How to Setup External Objects in Salesforce? : Abhijeet

January 24, 2025 January 24, 2025

How to Setup External Objects in Salesforce?
by: Abhijeet
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### Summary of External Objects in Salesforce **Key Details:** - **External Objects:** Similar to Custom Objects, these allow access to data stored outside of Salesforce, making it manageable within the Salesforce environment. - **Real-Time Access:** Instead of importing data, you can access it in real-time via web service callouts. - **Integration:** External objects are linked to data from external systems (like databases or ERP systems) without needing to import that data into Salesforce. - **Setup Process:** 1. Create an external data source in Salesforce. 2. Validate the data source. 3. Create an external object linked to the data source. **Steps to Create External Data Sources:** 1. Go to the setup page and search for "External Data Sources." 2. Click "New External Data Source" and fill in the necessary details. 3. Validate and sync the data source to select the required columns. **Steps to Create External Objects:** 1. Search for "External Objects" in the setup page. 2. Click "New External Object" and enter required details. 3. Link the external data source and save. **Conclusion:** This tutorial outlines how to set up external objects to integrate and access external data efficiently within Salesforce. ### Additional Context External objects are particularly useful for organizations that rely on real-time data from various external systems. This capability helps maintain data integrity and ensures that users always have access to the latest information without the need for data duplication. ### Relevant Hashtags for SEO #Salesforce #ExternalObjects #SalesforceTutorial #DataIntegration #SalesforceConnect #RealTimeData #CRM #SalesforceSetup #API #CloudComputing

In Salesforce, External objects are similar to Custom objects, and these external objects allow us to access and interact with data stored outside of the Salesforce organization, which means the external data can be viewed and managed within the org. as native Salesforce data.

In this Salesforce tutorial, I will explain about External Objects in Salesforce and how you can define and set up the external objects in Salesforce.

What are External Objects in Salesforce?

In Salesforce, External objects are available for the API version 32.0 and the later versions. The External objects are similar to the custom object, but the data of the external objects is stored outside our Salesforce org., and each org can have up to 200 external objects.

Suppose the data you want to access is stored in the external system. Instead of importing this data into Salesforce, you can use external objects to access it in real-time through web service callouts.

These external objects are mapped to the data stored in the external system, enabling integration without importing data into Salesforce. By defining external data sources, organizations can use real-time data from systems like databases, ERP systems, or content management platforms directly within Salesforce. This ensures that users have access to the updated information.

Setup External Objects in Salesforce

To set external objects in Salesforce, we have to define external data sources; then, we need to validate the data source and create an external Salesforce object with the embedded data source.

Create External Data Sources in Salesforce

To create an external data source in Salesforce, navigate to the setup page and follow the steps below.

1. On the setup, go to the quick find and search, then select External Data Sources.

2. In the setup of External Data Sources, click on the New External Data Source button.

3. Enter the external data source name and its Name will be auto-filled. Select the type of the external source. In this example, I have selected the type “Salesforce Connect: OData 2.0“.

4. In the URL, enter the URL link of the external data source. I have used the URL “https://ift.tt/t7LGowb“.

After this, leave the other fields with their default values and click Save.

5. In the next window, click on Validate and Sync button.

Validate external data source in Salesforce

6. Select the columns from the source data table; for example, I have selected the Order and OrderDetail tables. After this, click on the Sync button.

Create data source for external object in Salesforce

With this, we have created and validated the external data source that we are going to the external Salesforce object.

Create External Object in Salesforce

After validating the external data resource, we will create an external object. To create an external object in your org, navigate to Salesforce’s setup page and follow the steps below.

1. On the setup page, go to the quick find box and search, then select External Objects.

2. In the External Object setup window, click on the New External Object.

3. In this step, enter the required details, such as Label and Plural Label. The Object Name field is a unique identifier that refers to this external object when using the API.

4. In the field External data source, we have to enter the external data source that contains the connection details we want to use for this external object. For this, select the data source that we have created.

After this, enter the Table Name, select the optional settings, select the Deployed radio button to deploy the external object, and click Save.

Connect External object with external data source in Salesforce

As we click on the Save button, the external object will be created and deployed.

This way, we can create and set up external objects in Salesforce by following the above steps.

Conclusion

In this Salesforce tutorial, we have learned to create external data sources and external objects, and with this, we can efficiently integrate the external data within our Salesforce environment, making it accessible to the users while ensuring it remains updated.

While creating the data sources, ensure that the URL used for the external system provides a compatible API for Salesforce Connect.

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