Salesforce Platform Developer Practice Exam

What will happen to records containing values not in the picklist definition when the data type changes?

1. Those values will be retained

2. Those values will be archived

3. Those values will be deleted

4. Those values will trigger an error

The correct answer is: Those values will be deleted

When the data type of a field in Salesforce is changed to a picklist, any records that contain values not defined within the new picklist will be affected in a specific way. Specifically, when a non-picklist value encounters a field that has been turned into a picklist, those unsupported values cannot be retained. Instead, Salesforce automatically handles this situation by deleting those records' values for that field. This is an essential consideration when modifying field types, as it ensures data integrity and consistency within the newly defined picklist values. If you attempt to save a record with an obsolete value in a picklist field, Salesforce cannot accommodate that value, leading to its deletion. Therefore, it is crucial to review the existing data and ensure that all records comply with the new picklist options before making such a change. The other choices may imply different handling of such scenarios but do not accurately reflect the system's behavior. Archiving or retaining values would suggest that data is preserved when transitioning to a picklist, which is not the case. Similarly, triggering an error would indicate that the change would stop the process without resolving the issue, which would not accurately explain the mechanism at work when changing a field type to a picklist.