Mastering SOQL: A Guide to Querying Salesforce Data

Understanding SOQL Basics

Salesforce Object Query Language (SOQL) is the powerful tool you’ll use to retrieve specific records from your Salesforce database. Similar to SQL’s SELECT statement but optimized for Salesforce, SOQL follows this basic structure:

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SELECT Field1, Field2
FROM ObjectName
WHERE conditions
ORDER BY Field1

For quick reference to standard fields, consult the Salesforce Fields Reference.

Crafting Effective WHERE Clauses

Comparison Operators

SOQL provides robust filtering capabilities with these operators:

• Equality: =, !=
• Numeric comparison: <, <=, >, >=
• Pattern matching: LIKE
• Set operations: IN, NOT IN, INCLUDES, EXCLUDES

Example:

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SELECT Name FROM Account 
WHERE AnnualRevenue > 1000000 
AND Industry = 'Technology'

Logical Operators

Combine conditions with:

• AND – All conditions must be true
• OR – Any condition must be true
• NOT – Negates a condition

Example:

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SELECT Id, Name FROM Contact
WHERE (Department = 'Sales' OR Department = 'Marketing')
AND NOT Title LIKE '%Intern%'

Advanced Query Techniques

Result Limiting

• LIMIT 100 – Restricts to 100 records
• OFFSET 50 – Skips first 50 records
  Note: Maximum value for both is 2000

Date Handling

For date fields (YYYY-MM-DD format):

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SELECT Id FROM Opportunity
WHERE CloseDate = 2023-12-31

For datetime fields:

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SELECT Id FROM Case
WHERE CreatedDate = 2023-01-15T14:30:00Z

Use .to_date() for date conversion and .strftime() for datetime formatting in formulas.

Practical Implementation

Triggers and Actions

Workato provides specialized triggers and actions for SOQL:

Basic queries:

• Scheduled record search with WHERE clause
• Single/bulk record searches with WHERE clause

Full query support:

• Scheduled searches with complete SOQL
• API 2.0 bulk searches
• Direct SOQL queries

Remember: Always include the ID field in SELECT statements for triggers.

Setting Up Scheduled Queries

1. Enter complete SOQL query (must include ID)
2. Configure schedule (timezone, frequency)
3. Set batch size for record processing
4. Generate output schema using your SOQL

Example scheduled query:

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SELECT Id, Name, Status__c FROM Custom_Object__c
WHERE LastModifiedDate = TODAY
ORDER BY CreatedDate DESC
LIMIT 200

Key Differences from SQL

• No SELECT * – must specify fields
• Relationship queries use dot notation
• Special syntax for polymorphic fields
• Governor limits apply to query complexity

By mastering these SOQL techniques, you’ll efficiently extract exactly the data you need from your Salesforce org while working within the platform’s unique architecture.

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