In data backup runs, you may see runs where there are a large amount of unexpected changes. This is due to a quirk in the backup run's changes in metadata, and something we seek to explain in this article.
What is the behavior?
In the View records of the backup run, you may see changes to the record.
Keep in mind the following:
This will usually affect only one object.
The majority of records will record a change.
However, the field value view will not show any differences.
In this example, all 23 Lead records are shown as changed, but there is no visible difference in the field values being backed up. Normally, there would highlighted blocks in red, green or yellow on the bottom half of the screen.
Why is this happening?
If you look into the Metadata history view of the back up run on that day, you can verify if there is a New metadata change on the custom object. This could be one of the following:
A record type (as shown below)
A custom field
If these new metadata fields have not been populated with field values, these newly created fields on the custom object will create a null value field that will appear as changed in the UI, but Gearset won't be able to render the differences in the field value viewer.