Firstly, you’ll need to contact salesforce.com to get this feature enabled.

Then be patient. It takes a minute or two for the update to propagate. Clearly, something was churning in the Force.com platform background!

Now we’ll navigate NOT to the Setup | Customize | User Interface screen (where this should be enabled). Instead, we’ll go to the Opportunity Page Layout screen.

Follow the cool prompts. They make it so easy, a … well, you know what I mean.

Step 1: Enable the Highlights Panel

Opportunity Layout Setup

Step 2: Edit the Page Layout

Choose Fields to Display

Note: You can only show fields in the Highlights Panel if they are in the page layout. (I have a feeling this has to do with Professional Edition or printable layouts, but I’m just guessing.)

Once you’ve done this for each page layout, click on the big button.

Confirmation - You are (mostly) done!

At this point, each user can enable the bar. I have no idea why the admin can’t just force this on all users – or maybe I missed something – but it seems to be an opt-in feature.

Step 3: Enable User Opt-In

Here’s the link to enable the feature. Of course, you may wish to watch a video as well!

The link to enable this setting

And here it is!

The new layout!

Return to top from the bottom of the page

It’s interesting that if you have this enabled, certain user interface settings (yes, at Setup | Customize | User Interface) cannot be changed:

When this is enabled, you cannot turn off two settings

Here’s my prediction: We will start to see two major mistakes during Salesforce demos:

1. We will continue to see the link asking if we want more information on inline editing (after more than a year, it’s time to turn that off, people).
2. At the top of the Opportunity detail page, we will see this link.

And I will continue to think less of all demonstrators who make these mistakes.

Happy Spring 2010!

I had this problem when Content was first released and I was asked to be one of the first SysAds to use it. At the time, we used Solution 1 (below), but since then, other products have been released to help with this.

Why is it even an issue?

• Surely we can download each file? Yes, but who wants to?
• Can't we do a Data Export and then upload those to Content? Yes, but all the files are renamed with their 15-character Ids, making renaming them all-but-impossible.

Solution 1

# Nick Marcantonio
# nmarcantonio at salesforce.com
# 08/07

$file = 'Attachment.csv';

open (F, $file) || die ("Could not open $file!");

$line = <F>; #read first line which is nothing but column headers
while ($line = <F>)
{
  ($id,$name) = split ',', $line;
  chomp($id);
  $id =~ s/\"//g;
  chomp($name);
  $name =~ s/\"//g;
  
  #print "$id : $name\n";
  
  $result = rename($id, $name);
  #print "$result\n";
}

close (F);

If you've done a data export you've noticed that all attachments are placed in the Attachments subfolder and named with their salesforce ID, not the actual file name or extension. One must then consult the Attachment.csv file included in the data export to find the name associated with the ID and rename the file. Attached to this solution is a Perl script that will rename all of the exported attachments to their proper names. Please follow these steps to run this:

1. Perform a data export and unzip the resulting zip file
2. Launch the data loader and export from the Attachments table ONLY the Id and Name column. This file must be named Attachment.csv.
3. Install ActivePerl. This will allow perl scripts to be run on a Windows machine. ActivePerl is available here (http://www.activestate.com/activeperl).
4. Copy the Attachment.csv file and the attached AttachmentParser.pl file to the Attachments subdirectory of the data export.
5. Double-click on AttachmentParser.pl.

All of the files named with their salesforce IDs will be renamed with their proper names and file extensions.

(This solution will work for documents as well. Follow the same procedure and be sure to name the extract from the Documents table Attachment.csv) 

Note: This will not preserve folders, as far as I know. You may be able to recreate this by exporting the Folder table and doing some work on that, as the Document table does include a FolderId column.

A heartfelt thank-you to Nick Marcantonio for his help!

Solution 2

Install DreamFactory's FREE DreamTeam Document Management application from the AppExchange to drag-and-drop your Documents to your desktop.
This doesn't work with Attachments, though, so you may need to use another method for them.

Please let us know how it goes - good luck and enjoy Content!

Although it was not clear how much of the demonstrated app will run on Force.com and how much will run on the CA servers (though it appeared to be 100% on Force.com), it was clear that the application was accessed via a force.com URL.

For more information, see http://www.ca.com/agile.

A release date for the product was not mentioned, but the earliest planned release of any newly-announced feature thus far is Spring 2010, so one might assume that this will not be available until then.

Workbook
http://www.salesforce.com/us/developer/docs/workbook/index.htm

Fundamentals
http://www.salesforce.com/us/developer/docs/fundamentals/index.htm

Cookbook
http://www.salesforce.com/us/developer/docs/cookbook/index.htm

Apex Advanced Code Example
http://www.salesforce.com/us/developer/docs/apexcode/Content/apex_shopping_cart_example.htm
https://sites.secure.force.com/appexchange/listingDetail?listingId=a0N30000001saDCEAY

And many more to come!

