Developer Console Basics

Get Started with the Developer Console

• What is the Developer Console?
  • An Integrated Development Environment (IE, an IED) where you can create, debug, and test apps in your org
  • One-stop solution for a variety of development tasks:
    • Navigate, open, create, edit Apex classes and triggers, Aura components, Visualforce pages and components
    • Browse packages that you’ve created in your org
    • Generate logs for debugging, analyze them from different perspectives
    • Test Apex code to ensure it’s error free
    • Identify and resolve errors by setting Checkpoints in Apex code
    • Write and execute SOQL and SOSL queries to find, create, update records in your org
• When do you use the Developer Console?
  • 3 options to control a Salesforce org:
    • Third-party developer tools
    • Developer Console is connected to one org and browser-based
      • Best if you want changes to be effective immediately and don’t want to install anything
      • Be careful when using Developer Console in orgs you share with your teammates - no version control or conflict resolution
    • Salesforce Extensions for Visual Studio Code
      • Best if you want to connect to multiple orgs, compare or synchronize files, or use version control

• Accessing the Developer Console
  • Access the developer console from the quick access menu (cog icon), then Developer Console
  • Two sections or panes:
    • Top: “source code editor”
    • Bottom: “tabs pane,” where you can view logs, errors, other information, and write queries to interact with the records in your org
• What is a Workspace?
  • A workspace is just a collection of resources, represented by tabs, in the main panel of the Developer console
    • Create a workspace for any group of resources that you use together
    • Ex: you can have the related code, tests, and logs open for two different projects open simultaneously in separate workspaces
    • Workspaces reduce clutter and make it easier to navigate between different resources
• Set up your own Workspace

Navigate and Edit Source Code

• Create an Apex Class
  • Apex is a strongly typed, object-oriented language that allows developers to execute flow and transaction-control statements on the Lightning Platform server in conjunction with calls to the Lightning Platform APIs
    • Looks a lot like Java code and interacts with the data in your org
  • Create a new Apex class via: File > New > Apex Class
  • Open an existing Apex class using: File > Open
  • The following class is presented in the trailhead

public class EmailMissionSpecialist {
   // Public method
   public void sendMail(String address, String subject, String body) {
      // Create an email message object
      Messaging.SingleEmailMessage mail = new Messaging.SingleEmailMessage();
      String[] toAddresses = new String[] {address};
      mail.setToAddresses(toAddresses);
      mail.setSubject(subject);
      mail.setPlainTextBody(body);
      // Pass this email message to the built-in sendEmail method 
      // of the Messaging class
      Messaging.SendEmailResult[] results = Messaging.sendEmail(
                                new Messaging.SingleEmailMessage[] { mail });
      // Call a helper method to inspect the returned results
      inspectResults(results);
   }
   // Helper method
   private static Boolean inspectResults(Messaging.SendEmailResult[] results) {
      Boolean sendResult = true;
      // sendEmail returns an array of result objects.
      // Iterate through the list to inspect results. 
      // In this class, the methods send only one email, 
      // so we should have only one result.
      for (Messaging.SendEmailResult res : results) {
         if (res.isSuccess()) {
            System.debug('Email sent successfully');
         }
         else {
            sendResult = false;
            System.debug('The following errors occurred: ' + res.getErrors());                 
         }
      }
      return sendResult;
   }
}

• Execute an Apex Class
  • Execute Anonymous is a feature that lets you test code and its results in real time
    • Note that any code run this way affects your org - any data deleted here is also deleted in the database
    • Open via: Debug > Open Execute Anonymous Window
    • Following code is example code that could be run in an execute anonymous window to run the code above

EmailMissionSpecialist em = new EmailMissionSpecialist();
em.sendMail('Enter your email address', 'Flight Path Change', 
   'Mission Control 123: Your flight path has been changed to avoid collision '
   + 'with asteroid 2014 QO441.');

• What are Lightning Components?
  • Lightning Components is a framework for developing mobile and desktop apps
  • Can be used to create responsive user interfaces for Lightning Platform apps
  • Developer Console can be used to create a component bundle, which acts like a folder in that it contains components and all other related resources, such as style sheets, controllers, and design
• Create an Aura Component
  • Create a new Aura component with File > New > Lightning Component
  • Example Aura component code shown below
• To open an existing saved Aura component with any of the resources shown in the screen shot below, use File > Open Lightning Resources

<aura:component >
    <p>Greetings, fellow humans! What’s your status?</p>
</aura:component>

