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Salesforce DataLoader
1. Every object has a standard field called id. There is no need to define an
explicit primary key in custom objects. The standard id field can be used as
primary key.

2. The id is alphanumeric. id can be either 18 digit case-insensitive or 15 digit
case-sensitive.

3. The first three characters of the id identify the object. Ids can be identified
in three ways –
o From the URL when a record is displayed in Salesforce
o From reports
o Through the web services api. Data Loader uses web services api to
display the ids.

4. The ids displayed by reports is the 15-digit case-sensitive id. The ids
returned by web services api is 18-digit id. For updates web service accept
both the 15-digit and 18-digit ids.

5. 15-digit id can be converted to 18-digit id and vice-versa.

6. When loading data into a salesforce application dependencies between
objects determine the order in which objects are loaded. If there is a oneto-
many relationship between A and B, the data for A should be loaded
before the data for B.

7. If “Modifiable System Field” configuration is enabled, then system fields
(like creation date) can be set to any value during initial data load. These
values can however not be updated after the initial upload.

8. Salesforce determines an operation Upsert. Upsert stands for update +
insert. When an upsert is performed, if a record exists it gets updated. If
the record does not exist, it gets inserted. This is useful in large data
uploads, and if the connectivity is not stable. Matching of record can be
performed on the basis of Salesforce id or External id.

9. Import wizard are available via the standard Salesforce application using
easy to use interface and do not require programming. Import wizard can
be used to load upto 50,000 records. Import wizard can be used for deduplication of data. Import wizard can be used to import accounts,
contacts, leads, solutions and custom objects.

10. API based tools can loade more than 50,000 records and can support all
object types. It also allows developers to schedule regular data loads.

11. Data Loader is an API based product by Salesforce. It can be run from
command-line. It can generate and import csv files. It supports custom
relations imports using upserts.

12. Data Loader can be installed on a desktop from the Salesforce Data
Management menu. Operations supported by data loader are –
o Extract
o Upsert
o Insert
o Delete
o Update

13. Command-line version of data-loader supports regular scheduling of loads.

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