cloudanswers

CloudAnswers

for-administrators

For Administrators


### Who is this for? Salesforce Administrators

A flow is an application usually built by Salesforce administrators that asks you for inputs and does something in Salesforce based on those inputs. Flows are designed using Cloud Flow Designer which has a bunch of tools that allow for automation of business processes without the use of custom code. You can do many things from a flow like execute logic, interact with Salesforce, call Apex classes, collect data from user with screen elements, etc. Recently, in Winter 18, a new feature was released to allow the use of Lightning Components in Flows which is the focus of this blog post.

### **Using Lightning Components in Flows**

The ability to add Lightning Components in Flow means that the flow screens can do much more than just inputs, choices and outputs. With the use of Lightning Components inflows we can make the flow much more interactive and achieve more. Here are a few examples of what we can do with Lightning components inflows

- A progress tracker
- Ask different input based on previous values
- Record selection
- Displaying data
- Embedding video, images, etc

### **How It Works**

Once the Lightning Component is developed and ready to use, you can follow the following steps to add a Lightning Component to your flows.

1. Open the flow screen on which we want to add the lightning component. The key points to make lightning components available for flow screens are as follows:
   - Lightning component should implement **lightning:availableForFlowScreens** interface
   - To make an attribute’s value customizable in the Cloud Flow Designer, add it to the component's design resource. This will allow the flow admins to pass values between that attribute and the flow when they configure the screen field.
2. Drag and drop the Lightning component element on to the screen.![Screen Shot 2018-07-23 at 2.43.14 pm](/uploads/Screen-Shot-2018-07-23-at-2.43.14-pm.png)
3. Map the flow variables to Lightning Component attributes
   - Set a unique name for the component
   - Select the lightning component
   - Use the Inputs tab to set an attribute using values from the flow. Use the Outputs tab to store an attribute’s value in a flow variable.
   - Save the screen, save and activate the flow.

![Screen Shot 2018-07-23 at 3.45.51 pm](/uploads/Screen-Shot-2018-07-23-at-3.45.51-pm-1024x411.png)

Here is how this flow looks when we run it using the Debug option.

![Screen Shot 2018-07-23 at 3.44.48 pm.png](/uploads/Screen-Shot-2018-07-23-at-3.44.48-pm.png)

### **Embed flows in Lightning Communities**

In Winter’18, there was another new feature that allows users to embed flows in Lightning Communities. There are multiple use cases for this feature. The ability to publish surveys for community users to complete is one such use case.

### **Using Quick Actions to launch Flows**

Lightning Flows with screens can also be launched using Action. Here are key points to keep in mind while setting up Quick Actions to launch Flows.

- **Flow Type**: Flow actions support only flows that include screens.
- **Flow Status**: The flow must be active. If you later deactivate the flow, the action doesn’t appear at runtime.
- **Action Types**: Flow actions are available only as object-specific actions.
- **Action Title**: The title that appears on the modal is the action’s label instead of the flow name. We recommend entering the flow name as the action label.
- **Input Variables**: Flow actions let you pass the value of the record's ID field into the flow, but that's it. If your flow has a Text input variable called recordId, the action passes the record's ID into that variable at runtime. If not, it doesn't and the flow tries to run anyway. This is a very useful feature that users can utilize to build flows using lightning components to accomplish lots of different things.
- **Help Text**: A flow action’s screen-level help text isn’t available for feed-based page layouts.

### **Resources:**

- [Configure Components for Flow Screens](https://developer.salesforce.com/docs/atlas.en-us.lightning.meta/lightning/components_config_for_flow_screens.htm)
- [Trailhead: Add a Flow As an Action on a Record](https://trailhead.salesforce.com/en/modules/screen_flow_distribution/units/screen_flow_distribution_action)

Read also [Salesforce Lightning components overview](https://cloudanswers.com/salesforce-lightning-components-overview/)


How to use Lightning Components in Flows? A flow is an application usually built by Salesforce administrators.

how-to-use-lightning-components-in-flows

How to use Lightning Components in Flows

for-developers

For Developers


Salesforce introduced Lightning platform a couple of years back and it's been evolving and getting better with every release so far. Developers who used to work with Visualforce pages have started moving to the new Lightning component framework because it's more flexible.

Lightning is a JS-first platform based out of aura, and uses JS Controllers and Helpers to display and retrieve data from Salesforce. Because Lightning components can interact with server side Apex controllers using asynchronous calls, they generally need a callback function to handle the response.