Salesforce Chatter is being pushed as a platform layer.

Looking at the “chiclet” slide that Marc Benioff unveiled, let’s start with the “old” slide:

Yes, this is not the exact slide, but getting a copy of the initial slide is proving difficult. We'll have to use this one from Dreamforce 2008 as a reference, and will need to imagine the rest.

• Notice that the bottom level is Infrastructure. This is the hardware that salesforce.com provides along with the promise that it will work properly. It is called Infrastructure as a Service, and there’s nothing new about that.
• On top of that is what we call the Force.com Platform. This includes Apex code, workflow, analytics, and Visualforce.
• And on top of that are the clouds: Service Cloud 2, Sales Cloud 2, and Custom Cloud.

However, the first new chiclet slide that Marc showed was misleading. The item with the big question mark was a cloud. And Chatter is not only a cloud.

Once Chatter was shown and demonstrated, the new chiclet slide did not just show it as a cloud. It was also shown as another platform layer. This is huge.

Chatter, clearly, is not just an application that sits on top of Salesforce CRM and the Force.com platform. (Examples of these are AppExchange apps like FinancialForce and even integration features like Google Docs for Salesforce.) Chatter is an integral part of the platform and will be a part of every customization. What does this mean? Just as with every custom object comes the ability to make Workflow and Validation Rules, with every custom object will come the ability to include Chatter features.

So let’s talk about the new slide. First, something negative:

From an IT perspective, we know that there are three levels to Software as a Service: Infrastructure as a Service, Platform as a Service, and Application as a Service. Where does Chatter fit in? I have no idea. In the Platform? No. Platform features are data-driven and can exist without a user-interface. In Infrastructure? Obviously not. So Chatter must be an Application. Obviously, salesforce.com is including Chatter as features in every application. But just because it is ubiquitous does not mean that it is a platform layer.

Now, something positive:

From a marketing perspective, nobody cares about the Service layers. Infrastructure? Platform? Application? All the people with money (CXOs) care about is what they’re going to get and what the product can do. If we look at the slide as a selling-tool, it’s perfect. It shows us features that are available across the board, in every object.

So my conclusion:

If I take off my developer hat, Chatter is a great feature that will help businesses run better. Sure, the slide is funny-looking, but it works.

And to all the tweeters out there, don’t forget to use #df09 and #forcedotcom!

I’m not sure what they’re trying to do, but they’re certainly not making it look like they’re worth my time. The Kim Jong Il joke is pathetic (though a deeper look at the text shows that it’s actually “Kim Jong II” – as in Kim Jong the Second) and there is at least one blatantly inflammatory remark:
Here’s a tip for SugarCRM: Salesforce CRM and the Force.com Platform are NOT SUPPOSED to run on Amazon SC2 nor Microsoft Azure!
To be fair, since Benioff is well-known for his demonstrations outside Oracle OpenWorld a few years ago (his own demonstration to which he alludes in his page 65 quote), SugarCRM’s tactic is understandable – but hopefully our Fearless Forceful Leader takes this more as a compliment (imitation and flattery and what-not) than an attack.
That’s all. No need to pick up a physical copy of the book – it’s available for download. In fact, I propose that someone host a copy on another site for download so that SugarCRM believes that far fewer people have downloaded the file.
Back to your regularly-scheduled Dreamforce programming.

Though a supplemental/unofficial guide to customizing SFDC for Twitter will be released soon on this site, I wanted to share a trigger I just wrote to add new Leads to a campaign:

Firstly, thank you to Scott Hemmeter at Arrowpointe, who wrote the original code that I customized.

Secondly, you could easily duplicate this trigger and set it to run on the Contact object as well.

Please don't set the trigger to "after update," as in testing, it ran into problems when converting a Lead and merging with a Contact already on the "Twitter" campaign.

trigger AddToTwitterCampaign on Lead (after insert) {

    // List containing each Lead being processed
    list<Lead> theLeads = new list<Lead>(); 
      
    //We only execute if we have a campaign named "Twitter"

    if([SELECT Count() FROM Campaign WHERE name = 'Twitter'] == 1){
        Campaign TC = [SELECT id, name FROM Campaign WHERE name = 'Twitter' LIMIT 1];
        
        for(Lead l:trigger.new) { 
            if (l.leadsource.indexOf('Twitter',0 ) >= 0 ||  l.leadsource.indexOf('Tweet',0 ) >= 0 ){  
                theLeads.add(l); // add lead to the main lead list
                }
            }
      
      // List containing Campaign Member records to be inserted
      list <CampaignMember> theCampaignMembers = new list<CampaignMember>(); 
    
      for (Lead ld:theLeads) {
          CampaignMember cml = new CampaignMember();
          cml.leadid = ld.id;
          cml.campaignid = TC.id;
          theCampaignMembers.add(cml);
        }

     //Insert the list of Campaign Members
      if(!theCampaignMembers.isEmpty()){
        insert theCampaignMembers;
        }
    }
}

The trigger requires that you have a Campaign called "Twitter," but feel free to change that to anything else you'd like.

