Apex Developer Guide

Apex Developer Guide
Getting Started with Apex
Writing Apex
Data Types and Variables
Control Flow Statements
Classes, Objects, and Interfaces
Working with Data in Apex
Working with sObjects
Data Manipulation Language
How DML Works
Adding and Retrieving Data With DML
DML Statements vs. Database Class Methods
DML Operations As Atomic Transactions
DML Operations
Exception Handling
More About DML
Setting DML Options
Transaction Control
sObjects That Cannot Be Used Together in DML Operations
Mixed DML Operations in Test Methods
sObjects That Don’t Support DML Operations
Bulk DML Exception Handling
Things You Should Know about Data in Apex
Locking Records
SOQL and SOSL Queries
SOQL For Loops
sObject Collections
Dynamic Apex
Apex Security and Sharing
Custom Settings
Running Apex
Debugging, Testing, and Deploying Apex
Apex Language Reference
Appendices
Glossary
PDF

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sObjects That Cannot Be Used Together in DML Operations

DML operations on certain sObjects, sometimes referred to as setup objects, can’t be mixed with DML on other sObjects in the same transaction. This restriction exists because some sObjects affect the user’s access to records in the org. You must insert or update these types of sObjects in a different transaction to prevent operations from happening with incorrect access-level permissions. For example, you can’t update an account and a user role in a single transaction.
You can’t use the following sObjects with other sObjects when performing DML operations in the same transaction.
  • FieldPermissions
  • Group

    You can only insert and update a group in a transaction with other sObjects. Other DML operations aren’t allowed.

  • GroupMember

    With legacy Apex code saved using Salesforce API version 14.0 and earlier, you can insert and update a group member with other sObjects in the same transaction.

    Note

    API
  • ObjectPermissions
  • PermissionSet
  • PermissionSetAssignment
  • QueueSObject
  • ObjectTerritory2AssignmentRule
  • ObjectTerritory2AssignmentRuleItem
  • RuleTerritory2Association
  • SetupEntityAccess
  • Territory2
  • Territory2Model
  • UserTerritory2Association
  • User

    You can insert a user in a transaction with other sObjects in Apex code saved using Salesforce API version 14.0 and earlier.

    You can insert a user in a transaction with other sObjects in Apex code saved using Salesforce API version 15.0 and later if UserRoleId is specified as null.

    You can update a user in a transaction with other sObjects in Apex code saved using Salesforce API version 14.0 and earlier

    You can update a user in a transaction with other sObjects in Apex code saved using Salesforce API version 15.0 and later if the user isn’t included in an Lightning Sync configuration (either active or inactive) and the following fields are not updated:
    • UserRoleId
    • IsActive
    • ForecastEnabled
    • IsPortalEnabled
    • Username
    • ProfileId
  • UserRole
  • UserTerritory
  • Territory
  • Custom settings in Apex code saved using Salesforce API version 17.0 and earlier.

If you're using a Visualforce page with a custom controller, you can't mix sObject types with any of these special sObjects within a single request or action. However, you can perform DML operations on these different types of sObjects in subsequent requests. For example, you can create an account with a save button, and then create a user with a non-null role with a submit button.

You can perform DML operations on more than one type of sObject in a single class using the following process:
  1. Create a method that performs a DML operation on one type of sObject.
  2. Create a second method that uses the future annotation to manipulate a second sObject type.

This process is demonstrated in the example in the next section.

Example: Using a Future Method to Perform Mixed DML Operations

This example shows how to perform mixed DML operations by using a future method to perform a DML operation on the User object.