Query CRM 2011 data with JSON synchronously

After we installed CRM update rollup 12 (KB 2795627), we encountered very big problems with our customizations relating to SOAP queries that were across multiple entities. CRM rollup 12 (finally) introduces us with additional browser compatibility for Firefox, Chrome, and Safari.

After rollup our customizations that were using SOAP requests didn't work anymore on Chrome, Firefox and Internet Explorer 10. We discovered that SOAP requests uses ActiveXobject and this is not supported!!!

To rebuild our customizations we used synchronous JSON queries, that solved our problems and even made our crm customizations better and whole scripting technique lighter.

This excellent article  Read records synchronously using JSON in CRM 2011 helped us to build our JSON queries like this:

Example function for retrieving current user full name

function getUserFullName() {

var userid = Xrm.Page.context.getUserId();


var retrieveRecordsReq = new XMLHttpRequest();
  var ODataPath = "/xrmservices/2011/OrganizationData.svc/SystemUserSet?$select=FullName&$filter=SystemUserId eq guid'" + userid + "'";
retrieveRecordsReq.open('GET', ODataPath, false);
retrieveRecordsReq.setRequestHeader("Accept", "application/json");
retrieveRecordsReq.setRequestHeader("Content-Type", "application/json; charset=utf-8");
retrieveRecordsReq.send(null);

var records = JSON.parse(retrieveRecordsReq.responseText).d;
var FullName = records.results[0].FullName;
return FullName;

}

SCSM Creating Manual Activity for Incident in C#

Some time ago I had to develope application that could connect two systems: Microsoft Dynamics CRM & SCSM (Microsoft System Center Service Manager). The main purpose of this application is to synchronize data between two applications.

In this article i will show you only some little part (but maybe one of the  toughest for me...) of my application code.
I will continue to post some other usefull parts from this project. 

The code consists of 3 main steps:

1. Create relationship between incident & manual activity
2. Create manual activity
3. Assign created activity to incident

There is good post about creating incident in SCSM which really helped me out: http://blogs.technet.com/b/servicemanager/archive/2009/08/09/the-system-center-platform-in-service-manager-part-3-the-data-access-service-try-it.aspx

//Create relationship between incident & manual acticvity
ManagementPackRelationship workItemContainsActivityRelationship =
mg.EntityTypes.GetRelationshipClass(new Guid("2DA498BE-0485-B2B2-D520-6EBD1698E61B"));
                                             
CreatableEnterpriseManagementRelationshipObject AssignedToIncident = 
new CreatableEnterpriseManagementRelationshipObject(mg, workItemContainsActivityRelationship);

//Create Manual Activity
CreatableEnterpriseManagementObject activityItemObject = 
new CreatableEnterpriseManagementObject(mg, classManualActivity);
Guid newActivityGuid = Guid.NewGuid();
                                             
activityItemObject[classManualActivity, "Id"].Value = newActivityGuid.ToString();                                              
activityItemObject[classManualActivity, "Title"].Value = "<Title>";
activityItemObject[classManualActivity, "Description"].Value = "<Description>";
                                             
EnterpriseManagementObjectGenericCriteria genericCr = 
new EnterpriseManagementObjectGenericCriteria("Id == '" + <SCSM Incident Id>.ToString() + "'");
IObjectReader<EnterpriseManagementObject> reader = mg.EntityObjects.GetObjectReader<EnterpriseManagementObject>(genericCr, ObjectQueryOptions.Default);

 if (reader != null && reader.Count > 0) {

foreach (EnterpriseManagementObject obj in reader) {

AssignedToIncident.SetSource(obj);

AssignedToIncident.SetTarget(activityItemObject);

IncrementalDiscoveryData dd = new IncrementalDiscoveryData();

dd.Add(activityItemObject);

dd.Add(AssignedToIncident);

dd.Overwrite(mg);

//Assign Manual Activity to Incident

AssignedToIncident.Commit();

         }

}

CRM 4 how to retrieve custom attribute value in C#

DynamicEntity someEntity;

TargetRetrieveDynamic retrieveTarget = new TargetRetrieveDynamic();

retrieveTarget.EntityId = <id of entity>;

retrieveTarget.EntityName = EntityName.<entity name>.ToString();