For example, say we have an apex controller "LightningCtrl" with a method **getCurrentUser** that queries the current logged in user's detail and returns it.

https://gist.github.com/Avinava/b393633e9f2fafa862c3317c2946fcc8#file-LightningCtrl.cls

To call the same thing from an sLightning component, you need have a lightning controller which looks something like this:

https://gist.github.com/Avinava/b393633e9f2fafa862c3317c2946fcc8#file-LightningComponentController.js

So the JS controller calls the Apex controller methods to get the data back and then sets the data in a variable. So far, pretty simple.

But what happens if we had another call along with it?

https://gist.github.com/Avinava/b393633e9f2fafa862c3317c2946fcc8#file-LightningComponentExtendedController.js

As we add more dependent calls the nesting increases and makes the code very hard to read. With a lot of calls, it can get pretty ugly and unmanageable.

So what's the solution ?  **Promises !**

### Promises

Promises provides a simpler alternative for executing, composing, and managing asynchronous operations when compared to traditional callback-based approaches. It also allows you to handle asynchronous errors using an approach similar to synchronous try/catch. It makes the code much cleaner and easier to read and manage.

So now, let's reimagine the above controller code in Promises. First some housekeeping and restructuring to make sure we are reusing the code.

https://gist.github.com/Avinava/b393633e9f2fafa862c3317c2946fcc8#file-LightningPromiseComponentHelper.js

And now we can rewrite the controller using the above refactored helper

https://gist.github.com/Avinava/b393633e9f2fafa862c3317c2946fcc8#file-LightningPromiseComponentController.js

Pretty organised isn't it ?

**What did we do here ?**

We essentially moved our code that calls the controller into a new function, to avoid repetitive code.

Now let's take a deep dive into the new “call” method.

The call method uses Promises instead of the callbacks. A promise can be either rejected or fulfilled / resolved. So whenever we make a call to a server or the apex controller, it can be successful in which case it will be resolved, else it fails and will be rejected, with the reason why it failed.

So the “call” method takes in the action to be called and the optional params if any are accepted by the controller method. If the status is success it calls resolve. Otherwise it calls reject.

To summarize, the call method should invoke (something that usually takes time) and then call resolve or reject to change the state of the corresponding promise object.

**Calling the promises**

The primary API for a promise is its “then” method, which registers callbacks to receive either the eventual value or the reason why the promise cannot be fulfilled. In the above code snippets we have a handler to handle the different state. For successes we are setting the user variable and for errors we are displaying an error message.

**Handling Errors**

What if an error occurs while performing an asynchronous operation? We can handle it by using the error handler of the "then", or we can use catch which is very similar to try / catch. Let's rewrite the code using catch:

https://gist.github.com/Avinava/b393633e9f2fafa862c3317c2946fcc8#file-LightningPromiseComponentCatchController.js

Pretty straightforward isn't it? We add a catch handler which handles / catches the error.

#### So now the fun part, how do we handle nested calls ?

In promises we don't need nested callback. Instead we use "then" to chain different promises, like so:

https://gist.github.com/Avinava/b393633e9f2fafa862c3317c2946fcc8#file-LightningPromiseComponentExtendedCatchController.js

To sum up, Promises makes async code much more organized and easier to read. It also offers an easier way to handle errors and exceptions, without deep nested code. This should help you write more readable code.

**Happy Coding !**


Salesforce introduced Lightning platform a co...

using-promises-in-lightning

Using Promises in Lightning


Salesforce's Release Notes for Lightning Experience Spring '18 is over 500 pages long, so we've summarized the most important highlights for developers right here, along with our own best practice recommendations.

### **Lightning Experience Changes In Spring'18**

#### **Use without sharing for @AuraEnabled Apex Controllers with Implicit Sharing.**

@AuraEnabled Apex controllers that don’t specify "with sharing" or "without sharing" will default to without sharing.

_Best practice_: Always use "with sharing" in Apex controllers used with Lightning components.

#### **API Access for <lightning:container> Apps Is Revoked**

Lightning apps that use the <lightning:container> tag will no longer have access to the REST APIs from inside the iframe. Apps can still access org data through Apex remoting calls. This was considered a security risk and Salesforce revoked access to fix it.

#### **Validation for Component Attribute Types**

The type of component attribute is now validated when you save the component. Validation at save time helps you discover attribute type errors earlier in your development process, instead of seeing errors at runtime.

#### **Find Dynamically Created Components**

You can now use cmp.find() to find a component that you create dynamically with $A.createComponent().

#### **Lightning Console Apps Support** **Action Overrides that Use Lightning Components**

Action overrides that use Lightning components for View, New, Edit, and Tab are now supported in Lightning console apps. When a user performs an action that’s overridden with a Lightning component, the content from the custom action appears in a tab or subtab. When the split view is open, tab action overrides load the Lightning component in a split-view container that is 400-pixels wide. This feature is new in Lightning Experience.

