Salesforce Data management & Integration

 1.Big objects

2.External Objects.

3.Canvas APP.

Big objects :

A big object stores and manages massive amounts of data on the Salesforce platform. 

We can archive data from other objects or bring massive datasets from outside systems into a big object to get a full view of your customers. 

Clients and external systems use a standard set of APIs to access big object data. A big object provides consistent performance, 

whether we have 1 million records, 100 million, or even 1 billion. This scale gives a big object its power and defines its features.

Big Object Use Cases

Some of the use cases for Big Object are: -

360° view of the customer— Extend your Salesforce data model to include detailed information from loyalty programs, feeds, clicks,

billing and provisioning information, and more. 

Auditing and tracking— Track and maintain a long-term view of Salesforce or product usage for analysis or compliance purposes.

Historical archive— Maintain access to historical data for analysis or compliance purposes while optimizing the performance of your 

core CRM or Lightning Platform applications.

Implementation - Key Consideration :-

Big Objects have few limitations which should be considered before making any decision: -

Big objects support custom Lightning and Visualforce components rather than standard UI elements home pages, detail pages, list views, and so on.

Big Object storage doesn't count against organization data storage limit. Based upon Salesforce edition, up to 1 million records are free. 

Additional record capacity can be bought in blocks (50M but can vary) and price is negotiable.

We can query big objects using standard SOQL or with Async SOQL. Async SOQL schedules and runs queries asynchronously in the background, 

so it can run queries that normally time out with regular SOQL. Async SOQL is the most efficient way to process the large amount of data in a 

big object. Async SOQL is available as add-on license.

Big objects support only object and field permissions (FLS and CRUD), not regular or standard sharing rules.

Search, Reports and Dashboards are not allowed on Big Objects - As Big Objects are designed for very large data volumes, 

these features are not yet available in Salesforce. However, there are a few workarounds for reporting on Big Objects : -

Use Einstein Analytics, which you can report on Big Objects

Summarize the information you want to report for Async SOQL, and store the result in an intermediate custom object. 

Then we can report on that custom object

Big Objects support only Lookup, Date/Time, Email, Number, Phone, Text, Text Area (Long) and URL data type. 

However, we can use workarounds — like creating a formula field on custom object and copying that value as text in the targeted Big Object.

Salesforce does not support flows, triggers, and process builder on Big Objects.

Big objects don't support encryption. If you archive encrypted data from a standard or custom object, it is stored as clear text on the big object.

You can’t use Salesforce Connect external objects to access big objects in another org.

How can We Query Big Objects?

If we know that you are querying small amount of records then you can use SOQL

And the another way is “Async SOQL”

AsyncSOQL: To manage millions and millions of records in your custom big objects salesforce introduced AsyncSOQL. 

But Async SOQL is included only with the licensing of additional big object capacity.

SOQL – Can retrieve records within the governor limits

Async SOQL – Can retrieve billions of records

2.External Objects:

How to Connect?

Salesforce Connect provides multiple options to connect to external systems with the help of the following adaptors:

1.OData 2.0 adapter or OData 4.0 adapter

2.Cross-org adapter

3.Custom adapter created via Apex

Note :

Record level access is not configurable for External Objects.

Record access ("all or nothing") is provided via Object Permissions at the Profile level.

For example, given External Object alpha__x a Profile could be configured to have "Read" access or no visibility at all,

depending on your business requirements.

External Object Relationships :

Two special types of lookup relationships are available for external objects: external lookups and indirect lookups.

Custom web Application run on external Server :

Salesforce Connect Limitations :

Salesforce Connect has some limitations that are important to remember and follow while using it:

The maximum number of external objects that can be created per organization: 100

The maximum number of joins per query across external objects and other types of objects: 4

The maximum length of the OAuth token issued by an external system: 4,000 characters

The maximum page size for server-driven paging: 2,000 rows

Canvas apps :

What is Canvas ?

1.Canvas is a set of tools and JavaScript APIs that allow for easy integration with a 3rd party application. 

2.It allows you to take your new or existing applications and make them available to your users as part of their Salesforce experience. 

3.Under the hood, Canvas apps are loaded into Salesforce through an iframe.

What is a Canvas app ?

A Canvas app is a special type of connected app within Salesforce that allows users to access the external system directly 

from within the Salesforce UI. Canvas includes tools that handle:

1.Authentication

2.Context

3.Cross-domain XHR

4.Events

The Canvas SDK :

The Canvas SDK is used from JavaScript in an app that supports JavaScript to access Salesforce data that the user has access to. 

The data requests that Canvas apps make happen in the context of the Salesforce user.

You will include the Canvas SDK in your external app in order to access Salesforce Data and publish/subscribe to events using the Streaming API. 

This is easily included from your Salesforce org using a URL:

<script type="text/javascript" 

src="https://curious-impala-skkpwh-dev-ed.lightning.force.com/canvas/sdk/js/52.0/canvas-all.js">

</script>