Salesforce Formula Examples That Will Boost Your Business
If you’re looking for some inspiration for your next Salesforce Formula, look no further! In this blog post, we’ll share some of our favorite examples.
Introduction to Salesforce Formulas
Formulas are used to calculate values in fields, validation rules, approval processes, Flow, and the Apex programming language. A formula is made up of fields, operators, and constants and always evaluates to a single value. You can use formulas to reference other fields, perform mathematical calculations, control characters and HTML tags, reference built-in functions, or call Apex methods.
Formula fields are read-only; you can’t enter data directly into them. However, you can reference them in Apex code or assign them new values programmatically. When you create a new formula field, an associated field is created in the background to store the calculated value (known as a roll-up summary field). The roll-up summary field is populated when a record is saved.
Salesforce Formula Fields
Salesforce provides a powerful formula field capability that lets you create custom fields that automatically calculate values based on other fields in the record or based on some predefined logic. This can be extremely helpful in a number of situations, such as customizing views, generating dynamic content, or creating fields that derive their values from complex calculations.
Formula fields are always read-only, which means that they cannot be directly edited by users. However, because they are based on other fields in the record, any changes to those underlying fields will cause the formula field to update automatically.
There are two types of Salesforce formula fields: simple and complex. Simple formula fields are those that only reference other fields in the same record and can therefore be created entirely within the point-and-click interface provided by Salesforce. Complex formula fields are those that reference fields in related records or that perform more sophisticated calculations than can be accomplished with simple formulas. Complex formulas must be created using Salesforce’s proprietary Apex programming language.
Salesforce Formula Functions
Formulas are simple calculation expressions used to derive a value. Formula fields can be used in SOQL and SOSL queries using the CASE statement.
The CASE statement is a control flow statement that allows you to evaluate a set of Boolean conditions and execute code based on the result.
A formula field is automatically calculated when a record is saved. The value of the field is based on the formula, not on the data in any other field.
Formula fields are read-only; you cannot manually enter a value in a formula field.
You can use formulas to do simple calculations on other fields on an object or to return information stored in text values, such as picklist labels
Salesforce Formula Operators
Salesforce offers a wide variety of operators that can be used in formulas. These operators can be used to perform mathematical operations, compare values, and work with text strings.
The following table lists the Salesforce operators and their descriptions:
Operator Description
+ Adds two numeric values or concatenates two text strings.
– Subtracts one numeric value from another.
* Multiplies two numeric values.
/ Divides one numeric value by another (for example, 1/3).
% Calculates the remainder of division (for example, 5%2 calculates the remainder of 5 divided by 2).
& Concatenates two text strings. Note that this is different from the + operator, which also concatenates text strings but also adds numeric values.
| Pipes two text string together. For example, “Smith”|”John” returns “Smith John”.
The following lists the Salesforce comparison operators and their descriptions:
Operator Description
= Checks if two values are equal. Returns true if they are equal, false otherwise.
!= or <> Checks if two values are not equal. Returns true if they are not equal, false otherwise.
> Checks if one value is greater than another value. Returns true if the first value is greater than the second value, false otherwise.
< Checks if one value is less than another value. Returns true if the first value is less than the second value, false otherwise.
>= Checks if one value is greater than or equal to another value. Returns true if the first value is greater than or equal to the second value, false otherwise.<=
Checks if one value is less than or equal to another va
Salesforce Formula Variables
Formula variables are A-Z, a-z, and _ (underline or underscore). You can use most variables in formula fields and some variables in other formula types. You can’t use variables in Apex code.
You can use the following reserved words as variables in your formulas but not in other places in Salesforce, such as field names or object names.
-BLANKVALUE
-CASESAFEID
-COMPONENT_TYPE
-CONTAINSKEYWORDS
-DAYS
-EMPTY
-ENCODECOMPONENT
-FALSELABEL
-FIND
-FIRSTDAYOFLASTMONTH
-FIRSTDAYOFTHISMONTH
-GETRECORDIDFROMURL
Salesforce Formula Syntax
Formula syntax looks very similar to spreadsheet syntax. Formulas begin with an equal sign (=), followed by constants, operators, functions, and/or field references. The lines below show a few examples.
3 + 4 7
5 – 2 3
8 * 5 40
9 / 3 3
Salesforce Formula Tips & Tricks
Salesforce formulas are a powerful way to automate your business processes and keep your data consistent across your entire organization. But with great power comes great responsibility, and it’s important to use Salesforce formulas judiciously to avoid performance issues and data integrity problems.
Here are some tips and tricks to help you get the most out of Salesforce formulas:
1. Use descriptive names for your fields, objects, and variables.
2. Avoid using nested IF() statements whenever possible. Instead, use CASE() statements, which are more efficient and easier to read.
3. Be aware of the order of operations for Salesforce formulas. Unlike in mathematics, Salesforce formulas follow a specific order of operations: parenthesis first, then exponents, multiplication and division (left to right), addition and subtraction (left to right), string operators (like & or |), comparison operators (like >= or <>), and finally logical operators (like AND or NOT).
4. Use short-circuit evaluation when using logical operators in your formulas. This means that if the formula can be resolved without evaluating the entire expression, Salesforce will stop evaluating at that point.
For example, if you have a formula that is logically equivalent to “A OR B OR C” but A is true, there is no need to evaluate B or C because the overall result will be true regardless. So it is more efficient to write your formula as “A OR B OR C” rather than “A OR (B OR C).”
5. In general, try to avoid using complex nested formulas whenever possible. Instead, break them up into simpler parts that can be reused in other formulas.
Not only will this make your formulas easier to read and debug, but it will also make them more efficient because Salesforce won’t have to recalculate the same parts of the formula multiple times.
Salesforce Formula Resources
As the Salesforce Platform continues to evolve, so too do the capabilities of Salesforce formulas. Formulas are a key part of the platform and can be used in a variety of ways to automate processes, calculate values, and much more.
The following are some great resources for learning more about salesforce formulas:
-The Salesforce Formulas Cheat Sheet: This helpful guide provides an overview of the various types of formulas available in Salesforce, as well as how to use them.
-The Formula Fields Reference Guide: This guide provides detailed information on how to create and use formula fields in Salesforce.
-TheSalesforce Developers Formula Fields page: This page provides helpful information and examples on how to use formula fields in Apex code.
-The Trailhead module formulas: This Trailhead module provides a great introduction to using formulas in Salesforce and includes several interactive challenges to test your knowledge.