SOSL (Salesforce Object Search Language) queries behave differently in test contexts compared to production environments. By default, any SOSL
search executed within a test method returns empty results, regardless of the data that exists in the test database.
This behavior can lead to several problems:
- Unpredictable test results: Tests may pass or fail inconsistently because they rely on empty search results rather than
controlled test data.
- False test outcomes: A test might pass when it should fail, or fail when it should pass, because the SOSL query doesn’t return
the expected data.
- Incomplete test coverage: The actual logic that processes SOSL results may not be properly tested if the queries always return
empty results.
To ensure reliable and predictable test behavior, Salesforce provides the Test.setFixedSearchResults() method. This method allows you
to specify exactly which record IDs should be returned by SOSL queries during test execution, giving you full control over the test scenario.
What is the potential impact?
Tests that rely on SOSL queries without proper setup may produce unreliable results, leading to false confidence in code quality. This can result
in bugs being deployed to production that could have been caught with properly configured tests.
