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SfDevForceSfDevForce 

Can Salesforce be used like a database?

Hi all,

I'm thinking about converting my company internal system to use SF like a database.  Can Salesforce be used like a RDBMS (ex. mysql, oracle)?  How flexible is the SOQL query?  What about speed, load and data integrity?  Thank you.

Dan
RickyGRickyG
Dan -

The basic answer is a resounding yes.  With the Force.com platform, you can create custom objects, which are basically tables, with custom fields.  We have many different field types, which not only specify the type of data allowed, like data types, as well as extended functionality, such as pick lists.  You can also create relationships between objects, which will automatically implement appropriate user interfaces.

Now, SOQL ain't exactly SQL, but you can accomplish the same things with it, for the most part.  Best of all, you get a default on-demand application automatically once you create your objects.

Data integrity can be enforced through relationships and data validation, as well as field types.  You can load information into your objects with Data Loader.  Of course, speed depends on a lot of things, but most users find the performance to be very good.

Hope this helps.
SteveBowerSteveBower

I think a better "basic answer" is "it depends".

It's a fairly open ended question with no clean answer.  For some types of applications Rick's answer is fine, however for some applications "be used like a database" may imply a lot of features that have evolved over the years in DBMS systems that aren't available in the SFDC application. 

You might get a better answer if you described your set of applications a little more, or explained why you were looking to migrate.

Best, Steve.