#### **\<style\> Tag Not Allowed In Lightning Components**

This restriction ensures better component encapsulation and prevents component styling interfering with the styling of another component.

**Changes in Locker Service**

The Locker Service architectural layer enhances security by isolating individual Lightning components in their own containers and enforcing coding best practices.

- Previously Locker Service used an iframe to isolate component code when strict Content Security Policy (CSP) was enabled. This approach caused problems when the Enable Stricter Content Security Policy for Lightning Components Critical Update was activated. In this release, Locker Service eliminates the iframe so both framework and component code execute in the main window.
- JavaScript strict mode has been improved.
- Compatibility with React framework has been improved.

#### **View the Component Library as an Unauthenticated Experience**

Previously, you could access the Component Library only as an authenticated user within your org. In this release, an unauthenticated site has been made available, [check it out.](https://developer.salesforce.com/docs/component-library)

### **New Lightning Components in Spring'18**

In the Spring '18 release, there are some very cool lightning components which were eagerly awaited by the developer community. Here is the list of new components:

- **lightning:carousal** (Beta) - Displays collection of images horizontally one at a time.
- **lightning:formattedAddress** \- Displays formatted address that provides a link to the given location on Google Maps.
- **lightning:formattedName** \- Displays name with salutation and suffix.
- **lightning:formattedTime** \- Displays formatted time in user’s locale.
- **lightning:inputAddress** \- Renders the address compound field with support for street, city, province, postal code and country.

![input_address](/uploads/input_address.png)

- **lightning:inputField** \- An editable field with a label, help text and value that corresponds to the field on a Salesforce object. This field must be nested between a lightning:recordEditForm.
- **lightning:inputName** - A compound input field for name with support for salutation, first name, middle name, last name, informal name and suffix.
- **lightning:listView** - Renders a list view of all records that you own, have read/write access to, or are shared with you.
- **lightning:recordEditForm** - A record edit or create layout that displays one or more fields provided by lightning:inputField.
- **lightning:pillContainer** - A list of pills grouped in a container.
- **lightning:treeGrid** - A hierarchical view of data presented in a table.

### **New Lightning Events in Spring'18**

- **lightning:availableForFlowScreens** - This enables a component to used in a flow screen.

### **Lightning Experience Readiness Changes For Visualforce**

#### **Remove Instance Names from URLs for Visualforce, Community Builder, Site.com Studio and Content Files**

This update applies to orgs that have deployed My Domain. When the instance name is removed from the URLs, the hostname is going to change.

Examples

- _mydomain--c.na1.visual.force.com_ changes to _mydomain--c.visualforce.com_
- _mydomain--c.na1.content.force.com_ changes to _mydomain--c.documentforce.com_

#### **Enable the Lightning Console UI Theme**

Currently, $User.UITheme or $User.UIThemeDisplayed returns Theme4d for Visualforce pages in standard Lightning Experience apps and Lightning Console apps. Once the critical update is activated, Lightning Console apps return Theme4u, allowing Visualforce pages to differentiate between standard Lightning Experience apps and Lightning Console apps.

#### **<apex:slds> supports Lightning Experience and Custom Styling**

The <apex:slds> component already includes Lightning Design System stylesheets in Visualforce pages. In Spring '18, this component automatically adopts the latest Lightning Experience styling or your organization’s custom theme. To apply this change to your Visualforce pages, update the page’s API level to 42.0 or later.

For more information and a list of all the changes in Spring '18, check out Salesforce's full [Release Notes](https://resources.docs.salesforce.com/212/latest/en-us/sfdc/pdf/salesforce_spring18_release_notes.pdf).

Happy coding!


Salesforce's Release Notes for Lightning Expe...

spring-18-lightning-experience-highlights

Spring 18 Lightning Experience Highlights


Lightning is coming. You have played around with the new User interface, made some reports, and tested out your customizations. When Lightning was released a year ago, it was slow and it was missing things. A year later they have addressed a lot of the issues, sped things up, and now its looking pretty good!

## Trailhead

Luckily for us, with all of the updates, we can stay current with [Trailhead](https://trailhead.salesforce.com/). Salesforce has been diligently crafting content that not only tells the User what is coming, it also walks you through use cases so you can **_really absorb it_**.

Today I was trying to find the best way to replace JavaScript Buttons. Salesforce has clearly signaled they are on their way out, which is rough for anyone who populated pages with data for their users. It won't work in Lightning, it won't work in Console. Now we have **_Quick Actions and Lightning Components_**. They work and they are easy.

