex:repeat> to display
lists
<apex:repeat> is your friend

Business Logic & Data Binding in Visualforce
Mobile Packs
http://www.developerforce.com/mobile/services/mobile-packs
§ Use popular open-source
JavaScript MV* Frameworks in
Visualforce
§ Great way to build single-page
mobile web apps
§ Mobile Packs handle data
binding with Salesforce

Visualforce in Salesforce1 – Data Binding summary
Dos Don’ts
JavaScript Remoting <apex:form>
Visualforce Remote Objects <apex:form>
HTML5 Input Elements (tel, email, date
etc.)
<apex:inputField>
<apex:input type=“tel/email/…”/> <apex:inputField>
Single Page apps Multi-page apps
JavaScript MV* Frameworks like
AngularJS, Backbone etc.
No JavaScript Framework
Stateless & Asynchronous Server-side state & synchronous

Visualforce in Salesforce1
§ Where can I use it?
§ How do I use it?
– UI/UX
– Business Logic & Data Binding
– Navigation
– Supporting multiple form factors
– Device Access
§ How can I make it better?

Visualforce in Salesforce1 - Navigation
Salesforce1 provides a JavaScript navigation library via the sforce.one
object
sforce.one.navigateToSObject
sforce.one.navigateToURL
sforce.one.navigateToFeed
sforce.one.navigateToFeedItemDetail
sforce.one.navigateToRelatedList
sforce.one.navigateToList
sforce.one.editRecord
sforce.one.createRecord

Visualforce in Salesforce1 - Navigation
§ Avoid using window.open
§ Manipulating window.location.href directly will NOT work
§ Don’t use target="_blank” in navigation links
§ External links (e.g. <a href=“www.test.com”>) will open in a new child browser
§ Internal links will open in current window
Things to remember….

Visualforce in Salesforce1
§ Where can I use it?
§ How do I use it?
– UI/UX
– Business Logic & Data Binding
– Navigation
– Supporting multiple form factors
– Device Access
§ How can I make it better?

Supporting multiple form factors in Visualforce
But my Visualforce page has to work in Salesforce1
(phone & tablet) AND Desktop…

Supporting multiple form factors in Visualforce
Option 1 (existing pages) : Refactor to make mobile-friendly
§ Minimize/eliminate use of VF tags like <apex:pageBlock>, <apex:detail>
etc. that are not mobile-optimized and/or supported in Salesforce1
§ Replace <apex:form> with JavaScript Remoting or Remote Objects where
possible

Supporting multiple form factors in Visualforce
Option 2 : Responsive Design
Recommended approach

Supporting multiple form factors in Visualforce
Option 3 : Serve different content based on form-factor
http://blogs.developerforce.com/developer-relations/2012/05/cross-device-html5-apps-using-visualforce.html
Libraries like Device.js or Modernizr
can be used to detect form-factor
– Redirect to different VF pages based
on form factor, OR
– Conditionally show sections of the
page based on form factor

Supporting multiple form factors in Visualforce
Remember to handle navigation differently in
Salesforce1 vs Desktop

Visualforce in Salesforce1
§ Where can I use it?
§ How do I use it?
– UI/UX
– Business Logic & Data Binding
– Navigation
– Supporting multiple form factors
– Device Access
§ How can I make it better?

Device Access in Salesforce1
PhoneGap/Cordova type device access is not available in the Salesforce1 app.
HOWEVER….
– Geolocation API (check the Saleforce1 Dev
Guide for an example)
– <input type="file" accept="image/*"/>
(for Camera access)

Visualforce in Salesforce1
§ Where can I use it?
§ How do I use it?
– UI/UX
– Business Logic & Data Binding
– Navigation
– Supporting multiple form factors
– Device Access
§ How can I make it better?
– Performance
– Debugging

Visualforce in Salesforce1
§ Where can I use it?
§ How do I use it?
– UI/UX
– Business Logic & Data Binding
– Navigation
– Supporting multiple form factors
– Device Access
§ How can I make it better?
– Performance
– Debugging

Visualforce Performance in Salesforce1
The 3 most important things about developing mobile web pages
Performance, Performance, Performance.

Visualforce Performance in Salesforce1
Some Performance tips for designing mobile VF pages
§ Avoid viewstate (no <apex:form>)
§ <apex:page cache="true" expires="600">
§ Minimize all your CSS and JavaScript (using tools like YUI Compressor) and compress images
§ Use optimization techniques like image lazy loading and infinite scroll
§ Insert/update the DOM in bulk to avoid browser reflows (e.g. insert an entire <ul> section
instead of individual <li> elements)
General
§ Use libraries like FastClick to avoid the default 300ms tap delay in mobile web browsers
§ Use lightweight JavaScript libraries like Zepto.js instead of Jquery
§ Move your <script> statements to the end of the Visualforce page
JavaScript

Visualforce Performance in Salesforce1
Some Performance tips for designing mobile VF pages
§ Use CSS Sprites to minimize HTTP connections
§ Avoid CSS techniques like drop shadows, gradients etc. that affect page performance. Flat
design is new black.
§ Use Hardware Accelerated CSS properties where appropriate
§ Use PNG/JPG images (no GIFs). Avoid images completely (use CSS3 instead) where possible.
§ Build single page apps with CSS transitions between screens/sections
§ Conditionally load static assets (CSS, images etc.) based on form factor
CSS/Images

Visualforce Performance in Salesforce1
Some Tools to help you measure page performance
§ WebPageTest
§ PageSpeed Insights
§ Chrome Developer Tools - Timeline

Visualforce in Salesforce1
§ Where can I use it?
§ How do I use it?
– UI/UX
– Business Logic & Data Binding
– Navigation
– Supporting multiple form factors
– Device Access
§ How can I make it better?
– Performance
– Debugging

Salesforce1 comes in two flavors
http://yourinstance.salesforce.com/one/one.app
Web version Hybrid version
Debugging Visualforce in Salesforce1

Debug your Visualforce page in the web version of Salesforce1 first
http://yourinstance.salesforce.com/one/one.app
Debugging Visualforce in Salesforce1
Use standard web debugging
tools like Chrome Dev. Tools and
Firebug

Debugging Visualforce pages running on a device
(i.e. inside the Hybrid Salesforce1 app)
http://people.apache.org/~pmuellr/weinre/docs/latest/
Debugging Visualforce in Salesforce1
Weinre – open source tool to debug web pages running on a device

Salesforce1 Developer Resources
§ Webinar: Intro to Salesforce1 Mobile App Development
§ Dreamforce Sessions – bit.ly/s1-df-sessions
§ Developer Guide – bit.ly/s1-dev-guide
§ Blogs:
– 6 things you need to know: bit.ly/s1-6-things
– Mobile cards: bit.ly/s1-mobile-cards

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