Data migration tools and integration patterns
Pick the Data Import Wizard or Data Loader/Bulk API for a sales data load, plan a migration (clean, test, parents first, external IDs and upsert, automation off), and match an integration requirement to the right Salesforce integration pattern or Salesforce Connect adapter.
Explain the use cases and considerations for data migrations and integrations.
~8 min read · 19 practice questions ·
What the exam expects
- Choose the Data Import Wizard or Data Loader (Bulk API) from the object, the volume, who runs the load and whether it repeats.
- Diagnose Data Import Wizard symptoms: unsupported objects, unmapped columns, case-sensitive Name matching, CSV-only files, one job at a time.
- Lay out a migration plan for Agentforce Sales (formerly Sales Cloud) data: clean at the source, test load, parents before children, external IDs with upsert, automation suspended during cutover.
- Match an integration requirement to Request and Reply, Fire and Forget, Batch Data Synchronization, Remote Call-In or Data Virtualization.
- Pick the Salesforce Connect adapter (OData, cross-org, Salesforce Archive) when data must stay outside the org.
Key terms: external ID (a custom field holding the source system's unique key, used by upsert to match records); upsert (insert when no match, update when one match); Bulk API (asynchronous loading for thousands to millions of records); integration pattern (a reusable design for one integration scenario); external object (a Salesforce Connect object whose rows are read from another system at run time).
Key facts
- Detail
- Accounts, contacts, leads, solutions, campaign members, person accounts, custom objects; no opportunities
- Detail
- Up to 50,000 records at a time; CSV only
- Detail
- Don't run more than one import job at a time, even from separate browser windows
- Detail
- Unmapped fields aren't imported
- Detail
- Match by Name is case-sensitive for updates and upserts
- Detail
- All objects; command line (Windows only) for automated operations
- Detail
- No match creates, one match updates, multiple matches error
- Detail
- User-defined batches, 10,000 records max; failed records retried automatically
- Detail
- Can't load if the parents don't already exist
Sources for this section (5)
- Data Import Wizardhelp.salesforce.com (opens in a new tab)
- Import Data with the Data Import Wizardhelp.salesforce.com (opens in a new tab)
- Data Loaderhelp.salesforce.com (opens in a new tab)
- upsert()developer.salesforce.com (opens in a new tab)
- Load Your Data (Trailhead, Large Data Volumes)trailhead.salesforce.com (opens in a new tab)
- Why does a contact load through the Data Import Wizard leave a custom field blank even though the CSV had that column?
- When can an add-and-update wizard run on a custom object create new records instead of updating?
- Which integration pattern fits a nightly two-way feed of products in and closed orders out?
- Why move an 8-million-record nightly SOAP API job to Bulk API?
The questions are free to read. Answers with their sources and self-grading are included with the pack.
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