Salesforce: Apex Trigger to Reassign Contacts and Open Opportunities

Standard Salesforce functionality allows for the reassignment of Contacts and open Opportunities when the Account to which these records are associated is reassigned to a new User. Clicking the "[change]" link next to the Account Owner field on the Account detail page will allow you to step through a process by which you select a new Account owner and save the changes. Once the changes are made the system will go out and reassign all Contacts and all open Opportunities owned by the old Account Owner to the new Account Owner. This is useful and so automatic that you may not even be aware that it happens.

So what if you work for an organization where Account reassignment tasks are handled in mass or they are handled by some Salesforce integration? Unless the admin performing the mass updates is explicitly updating the related records or there is code in the integration explicitly reassigning the records, the related Contacts and Opportunities are remaining assigned to the old Account Owner.
That's why I wrote the following trigger. It will perform the ownership update for related Contacts and Opportunities when the Owner of the associated Account is updated.

For some security might be a concern sending the data via URL parameters.
Up to this point, I have not been able to confirm if Google is officially supporting SSL connections to rectify this problem. However the following seems to be fine

trigger reassignRelatedContactsAndOpportunities on Account (after update) {
 try {
  Set accountIds = new Set(); //set for holding the Ids of all Accounts that have been assigned to new Owners
  Map oldOwnerIds = new Map(); //map for holding the old account ownerId
  Map newOwnerIds = new Map(); //map for holding the new account ownerId
  Contact[] contactUpdates = new Contact[0]; //Contact sObject to hold OwnerId updates
  Opportunity[] opportunityUpdates = new Opportunity[0]; //Opportunity sObject to hold OwnerId updates
  
  for (Account a : Trigger.new) { //for all records
   if (a.OwnerId != Trigger.oldMap.get(a.Id).OwnerId) {
    oldOwnerIds.put(a.Id, Trigger.oldMap.get(a.Id).OwnerId); //put the old OwnerId value in a map
    newOwnerIds.put(a.Id, a.OwnerId); //put the new OwnerId value in a map
    accountIds.add(a.Id); //add the Account Id to the set
   }
  }
  
  if (!accountIds.isEmpty()) { //if the accountIds Set is not empty
   for (Account act : [SELECT Id, (SELECT Id, OwnerId FROM Contacts), (SELECT Id, OwnerId FROM Opportunities WHERE IsClosed = False) FROM Account WHERE Id in :accountIds]) { //SOQL to get Contacts and Opportunities for updated Accounts
    String newOwnerId = newOwnerIds.get(act.Id); //get the new OwnerId value for the account
    String oldOwnerId = oldOwnerIds.get(act.Id); //get the old OwnerId value for the account
    for (Contact c : act.Contacts) { //for all contacts
     if (c.OwnerId == oldOwnerId) { //if the contact is assigned to the old account Owner
      Contact updatedContact = new Contact(Id = c.Id, OwnerId = newOwnerId); //create a new Contact sObject
      contactUpdates.add(updatedContact); //add the contact to our List of updates
     }
    }
    for (Opportunity o : act.Opportunities) { //for all opportunities
     if (o.OwnerId == oldOwnerId) { //if the opportunity is assigned to the old account Owner
      Opportunity updatedOpportunity = new Opportunity(Id = o.Id, OwnerId = newOwnerId); //create a new Opportunity sObject
      opportunityUpdates.add(updatedOpportunity); //add the opportunity to our List of updates
     }
    }
   }
   update contactUpdates; //update the Contacts
   update opportunityUpdates; //update the Opportunities
  }
 } catch(Exception e) { //catch errors
  System.Debug('reassignRelatedContactsAndOpportunities failure: '+e.getMessage()); //write error to the debug log
 }
} 

The code itself is fairly straightforward. If your Users/Admins elect to perform one-off Account ownership changes via the Salesforce GUI then the regular functionality still applies. This code simply keeps you covered when performing Account assignment changes in another manner.
-greg

create a Google Map S-Control

In many cases you may need to create a control that utilizes the Google Map APIs to show location of a client, client's offices, driving directions, etc to the user.

In this example, I will demonstrate how you can develop a s-control to show driving directions from the User's location to any Account that the User is viewing.

In order to accomplish this I initially thought of a Visualforce Page which hosts the Google Map API and I could use the all-ready standard components with original Salesforce look and feel.

So I tried and I tired and did not seem to get anywhere since Google was not recognizing my key, so Google's authentication for my website let's say: http://na5.salesforce.com/ would fail each time I tried to view my VF page. Finally I decided to do this in a S-Control and then call the S-Control in VF page.

If you need more information about how you can call a S-Control in your VF pages click here.

