Metadata Differences Between Sandbox and Production

Overview

Salesforce administrators often need to compare metadata between two different Salesforce organizations, such as a Sandbox and Production environment. The Snapshot product offers a feature for comparing metadata between two Salesforce orgs. This feature helps in recognizing the differences in metadata, so that you can efficiently manage the deployment pipeline.

Procedure

Step 1: Take Snapshots

The first step is to take a snapshot of each Salesforce organization (Sandbox and Production) that you want to compare. This is to ensure that you have an up-to-date metadata representation of what’s contained in each organization.

Step 2: Select Metadata Differences

1. In the Snapshot product, locate the deployment arrow between the two organizations you want to compare.
2. Right-click on the deployment arrow.
3. From the context menu, select “Metadata Differences”. This will generate a report displaying the differences in metadata between the source and the destination organization.

Step 3: Select Metadata Types

On the left-hand side of the Metadata Differences interface, you can select from over 200 metadata types that you wish to compare. For instance, you can select “Custom Objects”.

Step 4: Review Differences

In the middle panel, the tool displays all of the differences between the source and the destination organization for the selected metadata types.

• Some objects might be present in the source but missing in the destination and vice versa.
• Some objects might have subtle differences, while others might have more significant differences.

By pulling down the top panel, you can click on any one of the objects to look at smart comparisons. For example, for a custom object, you might see differences in list views or in the external sharing model.

Step 5: Analyze Object Specific Differences

Click on specific objects to see the details of the differences. For instance, by clicking on the “Account” object, you can see which fields are different between the source and the destination.

Step 6: Include Items in Report

You have the option to click on the checkboxes next to any number of items and include them in the display report. This generates a comprehensive view of everything that you’ve checked.

Step 7: Export Report

These reports can be exported in various formats such as CSV, PDF, or HTML. This is helpful for sharing information with team members or for record-keeping purposes.

Conclusion

Utilizing the Metadata Differences feature in Snapshot is an efficient way to compare metadata between Salesforce Sandbox and Production environments. This assists administrators in keeping track of differences and provides a guide on what items need to be updated or have been moved. The ability to export these differences in various formats makes it a valuable tool for team collaboration and documentation.