Change sets are an important part of any Salesforce implementation. They provide a way for developers to quickly and easily move configuration changes from one environment (e.g., Sandbox) to another (e.g., Production). However, without proper testing and validation, the effects of those changes can often have unintended consequences, leading to costly and time-consuming errors.
In this article, we’ll discuss some best practices for testing and validating change sets before deployment in Salesforce.
We’ll cover topics such as unit testing, regression testing, user acceptance testing (UAT), data validation, and more. By following these steps, you can ensure that your changes are successfully deployed with minimal disruption to the end-user experience.
- Unit Testing:
Unit tests are designed to test individual components of a Salesforce application in isolation. This helps developers determine whether those components behave correctly when used together. All change sets should include unit tests that check not only the functionality of the modified objects but also the intended interactions between those objects. This helps to ensure that the changes are working as expected and that any existing features are not adversely affected.
- Regression Testing:
Regression testing is a form of “smoke testing” in which the entire application is tested against a known set of baseline criteria to determine if all components are functioning correctly. This should be done after unit tests have been completed, as it will reveal any unintended interactions between different parts of the system. Regression tests should also look for areas where new functionality may have caused previously working functionality to break or become unreliable.
- User Acceptance Testing (UAT):
Before deploying into production, it’s important to test your changes from the perspective of an end user. User acceptance testing (UAT) ensures that the changes made by a developer work as expected when used by an end user. UAT should be conducted in a production-like environment, with real data and usage patterns to ensure accuracy.
- Data Validation:
It’s important to conduct some form of data validation before any change set is deployed. Data validation tests should include verifying that new or modified records are saved correctly and can be retrieved without errors. Additionally, verification should be done on related objects such as Contacts and Accounts to ensure that those records continue to be linked properly after the changes have been applied.
- Security Testing:
Finally, it is necessary to conduct security testing before deploying a change set into production. Security tests should focus on verifying that the changes made by the developer are compliant with existing Salesforce security policies and regulations. This may include validating field-level security, user roles and profiles, and other sensitive configuration elements.
FAQs:
Q: How long should change sets take to deploy?
A: The amount of time required to deploy a change set will depend on the size and complexity of the changes. Smaller, simpler changes can be deployed quickly, while larger, more complex changes may require additional time for testing and validation.
Q: What kind of tests should be performed before deploying a change set?
A: Before deploying a change set, it is important to perform unit tests, regression tests, user acceptance tests (UAT), security tests, and data validation. This helps ensure that the application behaves as expected and that any existing features are not adversely affected by the changes made.
Conclusion:
By following these best practices for testing and validating change sets before deployment in Salesforce, you can ensure that your changes are successful and minimize any disruption to the end-user experience. Through unit testing, regression testing, UAT, data validation, and security testing, you can make sure that your application remains stable and secure after each deployment. With proper planning and execution of these change management processes, you can ensure that your Salesforce application continues to run smoothly.
By following these best practices for testing and validating change sets before deployment in Salesforce, you can ensure that your changes are deployed successfully with minimal disruption to the user experience. From unit testing and regression testing to UAT and data validation, each step is designed to give you confidence in the results of your change sets before they go live. Doing so will also help you avoid costly errors and ensure that your Salesforce implementation remains on track.