While  <apex:inputField required="true"> will add the standard salesforce required indicator (the red bar) to your page with no further effort, if you have to drop down to the lower level <apex:inputText required="true"> tag, you'll miss out on this help, leaving you to wrap your inputText field in various chunks of HTML in order to have Salesforce's standard stylesheets into apply the appropriate look.

Recently I had this requirement on several text fields and a selectOption field and rather than inject lots of HTML into my VF page manually I decided to use jQuery to help me out.

First, I defined my inputText with an additional class of 'requiredIndicator', this is just a marker so the text field (and any others with the same class on the page) can be found by jQuery.

<apex:inputText label="{!$ObjectType.Account.fields.name.label}" required="true" styleClass="requiredIndicator"  value="{!form.AccountName}" />

Next came the jQuery (in this case I'm using a jQuery bundle I've previously added to the static resources)

  <apex:includeScript value="{!URLFOR($Resource.jQueryForce,'/js/jquery-1.6.4.min.js')}" />

  <script type="text/javascript">
	   $(function(){
	  		$('.requiredIndicator').wrap('<div>').before('<div></div>');
	  	}
	   );
  </script>

And here is the end result (all of these fields are inputText):

It also works with selectOptions, which also don't show required indicators:

<apex:selectRadio value="{!stockOption}" required="true" label="Stock Availability" styleClass="requiredIndicator"> 
   <apex:selectOption itemValue="vehicleInStock" itemLabel="{!$ObjectType.PricingRequest__c.fields.VehicleInStock__c.label}"/>                    
   <apex:selectOption itemValue="dealerSwapRequired" itemLabel="{!$ObjectType.PricingRequest__c.fields.DealerSwapRequired__c.label}"/>
   <apex:selectOption itemValue="poolStock" itemLabel="{!$ObjectType.PricingRequest__c.fields.PoolStock__c.label}"/> 
   <apex:selectOption itemValue="factoryOrder" itemLabel="{!$ObjectType.PricingRequest__c.fields.FactoryOrder__c.label}"/> 
</apex:selectRadio>

Check the jQuery site to read more on class selector and the wrap and before methods

I am sure at some point you will come across this issue (if you haven’t already) where you only see next 5 years of values in the Date & date/Time fields based on the current year.

For example:  Date fields created in 2011 will only show these values {2011, 2012,2013,2014,2015,2016}

Here is a solution I found on one of the blogs and it adds past 100years of values in the year part of the field.

1) Go to Setup -> App Setup -> Customize -> User Interface. Here make sure the 'Show Custom Sidebar Components on All Pages' is checked.

2) Go to Setup -> App Setup -> Home Page Layouts. Make sure all your Home Page Layouts have the Messages & Alerts component checked.

3) Go to Setup -> App Setup -> Home Page Components. Here, click edit for Messages & Alerts. In the textarea, copy and paste the javascript code below and save (it can just go below your normal Messages & Alerts, won't show up on the actual page).

************************************************************************************************************************************

<script src="/js/dojo/0.4.1/dojo.js"></script>

<script src="/soap/ajax/11.1/connection.js" type="text/javascript"></script>

<script type="text/javascript">
dojo.require("dojo.collections.Store");
dojo.require("dojo.charting.Chart");
dojo.require('dojo.json');
var arYears = getYears();
function swapYears(){

// Contact Birth day
if(document.getElementById('calYearPicker') != null) {
var select = document.getElementById('calYearPicker');
var curValue = select.value;
var parentx = select.parentNode;
parentx.removeChild(select);
select = document.createElement('select');
select.size = 1;
select.id = 'calYearPicker';
select.name = 'calYearPicker';
parentx.appendChild(select);
}
if(select != null) {
for(x=0;x<100;x++) {
select.options[x] = new Option(arYears[x], arYears[x], false, false);
}
}
}

function getYears() {
sforce.sessionId = getCookie('sid');
sforce.connection.sessionId=sforce.sessionId;
var out = [];

// generate dates for the last 100 years
var currentTime = new Date()
var year = currentTime.getFullYear()
try {
for(x=0;x<100;x++) {
out[x] = x+year-99;
}
} catch(error) {
alert(error);
}
return out;
}
dojo.addOnLoad(swapYears);
</script>

**************************************************************************************************************************************

I have used this for one of our project already and it works pretty well. Probably not the most elegant solution but it meets customer’s requirements and no impact on any other configuration.

Hope you all find this helpful!

If you are looking for a procurement management solution, contact us.

This requirement which popped up a few weeks back - a field which can give the case age in business hours [excluding saturdays and sundays]. There was no function in salesforce which provided me the day given the date. I came about with a round about logical solution - a formula(number with 0 digits after decimal point) field which excludes saturdays and sundays when calculating the case age.

CASE(
MOD(DATEVALUE(CreatedDate) - DATE(1900, 1, 7), 7),
0, (TODAY() - DATEVALUE(CreatedDate)) - 1 - FLOOR((TODAY() - DATEVALUE(CreatedDate))/7)*2,
1, (TODAY() - DATEVALUE(CreatedDate)) - FLOOR((TODAY() - DATEVALUE(CreatedDate))/7)*2,
2, (TODAY() - DATEVALUE(CreatedDate)) - FLOOR((TODAY() - DATEVALUE(CreatedDate))/7)*2,
3, (TODAY() - DATEVALUE(CreatedDate)) - FLOOR((TODAY() - DATEVALUE(CreatedDate))/7)*2,
4, (TODAY() - DATEVALUE(CreatedDate)) - FLOOR((TODAY() - DATEVALUE(CreatedDate))/7)*2,
5, (TODAY() - DATEVALUE(CreatedDate)) - 2 - FLOOR((TODAY() - DATEVALUE(CreatedDate))/7)*2,
6, (TODAY() - DATEVALUE(CreatedDate)) - 2 - FLOOR((TODAY() - DATEVALUE(CreatedDate))/7)*2,
null)

Talk to us to find out more solutions in Salesforce.com

Talk with us to find out how you can increase sales effectiveness, close rates and lead conversion and improve collaboration among your sales teams with Salesforce.com

If your drive to implement a Spend Management strategy is making you consider the eProcurement module that lurks unexploited in the depths of your existing ERP system, it might be time to reconsider.

