App-Arch-301 Sample Questions & Answers
Weighted toward declarative and programmatic sharing patterns at scale, the single biggest weight, plus Salesforce fundamentals, data modeling and security, developer-side automation and UI work, data architecture, and consolidating records across systems.
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- Question 1Advanced
Sharing and Visibility · Platform Encryption
True or False: When using Salesforce Shield Platform Encryption, standard field filters in reports and list views will continue to work normally for deterministic encryption schemes, but not for probabilistic encryption schemes.
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Correct answer: A
Deterministic encryption allows for exact match filtering (group by, filter, sort) because the same plaintext always encrypts to the same ciphertext. Probabilistic encryption generates different ciphertext for the same plaintext each time, making filtering impossible.
- Question 2Advanced
Sharing and Visibility · Programmatic Sharing
OmniStream Logistics uses a custom object 'Shipment__c' with a Private OWD. They have a complex requirement where a 'Regional Manager' needs access to Shipments based on a matrix of 'Region__c' (Picklist) and 'Priority__c' (Picklist) that changes frequently. The logic is too complex for standard criteria-based sharing rules (exceeding the limit of criteria per rule and total rules). What is the most scalable programmatic solution?
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Correct answer: D
Apex Managed Sharing (using a custom RowCause) is the correct architectural approach. It ensures that the sharing records are maintained by the system (not deleted upon record owner change) and allows for handling complex logic that exceeds declarative limits. It is more robust than manual sharing via Apex.
- Question 3Intermediate
Data Architecture and Management · Data Integration
A Data Architect is designing a solution for archiving historical 'Order' data to an external Big Data system while keeping it viewable in Salesforce. The solution must allow users to view the external data on the Account page layout related list without storing the data physically in Salesforce. Which Salesforce technology is best suited for this requirement?
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Correct answer: C
Salesforce Connect allows you to define External Objects that map to data stored outside Salesforce. These objects can be related to standard objects (like Account) via Indirect or External Lookups and displayed in related lists, meeting the requirement of viewing without physical storage.
- Question 4Intermediate
Sharing and Visibility · External Sharing
When designing a sharing strategy for a Salesforce Community (Experience Cloud), which license type requires the use of Sharing Sets to grant access to records, as it does not support Sharing Rules or the Role Hierarchy?
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Correct answer: C
The Customer Community (and Customer Community Login) license is a high-volume license that does not utilize the Role Hierarchy. Therefore, standard Sharing Rules do not apply. Access must be granted via Sharing Sets.
- Question 5Intermediate
Platform App Builder · Process Automation
TechFlow Solutions is implementing a custom 'Order_Fulfillment__c' object. The business requires that whenever a Fulfillment record is created, the 'Total_Fulfillments__c' field on the parent 'Sales_Order__c' object is updated. However, 'Sales_Order__c' and 'Order_Fulfillment__c' are linked via a Lookup relationship, not Master-Detail, due to security requirements. Which automation tool is best suited to handle this aggregation in real-time?
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Correct answer: B
Since Roll-up Summary fields are only available for Master-Detail relationships, a Lookup relationship requires an alternative. A Record-Triggered Flow (After Save) is the declarative standard for performing cross-object updates and aggregations (simulating a roll-up) without writing Apex code.
- Question 6AdvancedSelect 2
Sharing and Visibility · Performance and Scalability
Case Study:
GlobalTech Manufacturing has a Salesforce org with 5 million 'Asset' records. They are planning a major realignment of their sales territories, which will involve updating the owner of 2 million Asset records.
The current sharing model for Assets is Private. There are 50 Criteria-Based Sharing Rules on Asset.
During testing, the data migration team encountered 'UNABLE_TO_LOCK_ROW' errors and significant delays. The architect suspects the issue is related to the recalculation of sharing rules.
What are two valid strategies to mitigate these performance issues during the migration? (Select TWO)
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Correct answers: B, D
Deferring sharing calculations suspends the automatic recalculation of sharing rules during the massive data update, preventing the system from trying to recalculate access for every record change in real-time. This significantly improves performance and reduces locking.
Grouping updates by OwnerId (or parent ID) ensures that threads processing the batches don't try to lock the same User/Parent records simultaneously, reducing the likelihood of UNABLE_TO_LOCK_ROW errors.
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