Formulas and Validations

Use Formula Fields

Create a custom formula field and use the formula editor. Explain why formula fields are useful. Outline at least one use case for formula fields. Create simple formulas.
  • Easy examples are cross-object formulas. Examples:
    • On Contact: Account.AccountNumber
    • On Opportunities: CloseDate - TODAY()
    • “Power of One” (can be added to any object): 1
      • Provides a way of counting the number of unique objects in a report with many records.
      • If there are a hundred opportunities in a report, but only a handful own them, creating a Unique Users formula field with number return type and formula 1
      • In a report, add this new field, then summarize that field using a Sum

Implement Roll-Up Summary Fields

Describe what a roll-up summary field is. Create a roll-up summary field. Apply field-level security to your roll-up summary field.
  • Roll-Up Summary fields calculate values from a set of related records, such as those in a related list
    • Available types: COUNT, SUM, MIN, MAX
    • Examples:
      • Sum of Opportunities on an Account
      • Date Opportunity First Created
      • Total Price of All Products Related to an Opportunity
      • Minimum List Price of an Opportunity
  • Types of fields available depend on the type of calculation:
    • Number, currency, and percent fields are available when you select SUM as the roll-up type.
    • Number, currency, percent, date, and date/time fields are available when you select MIN or MAX as the roll-up type.

Create Validation Rules

Describe two use cases for validation rules. List the elements of a validation rule. Create a validation rule.
  • When the validation rule returns a value of “True”, this confirms that the data entered by the user contains an invalid value.
  • Examples:
    • Account Number Length not correct: LEN(AccountNumber) != 8
    • Account Number Is Numeric: AND(NOT(ISBLANK(AccountNumber)),NOT(ISNUMBER(AccountNumber)))
    • Date Must Be in Current Year: YEAR( My_Date__c ) <> YEAR ( TODAY() )
    • Number Range Validation: (Salary_Max__c - Salary_Min__c) > 20000
    • Website Extension must be “.com”: AND(RIGHT( Web_Site__c, 4) <> ".COM", RIGHT( Web_Site__c, 4) <> ".com")