Salesforce: Inactive User

When a Salesforce user has been deactivated, can we still assign the user as the record owner, or populate the user into a lookup field? 

1. Lookup Fields

From the Page Layout (UI): In the standard Salesforce user interface, you typically cannot select or populate a lookup field with an inactive user. The UI filters out inactive users from lookup fields to prevent confusion and ensure that only active users are selectable. Therefore, if you are trying to populate a lookup field from the page layout, you will not see inactive users listed.

From the Backend: You can populate lookup fields with inactive users through backend processes. This includes using data import tools, APIs, or automated processes (like Apex code, workflows, or triggers).

2. Record Ownership

From Setup > User Interface > User Interface, look for Enable "Set Audit Fields upon Record Creation" and "Update Records with Inactive Owners" and enable it. Then, create a permission set with "Update Records with Inactive Owners" permission or enable the permission in the profile.

From the Page Layout (UI): In the standard Salesforce user interface, you typically cannot find or populate the record owner with an inactive user, even if you already have the above permission granted.

From the Backend: If you have "Update Records with Inactive Owners" permission enabled, you can populate record ownership with an inactive user through backend processes. This includes using data import tools, APIs, or automated processes (like Apex code, workflows, or triggers).

Without the permission enabled, you will receive the error message INACTIVE_OWNER_OR_USER:

CRM Analytics: Unsupported Salesforce Data

CRM Analytics (CRMA) is an analytics tool by Salesforce and is hosted in Salesforce's core platform; however, not all of Salesforce's objects and fields are supported by CRM Analytics data sync, including external objects, so you can't build a CRMA dashboard that uses those fields or objects. Check out the following article.

A supported object is one for which you can grant field-level access in Setup. If you're unable to assign field access to a Profile in Setup, that object is considered unsupported in CRMA, e.g. LoginHistory object.

The following statement from the above help article explains this: "To extract fields, the object must be visible to the Integration User. If you can’t manage a field’s visibility in Setup, you can’t grant the Integration User access to it."

Reference:

• Unsupported Salesforce Objects and Fields in CRM Analytics

Salesforce: Retrieve Report Metadata (2)

In a previous blog, we discussed how to use package.xml in Workbench to retrieve report metadata. However, if we simply need to retrieve the report metadata, e.g., to understand the object of a field added to the report, we can simply use REST Explorer in Workbench.

Use GET method /services/data/v62.0/analytics/reports/00OGB00000Dt9Qv2AJ

Change the highlighted ID above to the report ID you want to analyze.

A few items to note from the above data:

• factMap > T|T > aggregates - number of rows of the report
• factMap > T|T > rows - the cell value of each row
• reportMetadata > detailColumns - API field name for each column in the report, including the object name and whether it is a lookup field in the report type
• reportMetadata > reportType - the report type used for the report

The same result (in XML format) you can get using REST Explore from Salesforce Inspector Reloaded.

Salesforce: Custom Report Type Metadata

The Spring '25 release enhanced the Custom Report Types user experience on the setup page; "Enhanced Custom Report Type Setup Page" in the "Reports and Dashboards Settings" should be enabled in the setup menu, which should be turned on by default; otherwise, your Salesforce admin needs to enable it.

The Custom Report Type is stored as metadata, which we shared here. How can I retrieve the Custom Report Type metadata without an IDE? You need to use a tool that supports REST Explorer:

1. Workbench

• Go to Salesforce Workbench.
• Log in with your Salesforce credentials.
• Navigate to Utilities > REST Explorer.
• Use the REST API endpoint mentioned above to retrieve report metadata.

Use the GET method, for example: 

/services/data/v62.0/analytics/report-types/Account_custom__c

You can get the report type API Name from the Custom Report Type user interface in the setup menu, and add a suffix of __c.

2. Salesforce Inspector Reloaded

• Open the Salesforce Inspector Reloaded panel
• Select the REST Explore menu
• Use the GET request as in Workbench 

/services/data/vXX.0/analytics/report-types/Account_custom__c

Salesforce: Upload Files to a Record

As shared in the Files sharing Query blog, a file can be shared with users, groups, records, and the content library. 

Let's see how the system works when uploading a file from a record related list.

By default, when a file is loaded from a record, the user who uploaded the file becomes the File Owner, and the record owner has extra permissions compared to other users; this applies when default file access is set to Set by Record, check this article.

File owner:

Record owner:

Users with edit access to the record <-- similar to the record owner

Users without edit access to the record:

Users with permission "Modify ALL records" or "Modify ALL data" <-- similar to file owner

Additionally, users with "Create Public Links" permission

The user will be able to share the file externally with an expiration date and a password:

Who Can Access?

Click the Share dropdown from the Files related list, and you can see "who can access"? Remember the  "Set by Record" mentioned earlier, and the ShareType in Query is "I", not "V".

Let's see it in a query:

SELECT Id, ShareType, ContentDocumentId, ContentDocument.Title, LinkedEntity.Name, LinkedEntity.Type FROM ContentDocumentLink WHERE ContentDocumentId = '069VZ000006928nYAA'

Share the file with another user as a Collaborator manually: 

Share the file with a Library

What happened when we shared the file with a library? 

Notice that the share type for the record and the user who shared earlier has changed to Viewer. When a file is added to a library, it means that access to the file follows access to the library; this setting can’t be changed. You can't manually re-share the file to the user as a Collaborator. You also can't remove the file from the Library. Vote for this idea. But, if you have a folder in a library, you can move the file within the library and the subfolder.

Reference:

• Set File Sharing to Inherit Record Settings
• Change File Access in Lightning Experience

CRM Analytics: Why I don't see Action

CRM Analytics offers users immediate action on a particular data in the dashboard. The "action" here refers to Salesforce action, where you can create and edit data directly from a CRM Analytics dashboard. 

You can configure this from the dataset level by editing the dataset and then clicking the Configure Actions button or from the dashboard/lens, then click Configure Actions from the drop-down menu. 

However, you may experience the action is not visible to you or your user; here 2 things that you can check:

1. CRM Analytics displays only the actions that are added to both the Quick Actions in the Salesforce Classic Publisher and the Salesforce Mobile and Lightning Experience Actions sections of the layout. This applies to the page layout assignments as per the user profile, too.

2. The user doesn't have permission to perform the action on a specific object, such as not having Edit permission on the record or object to update the record action.  

 

Reference:

• Perform Actions on a Salesforce Record from CRM Analytics