This document provides an introduction and overview of Force.com. It begins with an agenda that outlines Salesforce.com, cloud technology, Force.com as a PAAS, and Force.com technologies. It then discusses Salesforce.com as a global CRM company. It defines cloud computing and explains why it is needed. Force.com is introduced as a PAAS from Salesforce.com that developers use to build multi-tenant applications. Key Force.com technologies are outlined including the data model using objects and fields, the Apex programming language, and Visualforce for building custom user interfaces. Examples are provided for Apex triggers, SOQL queries, and Visualforce components.

1. Presented by :
Date :
Introduction to Force.com
Kaushik Chakraborty
6th Sept, 2012

2. a SEI-CMMi level 4 company
Agenda
• Salesforce.com
• Cloud Technology(What and Why)
• Force.com(a PAAS)
• Force.com Technologies
• Data - Force.com Database
• Logic - Apex
• View - Visual Force
• Demo
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3. a SEI-CMMi level 4 company
Salesforce.com
Salesforce.com Inc. is a global enterprise software company headquartered in San
Fransisco, United States.
 Founded : March 1999
 Founders :
 Marc Benioff (former Oracle executive)
 Parker Harris, Dave Moellenhoff, and Frank Dominguez (three software developers previously at
Clarify).
 Known for its (CRM) product, through acquisitions Salesforce has expanded into
the "social enterprise arena."
 It was ranked number 27 in Fortune’s 100 Best Companies to Work For in 2012.
 Salesforce.com's CRM solution is broken down into several broad categories:
 Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, Data Cloud,(Data.com), Collaboration Cloud (Chatter) and Custom
Cloud(Force.com).
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4. a SEI-CMMi level 4 company
Cloud Computing
What is Cloud Computing ?
Wikipedia says : Cloud computing is the use
of computing resources (hardware and software) that are delivered
as a service over a network (typically the Internet).
Typically its categorized into 3 types :
 IAAS (Infrastructure As A Service)
 Amazon EC2, Google Cloud Engine.
 PAAS (Platform As A Service)
 Heroku, Force.com
 SAAS (Software As A Service)
 Google Apps, Limelight Video Platform
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5. a SEI-CMMi level 4 company
Cloud Computing
 Why Do we need Cloud Computing Service ?
 “LESSER INVESTMENT”
 Reduced personal infrastructure
 Reduced head count
 On Demand Service
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Cloud computing logical diagram

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Force.com(a PAAS)
Force.com is a cloud computing platform as a service system
from Salesforce.com that developers use to build multi tenant
applications hosted on their servers as a service.
Advantages :
 RAD Platform – Lots of available features/functionalities from Salesforce
 User management and authentication
 Administrative interface
 Reporting and analytics
 Enforces best practices
 Actively under development (Big things underway with VMForce - the enterprise cloud for Java developers.)
 No Prerequisites : Only a Computer with an internet connection
Disadvantages:
 Apex(Force.com programming language) not Fully Featured Language
 Debugging is a Nightmare as there is no real time debugger
 Unfixed bugs
 Checking the uploaded resources(.css, images , .js)
 Data based pricing makes it pricy for folks with lots of data.
 Force.com IDE doesn’t provide usability like Eclipse.
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7. a SEI-CMMi level 4 company
Force.com Technologies
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Visual Force Page 1
Apex Controller 3Apex Controller 2Apex Controller 1
Visual Force Page 2 Visual Force Page 3
Apex Classes
sObject 1
Trigger 2Trigger 1
sObject 2 sObject 3
Visual Force Pages
Apex Logic
(Controllers, Class , Triggers))
Database Objects

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Force.com Technologies (The Database)
The Lingo(Old New)
 Tables Objects
 Columns Fields
 Keys Ids
 Foreign Keys Relationships
 Row Record
Types of Objects :
 Standard Objects – Provided by force.com per profile(Account, Attachment)
refer to : http://www.salesforce.com/us/developer/docs/api/Content/sforce_api_objects_list.htm
 Custom Objects – Created by the user
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9. a SEI-CMMi level 4 company
Force.com Technologies (The Database)
The joy of data types :
 Lookup Fields
 Master Detail Fields
 Roll up Summary
 Formula Fields
 Rich Text
 Email
 Currency
 Percentage
 Picklist and Picklist(Multiselect)
 URL
 Number
 Text
 Long Text
 Date
 Checkbox
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Read Only Fields
Relational Fields
Non Relational Fields