RetrieveRequest retrieveRequest = new RetrieveRequest();

retrieveRequest.ColumnSet = new ColumnSet(new string[] { "your_custom_attribute" });

retrieveRequest.ReturnDynamicEntities = true;

retrieveRequest.Target = retrieveTarget;

RetrieveResponse retrieveResponse = (RetrieveResponse)service.Execute(retrieveRequest);

someEntity = retrieveResponse.BusinessEntity as DynamicEntity;

String result = (String)someEntity["your_custom_attribute"];

String value = result.Value.ToString();

CRM 4 Workflow error message details

In CRM 4 to get more info from workflow error than "An error has occurred" run this command against CRM database:


select Message from AsyncOperationBase
order by CreatedOn desc

CRM 2011 Create a new Case (incident) using C#

using System;
using System.ServiceModel;
using System.ServiceModel.Description;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using Microsoft.Xrm.Sdk;
using Microsoft.Xrm.Sdk.Client;
using Microsoft.Xrm.Sdk.Query;
using Microsoft.Xrm.Sdk.Discovery;
using System.Runtime.Serialization;
namespace CreateIncident
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main (string[] args)
        {
            try
            {

ClientCredentials credentials = new ClientCredentials();
credentials.Windows.ClientCredential = new System.Net.NetworkCredential

("username", "passw", "domain");

Uri organizationUri = new Uri("http://crmservername:port/orgname/XRMServices/2011/Organization.svc");
 

Uri homeRealmUri = null;

OrganizationServiceProxy orgService = new OrganizationServiceProxy(organizationUri, homeRealmUri, credentials, null); 

IOrganizationService _service = (IOrganizationService)orgService;
                              

Entity incident = new Entity(); 

incident.LogicalName = "incident";
 

incident["title"] = "Case subject..";
 

// Set customerid with some existing contact guid 

Guid customerid = new Guid("{xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx}");
 

// Set customerid as contact to field "customerid" 

EntityReference CustomerId = new EntityReference("contact", customerid); 

incident["customerid"] = CustomerId;
 

// Set contactid with some existing contact guid 

Guid contactid = new Guid("{xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx}");
 

// Set contactid as contact to field "casecontactid" 

EntityReference primaryContactId = new EntityReference("contact", contactid); 

incident["casecontactid"] = primaryContactId;
                                                      

_service.Create(incident);

            }
            catch (Exception e)
            {
                Console.Write(e.ToString());
            }
        }
    }
}

CRM 2011 Custom Email with Pdf report attachment

After migration from CRM 4 to CRM 2011 my plugin written for custom email with PDF report won't work anymore so i rebuild my previous solution from CRM 4 with necessary changes for new CRM 2011:

using System;
using System.Activities;
using Microsoft.Xrm.Sdk;
using Microsoft.Xrm.Sdk.Workflow;
using Microsoft.Xrm.Sdk.Messages;
using Microsoft.Crm.Sdk.Messages;
using SendReport.ReportService;
using Microsoft.Crm.Sdk;
using Microsoft.Xrm.Sdk.Query;


namespace SendReport
{
    public class SendReport : CodeActivity
    {

        protected override void Execute(CodeActivityContext executionContext)
        {
            try
            {

                IWorkflowContext context = executionContext.GetExtension<IWorkflowContext>();
                IOrganizationServiceFactory serviceFactory = executionContext.GetExtension<IOrganizationServiceFactory>();
                IOrganizationService service = serviceFactory.CreateOrganizationService(context.UserId);

                Guid incidentId = context.PrimaryEntityId;

                byte[] result = null;

                ReportService.ReportExecutionService rs = new ReportExecutionService();
                rs.Credentials = new System.Net.NetworkCredential("username", "password", "domain");
                rs.Url = "http://crmserver/ReportServer/ReportExecution2005.asmx";

                string reportPath = "/Reports/reportname";
                string format = "PDF";
                string historyID = null;
                string devInfo = @"<DeviceInfo><Toolbar>False</Toolbar></DeviceInfo>";

                ParameterValue[] parameters = new ParameterValue[1];
                parameters[0] = new ParameterValue();
                parameters[0].Name = "incidentid";
                parameters[0].Value = incidentId.ToString();


