Apex Developer Guide

Apex Developer Guide
Release Notes
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
SOQL and SOSL Queries
Working with SOQL and SOSL Query Results
Accessing sObject Fields Through Relationships
Understanding Foreign Key and Parent-Child Relationship SOQL Queries
Working with SOQL Aggregate Functions
Working with Very Large SOQL Queries
Using SOQL Queries That Return One Record
Improve Performance by Avoiding Null Values
Working with Polymorphic Relationships in SOQL Queries
Using Apex Variables in SOQL and SOSL Queries
Querying All Records with a SOQL Statement
SOQL For Loops
sObject Collections
Dynamic Apex
Apex Security and Sharing
Custom Settings
Running Apex
Debugging, Testing, and Deploying Apex
Apex Reference
Appendices
Glossary
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SOQL and SOSL Queries

You can evaluate Salesforce Object Query Language (SOQL) or Salesforce Object Search Language (SOSL) statements on-the-fly in Apex by surrounding the statement in square brackets.

SOQL Statements

SOQL statements evaluate to a list of sObjects, a single sObject, or an Integer for count method queries.

For example, you could retrieve a list of accounts that are named Acme:
From this list, you can access individual elements:
You can also create new objects from SOQL queries on existing ones. This example creates a new contact for the first account with the number of employees greater than 10.
The newly created object contains null values for its fields, which must be set.
The count method can be used to return the number of rows returned by a query. The following example returns the total number of contacts with the last name of Weissman:
You can also operate on the results using standard arithmetic:

SOQL limits apply when executing SOQL queries. See Execution Governors and Limits.

For a full description of SOQL query syntax, see the Salesforce SOQL and SOSL Reference Guide.

SOSL Statements

SOSL statements evaluate to a list of lists of sObjects, where each list contains the search results for a particular sObject type. The result lists are always returned in the same order as they were specified in the SOSL query. If a SOSL query doesn’t return any records for a specified sObject type, the search results include an empty list for that sObject.

For example, you can return a list of accounts, contacts, opportunities, and leads that begin with the phrase map:
The syntax of the FIND clause in Apex differs from the syntax of the FIND clause in SOAP API and REST API:
  • In Apex, the value of the FIND clause is demarcated with single quotes. For example:

    Note

  • In the API, the value of the FIND clause is demarcated with braces. For example:

Apex that is running in system mode ignores field-level security while scanning for a match using IN ALL FIELDS.

Note

From searchList, you can create arrays for each object returned:

SOSL limits apply when executing SOSL queries. See Execution Governors and Limits.

For a full description of SOSL query syntax, see the Salesforce SOQL and SOSL Reference Guide.