Process Builder: A Handy Tool

The Process Builder is a workflow tool that helps you easily automate your business processes by providing a powerful and user-friendly graphical representation of your process as you build it. The Process Builder’s simple and powerful design allows you to:

• Create your processes using a convenient layout with point-and-click efficiency.
• Create your whole process in one place rather than using multiple workflow rules.
• Create processes by collaborating with different teams in your business.
• Stop using Apex code to automate simple tasks. Like update child record from parent.
• Stop worrying about test classes and their coverage.

Automated processes in the Process Builder are based on records and consist of:

• Criteria that determine when to execute action groups.
• Immediate and scheduled actions to execute when those criteria are met.

Any change that causes a record to match the criteria can automatically trigger the action group.

You can use the more powerful and flexible Process Builder to perform the same actions as workflow. The process builder doesn’t support outbound messages, but you can easily create one yourself with Apex. With the Process Builder, you can:

• Create a record
• Update any related record—not just the record or its parent
• Use a quick action to create a record, update a record, or log a call
• Launch a flow—you can’t schedule this action with workflow
• Send an email
• Post to Chatter
• Submit for approval

If you need your process to do more than what those actions allow, don’t worry. You can also call Apex from a process.

Here is a basic comparison between Workflow, Visual Flow and the Process Builder

Workflow

Workflow enables you to set up workflow rules that identify what kinds of record changes or additions trigger specified workflow actions, such as sending email alerts and updating record fields.

Visual Workflow

Visual Workflow enables you to create flows, which are applications that are user-triggered instead of event-triggered. Unlike Workflow, which always executes rules and actions behind the scenes, Visual Workflow offers screens for displaying and collecting information from the user running the flow.

Process Builder

Process Builder can be utilized to automate all workflow actions (with the exception of outbound messages). Traditional workflow can still be utilized in parallel, however, Process Builder gives you the ability to do things that workflow can’t. Although, somewhat of a double edged sword this puts some very powerful tools at the disposal of an experienced administrator.