When you’re trying to understand how Salesforce objects and relationships are structured, do you ever have a hard time quickly comprehending they are all related? Do you find yourself making object and relationship updates frequently in Salesforce? Do you find it a pain to navigate through the individual objects and fields in Object Manager? Then you should check out Salesforce Schema Builder!

 

What is Schema Builder?

For Salesforce, we talk a lot about the data model of our environments. The data model includes the objects, fields, and relationships between different data elements in Salesforce.

Schema Builder is a tool in Salesforce that lets Admins edit and visualize their org’s data model. It is also useful to share with users to help them understand how different data elements connect to each other.

 

Getting Acquainted with Schema Builder

First, to view Schema Builder:

• Click the gear icon to open the Setup menu
• In the search box, search for “Schema Builder” and select to open it

 

Looking at the picture below, we can see the following once we’re in Schema Builder:

1. The Schema Builder header:
   • Close button – takes you out of the Schema Builder and back to the main Setup menu
   • Auto-layout – automatically sorts the objects on the canvas
   • View Options – provides additional selections to add and remove items from the canvas, such as the Legend or the Relationships, and allows you to update the names of the objects and fields on the canvas from the Labels (ex: Project) to the Names (ex: Project__c)
2. A panel on the left side with a list of Salesforce Objects and Elements
   • The Object tab of the panel allows you to decide what objects to display on the canvas
     • The “Select From” dropdown is used to select different object types – for example, if you just wanted to view all Standard Objects on the canvas
     • The Quick Find box allows you to search for a specific object to display or remove from the canvas by checking or unchecking the box next to the object name
   • The Elements tab of the panel allows you to create new, custom objects and fields
3. Salesforce Objects and Relationships on the canvas
4. A pane that shows the location of the objects selected in the left, side panel on the canvas
5. The Legend

 

 

Continue learning about Schema Builder in the Schema Builder pt. 2 post (coming soon!)

 

Additional Resources

• Next Schema Builder post: Schema Builder pt. 2: Creating Custom Objects and Fields
• Trailhead by Salesforce: Working with Schema Builder unit on Trailhead
• Salesforce Help: Design Your Own Data Model

Cover Photo by israel palacio on Unsplash