Writing test code for batch operations where the CreatedDate must be in the past [duplicate]

Question

I have a batch process that deletes records. The problem is that it has become more complex so there is some logic to get multiple lists of objects. The problem I have is that the Created data must be in the past and when creating test objects, they get the current date. How do I create test objects with past dates in order to get proper test coverage?

Answer 1

You may be able to convince Salesforce to enable the ability to set the audit fields as per the documentation described here. This applies to the indicated standard objects and custom once enabled.

If you import data into Salesforce and need to set the value for an audit field, contact salesforce.com. Once salesforce.com enables this capability for your organization, you can set audit field values

I would assume with this enabled, you can not only set the audit fields such as CreatedDate but also then insert such records via DML. If you explain you want to do this in a test context they may also be more relaxed about enabling it for this use case. Though keep in mind this will need to be enabled for all orgs where your tests run, so may not be an ideal if this is the case.

Answer 2

The usual way to handle this logic is to write a logic branch in your batch class' constructor, or provide a testing query to work against. One possible scenario would look like this:

global class PerformCleanup implements Database.Batchable<SOBject> {
    DateTime sinceWhen;
    global PerformCleanup() {
        this(DateTime.now());
    }
    global PerformCleanup(DateTime sinceWhen) {
        this.sinceWhen = sinceWhen;
    }
    global Database.QueryLocator start(Database.BatchableContext bc) {
        return Database.getQueryLocator([SELECT ... FROM ... WHERE CreatedDate <= :sinceWhen]);
    }
    // Rest of class here
}