Don't worry if you have other triggers that add Leads to Campaigns - this can work alongside them, so you can add Leads to as many Campaigns as you'd like.

Lookup filters function similarly to validation rules when you save a record. That is, actions that cause related records to save, such as changes to a roll-up summary fields, also trigger the lookup filters on the related record and block the save.

The implications for this are massive. Let's explore two examples:

Example 1: Filter as Validation Rule from Parent Record

• We create a lookup on a Child object to Parent.
• We filter the lookup to EXCLUDE Parent.Status = 'Closed' (Parent.Status is only Open or Closed.)
• We can edit the Child records as long as the Parent Status is not Closed.
• When Parent.Status is changed to Closed, existing related Child records are not affected...
• BUT if we attempt to edit a Child when the Parent is Closed, Force.com will throw an error (which we can customize) beause that the Lookup is invalid.
• (and clearly we cannot add new Child records either)

Conclusion: Thus, Filtered Lookups act much like Validation Rules. A quick experiment shows that Filtered Lookup errors actually fire before Validation Rules.

Example 2: Filter as Validation Rule on Roll-Up Summary (from Child Record) - what the line above was referencing

• Use the above example, but change the lookup to a master-detail relationship
• Create a Roll-Up Summary field to count all child records
• Prevent saving more than 10 child records for one parent record

Here, we have triggered a filter error without touching a parent record, yet we throw an error based on a value on the parent record.

This second example is significant because we could already prevent more than 10 child records from saving, but doing so required a Roll-Up Summary field on the parent object AND a Validation Rule on the child object. Now we can replace the Validation Rule with the Lookup Filter, though we still need the Roll-Up Summary field. Whether or not this simplifies things is definitely up for debate...

Conclusion

This is a very powerful feature! Thanks to salesforce.com for rolling it out, even in beta form.

Real world example: The above example would be great for Time Sheet Entry and Time Sheet Header objects, as they would create, in effect, a validation rule on the Header record preventing editing of any child records. Awesome!

For further reading, check Salesforce Help's Lookup Filters examples.

Our Daily Shinro site was listed “for sheer exuberance!”

I’m really proud of the site, though the lion’s share of the kudos go to John for the concept and site design. I just coded whatever he told me to code; he’s the creative one!

So if anyone is looking for a custom Force.com Site or website integration to Salesforce, contact us and let’s discuss your needs!

Subject:
 Preparing a New Org. Each Pre-Release. In 27 steps.
Body:
Yikes.
http://www.x2od.com/2009/09/16/preparing-a-new-org.html

This is not the most widely-read blog about Salesforce, but it feels good to know that salesforce.com does have its ear to the ground and is taking seriously even the indirect feedback that we bloggers provide.

Kudos, salesforce.com.

PS. While I’m at it, I may as well also mention that too many fields are invisible to every profile. Example on Account: Site, Ownership, SIC Code, and more. And Annual Revenue is invisible to Customer Portal users. It would be great to have a guide or documentation.
PPS. Turns out that there’s no rhyme nor reason why some orgs have various fields invisible. Between demo, developer, trial, prerelease, and more, some fields are available and some are not. It is a huge waste of time to find all the fields and enable them.

Every time one encounters a fresh org, there are maintenance tasks to perform. I usually go through an org (whether a Developer Edition org or a Prerelease version) and do the same tasks, generally in no particular order. This time, however, I wrote down what I did as I did it. Looking at the list, it's hardly in any "best practices" order at all - it's just how I did it.

There's no need to follow every step, and it is not a complete list of all possibilities, but this should give you some idea of the possibilities and available tweaks: (*** indicates some of the new features in WInter '10)

