Hello folks,

I try out Beta features, but I do not spend much time on them. In the end, beta means: “I can take away this feature if I need to.” Do you remember Salesforce Anywhere? You most probably don’t. I rest my case.

However, Migrate to Flow (Beta) requires extra attention. Although the product is in beta – and you will know that it is in beta once you try it -, Salesforce committed to retiring workflow rules; therefore, Salesforce must roll out this product in the end.

Folks who have been following me will know I have done a few sessions on migrating WFRs and Processes to Flow, one in Florida Dreamin’ in person and a few virtually. You can see a few videos on this topic on my YouTube channel. Please check the resources section below for links.

The tool only works on workflow rules for now. It does not support processes. I assumed it would support most workflow rules, but I was wrong.

I had two workflow rules in my Preview Org that I have built for my sessions before. I tried to migrate these workflow rules using this tool. Unfortunately, one did not convert due to an update on a long text area field. The other one was not supported because it created a task.

This wasn’t very reassuring, to be honest. But I had to test the tool, so I created a simple field update flow to migrate that.

The use case is as follows: When a picklist value is updated with a specific value on the lead record, the workflow rule updates the other picklist value.

The tool worked without a problem for this use case.

And as you would expect, it converted the workflow rule to a before save flow which is faster and more efficient.

Here is the message you see on the screen when the new flow is created:

“Because this workflow rule only updates fields, we converted it to a before-save flow for optimal performance. A before-save flow quickly updates fields on the record that triggers the flow.

This conversion changes the order in which this automation is executed. To have this flow run after other related automation, change it to an after-save flow. For both before-save and after-save flows, we recommend that you perform end-to-end testing for all scenarios in which the automation is triggered.”

Did you notice something here that immediately caught my attention? Salesforce practically wiped out the terms before save and after save from the record-triggered flow configurator screen; they buried the terms into the description fine print. This flow is called a fast field update flow on that screen. And after save is called actions and related records.

However, these terms don’t exist on this screen or the Trigger Explorer screen. And if I am going to be picky before-save is written with a dash here, without a dash on the Trigger Explorer.

It seems like Salesforce needs more clarity around the terms they use.

The release notes are very brief for the Migrate to Flow (Beta) tool. It does list what it supports; however, it does not list what it does not. I would recommend adding that to the release notes.

Related content (all videos):

• Build your Workflow/Process as a Record Triggered Flow – Salesforce Platform Power Hour hosted by Sarah Pilzer
• Salesforce Process To Flow Conversion with Brenda Glasser
• Don’t Migrate your Automation to Flow with Terri Miller – In other words, analyze, plan, redesign and build.

Enjoy

P.S. Originally published on 02/14/2022.

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