The document provides an overview of metadata and its API capabilities within Salesforce, detailing how data and metadata differ. It explains the functionalities offered by the metadata API, including methods for creating, updating, and deleting various components programmatically to optimize customization processes. Additionally, it describes the types of metadata API calls, synchronous and asynchronous, along with examples of using these methods in code.

1. API
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Ajay Dubedi
Salesforce Expert

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First you need to understand data. What is data in context with Salesforce.
Data is anything which is stored in a database like records related to Contacts,
Accounts, Leads Opportunity etc.
Metadata:
Metadata can be defined as the set of data about another data. i.e.,
Configuration/Code/Logic of the underlying structure which is used to store the
data (Records).
Another definition is you can say the database structure in which you will be
saving the data.
MetaData API

3. Metadata Api for Salesforce can do several things
programmatically.You can read, create, update, delete
following components in a Salesforce organization.
1. Custom Objects/Fields.
2. Visualforce pages.
3. Page Layouts.
4. Validation rules.
5. Apex.
6. Workflows.
7. Approval processes.
8. Profiles.
9. Reports etc.
10. Security.
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MetaData API

4. You can configure a Salesforce organization just by running a piece of code. In contrast
to this I meant to say that you can create Objects,Fields,Validation,Workflows, Profiles,
Reports for a particular client organization just by running the piece of code so that you
need not do all the customisation settings manually which will consume time if you have
to do that several times for different clients for the same configuration settings.
You can also take the backup of your organization customisation settings just by
fetching the metadata WSDL from your Salesforce org.
For this You need to click setup>type API-Click on API >Click Generate metadata WSDL
and download the xml file.
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MetaData API

5. There are two types of Metadata API calls:
1. Synchronous:-
This will give the result immediately as
soon as you call a method.
2. Asynchronous:-
This will not give result immediately, it will
take time.
Asynchronous :
There are four types of methods which we can use:
1. Create();
2. Update();
3. Upsert();
4. Delete();
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MetaData API

6. Synchronous :
There are four types of methods which we can use:
createMetadata(); saveResult[] = metadataConnection.createMetadata(Metadata[] metadata);
readMetadata();readResult=metadataConnection.readMetadata(stringmetadataType,string[]
fullNames);
updateMetadata(); saveResult[] = metadataConnection.updateMetadata(Metadata[] metadata);
upsertMetadata(); upsertResult[] = metadataConnection.upsertMetadata(Metadata[] metadata);
deleteMetadata(); seleteResult[] = metadataConnection.delete(string metadataType, string[] fullNames);
All these classes saveResult,readResult, upsertResult,deleteResult comes from a main class that is
MetadataService.cls in which all the relevant methods are present to function Read, Create, Update,
Upsert or Delete properly.
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MetaData API

7. MetadataService is a class which have several methods and used in these methods.
So now if you want to create the object then you just have to call this method like this:
YourClassName.createObject();
Firstly you have to deploy these classes in your org. check this link for all the classes in
metadata sample and add them to your org
If you face some problem like : Remote site settings error. Then just create a remote site
setting in your org by typing remote site settings in setup and in Remote site URL paste
the link and click save.
As you call this method like for example in the Execute Anonymous section then it will
create an object named as Test.
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MetaData API

8. To Create a Custom Object:
You need to add this code to your class which you are using
and call this method via class name to create the object.
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MetaData API

9. To Upsert a Custom Object:
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MetaData API

10. To Create a Custom Field:
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MetaData API

11. To Delete the Custom field:
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MetaData API

12. To Update the Field:
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MetaData API

13. To Update Field Level Security:
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MetaData API

14. To Create a Page:
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MetaData API

15. Sample Custom Code:
For creation of a Visualforce page.
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MetaData API

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MetaData API

17. For Deleting the Created Visualforce page:
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MetaData API

18. Ajay Dubedi
Salesforce Expert
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+1 (415) 830-3899
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