1. Save login with 1Password/Roboform
2. Reset (Set) Security Token
3. Administration Setup | Security Controls
• Session time 8 hrs
• Passwords never expire
4. Create Record Types (and Business Processes) for Lead, Opportunity, Case
5. (Campaigns were not enabled in this prerelease org) - would have configured them here, similarly
6. Activities section: Calendar link on sidebar
7. Download latest versions of Connect for Outlook, Office Edition
8. Opportunities:
• Enable Similar Opportunities
• Enable Opportunity Teams
9. Create Account Master Record Type
10. Enable Account Teams
11. Create Contact Master Record Type
• Note: Asked to add to page layout. Not asked for Opportunities.
12. Enable Case Teams
13. Enable Public Solutions
14. Solutions:
• Enable Solution Browsing
• Enable Solution HTML
• Could have created a Solution Process & Record Type
• Did not enable multilingual solutions
15. Enable Self-Service
16. Enable Web-to-Case
17. Create default Owner, etc (auto prompted)
18. Enable PRM and Partner Portal (though have no licenses)
19. Salesforce to Salesforce
• Enabled S2S
• Set up S2S Connection Finder ***
• Added fields to page layout - Kept read-only for all profiles except System Administrator
• Enable Public & Private Tags
20. Enable Console for all Profiles
21. Search Settings - Enable Enhanced Lookup & Auto-Complete
22. User Interface
• Separate loading of related lists
• Spell Checker on Tasks & Events
• Collapsible Sidebar
• Custom Sidebar on all Pages
• Enhanced Profile Management ***
23. Set myself as default Workflow User
24. Looked at Develop | Custom Settings ***
25. Created a Default Queue and added myself
26. Set all Sharing Rules to Private
27. Update Home Page to the way I like it
• Order of wide section (top down): Calendar, Tasks, Items to Approve, Dashboard
• No changes to narrow section

Other things that may be possible in other orgs:

• Enable Customer Portal
• Customize Campaigns
• Set up Sites

Again, this is not meant to be a complete list. Also, it is not intended to be a how-to; for more information you may search the Help link at the top of every org page, check Salesforce Community, or Developer Force.

Happy configuring!

A company had used Javascript to update the copyright date of its website using Javascript. This is the code.

Copyright &copy; 2005-<script type="text/javascript">document.write(new Date().getFullYear());</script> This Company. All rights reserved.

Of course, as a Force.com developer, I prefer to use Visualforce and Apex over Javascript (as it makes the client thinner - thick clients are not my preferred modus operandi).

This is the Visualforce version of the above code; it requires no Apex controller nor extension, and will always display the current year.

Copyright © 2005-{!year(today())} This Company. All rights reserved.

Feel free to use this snippet in your Visualforce pages (including Sites) to ensure that on January 1, you won't look foolish for failing to (shudder) manually update the footer in your site template.

Coding the new premium version of Mass Update Contacts (details to come), I replaced the two parts of the page with Apex Components. This will allow the app to support custom address fields and international address formats.

I didn't want to write one ControllerExtension for the main page, a CustomController for the view section component, and another CustomController for the pageblocktable component. So here is the overloaded class constructor. Note that this works because an extension passes the StandardController to the constructor, and a CustomController passes nothing:

public with sharing class VersatileClass {

private Account account;

public VersatileClass(){
	system.debug('OPERATING AS CONTROLLER');
		if(System.currentPageReference().getParameters().get('id')==null){
			//Include error checking here
		} else{
			string AId = System.currentPageReference().getParameters().get('id');
			account = [select id, name from Account where id = :AId];
			//And whatever else you want to do
		}
}

public VersatileClass(ApexPages.StandardController controller) {
	system.debug('OPERATING AS EXTENSION');
		if(System.currentPageReference().getParameters().get('id')==null){
			//Include error checking here
		} else{
			this.account = (Account)controller.getRecord();
			//And whatever else you want to do
		}
	}
}

Enjoy! This should save people a lot of time.

First, a teaser screenshot. (There's a better one below the code.)

Here's the updated Visualforce code:

<apex:page controller="EmailMessageController" action="{!ViewData}">
    <apex:sectionHeader title="Email Messages" subtitle=""></apex:sectionHeader>
    <apex:pageblock id="emailblock">
        <apex:facet name="header">
            <apex:form >
                <apex:panelGrid styleClass="list"
                    columnClasses="pbTitle,pbButton,pbHelp" columns="3" border="0"
                    cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0">
                    <apex:outputLabel ><h3>Messages</h3></apex:outputLabel>
                    <apex:commandButton value=" Refresh " styleClass="btn"
                        action="{!ViewData}" rerender="emailblock"></apex:commandButton>
                    <apex:SelectList value="{!wheretext}" size="1"  id="controllerselectlist">
                        <apex:actionSupport event="onchange" action="{!ViewData}"
                            reRender="emailblock"></apex:actionSupport>
                        <apex:selectOptions value="{!views}" />
                    </apex:SelectList>
                </apex:panelGrid>
            </apex:form>
        </apex:facet>
        <apex:form >
            <apex:pageblocktable value="{!Messages}" var="e" id="emailtable"
                bgcolor="#F3F3EC" styleClass="list" rowClasses="dataRow"
                onRowMouseOver="hiOn(this);" onRowMouseOut="hiOff(this);">
                <apex:column >
                    <apex:facet name="header">
                        <apex:commandLink action="{!ViewData}"
                            value="{!$ObjectType.EmailMessage.fields.Subject.label}{!IF(sortExpression=='Subject', 
                            IF(sortDirection='ASC','▼','▲'),'')}">
                            <apex:param value="Subject" name="column"
                                assignTo="{!sortExpression}"></apex:param>
                        </apex:commandLink>
                    </apex:facet>
                    <apex:outputLink value="/{!e.Id}" target="_blank">{!e.Subject}</apex:outputLink>
                </apex:column>
                <apex:column >
                    <apex:facet name="header">
                    {!$ObjectType.Contact.fields.Name.label}
                    </apex:facet>
                    <apex:outputLink value="/{!e.Parent.ContactId}" target="_blank"
                        rendered="{!IF(e.Parent.ContactId != '',true,false)}">{!e.FromName}</apex:outputLink>
                    <apex:outputtext value="{!e.FromName}"
                        rendered="{!IF(e.Parent.ContactId != '',false,true)}" />
                </apex:column>
                <apex:column >
                    <apex:facet name="header">
                    {!$ObjectType.Account.fields.Name.label}
                    </apex:facet>
                    <apex:outputLink value="/{!e.Parent.AccountId}" target="_blank">{!e.Parent.Account.Name}</apex:outputLink>
                </apex:column>
                <apex:column value="{!e.FromAddress}">
                    <apex:facet name="header">
                        <apex:commandLink action="{!ViewData}"
                            value="{!$ObjectType.EmailMessage.fields.FromAddress.label}{!IF(sortExpression=='FromAddress', 
                            IF(sortDirection='ASC','▼','▲'),'')}">
                            <apex:param value="FromAddress" name="column"
                                assignTo="{!sortExpression}"></apex:param>
                        </apex:commandLink>
                    </apex:facet>
                </apex:column>
                <apex:column value="{!e.Status}">
                    <apex:facet name="header">
                        <apex:commandLink action="{!ViewData}"
                            value="{!$ObjectType.EmailMessage.fields.Status.label}{!IF(sortExpression=='Status', 
                            IF(sortDirection='ASC','▼','▲'),'')}">
                            <apex:param value="Status" name="column"
                                assignTo="{!sortExpression}"></apex:param>
                        </apex:commandLink>
                    </apex:facet>
                </apex:column>
                <apex:column value="{!e.MessageDate}">
                    <apex:facet name="header">
                        <apex:commandLink action="{!ViewData}"
                            value="{!$ObjectType.EmailMessage.fields.MessageDate.label}{!IF(sortExpression=='MessageDate', 
                            IF(sortDirection='ASC','▼','▲'),'')}">
                            <apex:param value="MessageDate" name="column"
                                assignTo="{!sortExpression}"></apex:param>
                        </apex:commandLink>
                    </apex:facet>
                </apex:column>
                <apex:column >
                    <apex:facet name="header">
                        <apex:commandLink action="{!ViewData}"
                            value="Inbound/Outbound{!IF(sortExpression=='Incoming', 
                            IF(sortDirection='ASC','▼','▲'),'')}">
                            <apex:param value="Incoming" name="column"
                                assignTo="{!sortExpression}"></apex:param>
                        </apex:commandLink>
                    </apex:facet>
                    <apex:image url="/img/emailInbound.gif" rendered="{!e.Incoming}" />
                    <apex:image url="/img/emailOutbound.gif" rendered="{!NOT(e.Incoming)}" />
                    <!--<apex:outputfield value="{!e.Incoming}" rendered="{!NOT(e.Incoming)}" />-->
                </apex:column>
                <apex:column >
                    <apex:facet name="header">
                        <apex:commandLink action="{!ViewData}"
                            value="Attachment{!IF(sortExpression=='HasAttachment', 
                            IF(sortDirection='ASC','▼','▲'),'')}">
                            <apex:param value="HasAttachment" name="column"
                                assignTo="{!sortExpression}"></apex:param>
                        </apex:commandLink>
                    </apex:facet>
                    <apex:image url="/img/emailHasAttach.gif" rendered="{!e.HasAttachment}"/>
                    <apex:outputfield value="{!e.HasAttachment}" rendered="{!NOT(e.HasAttachment)}" />
                </apex:column>
                <apex:column >
                    <apex:facet name="header">
                        <apex:commandLink action="{!ViewData}"
                            value="{!$ObjectType.Case.fields.CaseNumber.label}{!IF(sortExpression=='ParentId', 
                            IF(sortDirection='ASC','▼','▲'),'')}">
                            <apex:param value="ParentId" name="column"
                                assignTo="{!sortExpression}"></apex:param>
                        </apex:commandLink>
                    </apex:facet>
                    <apex:outputLink value="/{!e.ParentId}">{!e.Parent.CaseNumber}</apex:outputLink>

