A before trigger runs before records are saved and can validate or adjust values on the records being processed. Prefer an appropriate declarative option when it meets the requirement.
Before you begin
Use an authorized development or training organization with fictional records. Record the object names, permissions and configuration used so that someone else can reproduce the exercise.
Work through the idea
First describe the business requirement and the records involved. Keep the exercise separate from a live organization's data and change process. Platform behavior can depend on permissions and configuration; verify those conditions rather than assuming an administrator's result applies to every user.
- Distinguish insert and update contexts
- Check which fields actually changed
- Keep processing bulk-safe
Practice task
Design a rule that normalizes a fictional text field and rejects an invalid combination of values.
Check your result
Show valid insert, rejected insert, unchanged update and changed update behavior.
A mistake to avoid
Do not perform redundant DML on the same records merely to change their field values in a before trigger.
Keep a review note
Save the inputs or scenario, your reasoning and the result you checked. Explain one assumption and one case that needs more work. Revise the exercise after feedback and distinguish what you demonstrated from what remains untested.
Official reference for further study
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