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Force.com Technologies (The Database)
The Query Languages :
 SOQL (Salesforce Object Query Language) : A close cousin of SQL(but is not as
advanced), used to construct query strings
 Basic Syntax :
SELECT fieldList FROM objectType
[WHERE conditionExpression]
[GROUP BY fieldGroupByList]
[HAVING havingConditionExpression]
[ORDER BY fieldOrderByList ASC | DESC ? NULLS FIRST | LAST ?]
[LIMIT number of rows to return ?]
[OFFSET number of rows to skip?]
 SOSL (Salesforce Object Search Language) : It is used to create search strings
 Basic Syntax :
FIND {SearchQuery} [toLabel()]
[IN SearchGroup [convertCurrency(Amount)]]
[RETURNING FieldSpec]
[LIMIT n]
Refer to : http://www.salesforce.com/us/developer/docs/soql_sosl/index.htm
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11. a SEI-CMMi level 4 company
Force.com Technologies (The Database)
When to use SOQL?
 You know in which objects or fields the data resides
 You want to retrieve data from a single object or from multiple objects that are related to one another
 You want to count the number of records that meet particular criteria
 You want to sort your results as part of the query
 You want to retrieve data from number, date, or checkbox fields
When to use SOSL?
 You don’t know in which object or field the data resides and you want to find it in the most efficient way
possible
 You want to retrieve multiple objects and fields efficiently, and the objects may or may not be related to
one another
 You want to retrieve data for a particular division in an organization with Divisions, and you want to find it
in the most efficient way possible
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12. a SEI-CMMi level 4 company
Force.com Technologies (The Database)
SOQL vs SOQL : What it returns ?
 SOQL statements evaluate to a list of sObjects, a single sObject, or an Integer for count method queries.
Returns an empty list if no records are found.
 SOSL statements evaluate to a list of lists of sObjects, where each list contains the search results for a
particular sObject type. The result lists are always returned in the same order as they were specified in the
SOSL query. SOSL queries are only supported in Apex classes and anonymous blocks. You cannot use a
SOSL query in a trigger. If a SOSL query does not return any records for a specified sObject type, the search
results include an empty list for that sObject.
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List<Account> accounts = [SELECT Id, Name FROM Account WHERE Name = 'Acme'];
List<List<SObject>> searchList = [FIND 'map*' IN ALL FIELDS
RETURNING Account (Id, Name),
Contact, Opportunity, Lead];
Account [] accounts = ((List<Account>)searchList[0]);
Contact [] contacts = ((List<Contact>)searchList[1]);
Opportunity [] opportunities = ((List<Opportunity>)searchList[2]);
Lead [] leads = ((List<Lead>)searchList[3]);

13. a SEI-CMMi level 4 company
Force.com Technologies (Apex)
What’s is similar to :
 A programming language
 Syntax close to C# and Java
 Compiled
 Strongly typed language(String , Integer etc.)
 Can be used like database stored procedures / triggers (similar to TSQL in SqlServer and
PL/SQL in Oracle)
How it is different:
 Runs natively on force.com
 Testing a Class from the same Class
 Coding in the browser
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Force.com Technologies (Apex)
Apex Code : What it looks like ?
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Data
Operation
Array
Control
Structure
SOQL QueryVariable
Declaration

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Force.com Technologies (Apex)
A trigger is an Apex code that executes before or after the following
types of operations :
 Insert
 Update
 Delete
 Upsert (update or insert)
 Undelete
A sample Trigger :
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trigger HandleModifiedDateOnCustomer on Customer__c (before update) {
for(Customer__c customer : Trigger.NEW){
customer.Modified_Date__c = Date.TODAY();
}
}

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Force.com Technologies (Visual Force)
Visualforce is a framework that allows developers to build sophisticated, custom user
interfaces that can be hosted natively on the Force.com platform.
Supported Browsers
 Microsoft® Internet Explorer® versions 7, 8, and 9
 Mozilla® Firefox®, most recent stable version
 Google Chrome™, most recent stable version
 Google Chrome Frame™ plug-in for Microsoft® Internet Explorer® 6
 Apple® Safari® version 5.1.x
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17. a SEI-CMMi level 4 company
Force.com Technologies (Visualforce)
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KEY FEATURES :
PAGES
 Use Standard Web Technologies including HTML and JavaScript
 Are rendered in HTML
 Can include components , Force.com Expressions, HTML, JS, Flash and
more.
COMPONENTS
 Are reusable standard Salesforce and custom – designed UI components
 Are referenced over a tag library model with over 65 standard elements
 Can be created for resuse
CONTROLLERS
 Types : Standard and Custom(Apex)
 Provides data from the database to the Visualforce pages
 A set of instruction that specify what happens when a user interacts
with the components in the Visualforce page like a button click.
Visualforce
Pages
(Parent – Component)
Child
Components
Controllers
Request
Response

18. a SEI-CMMi level 4 company
Force.com Technologies (Visual Force)
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19. a SEI-CMMi level 4 company
Force.com Technologies (Visual Force)
Expression Syntax
There are three types of bindings for Visualforce Components :
 Data Bindings : uses the expression syntax to pull data from the data set made available by
the page controller.
 Action Bindings : uses the expression syntax to call action methods for functions coded by
the page controller.
 Component Bindings : uses components attribute values to reference other components’
ID’s
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<apex:inputField value=“{!Student__c.Name__c}”/>
<apex:commandButton value=“Save” action=“{!saveStudent}”/>
<apex:attribute name=“text” type=“String” description=“My text value to display”/>
……………..
…………….
<h1>{!text}</h1>

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Force.com Technologies (Visual Force)
Intelligent Component : <apex:inputField />
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21. a SEI-CMMi level 4 company
Force.com Technologies (Visual Force)
Other features :
 Inclusion of Static Resources (.css , .js , jquery)
 Including Custom Java Scripts and styles
 Rendering a PDF can get easier
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Thank You .. !!
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