Jaimie Ji’s XRM Service Toolkit provides a comprehensive set of JScript libraries for interacting with the SOAP and REST SDK through JavaScript. While Option 1 in this particular use case is fairly simple, when you start needing to do more advanced things, you may want to look at using that kit. It is fairly comprehensive and he keeps it up to date.

Option 1: Using the REST SDK and JSON2

Using the REST SDK is great, and there are some really good examples in the CRM SDK help file. Now in order to use the below code-block, you need to use JSON.

JSON, or JavaScript Object Notation, is a text format that is used to interchange data. JSON2.js is a lightweight javascript that convert the strings to javascript objects and vice-versa. The CRM REST SDK can return data in JSON format.

To get the code for JSON2, you can go here. You will need to embed this code into your javascript file or include json2.js along with the code below. Without it, you will not be able to parse the data properly, and the code below uses the JSON library in json2.js.

Ok, below we have 3 functions:

• getServerUrl : which gets the server URL – taken from the CrmRestKit
• Lookup_Changed : what you call when a lookup is changed
• retrieveReqCallBack : the callback function that performs any actions

You would put Lookup_Changed in the change event of a lookup field and specify the attributes like one of the following:

• ‘contactid’,'Contact’,'contactlookup’
• ‘contactid’,'Contact’,'contactlookup’,['Telephone1']
• ‘contactid’,'Contact’,'contactlookup’,['Telephone1','FullName]

Then you’d put your actions inside the retrieveReqCallBack.

function getServerUrl() {
    // From CrmRestKit.js
    var localServerUrl = window.location.protocol + "/" + window.location.host;
    var context = parent.Xrm.Page.context;

    if (context.isOutlookClient() && !context.isOutlookOnline()) {
        return localServerUrl;
    }
    else {
        var crmServerUrl = context.getServerUrl();
        crmServerUrl = crmServerUrl.replace(/^(http|https):\/\/([_a-zA-Z0-9\-\.]+)(:([0-9]{1,5}))?/, localServerUrl);
        crmServerUrl = crmServerUrl.replace(/\/$/, "");
    }
    return crmServerUrl;
}

function Lookup_Changed(attributeName, entityName, callbackId, columns) {
    var serverUrl = Xrm.Page.context.getServerUrl();
    var ODataPath = serverUrl + "/XRMServices/2011/OrganizationData.svc";

    var lookup = Xrm.Page.data.entity.attributes.get(attributeName).getValue();
    if (lookup===null) {
        return false;
    }

    var id = lookup[0].id;
    if (id == null) {
        return false;
    }

    var retrieveReq = new XMLHttpRequest();

    var url = ODataPath + "/"+entityName+"Set(guid'" + id + "')";
    if (columns !== undefined && columns !== null) {
        url = url + "?$select=" + columns.join(',');
    }

    retrieveReq.open("GET", url, true);
    retrieveReq.setRequestHeader("Accept", "application/json");
    retrieveReq.setRequestHeader("Content-Type", "application/json; charset=utf-8");
    retrieveReq.onreadystatechange = function () {
        if (this.readyState == 4 /* complete */) {
            if (this.status == 200) {
                var data;
                var jData;
                jData = JSON.parse(this.responseText);
                if (jData && jData.d && jData.d.results && jData.d.results.length > 0) {
                    data = jData.d.results[0];
                } else if (jData && jData.d) {
                    data = jData.d;
                }

                if (data == null) {
                    return;
                }
                retrieveReqCallBack(callbackId, data);
            }
        }
    };
    retrieveReq.send();
    return true;
}

function retrieveReqCallBack(calltype, data) {
    var toLookup=function(data) {
        if (data==null || data=="" || (data.Id==null)) {
            return null;
        }

        var result=new Array();
        result[0] = {};
        result[0].id = data.Id;
        result[0].name = data.Name;
        result[0].entityType = data.LogicalName;
        return result;
    }

    switch (calltype) {
        case 'pricelookup':
            Xrm.Page.data.entity.attributes.get("new_pricecategorylookup").setValue(toLookup(c.new_pricecategorylookup);
            break;
        case 'contactlookup':
            Xrm.Page.data.entity.attributes.get("insp_poctelephonenumber").setValue(c.Telephone1);
            break;
        default:
            break;
    }
}

