Managing Active Classes

This page covers the administrative work of managing existing Active Class records: listing, editing metadata, deleting, finding dependencies, and configuring sharing. Authoring the source code is done in the IDE (/sys/ide) and is documented in the Developer Guide. Most developers work entirely in the IDE; the Setup pages described here are the administrative entry point for record management.

List All Active Classes

1. From the Setup home page, go to Develop > Classes & Triggers.
2. The list shows Label, Name, Type, Version, Modified By, and Modified On. Sort and filter the list using the column headers.
3. Click any row to open the class's detail view.

Edit Class Metadata

To change Label, Description, or Version:

1. From the list, open the Active Class.
2. Click the kebab menu (three dots) and select Edit. The metadata form opens (NOT the full IDE).
3. Modify the fields and click Save.

The class Type and Name generally cannot be changed once code references the class. If you need to change either, plan to create a new class with the desired Type or Name and migrate references.

Open the IDE

The IDE at /sys/ide is the developer's workspace for authoring source code. From the class's detail view, click the Open in IDE button to open the class in a new tab. Most developers work directly in the IDE rather than navigating through the Setup pages. See the Developer Guide for the language and code reference.

Find What Depends on a Class

Before changing or deleting an Active Class, check what depends on it:

• If it is a Controller: open Setup > Develop > Pages and look for Active Pages whose Controller field references this class.
• If it is a Trigger: the IDE shows the entity and lifecycle event the trigger is bound to. Disabling or deleting the trigger removes that automation.
• If it is a utility Class: other Active Classes and Active Pages may reference it by name. The IDE's compile step surfaces unresolved references after a change.
• If it is scheduled: check Setup > Manage > Scheduled Jobs for any Cron Job that runs an action on this class.

Delete an Active Class

1. From Setup > Develop > Classes & Triggers, open the Active Class.
2. Click the kebab menu and select Delete.
3. Confirm in the dialog.

Deletion is restricted while the class is referenced by an Active Page's Controller field, by another Active Class, or by an enabled Trigger or Cron Job. Resolve the dependency before deleting.

Sharing

Sharing is configured from the class's detail view via the Share dialog. The dialog supports Roles, User Groups, and specific people. The full sharing model is documented in Sharing Active Pages and Classes.

Versioning and Upgrades

Each Active Class targets a framework version (2.0–5.0). Older-version classes continue to run unchanged. To upgrade a class to a newer framework version:

1. Open the class and create a clone.
2. Edit the cloned class to change its Version.
3. Resolve any compilation errors that arise from API changes between versions.
4. Test the cloned class, then update references from the original to the clone, and finally delete the original.

For changes between versions, see the Developer Guide.

Troubleshooting Tips

• If a class shows compile errors, open the IDE; the IDE highlights the failing lines and surfaces the underlying error.
• If a Trigger no longer fires, confirm the Trigger is active and bound to the right entity and lifecycle event.
• For execution and access symptoms, see Active Pages Troubleshooting.

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