Send Data to Salesforce

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This article provides information about sending data from any data source to a Salesforce database destination with Nexla.

Contents:

1. Begin Sending a Nexset to Salesforce
2. Configure the Salesforce Destination Using a Template
2.1 Template – Batch Update (Upsert) Objects
2.2 Template – Create New Opportunities
2.3 Template – Update Fields of an Opportunity
3. Configure the Salesforce Destination Using Advanced Settings
4. Complete and Activate the Data Flow

1. Begin Sending a Nexset to Salesforce

1. Click the icon on the Nexset to be sent to the Salesforce database destination. This will open the Send Nexset to Destination screen.
   
   
   
   
2. Select from the destinations list, and click in the top right corner of the screen.
   
   
3. Select the appropriate credential, and click in the top right corner of the screen.
   

   To learn how to enter a new Salesforce credential, see Section 2 in the Help Center article Connect to Salesforce.
   

2. Configure the Salesforce Destination Using a Template

In Nexla, Salesforce data destinations can be configured using pre-built templates or by manual configuration. The following subsections provide instructions specific to configuration using each of the templates available under the tab. For information about advanced manual source configuration, see Section 3.

First, select the tab, and then proceed to one of the following subsections.

2.1 Template – Batch Update (Upsert) Objects

This template uses upserting to update the fields of an existing Salesforce object based on the records in the Nexset to be sent. It triggers a PATCH request, which only updates the object fields that are present in each Nexset record.

1. Select "Batch Update (Upsert) Objects" from the Endpoint pulldown menu.
   
   
   
   
2. Enter the API name of the Salesforce object that should be updated in the API Name of Object to Be Updated field.
   

   For standard Salesforce objects, the API name is the name of the standard object.
   
   For custom Salesforce objects, the API name ends with the suffix "__c". For example, if the custom object is named "Inventory", the API name of the custom object is "Inventory__c".

   
   
   
3. The Sample Request Payloads panel on the right displays preview samples of the Nexset records that will be sent to the Salesforce destination, which can be used to confirm that the Nexset to be sent contains the desired information.
   

   This endpoint template is configured to group multiple samples into a single API call to meet Salesforce API requirements. The samples shown in the Sample Request Payloads panel are only a representation of the samples that will be used to generate the batched request.

   
   
   
4. Proceed to Section 4.
   
   

2.2 Template – Create New Opportunities

This template creates new Salesforce opportunities from the records in the Nexset to be sent and does not update existing opportunities.

1. Select "Create New Opportunities" from the Endpoint pulldown menu.
   
   
   
   
2. The Sample Request Payloads panel on the right displays preview samples of the Nexset records that will be used to create new opportunities in the Salesforce destination, which can be used to confirm that the Nexset to be sent contains the desired information.
   

   The payload that will be sent to Salesforce can be modified by updating the output attributes of the Nexset to be sent in the Nexset Designer. To learn more about performing transformations in the Nexset Designer, see the Help Center article Nexset Designer Overview.

   
   
   
3. Proceed to Section 4.
   
   

2.3 Template – Update Fields of an Opportunity

This template updates the fields of existing Salesforce opportunities based on the records in the Nexset to be sent. The Nexset to be sent must include an output attribute named "Id" that contains the ID of the Salesforce opportunity to be updated.

1.  Select "Update Fields of an Opportunity" from the Endpoint pulldown menu.
   
   
   
   
2. The Sample Request Payloads panel on the right displays preview samples of the Nexset records that will be used to update the fields of existing Salesforce opportunities, which can be used to confirm that the Nexset to be sent contains the desired information, including the Salesforce opportunity IDs.
   

   The payload that will be sent to Salesforce can be modified by updating the output attributes of the Nexset to be sent in the Nexset Designer. To learn more about performing transformations in the Nexset Designer, see the Help Center article Nexset Designer Overview.

   
   
   
3. Proceed to Section 4.
   
   

3. Configure the Salesforce Destination Using Advanced Settings

Settings available under the tab allow users to configure Nexla to send data to any Salesforce API destination to support a wide range of use cases, including data flows in which the API response is automatically sent to a webhook source and those which require URLs to be dynamically generated based on record attribute values.

1. Select the tab.
   
   
   
   
2. Select the API method that should be used to send data to the Salesforce destination from the Method pulldown menu.
   
   
   
   
   • GET - This method returns a representation of the information contained in the API endpoint. It is not typically used when sending data to an API destination.
     
     
   • POST - This method creates new subordinate resources following the appropriate hierarchy used by the API endpoint.
     
     
   • PUT - This method updates resources in the API endpoint by entirely replacing the resource content with the information in the Nexset records.
     
     
   • PATCH - This method updates resources in the API endpoint by modifying the resource content based on the information in the Nexset records.
     
     
   • DELETE - This method removes the targeted resources from the API endpoint.
     
     
3. Select the format in which Nexla should send information to the destination from the Content Format pulldown menu.
   

   This selection should correspond to the content type accepted by the Salesforce API destination for the method type selected in Step 2.

   
   
   
4. Enter the URL of the Salesforce API to which the data should be sent in the URL field.
   
   
   
   
5. Optional: Select any record attributes that should be excluded from the Nexset information sent to the destination by clicking on the attribute(s) in the Exclude Attributes pulldown menu.
   
   
   
   
   • Each selected attribute will appear in a blue box in the Exclude Attributes field.
     
     
     
     
   • To remove a selected attribute from the excluded list, click on that attribute.
     
     
     
     
   • To remove all selected attributes, click on the right side of the Exclude Attributes field.
     
     
     
     
6. Optional: To configure Nexla to batch together the records in the Nexset to be sent to the Salesforce destination, check the box next to .
   
   
   1. Enter the number of records to be included in each batch in the Batch Size field.
      
      
      
      
   2. Select the batch grouping algorithm that should be used from the Grouping Algorithm pulldown menu.
      
      
      
      
7. Optional: To configure Nexla to create a new webhook source and automatically capture and send the API response to that webhook source, check the box next to .
   

   The newly created Nexla webhook will be attached to the selected Salesforce destination. This function can be useful for data flows such as those in which new Salesforce objects are created, as it will allow the user to capture the new object IDs.

8. The Sample Request Payloads panel on the right displays preview samples of the Nexset records that will be sent to the selected Salesforce destination, which can be used to confirm that the Nexset to be sent contains the desired information.
   
   
   
   
9. Once the above steps have been completed, proceed to Section 4.
   
   

4. Complete and Activate the Data Flow

1. Once the above steps have been completed, click in the top right corner of the screen to save the data flow and Salesforce destination settings.
   
   
2. The confirmation screen indicates that the configured Salesforce data destination has been successfully created.
   
   
   
   
3. Optional: To edit the name of the newly created destination in this screen, click on it, and enter the desired text.
   
   
   
   
4. Optional: To enter a description of the newly created destination, click on , and enter the desired text. 
   
   
   
   
5. • To activate the flow of data into the Salesforce destination now, click .
     
     
   • To activate the flow of data into the Snowflake destination later, click  in the top right corner of the screen.
     
     
     1. When the flow is ready to be activated, find the flow in the My Data Flows screen, and click on the destination.
        
        
        
        
     2. Click on the menu that appears to activate the flow of data to the Salesforce destination.