What Metadata Gets Synced and When

Owned by Carla Locke
Last updated: May 25, 2023 by geevall
3 min read

What Metadata Types are Synced?

Pulsar syncs data and metadata between the user’s device and the Salesforce server. Metadata types that are synced include:

  • layout information

  • schema

  • object list views

  • object detail pages

  • quick actions

  • flows (FSL only)

  • service report templates (FSL only)

When Does Pulsar Sync Metadata

The only metadata that is synced every time is the schema. The other metadata types are only synced if flagged. There are three ways to cause a metadata sync are:

  1. Initial Sync

  2. Manual Refresh

  3. Forced Refresh

Initial Sync

The first time a user installs and logs into Pulsar, an initial sync occurs, and the metadata and data download to the user’s device.

Manual Refresh

The user may initiate a metadata sync by pressing Refresh Settings and then Sync Now. The user may do this because the admin notifies them of metadata changes, such as the addition of fields to a layout. Another common reason to use a manual refresh is if the user notices some fields are missing from a particular layout. On a manual refresh, when possible, Pulsar also tries to apply some optimizations when querying for metadata if the API makes it possible. For example, in FSL enabled orgs, querying for Service Report Templates that have changed (based on their last modified date) since the last successful sync.

Forced Refresh

An admin can force a metadata sync using Pulsar Settings. The admin can use pulsar.sync.enableOneTimeSessionRefresh with a value of TRUE to force a metadata sync on the next catch-up sync. For more information about how to do this, refer to Data Sync settings.

It is important to note that a metadata sync can be forced without a change to the value in this Pulsar Setting, by updating the last modified date. To do this, click edit to open pulsar.sync.enableOneTimeSessionRefresh, and then click save without making changes. The last modified date will be updated, forcing a metadata sync the next time the user opens Pulsar or when a catch-up sync happens. This option forces a metadata re-sync, so everything gets refreshed on the app as it doesn’t apply the last modified date optimization.

Why Doesn’t Pulsar Sync Metadata During Every Catch-Up Sync?

Most customers want the catchup sync to run fast and metadata sync can be time consuming depending on the number of items it has to download and process. So, Pulsar saves the user time by not syncing all the metadata during each subsequent catch-up sync. This is the reason why the refresh settings scenarios described above exist. They trigger a metadata sync.

Special Scenarios

There are some scenarios in which the last modified date for the metadata has not been changed, but a metadata sync is still needed. Permission changes are an example of this. If the admin grants a user access to a field after their initial sync, the field may not automatically appear to the user in the layout. The user attempts to update their layout information by performing a manual refresh. The user presses Refresh Settings and then Sync Now, but the layout still does not update to display the new field. In this case, the admin wants to force a metadata update to allow that new field to appear on the layout for the user. The admin forces an update to the last modified date by opening the Pulsar setting pulsar.sync.enableOneTimeSessionRefresh and saving it. Then the admin instructs the user to try a catchup sync again. This time, the user is successful.

Related Resources

Other scenarios related to the last modified date and a forced metadata update are covered on these pages:

Â