Plus (Metadata Dictionary for Salesforce)
6 min readDec 21, 2020
Search, download, categorize, visualize, and optimize all of your organization’s metadata with Plus, a comprehensive metadata dictionary.
About Plus
It creates a copy of all your metadata, which allows you to run reports and discover metadata relations and dependencies.
- Metadata search and download:
Download metadata in bulk. Search metadata by name or search within all apex codes. - Reports and dashboards:
Categorize metadata by the owner, objects, API version, managed packages, etc. - Tech debt:
Run optimizer tools to identify code and configurations which can be safely deleted. - Tickets:
Create tickets on metadata. This will help you better organize tech debt, track progress, and have assignees. - Tagging:
Tagging allows you to categorize metadata(s) more informally, such as source, business line, project, team, etc. - Org view:
The app also offers a quick look into your org limits, entity limits, code coverage reports, apex test results, etc. - Code versioning:
Optionally, enable apex and formula code versioning to help with comparison and recovery. - Notifications:
Optionally, get a daily summary of metadata changes and suggestions on tech debt improvements.
Getting Started
- Install the application from the Salesforce app exchange. You can find it under the name “Plus.”
- Prerequisites. Make sure “My Domain” is enabled and deployed in your org. Add the “PlusApp” permission set for users who need to use this app.
- Once installed, open the app in Lightning Experience. Look for “Plus” (under Apps) in the app launcher. You should see the “PlusApp” and “PlusApp Dashboard” tabs and a few custom object tabs with the package.
- The “PlusApp” tab will ask you to schedule a batch. Click ‘Schedule’. This will schedule a daily batch to maintain the latest metadata copy and a one-time batch to download the newest one.
- The app will show a warning message until the batch is complete. Once it is complete, you can start using the app.
Metadata Backup
Types of metadata supported
- Code
ApexClass, ApexComponent, ApexPage, ApexTrigger, AuraDefinition, AuraDefinitionBundle, LightningComponentBundle, LightningComponentResource
- Configuration
CustomField, CustomObject, EmailTemplate, FieldSet, Flow, Layout, PermissionSet, Profile, RecordType, StaticResource, ValidationRule, WorkflowFieldUpdate, WorkflowRule
Metadata Search
There are different ways you can search for metadata in your org.
Metadata Download
There are different ways you can download the metadata in your org.
- Use the Plus App. Search metadata using filters and then click the ‘Export’ icon to download results in CSV format.
- Use Salesforce reports (under the Plus report folder). This is a preferred method, as you can fine-tune what type of metadata you need to download in bulk with the desired export format.
Some necessary fields to consider using while downloading metadata
- RecordType Type of metadata like ApexClass, CustomField, etc
- NamespacePrefix Show/hide managed package components
- IsStandard? Show/hide standard metadata like objects and fields.
- IsDeleted? Show/hide inactive/obsolete/deleted metadata.
App Reports and Dashboards
Reports Categorize metadata by the owner, objects, API version, managed packages, etc.
Dashboards The app also comes with a lightning dashboard (PlusApp dashboard) that gives excellent in-depth insight into your org metadata by grouping it by the owner, objects, API version, managed packages, etc. You will be surprised to get this perspective.
Metadata Details
View complete metadata details.
- Tooling response
Get thorough details on any metadata by looking at the tooling response. Developers will appreciate this. - Custom notes
Add color-coded notes and share them with the team. - Custom tags
Add custom tags to categorize metadata by source, business line, project, team, etc. - Populate Percentage
Percentage of records this field is populated with. This is calculated when you run “FieldTrip” on an object. - Metadata references
Identify metadata relationships and dependencies to help with metadata health and cleanup. This tool uses the MetadataComponentDependency Tooling API and is calculated automatically for all metadata in your org. - Metadata score
This is a roughly calculated “field health” regarding Populate %, Metadata references, and several other factors. Please view the logic in the custom field “Metadata -> Metadata Score.” - Code versioning
View apex and formula code. Enable versioning for backup and recovery.
Metadata Tags
- Tagging allows you to categorize metadata(s) more informally than assigning it to an owner or record type—for example, source, business line, project, team, etc.
- You can then search for metadata that has been given a particular tag.
Metadata Tickets
- Within the app, create tickets using metadata. This will help you better organize tech debt, track progress, and have assignees.
App Services
- PlusApp asks you to schedule a batch on installation. This batch will run for a few minutes each morning and maintain the latest metadata copy.
- Each app user could receive a daily summary email of their metadata changes and suggestions on improving tech debt.
- App users can run metadata optimizer tools to improve org health as needed. Some examples are calculating the populated percentages of fields and record types.
How do you find unused fields and record types on an object?
Run job
- Open the PlusApp
- Select ‘FieldTrip -> Launch’ in the menu selection.
- Select the object and optionally change the record selection criteria.
- Click ‘Submit’
Monitor job
- Wait for the batch to complete.
- Monitor under Setup -> Apex Jobs or under ‘App -> Services’ within the Plus app.
View/export results
- View results in the PlusApp.
- Or use the report “PlusApp Service FieldTrip CustomField” or “PlusApp Service FieldTrip RecordType.”
- Consider deprecating metadata with a lower “Metadata Score.”
Support- plus.sfdc@gmail.com