• Create Visualforce Pages and Components
  • Visualforce is a web development framework for building sophisticated user interfaces for mobile and desktop apps
    • Visualforce is page-centric - when you save a record, the page interacts with the server and reloads the UI
    • Lightning components framework does more work on-device
• Create a Visualforce Page
  • Create a new Visualforce page via: File > New > Visualforce Page
    • The Visualforce code below is included in the Trailhead
    • After saving, preview the Visualforce by clicking the “Preview” button in the top left

<apex:page sidebar="false">
    <!--Flight Systems Checklist Visualforce Page-->
    <h1>Checklist</h1>
    <apex:form id="engineReadinessChecklist">
        <apex:pageBlock title="Flight Systems Checklist">
            <!--First Section-->
            <apex:pageBlockSection title="Engines">
                <!--Adding Checkboxes-->
                <apex:inputCheckbox immediate="true"/>Engine 1
                <apex:inputCheckbox immediate="true"/>Engine 2
                <apex:inputCheckbox immediate="true"/>Engine 3
                <apex:inputCheckbox immediate="true"/>Engine 4
                <apex:inputCheckbox immediate="true"/>Engine 5
                <apex:inputCheckbox immediate="true"/>Engine 6
            </apex:pageBlockSection>
            <!--Second Section-->
            <apex:pageBlockSection title="Fuel Tanks">
                <apex:inputCheckbox immediate="true"/>Tank 1
                <apex:inputCheckbox immediate="true"/>Tank 2
                <apex:inputCheckbox immediate="true"/>Tank 3
                <apex:inputCheckbox immediate="true"/>Tank 4
                <apex:inputCheckbox immediate="true"/>Tank 5
                <apex:inputCheckbox immediate="true"/>Tank 6
            </apex:pageBlockSection>
            <apex:pageBlockButtons>
                <!--Adding Save Button-->
                <apex:commandButton value="Save" action="{!save}"/>
            </apex:pageBlockButtons>
        </apex:pageBlock>
    </apex:form>
</apex:page>

Generate and Analyze Logs

• View Debug Logs
  • Logs are one of the best places to identify problems with a system or program
  • The developer console lets you look at various debug logs to understand how code works and identify any performance issues
• View Logs in the Text Editor
  • Two ways to view a log:
    1. Before execution, enable open log in the Enter Apex Code window
       • Select Debug > Open Execute Anonymous Window, then check the Open Log checkbox
       • After execution, double-click the log that appears in the Logs tab
    2. After execution, double-click the log that appears in the Logs tab

Sample code that can be used in Execute Anonymous windows:

EmailMissionSpecialist em = new EmailMissionSpecialist();
em.sendMail('Enter your email address', 'Flight Path Change', 
   'Mission Control 123: Your flight path has been changed to avoid collision '
   + 'with asteroid 2014 QO441.');

• Read Your Log Data
  • Debug Logs contain the following columns:
    • Timestamp: time when the event occurred. Always in the user’s time zone and HH:mm:ss:SSS format
    • Event: event that triggered the debug log entry, ex: HEAP_ALLOCATE, CODE_UNIT_STARTED, METHOD_ENTRY, METHOD_EXIT, etc
    • Details: details about the line of code and method name where the code was executed
  • Filter the entries in the Execution Log by checking certain checkboxes: This Frame, Executable, Debug Only, and Filter
  • Can also view debug log as a “raw log”, which shows more information. Examples shown below.

• System.debug allows you to write values directly into the log. Here’s syntax:
  • System.debug('Your Message');
  • System.debug(yourVariable);
  • System.debug('Your Label: ' + yourVariable);
• Use the Log Inspector
  • Log Inspector exists to make it easier to view large logs. Enable with Debug > View Log Panels
    1. Stack Tree: displays log entries within the hierarchy of their objects and their execution using a top-down tree view.
    • Execution Stack: bottom-up view of the selected item. Displays the log entry followed by the operation that called it.
    • Execution Log: displays every action that occurred during execution of your code
    • Source: displays the contents of the source file, indicating the line of code being run when the log was generated
    • Source List: displays the context of the code being executed
    • Variables: displays the variables and their assigned values that were ins cope when the code that generated the selected log entry was run
    • Execution Overview: displays statistics for the code being executed, including execution time and heap size
• What is the Perspective Manager and how can you switch Perspectives?
  • Perspectives are layouts of grouped panels:
    • “Debug” perspective displays the Execution Log, Source, and Variables
    • “Analysis” perspective displays the Stack Tree, Execution Log, Execution Stack, and Execution Overview
  • New Perspectives can be saved, and you can switch between the different available perspectives

