Apex SObjects

What are Apex SObjects?

Apex SObjects are a fundamental concept in Salesforce, representing records within the Salesforce environment. Each SObject corresponds to a Salesforce table (referred to as an 'object'), such as Account, Contact, or Custom Objects. SObjects are used to interact with the data stored in Salesforce, providing a way to create, update, delete, and query records efficiently.

Creating and Using SObjects

To work with SObjects in Apex, you typically need to declare a variable of the specific SObject type. This allows you to access and manipulate the fields of the record. Here's a basic example demonstrating how to create and use an SObject in Apex.

In this example, an Account SObject is created, its fields are set, and it is then inserted into the database. This is a standard pattern for using SObjects to create new records.

Querying SObjects with SOQL

Salesforce Object Query Language (SOQL) is used to query SObjects in Salesforce. You can use SOQL to retrieve records by writing queries that resemble SQL. Here's how you can query for records:

The above code snippet demonstrates how to retrieve all Account records where the Industry is 'Technology'. The results are stored in a list, and each record's name is printed to the debug log.

Working with Custom SObjects

In addition to standard objects like Account or Contact, Salesforce allows you to create custom objects tailored to your specific business needs. Custom SObjects behave similarly to standard objects. To interact with custom objects, you use the API name, which typically ends with __c.

In this snippet, a new record of a custom object MyCustomObject__c is created and inserted. Custom fields also end with __c, ensuring they are recognized as part of custom objects.

Summary

Apex SObjects are crucial for managing and interacting with Salesforce data, providing a robust framework for handling both standard and custom records. Understanding how to create, manipulate, and query SObjects is essential for any developer working with Salesforce.