How to query managed package objects

Question

I'm trying to retrieve record values of a managed package custom object (call it abc__custom_object__c, where 'abc' is the package namespace, as an example). Trying to run the following SOQL query returns the error 'sObject type 'abc__custom_object__c' is not supported':

SELECT Name FROM abc__custom_object__c

I've also tried :

Schema.SObjectType targetType = Schema.getGlobalDescribe().get('abc__custom_object__c');

Which gives a NullPointerException when I try to use the variable targetType. Is there a way to retrieve record information from 'abc__custom_object__c' from apex if 'abc__custom_object__c' is part of another managed package?

So far I've just been running code in an Execute Anonymous window and using Query Editor so I don't have more Apex code to share at this point in time.

'abc__custom_object__c' is part of a third-party managed package I have installed from AppExchange.

EDIT: changed 'custom__object__c' to 'abc__custom_object__c' in example to make the inclusion of the namespace more clear.

Answer 1

To query managed package custom objects in Apex, you can follow these steps:

1. Determine the namespace prefix of the managed package. The namespace prefix is usually provided by the managed package provider and is used to uniquely identify the custom objects within the package. It is typically a short string followed by double underscores, such as "abc__".

2. Build the object name by appending the namespace prefix to the custom object name. For example, if the custom object name is "MyObject__c" and the namespace prefix is "abc__", the resulting object name would be "abc__MyObject__c".

3. Use the object name in the SOQL (Salesforce Object Query Language) query to retrieve records from the managed package custom object. Here's an example query:

List<abc__MyObject__c> myObjects = [SELECT Id, Name, CustomField__c FROM abc__MyObject__c];

In this example, we are querying the Id, Name, and CustomField__c fields from the abc__MyObject__c custom object. You can modify the query to include or exclude other fields as needed.

Let me know if still it doesn't work

Answer 2

So the issue in this case is that the object in question is a protected custom settings object, which as far as I understand is inaccessible outside of the managed package.