                DataSourceCredentials[] credentials = null;
                string showHideToggle = null;
                string encoding;
                string mimeType;
                string extension;
                Warning[] warnings = null;
                ParameterValue[] reportHistoryParameters = null;
                string[] streamIDs = null;

                ExecutionInfo execInfo = new ExecutionInfo();
                ExecutionHeader execHeader = new ExecutionHeader();
                rs.ExecutionHeaderValue = execHeader;
                execInfo = rs.LoadReport(reportPath, historyID);
                rs.SetExecutionParameters(parameters, "en-us");
                String SessionId = rs.ExecutionHeaderValue.ExecutionID;

                try
                {
                result = rs.Render(format, devInfo, out extension, out encoding, out mimeType, out warnings, out
                streamIDs);
                }

                catch (Exception err)
                {
                    throw new Exception(err.Message.ToString());
                }

                Entity email = new Entity();
                email.LogicalName = "email";

                EntityReference regardingObject = new EntityReference("incident", incidentId);
                email.Attributes.Add("regardingobjectid", regardingObject);

                Guid senderUserId = Sender.Get<EntityReference>(executionContext).Id;
                Guid recieverUserId = Recipient.Get<EntityReference>(executionContext).Id;
                Guid recieverCCUserId = RecipientCC.Get<EntityReference>(executionContext).Id;
               
                EntityReference from = new EntityReference("systemuser", senderUserId);
                EntityReference to = new EntityReference("contact", recieverUserId);
                EntityReference cc = new EntityReference("contact", recieverCCUserId);

                Entity fromParty = new Entity("activityparty");
                fromParty.Attributes.Add("partyid", from);

                Entity toParty = new Entity("activityparty");
                toParty.Attributes.Add("partyid", to);

                Entity ccParty = new Entity("activityparty");
                ccParty.Attributes.Add("partyid", cc);

                EntityCollection collFromParty = new EntityCollection();
                collFromParty.EntityName = "systemuser";
                collFromParty.Entities.Add(fromParty);

                EntityCollection collToParty = new EntityCollection();
                collToParty.EntityName = "systemuser";
                collToParty.Entities.Add(toParty);

                EntityCollection collccParty = new EntityCollection();
                collccParty.EntityName = "systemuser";
                collccParty.Entities.Add(ccParty);

                var entity = service.Retrieve("incident", incidentId, new ColumnSet(new[] { "ticketnumber", "customerid", "title"}));
                var ticket = entity.GetAttributeValue<string>("ticketnumber");
                var customer = entity.GetAttributeValue<EntityReference>("customerid");
                var customername = customer.Name;
                var title = entity.GetAttributeValue<string>("title");

                email.Attributes.Add("from", collFromParty);
                email.Attributes.Add("to", collToParty);
                email.Attributes.Add("cc", collccParty);

                email.Attributes.Add("subject", "Here goes subject message.. : " + ticket);

                email.Attributes.Add("description", "Here goes description text..");

                Guid emailID = service.Create(email);

                // Attaching Pdf report
                CrmNumber crmNextActorID = new CrmNumber();

                RetrieveEntityRequest request = new RetrieveEntityRequest();
                request.LogicalName = "email";

                RetrieveEntityResponse response = (RetrieveEntityResponse)service.Execute(request);
                int objecttypecode = response.EntityMetadata.ObjectTypeCode.Value;               

                Entity attachment = new Entity("activitymimeattachment");

                attachment.Attributes.Add("subject", "Report");
                attachment.Attributes.Add("filename", "Report.pdf");
                attachment.Attributes.Add("body", Convert.ToBase64String(result));
                attachment.Attributes.Add("filesize", new CrmNumber(Convert.ToInt32(result.Length.ToString())));
                attachment.Attributes.Add("mimetype", "text/plain");
                attachment.Attributes.Add("attachmentnumber", crmNextActorID.Value);

                attachment.Attributes.Add("objectid", new EntityReference("email", new Guid(email.Id.ToString())));
                attachment.Attributes.Add("objecttypecode", objecttypecode);

                service.Create(attachment);

                SendEmailRequest reqSendEmail = new SendEmailRequest();
                reqSendEmail.EmailId = emailID;
                reqSendEmail.TrackingToken = "";
                reqSendEmail.IssueSend = true;