• Log Categories
  • Log Categories is the type of information that is being logged. Two common examples:
    • ApexCode: logs events related to Apex code and includes info about the start and end of an Apex method
    • Database: includes logs related to database events including DML as well as SOSL and SOQL queries
• Log Levels and how to Change them?
  • Log levels control how much detail is logged for each log category, from NONE, ERROR, WARN, INFO, DEBUG, FINE, FINER, FINEST
  • Log levels are cumulative, so INFO includes log info from ERROR and WARN levels as well

Inspect Objects at Checkpoints

• Set Checkpoints in your Apex Code
  • Checkpoints show you snapshots of what’s happening in Apex code at particular points during execution
  • Up to five checkpoints allowed in Apex - Checkpoints aren’t available for Visualforce
  • Add a checkpoint by clicking to the left of the line number. A red dot will appear.

• Checkpoints Tab
  • After adding a checkpoint and running code, you can open the debug log and click the Checkpoints tab to see the results

• Checkpoints Inspector
  • Double-click a checkpoint inn the Checkpoints table to see the captured results in the Checkpoint Inspector
  • Two tabs available: Heap and Symbols
• Heap Tab: displays all objects present in memory at the line of code where the checkpoint was executed
  • The Types area shows how many objects were instantiated and the memory they consumed in bytes
  • The Instances area shows the various instances of each Type in memory
  • The State area shows the object’s fields and their values

• Symbols Tab: displays all symbols in memory in tree view
  • Quick and simple way to review the states of various objects at any checkpoint
  • Symbols are unique names that reference particular objects - this tab displays all symbols in memory using a tree view

Execute SOQL and SOSL Queries

• What is a SOQL Query?
  • SOQL stands for Salesforce Object Query Language and is syntatictally similar to SQL
  • Write and execute SOQL queries in Apex code or in the Developer Console’s Query Editor
• Execute a SOQL Query
  • The following DML adds three contacts to Salesforce when run in an Execute Anonymous window

// Add first contact and related details
Contact contact1 = new Contact(
   Firstname='Quentin',
   Lastname='Foam',
   Phone='(415)555-1212',
   Department= 'Specialty Crisis Management',
   Title='Control Engineer - Specialty - Solar Arrays',
   Email='qfoam@trailhead.com');
insert contact1;
// Add second contact and related details
Contact contact2 = new Contact(
   Firstname='Vega',
   Lastname='North',
   Phone='(416)556-1312',
   Department= 'Specialty Crisis Management',
   Title='Control Engineer - Specialty - Propulsion',
   Email='vnorth@trailhead.com');
insert contact2;
// Add third contact and related details
Contact contact3 = new Contact(
   Firstname='Palma',
   Lastname='Sunrise',
   Phone='(554)623-1212',
   Department= 'Specialty Crisis Management',
   Title='Control Engineer - Specialty - Radiators',
   Email='psunrise@trailhead.com');
insert contact3;

• The following queries against the three contacts just added to Salesforce

SELECT Name, Phone, Email, Title FROM Contact
                                 WHERE (Department = 'Specialty Crisis Management')

• Running the following in an Execute Anonymous window prints the number of accounts returned and their contact details in alphabetical order

Contact[] theseContacts = [SELECT Name, Phone, Email, Description FROM Contact
                           WHERE (Department='Specialty Crisis Management')
                           ORDER BY Name];
// Log a count of how many contacts were found
System.debug(theseContacts.size() + ' contact(s) returned.');
// Log all values in the array of contacts
System.debug(theseContacts);

• What is a SOSL Search?
  • SOSL is a language that performs text searches in records
  • SOSL can query multiple types of objects at the same time and uses a word match to match fields, whereas SOQL needs the exact phrase
• Execute a SOSL Search
  • Notice that only the partial name of the department “Specialty Crisis Management” is included in the query

FIND {Crisis} IN ALL FIELDS RETURNING Contact(FirstName, LastName, Phone, Email, Title)

• Running the following in an Execute Anonymous window also works similarly to the Apex-embedded SOQL query above

List<List<sObject>> searchList = [FIND 'Crisis' IN ALL FIELDS 
                                  RETURNING Contact(FirstName, LastName,
                                  Phone, Email, Description)];
Contact[] searchContacts = (Contact[])searchList[0];
System.debug('Found the following contacts:');
for (Contact c : searchContacts) {
   System.debug(c.LastName + ', ' + c.FirstName);
}