Salesforce Sharing and Visibility Certification Practice Exam

When a custom object owner changes, what can be done to retain sharing settings?

1. Create an assignment rule for ownership

2. Refresh sharing rules automatically

3. Use Apex to manage sharing settings explicitly

4. Manually reset sharing down the hierarchy

The correct answer is: Use Apex to manage sharing settings explicitly

Retaining sharing settings when a custom object owner changes can be effectively managed with the use of Apex. When ownership of a record is transferred, the default sharing rules may not automatically carry over to the new owner, especially in more complex scenarios where specific sharing settings are critical. Using Apex allows for a programmer to explicitly manage the sharing settings, ensuring that all necessary permissions and access levels are preserved or adjusted as needed when the ownership changes. This is particularly useful in organizations where data access is tightly controlled and specific sharing requirements are in place. The other options do not align as closely with the need to preserve sharing settings upon ownership change. Assignment rules concern automating the assignment of record ownership but do not address sharing settings directly. Automatically refreshing sharing rules typically doesn’t include manual adjustments and may not ensure the specialized sharing needs are met. Manually resetting sharing down the hierarchy could be impractical and error-prone, especially in environments with complex sharing rules, and does not offer the automation or specificity that Apex can provide.