Option 2: Using the XrmServiceToolkit with similar functions

Ok, now let’s assume you are using the XRM Service Toolkit, and you want to do the same thing, using a Lookup_Changed function and the retrieveReqCallBack function. Instead of embedding JSON and a method to get the server url, you can use the following:

function Lookup_Changed(attributeName, entityName, callbackId, columns) {
    var lookup = Xrm.Page.data.entity.attributes.get(attributeName).getValue();
    if (lookup===null) {
        return false;
    }

    if (lookup[0].id == null) {
        return false;
    }

	XrmServiceToolkit.Rest.Retrieve(
        entityName,
        lookup[0].id,
        columns,
		null,
        function (result) {
            retrieveReqCallBack(callbackId, result);
        },
        function (error) {
            throw error;
        },
		true
    );
}

function retrieveReqCallBack(calltype, data) {
    var toLookup=function(data) {
        if (data==null || data=="" || (data.Id==null)) {
            return null;
        }

        var result=new Array();
        result[0] = {};
        result[0].id = data.Id;
        result[0].name = data.Name;
        result[0].entityType = data.LogicalName;
        return result;
    }

    switch (calltype) {
        case 'pricelookup':
            Xrm.Page.data.entity.attributes.get("new_pricecategorylookup").setValue(toLookup(c.new_pricecategorylookup);
            break;
        case 'contactlookup':
            Xrm.Page.data.entity.attributes.get("insp_poctelephonenumber").setValue(c.Telephone1);
            break;
        default:
            break;
    }
}

The XRM Service Toolkit does a lot, and I would suggest checking it out.

If you are interested in this solution, you can download the following:

• Managed Solution (this is the only thing you need)
• Unmanaged Solution (in case you want to modify mine, like add grid support, it is on my to-do list)
• Source Code (this is in case you would prefer to use a WCF service or if you just want to play around with my code)

Once you’ve installed the managed solution, you’ll need to do the following to create / setup an InfoPath form:

1. For this particular InfoPath integration, you need to create InfoPath Forms that mirror a CRM Entity.
   Note: You can always create a new entity for the form data.

   

2. Rename the default form Group to the name of the entity (ex: Contact)

   

3. Inside CRM create the InfoPath form (it is an entity included in the solution), select the entity and save the form.

   

4. Once it has been saved, you can copy the ID using the “Copy ID” link in the header.
   
   Note: If you do not select the Allow Any CRM Field checkbox, you will need to add the individual Fields, which can be found in the left navigation.

5. In the InfoPath Form Designer, add a field named SubmissionCode with the Default Value as the ID you just copied.
   
   Note: Using the submission code allows us to check and see if the form is valid, active, and allowed.

   

6. Add a field for each of the fields in CRM that you want to be available, selecting the appropriate data type.
   
   Note: Unfortunately I have not had the time to test the fields and have been using the checkbox on the infopath form record to enable any/all CRM fields. However, I did not want to delay releasing the code and information as it currently is. If someone identifies a problem with this or any other section of the code, I’ll be happy to look into it and work on resolving the issue.

   

7. Layout the fields on the form, then click File > Submit Options > To Email

   

8. Enter the Queue email or where you want new forms to be submitted.

   

9. Click Next.

   

10. Click Finish.

    

11. Save and close the form designer.

12. Open the form and test submission.

    

Once the email comes into CRM, the process of reading the form is easy; you just open it up and click the Import InfoPath button on the ribbon.

Usually I would post the source-code and comment on how it works in great detail, but this time, it really depends on which component. There is a plugin and WCF service written in C# as well as two Jscript files, one for the buttons and one for the InfoPath form inside CRM that creates a drop-down of the entities in CRM. I would suggest downloading the unmanaged solution and source-code if you want to delve into those items.

Now, for complex situations or form conversions, binding the InfoPath schema is the way to go. Using that method (the one described in detail on Philo’s Weblog) you can import the InfoPath form schema into Visual Studio:

1. Create an InfoPath form and lay it out the way you want it.
2. Extract the form files (File | Extract Form Files) to a location you can find later.
3. Close the InfoPath form designer.
4. Open the Visual Studio command prompt.
5. Change to the directory where you extracted the files
   cd c:\myinfopathfiles
   
6. Run xsd against the myschema.xsd in that directory, and specify the namespace you would like to use.
   Note: My WCF namespace is CrmInfoPathService and my plugin namespace is InfoPathPlugin.
   xsd.exe myschema.xsd /classes /l:cs /n:InfoPathPlugin
   
7. Then you can deserialize the xml into the object and store it in CRM or any other system using the logic embedded in your code.

