Unique Ids and Required Fields

All fields are determined under Setup: Define Deal Attributes. Companies can make certain fields unique or required in order to provide additional filters on what is imported into Express. 

NOTE: The more fields selected as unique and/or required, the more limitations put on what deals are imported into Express.

Unique Ids

Each deal imported into Express has to be unique. Express will not have multiple deals, which it considers "records", that have the same combination of unique Ids imported into Express. An error will appear in the Results: Import Data tab. 

Importing Unique Records

When determining what new records should be imported into Express or what records have already been created and need to be updated - either via CSV or Salesforce - Express will use the combination of unique Ids. 

Typically, the Deal Id field is set up to be unique enough that no other fields used in Express under Setup > Define Deal Attribute need to be unique as well. This is often the case when using Salesforce Ids which are designed to be a unique per record.

Salesforce Ids: In Salesforce users can create different deals. For example, if an Opportunity Product is created, Salesforce automatically assigns it an Id. This Id shows in the URL and can be added as a lookup field onto any associated object.

If that Opportunity Product is deleted and recreated a new unique Id (18 digits) is created. Even if all the fields have the exact same information as the original record, Salesforce considers them two different records and assigns two different unique Ids because each record had its own unique 18 digit Id when created. 

Admins do not have control over what sequence of numbers is used in the Salesforce Id. 

Companies can also use a mixture of fields marked as unique (Setup > Define Deal Attribute > View All Fields) to make a unique combination.

Essentially, Express takes all the unique fields and adds them up together on the backend to see what fields are unique/new and what fields are duplicates. Each time the combination of unique fields is different, Express creates a new deal. For example, if under View All Fields the following four fields have been marked as Unique:

Deal Id, Import Source, and Invoice Number have been marked as Unique. This means that when a deal is imported into Express, in order to consider it 1) a new deal or 2) an already existing deal, the combination of the unique Ids will need to be reviewed:

Deal Id + Import Source + Invoice Number

Each time one of those fields is different, Express considers this a new unique line item and will create a new record.

Rows 1 and 2 have the same combination of unique Ids so as long as no other information on the other fields is different, only one row will import and the other will be considered a duplicate.

Row 3 through 6, each has a new unique combination and would be new deals. 

Required Fields

If a field is selected as required, that indicates whether a value must be supplied for the attribute. If checked, a value is required and the record cannot be blank in either the Salesforce import or CSV upload. 

Additionally, if this box is checked off, this field is required on ALL mappings created and will need to have a value in the field for Express to import or upload into the system.

For example, if Total Price is marked as required (and not unique) that means that in the CSV upload or in Salesforce the field cannot be blank. If it is blank, Express will consider it not meeting the requirements and not import the deal into the system.

Fields that are required should be fields in the upload that can never be blank. Oftentimes, it is better to not make a field required, but instead, include additional criteria (if using Salesforce mapping) or exclude it from the file (if using a CSV mapping). So if the scenario is:

• Total Price has to have a value
• Total Price is only used in 2 of the 3 deal mappings

Then you can include Total Price - Equal to Blank - Has a Value. Meaning, a deal can import on the specific mapping, as long as it has a value. This means any deal that meets the requirements based on Unique Id + Salesperson active in Express + Required fields having a value + Import Criteria (where you have put your Total Price details) will import into Express.

How to Make a Field Unique or Required

Whether it be for a CSV upload or imported from data in Salesforce, the selecting of which fields are unique and/or required is done in Express.

To do this go to:

1. Express > Setup > Define Deal Attribute > View All Fields

2. Click the pencil icon next to the row you would like to update

3. Check or uncheck Unique and/or Require in the columns to the right of the screen

4. Click the green checkmark > floppy disk icon to save

What fields Should be Unique and/or Required

Express has three fields that have been preselected as unique and/or required. These fields should not be changed:

Not all fields should be selected as required or unique. The more fields selected the more limitations put on what deals are imported into Express.