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Updated Field on Salesforce Record issue

  • 26 March 2020
  • 7 replies
  • 1466 views

Userlevel 4
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Twice since I switched to the new Salesforce integration, one of my Zaps, whose trigger event is ‘Updated Field on Record’, has done a mass processing of Projects that were marked as Completed a long time ago. I awoke to an email from Zapier saying 

> We're reaching out to let you know that we're holding 101 Tasks for your Zap: "SF-Complete status triggers celebration to Slack finish line 1.0.1".

Of course, nobody went in last night and marked 101 Projects as Completed. So, what’s causing this? Given that this is the 2nd time this has happened, I’m concerned that the new Salesforce integration which triggers on an updated record field isn't working properly.

Or, could it be, dare I say it, operator error? Nah, couldn’t be that. :)

Curious if this is working fine for everyone else? It’s a shame since being able to trigger on an updated field on record is something I had wanted to do for a long time. Now, I’m considering approaching my zaps w/o this ability due to the grief it is causing me.

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Best answer by jesse 29 April 2020, 19:25

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7 replies

Userlevel 7
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Hi @donovanwatts - Thanks for your question. I have requested Support to help us dig a little more to help understand what may be happening here.

Thank you for your patience!

Userlevel 7
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@donovanwatts We have a few follow-up questions for you:

  1. Do you use enable any bulk updating at the end of the day using something like dataloader.io? if not, what is the field history for that field? If by chance that you don’t have it turned on, we kindly request that you turn it on following this guide: https://help.salesforce.com/articleView?id=tracking_field_history.htm&type=5
    Here’s another helpful guide: https://help.salesforce.com/articleView?id=000315142&language=en_US&type=1&mode=1
  2. Are you updating those records just not the specific field? If so, this is what’s causing the Zap to trigger.
  3. Lastly, another suggestion would be to set up field tracking history for that field, which will help us determine if it’s being changed. Here’s how to do that: https://help.salesforce.com/apex/HTViewHelpDoc?id=tracking_field_history.htm&language=en

    Let us know if any of the above was helpful or if you have further questions!
Userlevel 7
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Hey @donovanwatts - I just wanted to follow up on this issue to see if you could answer any of my questions above. Let me know!

Userlevel 4
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Hi @steph.n thanks for your response and the reminder. 

  1. We do not use dataloader.io that I’m aware of. I’ll ask our other Admin if he knows more than I do. If we do not, I’ll turn it on per your request.
  2. When you say ‘those records just not the specific field’ I’m not sure I follow. Typically, a team member will mark a project as Completed by changing the status field. If they have not also filled out a few required fields, they must do that before saving the record. My Zap monitors for a change to the status field to Completed.
  3. The status field is definitely being changed. I can be sure field tracking history for that field is set, which I believe it is already.

Thanks for your help! 

Userlevel 4
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> We use dataloader from time to time but only for ad-hoc uploading/downloading of data. We do not use it for bulk updating on a regular cadence.

Userlevel 7
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Hi @donovanwatts - Thank you for your patience! We sent this issue to the team, and it looks like we need to dig a little bit more as there’s something likely gone awry here. 

I will send your report as a support ticket and you’ll hear from us very soon!

 

Thanks! 

Userlevel 7
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Hey @donovanwatts! Just wanted to follow-up here with a message from Tim on our support team regarding this issue that you emailed in about:

 

I think what we're seeing here is a problem that extends across multiple apps. I don't think it's a bug per se, but something that can happen when you have a large number of records in many Apps.

When we check for new records, we tell Salesforce to sort them in descending order by modified date. This allows us to see the most recently updated records and if they have the value you're checking for, then Trigger on them. The problem is that there are so many records, that when we initially turn on the Zap to see what already exists, we're only seeing about half your records (I think, based on looking at the query results and their API docs).

What that means is that if older records that were never seen previously get updated - maybe they're archived or moved in some way - I'm not sure, these records bubble to the top and the Zap sees them for the first time. Because they all have the Status "Completed", they all Trigger, too.

Is it possible to create a new Status for your Projects? Here's what I'm thinking we can try as a workaround:

  • If you can create a new Status, make one called "Just Completed" or "Completed Zap" or something like that.
  • Set the Zap to Trigger from that new Status instead
  • Add a Step to the Zap to change the Status from the new one to the familiar "Completed" status.
  • By doing that, we can still Trigger the Zap, but after the Zap has Triggered, the record will be altered in a such a way that it won't Trigger the Zap again, and the existing older records won't Trigger the Zap if they're updated, either.


Let us know if Tim’s workaround helped you here!