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Event Participant Follow Handler: Tests, Deployment, and Lessons Learned

Over the last round of development we tightened up the EventParticipantFollowHandler logic, produced reliable Apex tests, and successfully deployed the trigger + handler bundle into the webdev5@spokanemountaineers.org sandbox. This post documents the journey end-to-end so future contributors can replicate the workflow (and avoid the potholes).

Why We Touched This Area

  • Ensure new Event_Participant__c records automatically follow the corresponding Event_Registration__c record via EntitySubscription, matching what Members see in Experience Cloud.
  • Deliver reliable unit tests that prove happy path, negative scenarios, and bulk de-duplication.
  • Provide a deployable package that clears Salesforce test coverage requirements (>75% for both trigger and handler).

Highlights

  • Test Data Isolation – Leveraged @TestVisible maps to inject registration/contact data, eliminating automation collisions with existing approval flows.
  • Reusable Fixtures – Added a helper to fetch a live Event_Registration__c id and to create unique contacts + users on demand.
  • Negative Coverage – Validated missing registration context and contacts without a related user to guarantee early exits remain defensive.
  • Bulk Confidence – Simulated a 10-record insert twice, verifying de-duplication within the handler and against existing EntitySubscription rows (still scoped to the registration record).
  • Community Ready – When the handler runs inside Experience Cloud we now stamp the site’s NetworkId on each EntitySubscription, which satisfies Salesforce’s sharing rules for community followers.
  • Verified Deployment – sf project deploy start ... --tests EventParticipantFollowHandlerTest completes cleanly (Deploy ID 0AfUm0000019wgvKAA, elapsed ~32s).

Anatomy of the New Tests

Scenario What We Assert Notes
Happy Path EntitySubscription count += 1 on the registration Confirms attendees follow the page Members actually see.
Missing User No subscription created Coverage for contacts without User_Lookup__c.
Registration Missing No subscription created Simulates a missing registration record in test overrides.
Bulk Insert Only one subscription exists Confirms composite key dedupe and pre-existing record check.

All tests rely on helpers such as createContactWithUser(nextSuffix()) and fetchAnyRegistrationId() to guarantee unique context per method.

Command Reference

sf project deploy start \
  --source-dir force-app/main/default/classes/EventParticipantFollowHandler.cls \
  --source-dir force-app/main/default/classes/EventParticipantFollowHandlerTest.cls \
  --source-dir force-app/main/default/triggers/EventParticipantTrigger.trigger \
  --target-org webdev5@spokanemountaineers.org \
  --test-level RunSpecifiedTests \
  --tests EventParticipantFollowHandlerTest

What’s Next

  • Mirror the test helpers (testRegById, contact fixtures) in adjacent trigger suites to unify pattern usage.
  • Promote the deployment to higher environments once downstream automation owners sign off.
  • Consider surfacing the registration feed in Experience Cloud so members immediately see the updates they auto-follow.

Have questions or want to replicate the setup? Ping the Salesforce dev channel and reference this article—everything you need is here.