Automate Case Routing
By the end of this lesson, you'll be able to:
- Handle a Case that doesn't match any configured routing rule
- Assign a sensible default queue as a fallback
- Explain why silent non-routing would be a worse outcome than a fallback
Prerequisites: "Build Configurable Business Rules (Custom Metadata)"
The gap: an unmatched Case
for (Case c : newCases) {
String key = c.Priority + '|' + c.Type;
if (queueByPriorityAndType.containsKey(key)) {
c.Assigned_Queue__c = queueByPriorityAndType.get(key);
}
// what if there's no matching rule at all?
}If a Case's Priority/Type combination has no configured rule (say, a new Type value was added but nobody created a matching routing rule yet), Assigned_Queue__c simply stays blank — the Case silently falls through with no queue at all.
Adding a fallback queue
private static final String DEFAULT_QUEUE = 'General Support';
for (Case c : newCases) {
String key = c.Priority + '|' + c.Type;
if (queueByPriorityAndType.containsKey(key)) {
c.Assigned_Queue__c = queueByPriorityAndType.get(key);
} else {
c.Assigned_Queue__c = DEFAULT_QUEUE;
}
}This is Module 26's named-constant refactor, applied from the start rather than as an afterthought — every Case gets some queue assignment, even one that hasn't been explicitly configured yet.
Why a fallback beats silence
A Case with a blank Assigned_Queue__c is effectively invisible to whichever process routes Cases to support agents — it could sit unassigned indefinitely with nobody responsible for noticing. Routing it to a general fallback queue, even an imperfect match, guarantees a human eventually sees it — a genuinely better failure mode than a silent gap in the automation.
Exercise
Add a fallback assignment to this loop: if the key isn't in the lookup, set c.Assigned_Queue__c to 'General Support'.
Show hint
Add an else branch to the existing if.
Automate Case Routing Quiz
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Summary
The previous lesson routes Cases that match a configured rule — this lesson handles the case (no pun intended) where no rule matches at all, with a sensible fallback rather than silence.