Salesforce Sharing and Visibility Certification Practice Exam

To prevent users from editing encrypted fields, which two options can be utilized?

1. Validation Rules

2. Workflow Rules

3. Page Layout Settings

4. Apex Triggers

The correct answer is: Validation Rules

To prevent users from editing encrypted fields effectively, utilizing validation rules is an appropriate choice. Validation rules are designed to enforce specific criteria that data must meet before it can be saved in a record. By creating a validation rule that evaluates whether the field has been modified, you can prevent changes to the encrypted fields unless certain conditions are met, effectively locking them from edits. In this context, validation rules can check if a field modification attempt is being made and return an error message if it is, ensuring that users cannot save changes to these sensitive pieces of data. This capability is critical when a field is designed to remain secure and should not be edited after its initial entry. While other options like workflow rules, page layout settings, and Apex triggers can play roles in manipulating data and user interfaces within Salesforce, they do not directly enforce restrictions on editing encrypted fields in the same straightforward manner as validation rules. For instance, workflow rules are typically used to automate processes rather than enforce direct field editing restrictions, and page layouts can be adjusted to hide fields but do not prevent backend field modifications. Apex triggers can certainly be used for complex logic and field manipulation, but they require coding and do not provide a simple, declarative way to restrict edits in a manner that validation rules do