                </apex:column>
                <apex:column value="{!e.ToAddress}">
                    <apex:facet name="header">
                        <apex:commandLink action="{!ViewData}"
                            value="{!$ObjectType.EmailMessage.fields.ToAddress.label}{!IF(sortExpression=='ToAddress', 
                            IF(sortDirection='ASC','▼','▲'),'')}">
                            <apex:param value="ToAddress" name="column"
                                assignTo="{!sortExpression}"></apex:param>
                        </apex:commandLink>
                    </apex:facet>
                </apex:column>
            </apex:pageblocktable>
        </apex:form>
    </apex:pageblock>
</apex:page>

The Apex controller code has not changed from Version 1.

Here's the screenshot, which includes some emails from around the Salesforce ecosystem:

Incoming (and auto-response) Emails

1. Salesforce will search ANY Email field to match an incoming email to a Contact. (nice job, Salesforce!) - We know because Simon Fell's Contact.Email is sfell at salesforce.com, and his Contact.Secondary_Email__c is simon at fell.com in the sandbox. Ditto (with her own email addresses) for Irene Brodt.
2. Auto-response emails will be included. We turned off auto-response after a few emails came in.
3. Though the Email Address field is coded just to show the field value, Salesforce includes the Gmail link. (We assume that's because we activated the integration, but we may be wrong. Has anyone not activated that?)
4. We did not (yet) implement the super Email/Web2Case trigger code that Marco Casalaina posted in the Salesforce Support Blog, but if we had, then every email in the list would be associated with a Contact. (Example: Michael Smith of Force2b.net, who will be a Contact from now on!)

First, the page was built upon the template Sam Arjimandi built at Salesforce. Instead of the Account object, we substituted the EmailMessage object. But something didn't work.

The important one here is "Filter" because (as the documentation states) this allows the field to be used in a WHERE clause. Also, however, (as the documentation does not state) it allows the field to be used in an ORDER BY clause. So all fields on the EmailMessage object that do not allow filtering/ordering had to be presented plainly, without Sam's cool PageBlockTable sorting features. Once this was done, Sonny had some great ideas:

1. Show the email subject, but make that a hyperlink to the email message itself
2. Link the Case Number (EmailMessage.ParentId) to the Case (EmailMessage.Parent)
3. Show the Case Contact (EmailMessage.Parent.Contact.Name), linking to the Contact (EmailMessage.Parent.ContactId)
4. Show the Case Account (EmailMessage.Parent.Account.Name), linking to the Account (EmailMessage.Parent.AccountId)
5. Provide filters - Incoming only, Unread only, etc.

to populate the query's filter.

public with sharing class EmailMessageController {
   public String EmailMessage { get; set; }
   private List<EmailMessage> messages;
   private String sortDirection = 'ASC';
   private String sortExp = 'MessageDate';
   public String wheretext;

   public EmailMessageController(){
   	wheretext = '';
   }

   public String sortExpression { get {
        return sortExp;
     }
     set {
       //if the column is clicked on then switch between Ascending and Descending modes
       if (value == sortExp)
         sortDirection = (sortDirection == 'ASC')? 'DESC' : 'ASC';
       else
         sortDirection = 'ASC';
       sortExp = value;
     }
   }
   
public void setWhereText(String value) {  
   whereText = value;
 }
public string getWhereText(){
	return wheretext;
}
   
public List<SelectOption> getViews(){
	List<SelectOption> options = new List<SelectOption>();
	options.add(new SelectOption('WHERE e.id != null','All'));
	options.add(new SelectOption('WHERE e.Incoming = true AND e.Status = \'0\' ','Incoming Unread'));
	options.add(new SelectOption('WHERE e.Incoming = true AND e.Status = \'1\' ','Incoming Read'));
        options.add(new SelectOption('WHERE e.Incoming = true','All Incoming'));
        options.add(new SelectOption('WHERE e.Incoming = false','All Outgoing'));
        options.add(new SelectOption('WHERE e.ToAddress = \'support@x2od.com\'','Support Queue'));
        options.add(new SelectOption('WHERE e.ToAddress = \'support2@x2od.com\'','Support Queue2')); //etc.
        return options;
}

 public String getSortDirection() {
    //if not column is selected 
    if (sortExpression == null || sortExpression == '')
      return 'ASC';
    else
     return sortDirection;
 }

 public void setSortDirection(String value) {  
   sortDirection = value;
 }
  
   public List<EmailMessage> getMessages() {
       return messages;
   }
   
   public PageReference ViewData() {
       //build the full sort expression
       string sortFullExp = sortExpression  + ' ' + sortDirection;
      