The key point to my solution was not to do something that everyone does on occasion, but to make something so that I can leverage it in the future and not have to create a new integration every time I wanted to leverage a new form. Now, on that note, here are the list of things that if you delve into, I’d like to know, a.k.a. my to-do list for this project:

• Add a button onto the grid for activities
• Create a way to handle child entities.
• Modify the plugin/WCF code to link the created entities to the form email using connections.
• Change the button on the form to monitor for the results (success/failure) and report back to the user.
• Any great ideas my readers think should be added!

CRM’s Activity Feeds provide a quick and easy way to share information using short and quick updates. Users can follow diffrent entities and see what changes occur as well as post and receive quick comments to your peers. Once you have the solution installed you can find your feed in the What’s New section.

Feed status updates can be posted manually by users or automatically based on pre-defined system rules through workflow. Activity Feeds can also be posted to by external applications through the Microsoft Dynamics CRM web services API. Activity Feeds expose Microsoft Office Lync real-time presence functionality so that users can initiate communication activities such as IM, phone calls and emails.

Activity Feeds help increase awareness and that awareness can improve productivity. Now workers can stay informed about what is important to them (and comment on it).

So now that you have them, how do you administer them? Well there are two new sections in settings, Activity Feeds Configuration and Activity Feeds Rules. You can use the activity feed configuration to add additional entities to appear on the wall. You can read the MSDN documentation on activity feeds here.

What’s cooler is the fact that there is already a Windows Phone 7.5 mobile app that takes advantage of the activity feeds.

Microsoft Dynamics CRM Mobile is a Windows Phone 7.5 app which brings Activity Feeds to your mobile device. Microsoft Dynamics CRM Activity Feeds will work with all deployment models for Microsoft Dynamics CRM including on-premise, Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online and partner-hosted.

Check out the picture below. A beautiful client.

Here is the code from the sample that creates the AppointmentRequest:

AppointmentRequest appointmentReq = new AppointmentRequest
                    {
                        RequiredResources = new RequiredResource[] { vanReq },
                        Direction = SearchDirection.Backward,
                        Duration = 60,
                        NumberOfResults = 10,
                        ServiceId = _plumberServiceId,
                        // The search window describes the time when the resouce can be scheduled.
                        // It must be set.
                        SearchWindowStart = DateTime.Now.ToUniversalTime(),
                        SearchWindowEnd = DateTime.Now.AddDays(7).ToUniversalTime(),
                        UserTimeZoneCode = 1
                    };

Now, there are a lot of fields that they didn’t set, but since they are using the DLL files, they don’t need to. The reason this same request would fail using Silverlight is because the web-service expects the arrays to not be null. Using the DLL files, they end up as just empty arrays, but since we are using the ObservableCollection in Silverlight, we have to initialize the collections by creating empty fields. Then our request will be accepted.

AppointmentRequest appointmentReq = new AppointmentRequest
                    {
                        Objectives = new ObservableCollection(),
                        RequiredResources = new ObservableCollection(),
                        AppointmentsToIgnore = new ObservableCollection(),
                        Constraints = new ObservableCollection(),
                        Sites = new ObservableCollection(),
                        // Required Fields:
                        Duration=duration,
                        Direction=SearchDirection.Forward,
                        NumberOfResults = 20
                    };

You’ll still have to set the TimeZoneCode and adjust the dates accordingly just like they do in the SDK example. My personal preference here is to retrieve the usersettings and use the timezonecode from it.

Now, for all the people out there that use my SilverCRMSoap Library I have on codeplex, I did update the source code to include a BeginExecuteSearchRequest and modified the AppointmentRequest to have the default values specified.

With that, I think my bing maps scheduler will turn out great. Once it is done, I might update this post with a screenshot.

Happy Scheduling!

– mscrmblogger

I get a lot of questions about what is a supported change or what is an unsupported change. Dynamics CRM is an extremely customizable system and provides tools to facilitate customization. The customizations described in the SDK are supported and will be upgradable to the next version of CRM unless they explicitly say they may not or are deprecated. When I say something is unsupported on my blog, it means that if you call support they may not help you with it, it may contain a piece of code you’re not supposed to use, or it could be allowed, but it may not easily upgrade to the next version because it uses something that could change in the next release.

Following the Supported Extensions for Microsoft Dynamics CRM from the SDK, I’ll provide a list of what is and is not supported. I’ll try and simplify my list and the descriptions so that you can use it as a quick reference, then if you need more clarification on a particular item you can look it up in the Supported Extensions MSDN Article. Hopefully you can use this information as a quick-reference to know whether or not something will be upgradable, supported, or unsupported.

