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dev_jhdev_jh 

Eclipse deployment

Hi all,

I have used in the past (only a couple of times) ANT to deploy metadata and Apex from a Sandbox to a Production environment.

I have not installed Eclipse and I was hoping to use it instead of ANT.

It seems however, I only have the option to deploy the Apex Classes and Triggers with Eclipse, but what about all the other metadata?. I am talking about:

- New or modified fields
- New validation rules
- New workflow rules and templates
- etc....

Any help would be much appreciated. Even if it is a pointer to some good documentation. Thanks,

J
Best Answer chosen by Admin (Salesforce Developers) 
RickyGRickyG
J -

I admire your fear - data is the core of all IT value.  You should not have any issues, since the Metadata API is additive - if you load more fields for an object, the existing metadata will not be affected.  This means you can add a custom field to a standard object without having to load all the existing fields.

And since you are just loading metadata, the data itself should not be touched.  But it never hurts to save your data periodically anyways.

All Answers

RickyGRickyG
J -

Yes, you can deploy the metadata you want with Eclipse.  Make sure you have the latest version of the IDE and that you choose to select the entities you want to load into a project.

Hope this helps.
dev_jhdev_jh
Thanks Rick,

I found some documentation and I saw about loading the different entities you want. I will make a test now as I am a bit concerned about moving changes from Sandbox to Production for the first time (eg: uploading a standard object because I added a column... concerned about data loss.... sure it shouldn´t happen, but need to test it). Anything you can recommend? is it pretty safe data wise? Thanks again Rick,

J
RickyGRickyG
J -

I admire your fear - data is the core of all IT value.  You should not have any issues, since the Metadata API is additive - if you load more fields for an object, the existing metadata will not be affected.  This means you can add a custom field to a standard object without having to load all the existing fields.

And since you are just loading metadata, the data itself should not be touched.  But it never hurts to save your data periodically anyways.
This was selected as the best answer
ABuxbaum1ABuxbaum1
Have you looked at SnapShot from DreamFactory Software?
It allows you to manage both change and release management for all different types of orgs. SnapShot allows you to compare and push Objects (schema), Profiles and Assets (page layouts,scontrols,workflows,Appex classes,components,classes and triggers,validation rules and more. Take a look at the AppExchange or www.dreamfactory.com for additional information.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Best,
Adam