So first let's see what we want to achieve:
The S-Control reads the URL parameters and looks for two parameters to be passed to it:

• from: the location where the sales rep (user) is located.
• to: The target location, could be the Account's address

Once the S-Control is called and the two parameters passed via URL, the S-Control then in turn calls Google's APIs to view the map and show the directions information.

Now let's first create a new S-Control:

1. Click on "Setup" which is located on the top right corner of the force.com page.
2. Expand "Develop" item and click on "S-Controls"
3. Hit "New Custom S-Control"
4. Provide a Label "Map Directions" and a description is you wished to
5. The Type should be HTML since we want to create a HTML, Google API mash up
6. Now it is time to enter the code for the S-Control

<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xmlns:v="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml">
<head>
<meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" />
<title>Google Maps JavaScript API Example: Advanced Directions</title>
<link href="/dCSS/Theme2/default/common.css" type="text/css" media="handheld,print,projection,screen,tty,tv"
rel="stylesheet">
<link href="/dCSS/Theme2/default/custom.css" type="text/css" media="handheld,print,projection,screen,tty,tv"
rel="stylesheet">

<script src=" http://maps.google.com/?file=api&amp;v=2.x&amp;key={YOUR KEY}"
type="text/javascript"></script>

<script src="/js/functions.js" type="text/javascript"></script>

<script type="text/javascript" src="/soap/ajax/13.0/connection.js"></script>

<style type="text/css">
body {
font-family: Verdana, Arial, sans serif;
font-size: 11px;
margin: 2px;
}
table.directions th {
background-color:#EEEEEE;
}

img {
color: #000000;
}
</style>

<script type="text/javascript">

var map;
var gdir;
var geocoder = null;
var addressMarker;
var dirFrom = '{!$Request.from}';
var dirTo = '{!$Request.to}';
var mapLocale = ""
var SControlID = '{!$Request.lid}';
var SFrameIC = '{!$Request.ic}';


function initValues()
{
mapLocale = "en_US";

setInputFields(dirFrom,dirTo);
}

function setInputFields(from, to)
{
window.document.getElementById("fromAddress").value = from;
window.document.getElementById("toAddress").value = to;
}


function initialize()
{
initValues();

if (GBrowserIsCompatible()) {
map = new GMap2(document.getElementById("map_canvas"));
map.addControl(new GSmallMapControl());
map.addControl(new GMapTypeControl());
gdir = new GDirections(map, document.getElementById("directions"));
GEvent.addListener(gdir, "load", onGDirectionsLoad);
GEvent.addListener(gdir, "error", handleErrors);

setDirections(dirFrom, dirTo, mapLocale);
}
}

function setDirections(fromAddress, toAddress, locale) {
if ((fromAddress) && (toAddress))
gdir.load("from: " + fromAddress + " to: " + toAddress,
{ "locale": locale });
}

function handleErrors()
{
if (gdir.getStatus().code == G_GEO_UNKNOWN_ADDRESS)
alert("No corresponding geographic location could be found for one of the specified addresses. This may be due to the fact that the address is relatively new, or it may be incorrect.\nError code: " + gdir.getStatus().code);
else if (gdir.getStatus().code == G_GEO_SERVER_ERROR)
alert("A geocoding or directions request could not be successfully processed, yet the exact reason for the failure is not known.\n Error code: " + gdir.getStatus().code);

else if (gdir.getStatus().code == G_GEO_MISSING_QUERY)
alert("The HTTP q parameter was either missing or had no value. For geocoder requests, this means that an empty address was specified as input. For directions requests, this means that no query was specified in the input.\n Error code: " + gdir.getStatus().code);

// else if (gdir.getStatus().code == G_UNAVAILABLE_ADDRESS) <--- Doc bug... this is either not defined, or Doc is wrong
// alert("The geocode for the given address or the route for the given directions query cannot be returned due to legal or contractual reasons.\n Error code: " + gdir.getStatus().code);

else if (gdir.getStatus().code == G_GEO_BAD_KEY)
alert("The given key is either invalid or does not match the domain for which it was given. \n Error code: " + gdir.getStatus().code);

else if (gdir.getStatus().code == G_GEO_BAD_REQUEST)
alert("A directions request could not be successfully parsed.\n Error code: " + gdir.getStatus().code);

else alert("An unknown error occurred.");

}

function onGDirectionsLoad(){
// Use this function to access information about the latest load()
// results.