       //query the database based on the sort expression
       messages = Database.query('Select e.FromAddress, e.Parent.ContactId, e.Parent.Contact.Name, e.Parent.Account.Name, e.ToAddress, e.Parent.CaseNumber, e.Parent.AccountId, e.TextBody, e.SystemModstamp, e.Subject, e.Status, e.ParentId, e.MessageDate, e.LastModifiedDate, e.LastModifiedById, e.IsDeleted, e.Incoming, e.Id, e.HtmlBody, e.Headers, e.HasAttachment, e.FromName, e.CreatedDate, e.CreatedById, e.CcAddress, e.BccAddress, e.ActivityId From EmailMessage e ' + wheretext + ' order by ' + sortFullExp + ' limit 1000');
       return null;
   }
}

And here's the Visualforce Page:

<apex:page controller="EmailMessageController" action="{!ViewData}">
	<apex:sectionHeader title="Email Messages" subtitle=""></apex:sectionHeader>
	<apex:pageblock id="emailblock">
		<apex:facet name="header">
			<apex:form>
				<apex:panelGrid styleClass="list"
					columnClasses="pbTitle,pbButton,pbHelp" columns="3" border="0"
					cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0">
					<apex:outputLabel><h3>Messages</h3></apex:outputLabel>
					<apex:commandButton value=" Refresh " styleClass="btn"
						action="{!ViewData}" rerender="emailblock"></apex:commandButton>
					<apex:SelectList value="{!wheretext}" size="1"	id="controllerselectlist">
						<apex:actionSupport event="onchange" action="{!ViewData}"
							reRender="emailblock"></apex:actionSupport>
						<apex:selectOptions value="{!views}" />
					</apex:SelectList>
				</apex:panelGrid>
			</apex:form>
		</apex:facet>
		<apex:form>
			<apex:pageblocktable value="{!Messages}" var="e" id="emailtable"
				bgcolor="#F3F3EC" styleClass="list" rowClasses="dataRow"
				onRowMouseOver="hiOn(this);" onRowMouseOut="hiOff(this);">
				<apex:column>
					<apex:facet name="header">
						<apex:commandLink action="{!ViewData}"
							value="{!$ObjectType.EmailMessage.fields.Subject.label}{!IF(sortExpression=='Subject', 
							IF(sortDirection='ASC','▼','▲'),'')}">
							<apex:param value="Subject" name="column"
								assignTo="{!sortExpression}"></apex:param>
						</apex:commandLink>
					</apex:facet>
					<apex:outputLink value="/{!e.Id}" target="_blank">{!e.Subject}</apex:outputLink>
				</apex:column>
				<apex:column>
					<apex:facet name="header">
					{!$ObjectType.Contact.fields.Name.label}
					</apex:facet>
					<apex:outputLink value="/{!e.Parent.ContactId}" target="_blank"
						rendered="{!IF(e.Parent.ContactId != '',true,false)}">{!e.FromName}</apex:outputLink>
					<apex:outputtext value="{!e.FromName}"
						rendered="{!IF(e.Parent.ContactId != '',false,true)}" />
				</apex:column>
				<apex:column>
					<apex:facet name="header">
					{!$ObjectType.Account.fields.Name.label}
					</apex:facet>
					<apex:outputLink value="/{!e.Parent.AccountId}" target="_blank">{!e.Parent.Account.Name}</apex:outputLink>
				</apex:column>
				<apex:column value="{!e.FromAddress}">
					<apex:facet name="header">
						<apex:commandLink action="{!ViewData}"
							value="{!$ObjectType.EmailMessage.fields.FromAddress.label}{!IF(sortExpression=='FromAddress', 
							IF(sortDirection='ASC','▼','▲'),'')}">
							<apex:param value="FromAddress" name="column"
								assignTo="{!sortExpression}"></apex:param>
						</apex:commandLink>
					</apex:facet>
				</apex:column>
				<apex:column value="{!e.Status}">
					<apex:facet name="header">
						<apex:commandLink action="{!ViewData}"
							value="{!$ObjectType.EmailMessage.fields.Status.label}{!IF(sortExpression=='Status', 
							IF(sortDirection='ASC','▼','▲'),'')}">
							<apex:param value="Status" name="column"
								assignTo="{!sortExpression}"></apex:param>
						</apex:commandLink>
					</apex:facet>
				</apex:column>
				<apex:column value="{!e.MessageDate}">
					<apex:facet name="header">
						<apex:commandLink action="{!ViewData}"
							value="{!$ObjectType.EmailMessage.fields.MessageDate.label}{!IF(sortExpression=='MessageDate', 
							IF(sortDirection='ASC','▼','▲'),'')}">
							<apex:param value="MessageDate" name="column"
								assignTo="{!sortExpression}"></apex:param>
						</apex:commandLink>
					</apex:facet>
				</apex:column>
				<apex:column value="{!e.Incoming}">
					<apex:facet name="header">
						<apex:commandLink action="{!ViewData}"
							value="{!$ObjectType.EmailMessage.fields.Incoming.label}{!IF(sortExpression=='Incoming', 
							IF(sortDirection='ASC','▼','▲'),'')}">
							<apex:param value="Incoming" name="column"
								assignTo="{!sortExpression}"></apex:param>
						</apex:commandLink>
					</apex:facet>
				</apex:column>
				<apex:column value="{!e.HasAttachment}">
					<apex:facet name="header">
						<apex:commandLink action="{!ViewData}"
							value="{!$ObjectType.EmailMessage.fields.HasAttachment.label}{!IF(sortExpression=='HasAttachment', 
							IF(sortDirection='ASC','▼','▲'),'')}">
							<apex:param value="HasAttachment" name="column"
								assignTo="{!sortExpression}"></apex:param>
						</apex:commandLink>
					</apex:facet>
				</apex:column>
				<apex:column>
					<apex:facet name="header">
						<apex:commandLink action="{!ViewData}"
							value="{!$ObjectType.Case.fields.CaseNumber.label}{!IF(sortExpression=='ParentId', 
							IF(sortDirection='ASC','▼','▲'),'')}">
							<apex:param value="ParentId" name="column"
								assignTo="{!sortExpression}"></apex:param>
						</apex:commandLink>
					</apex:facet>
					<apex:outputLink value="/{!e.ParentId}">{!e.Parent.CaseNumber}</apex:outputLink>