CRM Web Services:

Form Scripts:

Ribbons

Solution File (customizations.xml)

Plugins

Workflow

ISV folder

Reports

Other Unsupported Customizations

Here is the powerhsell code:

$domain = (get-addomain).distinguishedname
$path = "OU=Employees,$domain"
$employees = Get-ADObject -Filter {distinguishedname -eq $path}
If ( -not $employees) {
  $employees = $domain.Create("OrganizationalUnit", "ou=Employees")
  $employees.SetInfo()
}

$users = import-csv "C:\Scripts\usersToBeCreated.csv"
$ldappath = "LDAP://$path"
$container = [ADSI] $ldappath
$users | foreach {
    $first = $_.FirstName
    $last = $_.LastName
    $username = "$first" + "." + "$last"
    $email = "$username" + "@demo.local"
    $newUser = $container.Create("User", "cn=" + $username)
    $newUser.Put("sAMAccountName", $username)
    $newUser.Put("givenname",$first)
    $newUser.Put("sn",$last)
    $newUser.Put("mail",$email)
    $newUser.Put("description","Demo Account")
    $newUser.SetInfo()
    $newUser.psbase.InvokeSet('AccountDisabled', $false)
    $newUser.SetInfo()
    $newUser.SetPassword("somethingG00D!")
}

Hopefully that will help someone else save some time.

First, in CRM 2011, when you make a field required by editing the field, you are making it required for all forms (that the field is on).

If you want to make a field required just for a particular form, you can use a form onload event to change the requirement level. One of the great things about CRM 2011 is just how much is exposed to JScript through Xrm.Page. There are methods on the attribute to get the required level and set the required level. Let’s suppose for example that we want to make the First Name required, but only on this form, then we could use the following onload function with the parameters ‘required’, ‘firstname’ to make the field required. If we needed to add multiple fields, then we would just specify them after ‘firstname’, such as ‘required’,'firstname’,'address1_city’.

function updateRequirementLevel()
{
    var level = arguments[0];
    for (var i=1; i < arguments.length; i++)
    {
        var attribute = Xrm.Page.data.entity.attributes.get(arguments[i]);
        attribute.setRequiredLevel(level);
    }
}

That will make each field you specify after the level, required or recommended based on the level you pass as the first parameter. Calling the function updateRequirementLevel('required','firstname'); will make the firstname required.

Change the IE9 setting to display tabs on a separate row.

1. Right Click on the title bar – area above the URL
2. Click Show tabs on a separate row

   

Change the popups to display as tabs instead of a new window

1. Click on the Settings Icon in IE9, then click on Internet Options

   

2. Click on the Settings button in the Tabs section

   

3. Click on "Always open pop-ups in a new tab"

   

This is what I end up with, a simple multi-tab CRM, where I can tell what entity I have on what tab, and what the name of it is.

Please note, that this is not a supported modification or change.

Follow the steps below to modify your fetchXML and your layoutXML to have the queue name show up in the advanced find. You can even update the name in the UserQueryBase to rename your advanced find to something better.

1. Create your advanced find, setup your filters etc.
2. Save your advanced find (name it something unique)
3. Get the guid of your advanced find (using open pop-ups in a new tab or using a select statement to look it up in the db.

   SELECT UserQueryID FROM UserQueryBase WHERE Name='Cases (w/Queue Name) - IT Example'
   

4. Then using the id, execute the following code to add the queue name:

   UPDATE UserQueryBase SET
   FetchXml = REPLACE(FetchXml,'</entity>',
   '<link-entity name="queueitem" from="objectid" to="incidentid" visible="false" link-type="outer" alias="qi">
   <link-entity name="queue" from="queueid" to="queueid" visible="false" link-type="outer" alias="Q">
   <attribute name="name"/></link-entity></link-entity></entity>')
   ,LayoutXML = REPLACE(LayoutXml,'</row>',
   '<cell name="Q.name" width="200" disableSorting="0"/></row>')
   -- Make sure to change the UserQueryID
   WHERE UserQueryID='71F94C46-F217-DF11-A241-0050569B4FF3'
   

5. If you have your advanced find window open, close and reopen it before trying to run it and see the "Q.name" column.

If you have any problems or questions, let me know. Again this is setup to work on advanced find for cases, I’m sure it could be modified for other queue-able entities.

With CRM 2011, you can include fields from related entities, so you don’t have to use this method, you can just add the column through the user-interface.