// e.g.
// document.getElementById("getStatus").innerHTML = gdir.getStatus().code;
// and yada yada yada...
}
</script>

</head>
<body onload="initialize()" onunload="GUnload()">
<div style="background-color: #CCCCCC">
<form action="#" onsubmit="setDirections(this.from.value, this.to.value, this.locale.value); return false">
<table>
<tr>
<th align="right">
From:&nbsp;</th>
<td>
<input type="text" size="25" id="fromAddress" name="from" value="" /></td>
<th align="right">
&nbsp;&nbsp;To:&nbsp;</th>
<td align="right">
<input type="text" size="25" id="toAddress" name="to" value="" /></td>
<th align="right">
Language:&nbsp;</th>
<th align="right">
<select id="locale" name="locale">
<option value="en" selected="selected">English</option>
<option value="fr">French</option>
<option value="de">German</option>
<option value="ja">Japanese</option>
<option value="es">Spanish</option>
</select>
</th>
<td>
<input name="submit" type="submit" value="Get Directions!" class="button" /></td>
</tr>
</table>
</form>
</div>
<div style="border-width: 1px; border-color: #000000; border-style: solid;">
<div style="overflow: auto; width: 99.5%; height: 380px">
<table class="directions" style="width: 100%; height: 100%">
<tr>
<td valign="top" style="width: 275px;">
<div id="directions" style="width: 275px; background-color: #ffffff;">
</div>
</td>
<td valign="top">
<div id="map_canvas" style="width: 100%; height: 375px; background-color: #ffffff;">
</div>
</td>
</tr>
</table>
</div>
</div>
</body>
</html>

If you would like to know how you can add your VF page which contains the S-Control to your Account's page click here.

Bring Graphical Charts into your CRM Easily

There is no doubt that nothing communicates better and faster than graphics with users. It has been always the case that users fail to utilize software solutions merely because the information is not delivered to them intuitively, comprehensively and graphically.

Managers often require summarized business critical information quick and easy to grasp. Utilizing charts in Web Applications has been a challenge for many of us over the past two decade and now it is all much easier than ever!

Google Chart is an excellent tool available for free! It is actually very easy to work with and practical.

In this article I will demonstrate how you can utilize this outstanding component to bring new life to your Salesforce pages!

Example: I have a requirement to create a Visualforce page to view a pie chart that shows number of Accounts in our organization divided by their Types.


Here is how it works:
The Google Chart API requires me to pass the chart information via URL parameters and then in return Google will send me an image in PNG format. Then all I need to do is to view the image using the HTML img tag!

Ingredients:
Chart Server URL: http://chart.apis.google.com/chart
Parameters List:

• chs: is in fact the chart size in pixels ex: 300x200
• chd: you will need to pass the chart data using this parameter. ex: t:60,40
• cht: chart type, ex: p3
• chl: chart items' label, ex: Data 1|Data 2

The above are all basic required parameters in order to create charts. So there is more to it if you are interested.

So in order to utilize this component I create a Visualforce page as follows:

<apex:page controller="googleChartCon" tabStyle="Account">
<apex:sectionHeader title="Accounts by Type"></apex:sectionHeader>
<apex:image url="{!chartData}"></apex:image>
</apex:page>

This page only contains an apex:image component which talks to the controller to obtain it's image URL.

The URL is where the magic happens so we will need to focus on that.

In order to do this I first need to get a list of Account's "Type" picklist values and then
in my custom controller, I create an internal Apex class to save the chart's data while I am running through Account's records and find out how many of which type we have in our database.

public class googleChartCon {
private String chartData;

public String getChartData()inter
{
 return chartData;
}

public googleChartCon()
{
 //obtain a list of picklist values
 Schema.DescribeFieldResult F = Account.Type.getDescribe();
 List<Schema.PicklistEntry> P = F.getPicklistValues();
 //where chart data should be stored.
 List<ChartDataItem> items = new List<ChartDataItem>();

 //iterate through each picklist value and get number of accounts
 // I wish we could do GROUP BY in SOQL!
 for(Schema.PicklistEntry pValue : P)
 {
    integer Count = [select count() from Account where Type = :pValue.getValue() limit 10000];
    if (Count > 0)
      items.add(new ChartDataItem(pValue.getValue()+ '-['+ Count.format() + ']' , Count.format()));
 }

 //Prepare the chart URL
 String chartPath = 'http://chart.apis.google.com/chart?chs=600x200&cht=p3';
 chartData = chartPath +  getChartData(items);
}

private String getChartData(List<ChartDataItem> items)
{
 String chd = ''; //23,34,56
 String chl = ''; //Hello|World

 for(ChartDataItem citem : items)
 {
    chd += citem.ItemValue + ',';
    chl += citem.Label + '|';
 }
 //remove the last comma or pipe
 chd = chd.substring(0, chd.length() -1);
 chl = chl.substring(0, chl.length() -1);

 String result = '&chd=t:' + chd + '&chl=' + chl;
 return result;
}

public class ChartDataItem
{
 public String ItemValue
 {
  get;
  set;
 }

 public String Label
 {
   get;
   set;
 }

 public ChartDataItem(String Label, String Value)
 {
    this.Label = Label;
    this.ItemValue = Value;
 }


}

}

For some security might be a concern sending the data via URL parameters.
Up to this point, I have not been able to confirm if Google is officially supporting SSL connections to rectify this problem. However the following seems to be fine:

https://www.google.com/chart?cht=p3&chd=t:60,40&chs=250x100&chl=Hello|World


In this article I have barely scratched the surface of Google Charts API, if you are interested to learn more about it go to http://code.google.com/apis/chart/

Mass Updating Standard Object Records Without a Save Button!