				</apex:column>
				<apex:column value="{!e.ToAddress}">
					<apex:facet name="header">
						<apex:commandLink action="{!ViewData}"
							value="{!$ObjectType.EmailMessage.fields.ToAddress.label}{!IF(sortExpression=='ToAddress', 
							IF(sortDirection='ASC','▼','▲'),'')}">
							<apex:param value="ToAddress" name="column"
								assignTo="{!sortExpression}"></apex:param>
						</apex:commandLink>
					</apex:facet>
				</apex:column>
			</apex:pageblocktable>
		</apex:form>
	</apex:pageblock>
</apex:page>

There are some other cool bits:

If there is no Case.Contact, the table will display the FromName, pulled from the email message.

An interesting point: You may notice that EmailStatus is presented in numerical form. For instance, Incoming Unread is 0, Incoming Read is 1, etc. The documentation, however, says, "Read only. The status of the email. For example, “New,” “Unread,” “Replied,” “Sent.”" So we're not sure of the exact mapping. 3 seems to be Sent, so 2 is probably Replied... but we're not sure.

Don't forget: EmailMessage has two lookups (foreign key): Case, and Activity. This Activity is the task created when Salesforce receives the email, and is - according to the documentation - assigned to the Case Owner. We're not sure what happens when the Case is owned by a Queue. Feel free to comment and share your experiences.

That's it! Enjoy.

]]>

Recently, Judi Sohn wrote about a URL hack to save your Salesforce username and password (in an exposed, plaintext manner). This is a great way to save a lot of time logging into Salesforce.

There is another way to save un/pw combinations: Use Eclipse to store the un/pw/securitytoken. There's a catch (there always is): Once they're entered, you can't see them in plaintext for, say, doing a copy/paste of your token into Connect for Outlook, Excel Connector, etc.

For each client, I create a project in the Eclipse Force.com IDE, entering the username, password, and security token into the appropriate form. (This does require me to have a System Administrator, or at least "View All Data" and possibly "Edit All Data" profile permissions.) Then, instead of getting into Salesforce through the browser, I open a file in the project, such as an Apex Class, right-click, and select "Show in Salesforce Web." The browser does the rest, opening the org, and taking me to that Apex Class. It does not take me to the Home screen, but I'm willing to use that one extra click. Plus, it's nice to get directly into the Setup area sometimes.

That's it! Keep all your projects in Eclipse, and (as long as you're a developer and work in Eclipse a lot) it will save time.

To reiterate the above caution: Anyone who can open Eclipse can get into any of those orgs, so be careful with this! Always secure your computer. On Vista, require a password when waking from the screen saver, and use other security features whenever possible.

First, the Apex controller method:

public boolean checkformula(){
boolean b = [insert formula here];
return b;
}

And the visualforce code:

<apex:inputCheckbox disabled="true" value="{!checkformula}"/>

That's it! Of course, there are many ways to set up the Apex method, but the important piece is the Visualforce markup. By using a tag usually associated with an edit page but making it disabled, the checkbox becomes an output field.