Ever had to create or modify multiple reports with similar filters and filter conditions? What about creating or updating similar picklists across multiple objects? Maybe you’re writing code and don’t want to type the whole system.assert() function over and over again.

I know I have, frequently. I’m also efficient – or as some people call it – lazy. When I’m making the same or very similar changes over and over again, I fall back on a good standard – copy and paste.

It’s a great feature. Highlight a bunch of stuff, use your favorite method to copy (I prefer Ctrl-C being a windows person), move to your new location and hit paste. It can be a great time saver.

I’ve listened to conversations and saw posts where people suggested they “copy/paste” something. It could be a code snippet or perhaps a document full of picklist values. I think this instruction is incomplete. I believe the true instructions should be

Copy, Paste, and Verify

I know that sound less impressive. Here’s things I know that happen to me – and I’ll guess happen to you:

• Incorrectly copy and leave off the start or ending character(s)
• Copy something that should get a minor change after, but forget to make the change
• Assume my copy is making an exact copy of what I see. It could be deceptive. copying quotation marks into Salesforce formulas and validation rules can be tricky
• Copy more than you actually needed too

It’s a simple change. When you finished your paste, stop and review what you have done. Ask yourself these questions:

• Is it complete and everything I need?
• Is it more than I need?
• What changes should I make?
• Does it fit within the context of whatever I’m pasting into? (Code for example)
• Is it formatted properly? (Think quotes that aren’t the quotes the system is looking for).

I know it will take some extra time, but it’ll save you aggravation in the long run. This is also a good practice when working with Salesforce. When you’re done creating those custom objects or fields. Stop, and verify. Did you do it correctly? Is there something missing? Did you accidentally typo a name of a field? (I’ve NEVER done that).

Stop and verify. Save yourself some headache in the future.