Salesforce has the ability to take quick shots of data, a function that is useful if you have needs of reviewing older data. In many applications, older data become overwritten as new data come in. The run reporting snapshot function of Salesforce can be used to preserve data for later use.
Things to Do Before Using the Reporting Snapshot Function
Do the following prior to scheduling a reporting snapshot run:
- Create a source report, a target object and check the necessary fields for your target object.
- Define the reporting snapshot and the fields for it as well.
The target object is the space in the Salesforce snapshot where data will be loaded. The source report, on the other hand, is the space where data will be coming from.
You can schedule snapshot runs on a daily or weekly basis, so that you can check data in the target object at the exact time when you need them.
Running the Snapshot System as a Running User
User permissions are needed when running the system. Use the “Manage Reporting Snapshots” section when creating, saving, and scheduling a run. You may edit entries in the Field Mapping section to customize the fields mapping from the source report to the target object.
To run the snapshot system as a running user and then send the results to the target object, the running user must have the permission to use the “Run Reports and the “Create” commands. The running user must also have permission to access the source report folder. Otherwise, the system will not run.
Reminders
Keep in mind that:
- If the status of the running user is “inactive”, the report will not run.
- If the runs are scheduled on the 31st day of the month, it will not run on months with less than 31 days.
- The fields on the source report should not have more than 100 fields, or the system won’t run as well. The same thing will happen if the reporting type has been changed from summary to tabular.