Indirect spend control has the potential to deliver instant business-wide savings to the bottom line - as long as it embraces the complete procure-to-pay cycle. ERP systems will certainly address fragments of the cycle. But rooted in manufacturing and distribution, they lack the nimble, flexible and holistic capabilities required to manage the procurement environment of today's service-oriented business environments.

The pressure is certainly on to take the ERP route. After all, that's where the historic technology investment has been. Different voices will shout about what they consider to be the best options for quick-win solutions. Accounts Payable will demand point-solutions for example, eInvoicing to lower their in-tray. And IT will invariably want to rationalize existing systems suppliers.

Unexploited opportunities
But there is a huge opportunity to manage your procure to pay process through a best-in-class spend management application.

The scale of this unexplored opportunity is enormous. Up to one third of large enterprises have yet to buy any kind of eProcurement system, and a quarter of them are not using any kind of eProcurement tools. As many as 60% of ERP customers eProcurement licenses have not yet been installed, and there could be a very good reason why the ERP option has lain dormant since the main system was implemented.

ERP: A legacy of dashed expectations
ERP implementations tend to create their own legacy of dashed expectations: longer-than-expected projects that exceed budget, relatively low satisfaction rates (13% according to one recent report, a lack of employee buy-in - ERP systems are notoriously finance-focused, owned and delivered by MIS and tricky for non-IT literate users to adopt, and a low ratio of benefits realized.

And while there is no doubt that ERP systems have extensive operational data gathering capabilities, their technology focus rarely allows them to use that data to enable a transparent and accurate view of the entire procure-to-pay process. If you take this route to spend management and allow technology to drive the project and replicate what you are already doing, you risk missing some of the key benefits you are setting out to deliver.

Compliance, which should be a major goal for any expenditure cycle management project, can only be encouraged and enforced if the spend management platform incorporates appropriate enterprise-wide spend controls, authorization rules and budgetary constraints, for example.

And with the pressure on to deliver quick results, the risk of embarking on a potentially lengthy and complex ERP integration project throws the likely benefits of a best-in-class eProcurement system strategy into an exciting new light.

Where ERP systems tend to lack the workflow rules that enable a complete set of business benefits to be realized, purpose-built eProcurement systems use applications to enforce electronic authorization, regardless of how complex the organization's spend control hierarchy might be.  If the system provides a mobile app for managers to quickly approve requsitions and expense claims, you can reduce cycle time to get goods and services the organisation needs.   And if they are easy to use, 'maverick' spenders will buy in to the strategy more readily and user adoption will be a non-issue. Employee workarounds that you previously never had sight of until the order was received will be no longer.

What's more, as senior decision makers look to Procurement to deliver rapid cost savings, expectations of the chosen underlying system rise accordingly.

Why compromise with ERP?
When it comes to seizing the chance to take control of the complete expenditure cycle on this scale, why would you compromise? Particularly when it also constitutes a great opportunity to consolidate the way your existing ERP investment underpins the business.

ERP alone can't cure a 'maverick' spend epidemic but an integrated best-in-class eProcurement/ERP partnership offers a potentially mighty solution that could bridge the considerable Spend Management gaps in a 'pure' ERP system.

Leverage your ERP investment
Consider using the eProcurement system as a front-end requisition engine, feeding into your established ERP modules. These were never designed as intuitive interfaces and will always be anathema to casual users, who will habitually find ways to work around applications they don't understand and will consequently make themselves invisible to Finance. An eProcurement system will drive compliance and authorization.

Even as an interim solution, without the significant overheads of an ERP implementation, a best-in-class system can deliver immediate and significant cost savings. Rapid implementation and and an opex subscription model can provide a rapid ROI.

Best-in-class: ahead of the curve
Because best-in-class vendors are constantly refining and adding to their technological capability, new modules that enhance the value of the investment and lower the risk of driving through a Spend Management strategy emerge regularly, giving more choice in terms of scale, implementation and integration.

Coupa Cloud Spend Management

Coupa's Cloud Spend Management application provides a best in class e-procurement, expense management and benchmarking application that easily integrates with all the major ERP systems.  Coupa is highly innovative, cost-effective, easy to use, and rapid to deploy.  Have a look and see for yourself with a free trial

Registration is free here.

We'll be presenting a Salesforce.com implementation case study with our client SmartSalary, and

showing off Coupa Expenses for Salesforce.com and Cloud Spend Management at our booth.

“…most customers in the market for solutions in the area that I speak with view networks as secondary (except when the costs exceed the benefits). Rather, they’re looking for specific solutions to challenges that networks may solve including supplier enablement, PO/ASN/invoice document exchange, catalog/content management and most recently, supply chain financing.
There are lots of vendors in the P2P sector that only have partial “network” solutions to overcome some of these challenges, but are realizing strong growth and adoption regardless — and growing at a faster clip than other network-driven models. Coupa is the quintessential provider that comes to mind in this regard. Consider how Coupa’s growth on the new customer front significantly outpaced Ketera’s in the P2P area in the past year — probably by a factor of at least two (Ketera pushes a network-driven model while Coupa sells a solution first and foremost).”