Chapter 4. Expanding data options

In the last two chapters, you got a whirlwind introduction to the basics of creating and using data and data relationships on the Force Platform.

The Force Platform automatically handles all the basic, and some not so basic, functions required for your applications. All you had to do was to define an object, and the Force Platform platform generated a set of user interface objects, including pages for data entry, retrieval, and search, as well as links between related objects.

In this chapter, you enhance and refine these standard interfaces to help users avoid entering incorrect data values, or to derive and display relevant data from other sources. All of these refinements move your application towards the goal of greater data integrity, insuring that the data in your Force.com database is meaningful and correct.

The relationships you defined in the last chapter already began this process. A user cannot, for instance, add a job application while associating that application with an existing candidate and position, or enter a position for a location that does not exist.

You will now learn about picklists, formulas and validations, giving you a variety of strategies to help users maintain the integrity of your shared data.

Important

If you have been following the examples in the previous chapter, your Force Platform organization should be ready for the exercises in this chapter. If you have not done the exercises, or want to start with a fresh version of the sample Recruiting application, please refer to the instructions in the Code Share project for this book. You can find information on how to access that project in Chapter 1: Welcome to the Force Platform.