My insights on Date And Datetime fields


I would like to share my recent experience with Date fields and timezone.

Scenario 1:

 Created a date field 'CustomDate__c'. I configured a validation rule which says ,
CustomDate__c > Today()

Problem:

There are different users from different timezones, who can update the record. So, when two users from different timezones say PST(UTC-8), SGT(UTC+8) try to update this record, assuming that
Today is Feb 8 2016 according to SGT,

SGT User updates 'CustomDate__c' to Feb 8 2016. Validation rule won't fire this time.

Now, when PST user tries to update another field on the same record, this user encounters validation error as Today according to this user is Feb 7th 2016.


Scenario 2:

I had two date fields 'Submission Date' & 'Approved / Rejected Date' on an object. These fields get updated whenever record is submitted for approval & when record is approved/rejected using Field updates in Approval process.

Field Updates are configured using the below formula:
Today()

Problem:

 When SGT user logs in and submits a record for approval, the Submission Date is populated as 8th Feb 2016. (Assuming today as 8th Feb). This is fine.


When PST user approves/rejects this record, the 'Approved/Rejected Date' is populated as 7th Feb 2016.(According to the users timezone, Today is 7th Feb 2016 for this user).

So Now, Submission Date is 8th Feb 2016 and Approved/Rejected Date is 7th Feb 2016.

When SGT user now try to edit record, he is encountering a validation error which I configured: Submission date cannot be greater than Approved/Rejected Date.
Solution for above scenarios:

 Convert the date fields to date time fields. If you are having users from different timezones, it is always best to use Datetime fields.

You will not encounter the above scenarios if users are from same timezone.

Comments

  1. Jaya KotiFebruary 10, 2016 at 1:18 PM

    Hi Surendranadh,
    Even if we convert date fields to date time fields, it stores like 'YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ss.sssZ'. In your case submission date (2016-02-08T11:30:00:000Z) & approved date (2016-02-07T11:30:00:000Z). How this can solve the issue ? .If I am wrong please explain clearly..

    ReplyDelete
  2. Surendranadh NuneFebruary 10, 2016 at 1:33 PM

    Hi,

    Datetime fields will be stored in GMT time. But when user views the record in Detail page, Datetime fields will be displayed based on user timezone.

    If you are still unclear, try to replicate the scenarios in your devbox, you will get to know.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

New Beta Architect Certifications by Salesforce

A very good news for Salesforce architect certification aspirants! Salesforce is going to launch two new certifications in Architect category. As a part of this, it launched beta exams which are free. Below are the details of two certification exams: 1. Salesforce Certified Integration Architecture Specialist 2. Salesforce Certified Development Lifecycle and Deployment Specialist Pre-registration for both beta exams opens March 23, 2016 in Webassessor. Space is limited so please register early. The beta testing period runs April 1 - 8, 2016. Please note, beta exams are available at testing centers only and cannot be completed through online proctoring. Beta exams contain a larger number of questions compared to our master exams, and pass/fail results are generally made available 4 - 6 weeks after the beta testing period closes. Exam results will be based only on the questions that are selected for the master exam. Once they perform beta analysis, you will receive your pass/fa...
Read more

How to deploy Processes in Process builder using ANT?

Image
How to deploy Processes in Process builder using ANT? This post helps you learn how to deploy Processes in Process builder using ANT . Processes are stored as Flows in metadata . Use the below markup in your package.xml to deploy Process . Where FLOW_NAME  is combination of API Name and version of the process. Below screenshot explains how to give the FLOW_NAME. Note!: Even if you are deploying an active process, the process will be deployed in  in-active status in target environment. So, you have to activate the process in target environment manually once it get's deployed. Where can I notice the syntax of FLOW_NAME? You can observe the syntax of FLOW_NAME  when you upload the process using change set. To add a process to change set, select the component type as Flow Definition. After uploading the changeset, you can see a change in Type and API Name   of the component. Did you observe one more thing from the screenshot? Though there ar...
Read more