[SalesForce] way to query exclusively the fields in the Page Layout for an sObject via APEX

I've been looking in to the ui-api but it doesn't cut it for me, what I need It's to return exclusively the fields in the Page Layout for an object and some additional records.

Something like Getting the Opportunity and getting its related records like the Contact records related to it as well as the OpportunityLineItem records related to it.

The ui-api does the job, but still, it's a little of a pain to extract the data from it, I'm trying to feed an external service with this, but there are just so few fields and I want to do it for many objects, that is why querying the Page Layout could be useful, may be not the data of the record but at least the involved fields, so I can do the SOQL query and get them.

My first attempt to solve this issue, was querying the full object, with 2 levels of depth, but It was too much, for the request.

Best Answer

The other way besides the UI API to approach this in pure Apex (that is, without calling out to an API explicitly) is to use the Apex Metadata API, a thin wrapper over some of the basic functionality of the Metadata API. Apex Metadata supports pulling layout details. Cf. also Trailhead, which has an example of using this functionality for a different purpose.

An example:

List<Metadata.Metadata> layouts = 
    Metadata.Operations.retrieve(Metadata.MetadataType.Layout, 
                                 new List<String> {'Account-Account Layout'});
Metadata.Layout layoutMd = (Metadata.Layout) layouts.get(0);

for (Metadata.LayoutSection section : layoutMd.layoutSections) {
    for (Metadata.LayoutColumn column : section.layoutColumns) {
        if (column.layoutItems != null) {
            for (Metadata.LayoutItem item : column.layoutItems) {
                System.debug(item.field);
            }
        }
    }
}

This would output the API names of all of the fields on the layout "Account-Account Layout". But it doesn't do all the other things the UI API does for you, like managing record types, visibility/FLS, picklist entries, etc. You'd need to handle all of that yourself, including determining the correct layout to display for any given combination of profile and record type so that you can query it.

I don't want to opine too much about your system architecture because there's obviously complexity there that I wouldn't assume you can cover in a comment. I'd just urge considering a few points before you reach for a completely different solution:

UI API is explicitly built for creating UIs backed by Salesforce data.
UI API handles record types, picklist values, and FLS for you in a single endpoint. Implementing all this stuff yourself is a giant pain.
You can source more than one record's data in a single call.
You can transform the UI API response body within Salesforce if necessary. It doesn't sound like fun, but it can be done.

Related Solutions

[SalesForce] query sObject or Custom setting by multiple fields

As I understand your question, you need to dynamically generate your where clause based on the inputs. This is possible using dynamic SOQL - constructing your query as a string, dynamically. First a code example based on your requirements, and then some important notes below.

list<string> criteria = new list<string>();

if (bind_var_a!=null) {
  criteria.add('col_a = :bind_var_a')
}

if (bind_var_b!=null) {
  criteria.add('col_b = :bind_var_b')
}

if (bind_var_c!=null) {
  criteria.add('col_c = :bind_var_c')
}

string whereClause = '';
if (criteria.size()>0) {
  whereClause = ' where ' + String.join(criteria, ' AND ');
}

string soql = 'select col_a, col_b, col_c from object_or_custom_setting_name ' + whereClause;
list<object_or_custom_setting_name> results = Database.query(soql);

The logic is simple - check each input field, if it is not null, add a test for that field to a list of criteria strings; if we have any criteria, assemble them into a where clause.

There is an important caveat here: when using :bind variables in a string with Database.query(), the variables must be simple basic types in local scope. Static variables, class properties, etc, will not work. So for example, if your input fields are passed in as properties of another object, you would need to extract them into local variables first:

//if params is an object with fields, this won't work:
if (params.bind_var_a!=null) {
  criteria.add('col_a = :params.bind_var_a'); //WONT WORK!
}

//Instead, use a local variable:
string bind_var_a = params.bind_var_a;
if (bind_var_a!=null) {
  criteria.add('col_a = :bind_var_a')
}

Likewise, if you want to re-use this query in your code, don't build a method that returns the soql string; build a method that runs the query and returns the list of SObjects, so that the query runs in the same scope where the bind variables are declared.

[SalesForce] Change the page layout for the Product Home Page

Edit Update: Updated the answer as per Vamsi's suggestion in the comments i.e. no need of a controller and can be achieved via VF page.

Create a new VF Page:

<apex:page action="{!URLFOR($Action.Product2.List, $ObjectType.Product2)}"/>

Go to Customize->Products->Buttons and Links

Edit the "Products Tab"

Under the Override Properties section, for "Override With" property , select the visualforce page name which we have created above.

We have now successfully overriden the Products tab. Whenever you click on the products tab the user would be redirected to the URL which ends with '/01t'.

Best Answer

Related Solutions

[SalesForce] query sObject or Custom setting by multiple fields

[SalesForce] Change the page layout for the Product Home Page

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