ConnectApiHelper

ConnectApiHelper is an Apex class that makes it easier to do common operations with the classes in the ConnectApi namespace. It includes convenience methods to:

Post Chatter @-mentions with Apex code.
Post rich text, inline images, and record links with Apex code.
Take a feed item or comment body and return an input body that matches it (useful for either editing or re-posting).

Easier @-mentions

If you want to mention someone in a post that says: Hey there @Jane Doe, how are you?, you can do it in one line like this:

ConnectApi.FeedItem fi = (ConnectApi.FeedItem) ConnectApiHelper.postFeedItemWithMentions(Network.getNetworkId(), 'me', 'Hey there {005D00000015tjz}, how are you?');

... instead of this:

ConnectApi.MessageBodyInput messageInput = new ConnectApi.MessageBodyInput();
messageInput.messageSegments = new List<ConnectApi.MessageSegmentInput>();

ConnectApi.TextSegmentInput textSegment = new ConnectApi.TextSegmentInput();
textSegment.text = 'Hey there ';
messageInput.messageSegments.add(textSegment);

ConnectApi.MentionSegmentInput mentionSegment = new ConnectApi.MentionSegmentInput();
mentionSegment.id = '005D00000015tjz'; // The ID of the user to mention.
messageInput.messageSegments.add(mentionSegment);

textSegment = new ConnectApi.TextSegmentInput();
textSegment.text = ', how are you?';
messageInput.messageSegments.add(textSegment);

ConnectApi.FeedItemInput input = new ConnectApi.FeedItemInput();
input.body = messageInput;
input.subjectId = 'me';

ConnectApi.FeedItem fi = ConnectApi.ChatterFeeds.postFeedElement(Network.getNetworkId(), input);

Streamlined rich text, inline images and record links

If you want to add rich text, inline images, or record links in your post, one line will do it:

ConnectApi.FeedItem fi = (ConnectApi.FeedItem) ConnectApiHelper.postFeedItemWithRichText(Network.getNetworkId(),
'me', 'Have you seen this <b>gorgeous</b> view? {img:069x00000000D7m:View of the Space Needle from our office.} \nBy the way, please check {record:01t3E000002GCm9QAG}');

... instead of this:

ConnectApi.MessageBodyInput messageInput = new ConnectApi.MessageBodyInput();
messageInput.messageSegments = new List<ConnectApi.MessageSegmentInput>();

ConnectApi.TextSegmentInput textSegment = new ConnectApi.TextSegmentInput();
textSegment.text = 'Have you seen this ';
messageInput.messageSegments.add(textSegment);

ConnectApi.MarkupBeginSegmentInput markupBeginSegment = new ConnectApi.MarkupBeginSegmentInput();
markupBeginSegment.markupType = ConnectApi.MarkupType.Bold;
messageInput.messageSegments.add(markupBeginSegment);

textSegment = new ConnectApi.TextSegmentInput();
textSegment.text = 'gorgeous';
messageInput.messageSegments.add(textSegment);

ConnectApi.MarkupEndSegmentInput markupEndSegment = new ConnectApi.MarkupEndSegmentInput();
markupEndSegment.markupType = ConnectApi.MarkupType.Bold;
messageInput.messageSegments.add(markupEndSegment);

textSegment = new ConnectApi.TextSegmentInput();
textSegment.text = ' view? ';
messageInput.messageSegments.add(textSegment);

ConnectApi.InlineImageSegmentInput inlineImageSegment = new ConnectApi.InlineImageSegmentInput();
inlineImageSegment.fileId = '069x00000000D7m';
inlineImageSegment.altText = 'View of the Space Needle from our office.';
messageInput.messageSegments.add(inlineImageSegment);

textSegment = new ConnectApi.TextSegmentInput();
textSegment.text = ' \nBy the way, please check ';
messageInput.messageSegments.add(textSegment);

ConnectApi.EntityLinkSegmentInput entityLinkSegment = new ConnectApi.EntityLinkSegmentInput();
entityLinkSegment.entityId = '01t3E000002GCm9QAG';
messageInput.messageSegments.add(entityLinkSegment);

ConnectApi.FeedItemInput input = new ConnectApi.FeedItemInput();
input.body = messageInput;
input.subjectId = 'me';

ConnectApi.FeedItem fi = ConnectApi.ChatterFeeds.postFeedElement(Network.getNetworkId(), input);

Installation

Just copy the ConnectApiHelper and ConnectApiHelperTest classes to your Salesforce org. If you use Salesforce DX, you can clone this repo and develop using your preferred IDE, source control system, and scratch orgs.

Usage

For @-mentions, the methods to use are ConnectApiHelper.postFeedItemWithMentions and ConnectApiHelper.postCommentWithMentions and the parameters and formatting syntax are described in the method comments. To include rich text and inline images as well (starting in version 35.0), the method to use is ConnectApiHelper.postFeedItemWithRichText. You can also refer to the ConnectApiHelperTest class for more examples.

For creating input bodies from output bodies, the methods are ConnectApiHelper.createFeedItemInputFromBody and ConnectApiHelper.createCommentInputFromBody.

Salesforce API Versions

If you need to use an earlier version of the Salesforce API, the current ConnectApiHelper class may not compile, because the methods being called may not be available in the earlier version.

We've provided variants of ConnectApiHelper so that you can use it with earlier Salesforce API versions: