The document introduces Apex Connector for Lightning Connect, which allows developers to create connections to external data sources directly in Apex and surface the external data as custom objects in Salesforce. It provides an overview of Lightning Connect and demonstrates how to build a simple "Hello World" connector using Apex classes to retrieve and return data from an external source. Limitations of the framework are also discussed.

1. Apex Connector for Lightning Connect:
Make Anything a Salesforce object
Agustina García Peralta
Principal Developer on Platform Strategy
agarcia@financialforce.com
@agarciaodeian

2. Agustina García Peralta
Principal Developer, Platform Strategy
FinancialForce.com
@agarciaodeian

3. About
GREAT ALONE. BETTER TOGETHER.
• Native to Salesforce App Cloud since 2009
• Investors include Salesforce Ventures
• Customers in 27 countries
• 650+ employees, San Francisco based
• Dreamforce.FinancialForce.com

4. Agenda
• What is Apex Connector
• What is Lightning Connect  Demo
• Apex Connector for Lightning Connect – All in Apex
• Use Cases & Demos
• Limitations
• Take away
• Q&A

5. • What is Apex Connector? It is a new Framework
• Where can we use it? Lightning Connect
What is Apex Connector?
All in Apex

6. • Lightning Group feature
• Platform Connect, External Data Source, External Objects
• GA  Winter ‘15
• Link an External repository with your Salesforce organization
• It is not an ETL (Extract – Transform – Load)
• Data Loader, JitterBit Data Loader
What is Lightning Connect?

7. Use Case – For Dreaming Store
In the seventies a store opened in my neighborhood
At the beginning, it only sold
But after some time, it started selling ,
And nowadays also

8. Use Case – For Dreaming Store
was done in paper
But the latest owner moved to and

9. Use Case – For Dreaming Store

10. Demo

11. How is it developed?

12. How is it developed?

13. • Apex Connector Framework
• GA  Summer ‘15
• Framework
• All in Apex!!
• How to use it?
• Class1  Extends DataSource.Provider
• Class2  Extends DataSource.Connection
Apex Connector for Lightning Connect

14. Use Case – Hello World

15. Hello World – Connector Class
It can be
global

16. Hello World – Connector Class

17. Hello World – Connector Class Open a single
record
Open List View Do I need any filter?

18. Hello World – Connector Class

19. Hello World – Provider Class
It can be
global

20. Demo

21. Hello World – External Data Source

22. Hello World – External Object

23. Use Case – For Dreaming Store

24. Use Case – For Dreaming Store

25. Use Case – For Dreaming Store

26. Demo

27. For Dreaming Store – Provider Class

28. For Dreaming Store – Connector Class

29. For Dreaming Store – Connector Class

30. For Dreaming Store – Connector Class

31. For Dreaming Store – Connector Class

32. For Dreaming Store – Read Google sheet

33. For Dreaming Store – Read Google sheet

34. For Dreaming Store – Unit Test
Add a filter

35. • Allow you to read information on your org and show as external object
• Create a connection to another org
Apex Connector – Anything else?

36. • Fields
• Double  value lose precision beyond 10 significant digits
• String  length is greater than 255, field is mapped to a long text area field
• Doesn’t provide Master – Detail
• Workaround with Indirect Lookup and External Lookup
• Subject to same limits
• Apex Governor limits
• Apex Callouts aren’t allow after DML  soft limit
Apex Connector - Limits

37. • Lightning Connect allows your to link information of an external repository to your org
• How to create the connection?
• OData provider
• Create your own one  OData, Java …
• Apex Connector Framework !! – All in Apex
• A Provider class
• A Connection class
• Unit Tests
• External Objects work as Custom one
• Create buttons and code behind the scene to use them
Take away as Developer

38. • Configuration with #clicksnotcode
• Real Time refresh
• It doesn’t count against storage limit
Take away as End User

39. Q&A

40. • http://goo.gl/RQRu8y
• http://goo.gl/f4G7Rd
• http://goo.gl/Rtv4zw
• Do you want more?
• Lightning Connect Custom Adapters: Connecting Anything with Salesforce
• Thursday at 2.45pm Moscone West 2009
Links and more
Agustina García Peralta
agarcia@financialforce.com
@agarciaodeian
www.agarciaodeian.com
http://www.meetup.com/es/Spain-Salesforce-Developer-User-Group/
HelloWorld Apex Connector code  https://goo.gl/VEEO0s

41. Thank you