[SalesForce] Where is the Custom Object Field History object

I'm looking for the object that holds field history changes for a custom object.

Related, I see that there is a ContactHistory object, but attempts to insert are rejected with

Field is not writable: ContactHistory.ContactId

I'd like to be able to insert history on a custom object, although this seems impossible.

This is a data migration issue, where changes to fields in one system need to be replicated for auditing purposes in the new Salesforce implementation.

I can understand that there are good reasons for disabling 'insert' permissions on history tracker objects, but it would be good if there was some way to temporarily enable it, in much the same way that I can request the temporary ability to change audit fields.

Best Answer

When you enable field history tracking for an object then the changes are stored in a special history table for that particular object.

The naming convention for these objects is:

[standardObjectName]History e.g. AccountHistory, ContactHistory etc.

[customObjectName]__History e.g. Car__History, Brand__History etc.

The objects are not writable and therefore you won't be able to upsert them via apex. Check these fields out using workbench.

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Related Solutions

[SalesForce] the best workaround for the 20 field history tracking cap

Create an object called AccountHistoryTracking and fields like APIName__c,OldValue__c,NewValue__c then create a fieldset on Account called'HistoryTracking' with the fields you want to track on Account and then write below code to track history on account.This way you don't need to worry about history tracking limit per object.

trigger AccountHistoryTracker on Account (after update) {

    final List<Schema.FieldSetMember> trackedFields = 
        SObjectType.Account.FieldSets.HistoryTracking.getFields();

    if (trackedFields.isEmpty()) return;

    final List<AccountHistoryTracking__c> fieldChanges = 
        new List<AccountHistoryTracking__c>();

    if(!trigger.isUpdate)
        return;

    for (Account newAccount : trigger.new) {

        final Account oldAccount = trigger.oldmap.get(newAccount.Id);

        for (Schema.FieldSetMember fsm : trackedFields) {

            String fieldName  = fsm.getFieldPath();
            String fieldLabel = fsm.getLabel();

            if (newAccount.get(fieldName) == oldAccount.get(fieldName))
                continue;

            String oldValue = String.valueOf(oldAccount.get(fieldName));
            String newValue = String.valueOf(newAccount.get(fieldName));

            if (oldValue != null && oldValue.length()>255) 
                oldValue = oldValue.substring(0,255);

            if (newValue != null && newValue.length()>255) 
                newValue = newValue.substring(0,255); 

            final AccountHistoryTracking__c accountHistory = 
                new AccountHistoryTracking__c();

            accountHistory.name         = fieldLabel;
            accountHistory.apiName__c   = fieldName;
            accountHistory.User__c      = newAccount.Id;
            accountHistory.ChangedBy__c = UserInfo.getUserId();
            accountHistory.OldValue__c  = oldValue;
            accountHistory.NewValue__c  = newValue;

            fieldChanges.add(accountHistory);
        }
    }

    if (!fieldChanges.isEmpty()) {
        insert fieldChanges;
    }
}

[SalesForce] How to query on tracked field data

Each field history object is distinct, so there's no global table you can query from. For example, LeadHistory is for the Lead object, and Test__History is for the Test__c object. You would need to run individual reports/queries to get the information you're looking for.

Best Answer

Related Solutions

[SalesForce] the best workaround for the 20 field history tracking cap

[SalesForce] How to query on tracked field data

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