Add validation error to specific field using apex | sObject error methods

Hello Trailblazer! Today we will discuss the brand new methods in the sObject.

The first method is the addError(), previously this method did not support adding validation to a field dynamically. The old code looked like below.

opportunity.Amount.adderror('Amount cannot be less than 5000.');

In the above code, we added validation to the Amount field of an Opportunity. But what if you don't know the field at compile time? Especially if you are working with a managed package sometimes you want to give the ability to decide this field at a run time. 

That problem is solved by the new version of addError() method.

addError() use case

Let's assume you have some field validations configured in the custom metadata. Based on some conditions you decide which field to validate at run time. This is a very common scenario for Managed-Packages where each customer can have a different field for some purpose.

Sample Code

String dynamicallyValidatedField = /*Read from metadata*/

for(Opportunity opp: newList){
    if(opp.get(dynamicallyValidatedField) > 1000){
        opp.addError(dynamicallyValidatedField, 'Value of ' + dynamicallyValidatedField + ' can\'t be greater than 1000');
    }
}

getErrors(), hasErrors() methods

These methods let you check and get errors from the records even before they are inserted into the database. These methods are designed to write test cases that run faster and without touching the database. 

Let's say, the example we saw above is inside a function, which sets the errors and returns the records. In test methods, you can test this method without even inserting the records in the database.

Sample Code

for(Opportunity opp: newList){
    if(opp.get('Amount') > 1000){
        opp.addError('Amount', 'Value of Amount can\'t be greater than 1000');
    }
}

for(Opportunity opp: newList){
    System.debug(opp.hasError());
    System.debug(opp.getErrors());
}

Other posts about winter 2021

Send Custom Notification using apex | Salesforce | Messaging.CustomNotification
Avoid null pointer exception with Safe Navigation Operator Apex

References

Learn MOAR with Winter ’21: Safe Navigation in Apex
All fields in SObject Class