Today we want to explore one of the beauties of the Visualforce technology.
Those who have a history of witting ASP or ASP.NET code will admit that Visualforce has made it all too simple to develop business applications.

Let's say we want to be able to update several records of a certain Object all together providing ability for users to quickly make modifications and save them.

This is particularly useful when the data in nature changes often and it's time consuming to do the updates on a record by record basis.

In this example, I will demonstrate a Visualforce page which has a search box through which user can search Accounts and view a list of records where he or she can modify the information inline and then proceed to the next record without clicking on a save button of some sort!

This is very much as easy of entering data into cells of an excel sheet! The only difference is that the Excel needs you to click on the save button at the end but our Visualforce page won't!

I will use an actionFunction tag to create a javascript function which in turn will trigger a method of my Apex controller class. This way when the value of one the input controls changed I can call that javascript function and boom the change would get posted back to the controller and will be saved.

This the how Visualforce page is like:

<apex:page tabStyle="Account" controller="massAccountUpdateCon">
<apex:sectionHeader title="Accounts Mass Update"></apex:sectionHeader>
<apex:form >
<apex:pageBlock title="" id="pageBlock">
  <!-- This block will show the search textbox and the Search button -->
  <apex:pageBlockButtons location="top">
    <apex:inputText value="{!keywords}" style="height:15px;"></apex:inputText>
    <apex:commandButton value="Search" action="{!ViewData}" id="theButton" rerender="pageBlock" status="status"></apex:commandButton>
  </apex:pageBlockButtons>
  <!-- To show page level messages -->
  <apex:pageMessages ></apex:pageMessages>

  <!-- The below tag will provide a javascript method which when is called in turn will call a controller's method -->
  <apex:actionFunction action="{!UpdateRecords}" name="updateRecords" rerender="pageBlock" status="status"></apex:actionFunction>

  <!-- This table contains columns which have inputfield components -->
  <apex:pageBlockTable value="{!accounts}" var="a" rendered="{!NOT(ISNULL(accounts))}">
     <apex:column>
       <apex:facet name="header">Name</apex:facet>
       <apex:inputField value="{!a.Name}" onchange="updateRecords();"></apex:inputField>
     </apex:column>
     <apex:column >
       <apex:facet name="header">Phone</apex:facet>
       <apex:inputField value="{!a.Phone}" onchange="updateRecords();"></apex:inputField>
     </apex:column>
     <apex:column>
       <apex:facet name="header">Billing City</apex:facet>
       <apex:inputField value="{!a.BillingCity}" onchange="updateRecords();"></apex:inputField>
     </apex:column>
     <apex:column>
       <apex:facet name="header">Billing Country</apex:facet>
       <apex:inputField value="{!a.BillingCountry}" onchange="updateRecords();"></apex:inputField>
     </apex:column>
     <apex:column>
       <apex:facet name="header">Industry</apex:facet>
       <apex:inputField value="{!a.Industry}" onchange="updateRecords();"></apex:inputField>
     </apex:column>
  </apex:pageBlockTable>

</apex:pageBlock>

<!-- The action status to show when the AJAX postback is wroking. -->
<apex:actionStatus id="status" startText="Requesting..."/>
</apex:form>
</apex:page>

Now the Controller, this is where the simplicity of coding can be visibly seen!
As you can see in the Controller's source code, I do not need to write any code to find which column's value was changed! All I need to do is to update my List of Accounts!
Visualforce will take care of all those details!

public class massAccountUpdateCon {

  private List<Account> accounts;

  public List<Account> getAccounts() {
      return accounts;
  }

  public string keywords {
    get;
    set;
  }

  public PageReference ViewData() {
     //dynamically build the query to insertthe filter values
     String query = 'Select id, name, type, ownership, industry, phone, BillingCity, billingCountry FROM account WHERE name LIKE \'' + keywords + '%\'';
   
     accounts = Database.query(query);
                   
     return null;
  }

  public PageReference UpdateRecords() {
    // this simple line of code finds out which column was changed and update the 
    // relevant account record accordingly!
    update accounts;
    return null;
  }
}

Adv:

<a href="http://www.PaisaLive.com/register.asp?3253158-6210830"><b><font color="#FF0000" size="4">!</font></b></a>