Attachment

Supported Calls

create(), delete(), describeSObjects(), query(), search(), retrieve(), getDeleted(), getUpdated()

Fields

Field	Field Type	Field Properties	Description
Body	base64	Create Update	Required. Encoded file data.
BodyLength	int	Filter Nillable	Size of the file (in bytes).
ContentType	string	Create Filter Nillable Update	The content type of the attachment. If the Disallow HTML documents and attachments security setting is enabled for your organization, you cannot upload files with the following file extensions: htm, html, htt, htx, mhtm, mhtml, shtm, shtml, acgi.
IsDeleted	boolean	Defaulted on create Filter	Indicates whether the object has been moved to the Recycle Bin (true) or not (false). Label is Deleted.
IsPrivate	boolean	Create Defaulted on create Filter Update	Indicates whether this record is viewable only by the owner and administrators (true) or viewable by all otherwise-allowed users (false). During a create() or update() call, it is possible to mark an Attachment record as private even if you are not the owner. This can result in a situation in which you can no longer access the record that you just inserted or updated. Label is Private.
Name	string	Create Filter idLookup Update	Required. Name of the attached file. Label is File Name.
OwnerId	reference	Create Defaulted on create Filter Update	ID of the User who owns the attachment. For information on IDs, see ID Field Type. This field was required previous to release 9.0. Beginning with release 9.0, it can be null on create.
ParentId	reference	Create Filter	Required. ID of the parent object of the attachment. The following objects are supported as parents of attachments: Account Asset Campaign Case Contact Contract Custom objects EmailMessage EmailTemplate Event Lead Opportunity Product2 Solution Task For information on IDs, see ID Field Type.

Usage

The API sends and receives the binary file attachment data encoded as a base64Binary data type. Prior to create(), client applications must encode the binary attachment data as base64. Upon receiving a response, client applications must decode the base64 data to binary (this conversion is usually handled for you by the SOAP client).

The create() call restricts these files to a maximum size of 5 MB. For a file attached to a Solution, the limit is 1.5MB. The maximum email attachment size is 3 MB.

The API supports attachments on email in create(), delete(), and update() calls. The query() call does not return attachments parented by email, unless the user performing the query has the “Modify All Data” permission.

Note

The search() call does not search Attachment records during text searches.

Access to fields depends on the method being used:

• All of the fields are accessible using the describeSObjects() and query() calls. With the create() call, you can insert the Name, ParentId, Body, IsPrivate, and OwnerId fields.
• To modify existing records, the update() call gives you access to change the Name, Body, IsPrivate, and OwnerId fields.
• You can access all of the fields using a query() call. However, you cannot receive the Body field for multiple records in a single query() call. If your query returns the Body field, your client application must ensure that only one row with one Attachment is returned; otherwise, an error occurs. A more effective approach is to return IDs (but not Attachments in the Body field) from a query() call and then pass them into retrieve() calls that return the Body field.
• For information about accessing the attachments of archived activities, see Archived Activities.