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I have a managed package app with a CustomObject__c where some of its fields need to be "synced" with an external web service. To stay within technical limits the Sync callout is only done once a day.

I now want to find out which records of CustomObject__c have changed in certain relevant fields (So LastModifiedDate won't work) since the last callout and only sync those in the next run.

Is there anything in Salesforce that I can use for that? I was thinking about using History Tracking, or a custom hash which I calculate on Trigger.

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    You've basically answered your own question. You'd have to use history tracking, write a trigger to keep track of specified field changes, or build a process builder/workflow to set some sort of flag. – sfdcfox Jul 9 at 12:59
  • @sfdcfox Didn't even know that this works. To get started easier...can you point me to any documentation example. Even if this works I am still not sure if that is a good solution. is History Tracking relyant. Can I package it and can subscribers deactivate it? – Robert Sösemann Jul 9 at 13:56
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Field History Tracking is the most obvious choice, but comes with significant caveats:

All that said, the implementation would be pretty straightforward - a schedulable batch class that queries CustomObject__history based on a CreatedDate newer than the last run, and compiles and sends the changes to the external webservice.

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    N.B. testmethods for xxx__history objects are difficult as OldValue and NewValue can't be mocked ; requires mockable wrapper classes – cropredy Jul 9 at 16:56
  • Thomas would you mind adding a short code snippet to make this answer complete. I guess you have something flying around ;-) I'd really like to see how you efficiently compare states. – Robert Sösemann Jul 10 at 10:01
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Maybe this Summer'19 improvement can help you : we can make an async trigger with Change Data Capture https://developer.salesforce.com/blogs/2019/06/get-buildspiration-with-asynchronous-apex-triggers-in-summer-19.html

For a solution without code, you can subscribe to the change events with a flow, and then call your web service https://developer.salesforce.com/docs/atlas.en-us.platform_events.meta/platform_events/platform_events_subscribe_flow.htm

Please take into consideration the limits here : https://developer.salesforce.com/docs/atlas.en-us.platform_events.meta/platform_events/platform_event_limits.htm

Correction : As you need to do the sync only once a day, with a trigger or a flow, you still have to use a flag to indicate that the record have to be synced.

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    CDC is more suitable when the external system understands that "protocol". But in my case the other system is as it is and doesn't understand th CDC format. – Robert Sösemann Jul 9 at 14:16
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    @RobertSösemann CDC can be implemented in an Apex trigger (e.g. AccountChangeEvent), which can then apply the appropriate logic for callout or setting a flag. I think this should work right even in an ISV context. – sfdcfox Jul 9 at 14:24
  • @sfdcfox why would I need CDC for that? I could even use a regular AfterUpdate trigger and set a flag on relevant changes, right? – Robert Sösemann Jul 9 at 14:25
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    @RobertSösemann The slight advantage of CDC is to avoid some additionnal execution time during the update of your custom object. The trigger (or the flow) can be executed asynchronously. – Mael Monnier Jul 9 at 14:36
  • @sfdcfox: Cool that's right. I didn't think of that. – Robert Sösemann Jul 9 at 14:59

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