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Overriding Salesforce Field Metadata

You can override the field metadata that the sfdcDigest transformation extracts from a Salesforce object to make the data appear differently in a dataset. For example, CRM Analytics can add a default value to records that have missing values for a field.

You can add these field parameters to the sfdcDigest transformation node to override the field metadata:

  • defaultValue
  • type
  • fiscalMonthOffset
  • isYearEndFiscalYear
  • firstDayOfWeek
  • isMultiValue
  • multiValueSeparator (not available in dataflow editor)
  • precision
  • scale

For a description of each of these field parameters, see Field Parameters.

Custom Field Considerations

Your source data can include custom fields with different API names that share label values. To avoid confusion when viewing the fields in the UI, you can:

Example
Example

For example, you want to override metadata extracted from the Opportunity object.

To override field metadata from the Opportunity object, you add the bold text to the sfdcDigest node in the dataflow definition file.

{    
   "Extract_Opportunities": {        
      "action": "sfdcDigest",        
      "parameters": {            
         "object": "Opportunity",
         "fields": [                
            { "name": "Id" },                
            { "name": "Name" },
            {
               "name": "Amount",
               "defaultValue":"0",
               "precision":18,
               "scale":2
            },
            { "name": "StageName" },                
            {
               "name": "CloseDate",
               "fiscalMonthOffset":9,
               "firstDayOfWeek":2,
               "isYearEndFiscalYear":true
            },
            { "name":"AccountId" },
            { "name":"OwnerId" },
            {
               "name": "OpportunitySupportTeamMembers__c",
               "type":"Text",
               "isMultiValue":true,
               "multiValueSeparator":",",
               "precision":255
            }
         ]  
      }    
   },    
   "Register_Opportunities_Dataset":{        
      "action":"sfdcRegister",        
      "parameters":{            
         "alias":"Opportunities",            
         "name":"Opportunities",            
         "source":"Extract_Opportunities"        
      }    
   }
}

If you’re working in the dataflow editor, click the sfdcDigest node and then click Pencil button that appears next to selected fields in the sfdcDigest node next to the field that you want to change.

sfdcDigest node in dataflow editor with the pencil icon highlighted next to a selected field

Update the field attributes, and then click Save.

Override field attributes dialog in dataflow editor
Note
Note Changing a field’s type attribute to anything other than Text can result in an error in your dataflow or unexpected values in your datasets. For example, if you change a text field to a numeric field, you see an error when you try to update the dataflow.

See Also