## Lightning Components

To get your bearings, you can go to [Trailhead: JavaScript Button Migration](https://trailhead.salesforce.com/modules/lex_javascript_button_migration) to see how the migration works and an awesome example of the new functionality in Lightning.

Trailhead walks you through the example of using a modal to update a related record. This might not seem amazing, there are little edit modals for everything, but what this example shows you is that you can stay on the same page to update common fields on a related record. Time and again I talk to Users who want to update the Account from a Contact after a call. Now, with a Quick Action, you an edit the Account directly from the Contact avoiding the reload time and confusion of switching between records.


Lightning is coming. You have played around w...

lightning-and-javascript-buttons

Lightning and JavaScript Buttons


Salesforce's Spring '17 release is coming soon, and with it comes a lot of great new features designed to make developers' lives easier. Of course, at Cloudanswers we're stoked and excited to share what's new in Lightning, Visualforce, and Apex.

## [](https://github.com/cloudanswers/cloudanswers-site/blob/gh-pages/_posts/2017-01-17-spring-17-developer-preview.md#lightning)Lightning

Lightning experience in Salesforce continues to improve, with new features and and increased parity with Visualforce coming in every release. Here's what's new:

#### [](https://github.com/cloudanswers/cloudanswers-site/blob/gh-pages/_posts/2017-01-17-spring-17-developer-preview.md#lightning-container-components)Lightning container components

In Spring '17, Salesforce introduces a preview of **Lightning Container Components** which are natively hosted javascript apps that can be dragged into your Lightning apps using Lightning App Builder, just like you would build an app with any other lightning component.

This will allow developers to create Lightning components using their preferred javascript libraries, and make them available in lightning experience, hosted in an iframe.

Lightning container components will be hosted on Salesforce as a static resource, and become available in Lightning app builder once uploaded. Although in an iframe, these special components are API session enabled, and have access to a messaging service which allows your container components to interact with other custom components on the same page despite the iframe limitation!

#### [](https://github.com/cloudanswers/cloudanswers-site/blob/gh-pages/_posts/2017-01-17-spring-17-developer-preview.md#new-standard-components)New Standard Components

Spring '17 comes with a few exciting new standard components for use in your lightning apps!

1. **Search Input** A new lightning component that will let you search for and select related records using SOSL or even Apex!
2. **File Upload Input** A new standard file input will become available for developers in Spring '17
3. **Rich Text Editor** A standard rich text editor for lightning components. Finally! Simply add your first one using the **_<lightning:inputRichText>_** tag!

#### [](https://github.com/cloudanswers/cloudanswers-site/blob/gh-pages/_posts/2017-01-17-spring-17-developer-preview.md#better-error-reporting-in-lightning-experience)Better error reporting in lightning experience

By popular developer demand! Now you'll be able to see a meaningful error message, complete with line numbers and stack trace when an error is encountered in one of the components on the page.

Here's a blurry screen shot I took from the webinar:

![SFDC Spring 17 Error Msg](/uploads/springerrormessage.png)

#### [](https://github.com/cloudanswers/cloudanswers-site/blob/gh-pages/_posts/2017-01-17-spring-17-developer-preview.md#locker-service)Locker service

Locker service has changes which are available as a critical update in Spring '17 Sandbox and Developer orgs. The update will tighten Content Security Policy (CSP) to eliminate the possibility of XSS attacks. You can turn the update on and off so that you can test your components and apps before locker service becomes the law of the land in Summer '17

## [](https://github.com/cloudanswers/cloudanswers-site/blob/gh-pages/_posts/2017-01-17-spring-17-developer-preview.md#lightning-console-apps)Lightning Console Apps

Many of you are already familiar with the Service Console and console apps. They're awesome! Even more awesome is that coming in Spring '17 admins and developers will be able to create lightning-ready console apps with custom functionality, for use by other teams in your business.

Console apps are configurable so that the tabs and objects you use most are right at your team's fingertips.

Lightning Console Apps will also have a configurable utility bar, which is essentially a set of lightning components that stays docked and always visible as you navigate the different tabs of the console app!

#### [](https://github.com/cloudanswers/cloudanswers-site/blob/gh-pages/_posts/2017-01-17-spring-17-developer-preview.md#custom-record-detail-pages-in-lightning-app-builder)Custom record detail pages in Lightning App Builder

This one is sweet and ties in with console apps. Customize your record detail pages in lightning app builder, and even add new tabs beyond the standard "Feed" and "Detail" tabs, and assign any tab as the default. New lightning detail pages can be assigned to your console apps, with business unit-specific components added to each one!

