Set Up Apex Replay Debugger

In this step, you create a Salesforce DX project with Apex code to test and debug with Apex Replay Debugger.

Create a Salesforce DX Project

1. In Visual Studio Code, click the View menu then choose Command Palette.... Alternatively, you can use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Shift+P (Windows or Linux) or Cmd+Shift+P (macOS) to open the Command Palette.
   
2. Enter sfdx create project in the search box, then choose SFDX: Create Project.
   
   
3. Select Standard project template (default).
   
4. Enter debugger-project as the project name.
   
5. Choose a folder in which to create the project. After a few seconds, Visual Studio Code reloads itself, opened to your new project folder.
   
   
6. In the Explorer sidebar, expand the folders force-app/main/default/classes. Notice that the folder is empty, we change that in the next section.
   

Create an Apex Class

1. In the Explorer sidebar, right-click the folder classes, then choose SFDX: Create Apex Class. Do not choose the New File command, as that won’t create the necessary metadata .xml file.
   
2. Enter AccountService as the name and accept the default directory.
   
3. Replace the contents of AccountService.cls with the following code. Any bugs 🐞 in this file are intentional, so don’t fix them yet! 😉
   

   public with sharing class AccountService {
     public Account createAccount( String accountName, String accountNumber, String tickerSymbol ) {
       Account newAcct = new Account(
         Name = accountName,
         AccountNumber = accountNumber,
         TickerSymbol = accountNumber
       );
       return newAcct;
     }
   }

4. Save the file.
   

Code Highlights

• The AccountService class has one method: createAccount.
  
• The method creates and returns an account sObject variable with its name, account number, and stock ticker symbol fields assigned to the method parameters.
  

Create an Apex Test

1. In the Explorer sidebar, right-click the folder classes, then choose SFDX: Create Apex Class.
   
2. Enter AccountServiceTest as the name.
   
3. Replace the contents of AccountServiceTest.cls with the following code.
   

   @IsTest
   private class AccountServiceTest {
     @IsTest
     static void should_create_account() {
       String acctName = 'Salesforce';
       String acctNumber = 'SFDC';
       String tickerSymbol = 'CRM';
       Test.startTest();
         AccountService service = new AccountService();
         Account newAcct = service.createAccount( acctName, acctNumber, tickerSymbol );
         insert newAcct;
       Test.stopTest();
       List<Account> accts = [ SELECT Id, Name, AccountNumber, TickerSymbol FROM Account WHERE Id = :newAcct.Id ];
       Assert.areEqual( 1, accts.size(), 'should have found new account' );
       Assert.areEqual( acctName, accts[0].Name, 'incorrect name' );
       Assert.areEqual( acctNumber, accts[0].AccountNumber, 'incorrect account number' );
       Assert.areEqual( tickerSymbol, accts[0].TickerSymbol, 'incorrect ticker symbol' );
     }
   }

4. Save the file.
   

Code Highlights

• The AccountServiceTest class has one test method: should_create_account.
  
• The test method creates an account sObject variable with expected field values of a name of 'Salesforce', an account number of 'SFDC', and a stock ticker symbol of 'CRM' using the AccountService.createAccount method.
  
• The test method queries for the inserted account record and asserts the expected field values.
  

After you’ve created these Apex classes, your classes folder should contain four files: AccountService.cls, AccountServiceTest.cls, and their metadata files. If you don’t see these files, make sure you created the files with the SFDX: Create Apex Class command and not the New File command.

Authorize an Org

You need your hands-on org username and password to authorize it with Salesforce CLI. If you're using a Trailhead Playground, this article shows you how to find your username and reset your password.

Next, authorize your hands-on org with Salesforce CLI so that you can use the CLI and Salesforce Extensions for Visual Studio Code to interact with your org.

1. In Visual Studio Code, click the View menu then choose Command Palette.... Alternatively, you can use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Shift+P (Windows or Linux) or Cmd+Shift+P (macOS) to open the Command Palette.
   
2. Enter sfdx authorize org in the search box, then choose SFDX: Authorize an Org.
   
   
3. Choose a login URL option. For Trailhead Playground orgs, you can select Project Default or Production.
   
   
4. Enter debuggerOrg for the org alias.
   
5. Your browser opens a Salesforce login page. Enter your Trailhead Playground credentials.
   
6. If prompted to allow access, click Allow.
   
7. Switch back to Visual Studio Code to confirm your Trailhead Playground org was authorized. You should see output like Successfully authorized <username> with org ID <orgid>.
   
   

Well done. Click Verify Step to confirm your hands-on org has authorized Salesforce CLI and to move on to the next step, where you debug code with Apex Replay Debugger.

Resources

• External Site: Salesforce Extension Pack
• Salesforce DX Developer Guide: Salesforce DX Project Setup
• External Site: Debugging in Visual Studio Code