Use REST API

Learning Objectives

REST Resources and Methods

You’re going to use Postman to make some API calls. You can make REST requests from any HTTP sender. And Postman is just one of many tools you can use to interact with your Salesforce org through the API.  

The first step is to create a new Trailhead Playground, connect it to the Postman app, set up cross-origin resource sharing, and create a fork to the Salesforce API Collection. You can do this by completing Quick Start: Connect Postman to Salesforce. 

You can make REST API calls to your Trailhead playground using the resources in the Postman app Salesforce Collection REST folder just like you would from any other HTTP interface. When you select a resource from the Salesforce API Collection, the URI builds across the top of the main window. 

Describe the Account Object

Let's take a look at how this works.

You’ll use the SObject Describe resource. This resource, when combined with the GET method, returns metadata about an object and its fields. Let’s describe the Account object. 

1. In Collections, select your fork of the Salesforce APIs Collection.
2. Click the REST folder.
3. Click SObject.
4. Click GET SObject Describe.
5. In the main panel, open the Params tab.
6. Under Path Variables, in the SOBJECT_API_NAME row, VALUE column, enter Account.

Before you take a look at your query results, let’s take a minute to break down this resource’s URI.

• GET—The HTTP method used for this API call.
• {{_endpoint}}—The place where the request will take place. In this case, you added the URL of your Trailhead Playground to the _endpoint field in the variables to connect to Salesforce.
• /services/data—Specifies that you’re making a REST API request.
• /v {{version}}—The API version number. The double curly quotes indicate that this can be set as a variable.
• /sobjects—Specifies that you’re accessing a resource under the sObject grouping.
• /:SOBJECT_API_Name—The sObject being actioned; in this case, Account.
• /describe—An action; in this case, a Describe request.

Good work, Captain! The Account metadata appears on the screen, and Postman has nicely formatted the response. To see the raw JSON response, click Raw.

The Account metadata is displayed in JSON. Because REST API supports both JSON and XML, let’s change the request header to specify an XML response. 

1. In the request window, click Headers.
2. Add a new Header with a Key of Accept and Value of application/xml.

Your request headers look like this.

{
"Name": "Captain Bly’s Finest Treasure Chests",
"ShippingCity": "Lisbon"
}

{
"ShippingCity" : "Melbourne"
}

SELECT Name From Account WHERE ShippingCity = 'Melbourne'

Node.js and Ruby Samples

const jsforce = require("jsforce");const conn = new jsforce.Connection({
  // you can change loginUrl to connect to sandbox or prerelease env.
  // loginUrl : "https://test.salesforce.com"
});
// Log in with basic SOAP login (see documentation for other auth options)
conn.login(
  process.env.USERNAME,
  process.env.PASSWORD + process.env.SECURITY_TOKEN,
  (err, res) => {
    if (err) {
      return console.error("Failed to log in to Salesforce: ", err);
    }
    console.log("Successfully logged in!");
    // Run a SOQL query
    conn.query("SELECT Id, Name FROM Account LIMIT 5", (err, result) => {
      if (err) {
        return console.error("Failed to run SOQL query: ", err);
      }
      // Display query results
      const { records } = result;
      console.log(`Fetched ${records.length} records:`);
      records.forEach(record => {
        console.log(`- ${record.Name} (${record.Id})`);
      });
    });
  }
);

require 'restforce'
# create the connection with the Salesforce connected app
client = Restforce.new :username => ENV['USERNAME'],
  :password       => ENV['PASSWORD'],
  :security_token => ENV['SECURITY_TOKEN'],
  :client_id      => ENV['CLIENT_ID'],
  :client_secret  => ENV['CLIENT_SECRET']
# execute the query
accounts = client.query("select id, name from account limit 5")
# output the account names
accounts.each do |account|
  p account.Name
end

Resources