## [](https://github.com/cloudanswers/cloudanswers-site/blob/gh-pages/_posts/2017-01-17-spring-17-developer-preview.md#apex-stub-api-goes-ga)Apex Stub API goes GA

The Apex Stub API, which provides developers with a suite of classes and methods used for stubbing and mocking for their unit tests, was available as a pilot in Winter '17. With the introduction of Spring '17, this functionality will become available to all orgs. More info on the Apex Stub API can be found at [https://developer.salesforce.com/docs/atlas.en-us.apexcode.meta/apexcode/apex_testing_stub_api.htm](https://developer.salesforce.com/docs/atlas.en-us.apexcode.meta/apexcode/apex_testing_stub_api.htm)

## [](https://github.com/cloudanswers/cloudanswers-site/blob/gh-pages/_posts/2017-01-17-spring-17-developer-preview.md#salesforce-dx)Salesforce DX

This is the one that dropped every jaw in the room when it was announced at Dreamforce '16. Salesforce DX is an integrated suite of tools designed to make development easier for teams of developers, and individual developers alike. Salesforce DX is going to be delivered as a "plugin" to the Force.com IDE (Eclipse), and also come with a command line interface. The plugin uses the CLI to do its work, which means anything it does can be scripted!

There are so many awesome things coming with DX (Developer Experience) that I could spend all day talking about them! But since you probably have better things to do than read my blog, I'll try to keep it short and sweet :-)

#### [](https://github.com/cloudanswers/cloudanswers-site/blob/gh-pages/_posts/2017-01-17-spring-17-developer-preview.md#move-source-of-truth-from-sandboxes-to-source-control)Move source of truth from Sandboxes to Source Control

As many Salesforce developers are well aware, managing salesforce metadata with version control is a necessary but not always easy task. The folks at Salesforce are finally listening and delivering a tool that will change the paradigm so that the source code, not a sandbox, is the system of record for managing and delivering (yes, delivering... more on that below!) your salesforce configurations and code.

#### [](https://github.com/cloudanswers/cloudanswers-site/blob/gh-pages/_posts/2017-01-17-spring-17-developer-preview.md#pilot-cli-for-dx)Pilot CLI for DX

This is where things get really exciting. Salesforce DX is introducting a CLI which can do nifty things like spin up orgs, populate data, apply configurations, assign permissions, run tests, etc. all from the command line. The CI/CD implications here are monumental! Imagine a world where you can spin up a salesforce org using a JSON config file stored in your repository. How about doing those things automatically through your CI tool like Jenkins? Neat stuff.

#### [](https://github.com/cloudanswers/cloudanswers-site/blob/gh-pages/_posts/2017-01-17-spring-17-developer-preview.md#asynchronous-server-updates)Asynchronous server updates

Currently when developing Salesforce code and config, we need to save files to the server, and each time we do that, our IDE makes us wait before we can do the next thing. Sometimes we spend lots of time looking at the screen while our code awaits judgment from the server-side gods. With DX, each save operation is its own thread and executes asynchronously which should speed development times tremendously. Don't worry though, we won't tell anybody if you still decide to stare at the screen once in a while :-)

#### [](https://github.com/cloudanswers/cloudanswers-site/blob/gh-pages/_posts/2017-01-17-spring-17-developer-preview.md#dx-is-extensible)DX is extensible

In addition to all the cool things it can do out of the box, DX and the CLI are extensible by simply writing some NodeJS. Sweet!

#### [](https://github.com/cloudanswers/cloudanswers-site/blob/gh-pages/_posts/2017-01-17-spring-17-developer-preview.md#how-to-get-dx)How to get DX

DX is a "closed" pilot for Spring '17, but we've been led to believe that those who sign up are likely to get a taste. Here's how:

1. Go to [http://developer.salesforce.com](http://developer.salesforce.com/)
2. Click on "Products" on the menu and choose Salesforce DX
3. Scroll to the bottom of the page that comes up
4. Click the button to be the first to learn more about it
5. Provide your info in the form and submit

We expect that you'll receive an email about how to participate in the Pilot sometime in February.

![SFDC Spring 17 DX Release](/uploads/springdx.png)

## [](https://github.com/cloudanswers/cloudanswers-site/blob/gh-pages/_posts/2017-01-17-spring-17-developer-preview.md#conclusions)Conclusions

As always, Salesforce is positioned to deliver another set of awesome features in their upcoming release that will make the platform more robust. This article only touches on some of them, but there are a lot more things coming in Spring. Check out the full release notes [here](https://releasenotes.docs.salesforce.com/en-us/spring17/release-notes/salesforce_release_notes.htm)


Salesforce's Spring '17 release is coming soo...

spring-17-developer-preview

Spring '17 Developer Preview

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