Salesforce Platform Developer Practice Exam

When converting from number to currency, what may happen if field lengths are identical?

1. No changes will occur

2. Data may be lost

3. The conversion will fail

4. Data will be automatically reformatted

The correct answer is: Data may be lost

When converting from number to currency, if the field lengths of both data types are identical, data may be lost in the conversion process. The reason for this is that the currency data type has a fixed precision, typically defined to handle decimal places. If the number being converted has a value that exceeds the precision or the scale allowed by the currency field, only the part of the number that fits the defined format may be retained, leading to a loss of data. In scenarios where a number has a higher number of decimal places or a larger value than what the currency field can accommodate, the system will not be able to preserve all the information during the conversion. Therefore, it is crucial to consider the potential for data loss when converting field types, particularly where precision is concerned, and especially when dealing with monetary values.