                SendEmailResponse res = (SendEmailResponse)service.Execute(reqSendEmail);

            }


            catch (Exception err)
            {
                throw new Exception(err.ToString());
            }

        }

        [RequiredArgument]
        [Input("Sender input")]
        [ReferenceTarget("systemuser")]
        public InArgument<EntityReference> Sender { get; set; }

        [RequiredArgument]
        [Input("Recipient input")]
        [ReferenceTarget("contact")]
        public InArgument<EntityReference> Recipient { get; set; }

        [RequiredArgument]
        [Input("RecipientCC input")]
        [ReferenceTarget("contact")]
        public InArgument<EntityReference> RecipientCC { get; set; }

    }
}
 

 

CRM 4.0 migration to CRM 2011

Backup CRM 4.0 SQL Server database

1. Open SQL Studio Manager
2. Connect to CRM 4.0 database
3. Expand Databases
4. Right-click on xxxxxx_MSCRM database, Tasks -> Back Up
5. Back Up to Disk (dbname.bak)

Restore CRM 4.0 database in CRM 2011 SQL Server

1. Open SQL Studio Manager
2. Connect to CRM 2011 database
3. Right-click on Databases, Restore Database
4. To Database - type in new crm database name, From Disk - select backup you created (dbname.bak) from CRM 4.0 SQL Server

Import new database with CRM 2011 Deployment Manager

1. Run CRM 2011 Deployment Manager (Start->All Programs->Microsoft Dynamics CRM->Deployment Manager)
2. Organizations -> Import Organization
3. Select database you restored in CRM 2011 SQL Server
4. Type in Display name and Unique Database Name (of your choice)
5. Type in CRM 2011 Report Server URL
6. Select "Automatically Map Users" (if you are in the same domain)
7. If some user doesn't exist in new CRM 2011 you can create them in Active Directory and then map them or just ignore this and go further.
8. System checks all prerequisites for Import.
9. *.If there are no errors you can click Import (Import can take up to some hours, depending on your db size and customizations etc).

*. If you see warning "Fragmented indexes were detected in the Microsoft Dynamics CRM database", you can ignore this message and go further but i would suggest you to do following as it greatly can impact the overall import process time: This error message says that there are fragmented indexes. To rebuild these indexes you can use this link:

http://crrm.ru/articles/2011/05/index-optimization-before-in-place-upgrade-to-crm-2011 (In Russian)
 

1. Download all 3 files from this link above (IndexOptimize.sql, CommandExecute.sql, DatabaseSelect.sql)
2. Open them via SQL Studio Manager and execute them: At very begining of each script add these two lines to select your CRM 4.0 database for creating these stored procedures -
  
   USE <xxxxx_MSCRM>
   GO

3. And finally run this script to rebuild indexes:
   
   EXECUTE dbo.IndexOptimize @Databases = 'orgname_MSCRM',
    @FragmentationHigh = 'INDEX_REBUILD_ONLINE,INDEX_REBUILD_OFFLINE',
    @FragmentationMedium = 'INDEX_REORGANIZE',
    @FragmentationLow = NULL

4. And then proceed with Import.

CRM email with pdf report attachment

1.step: In Visual Studio creating new WORKFLOW ACTIVITY LIBRARY

2.step: Add references Microsoft.Crm.Sdk, Microsoft.Crm.SdkTypeProxy;

3.step: Add web reference http://<reportservername>/ReportServer/ReportExecution2005.asmx

4.step: Debug this code

5.step: Run Plugin Registration Tool and register new assembly (that will be dll created from this source in path where this project will be created in bin folder)

6.step: Create new Workflow in crm with this custom workflow activity as new step

And here goes full code:

CRM in FireFox

If your preferred browser is not IE.. :) then there is great solution to work with Microsoft Dynamics CRM in Mozilla FireFox - "IE TAB" Add-on.

To use this add-on:

1. download add-on

2. restart FireFox

3. Tools -> IE Tab 2 options

4. Add your CRM site url to "Sites Filter" section

That's it, CRM in FireFox

CRM FetchXml with Javascript

FetchXML method using javascript in CRM, allows me to use linked entities, so I can query attributes from different tables and linke them together with some primary attribute. 

Here's example:

// Prepare variables
var fetchMapping = "logical";
var entityName = "entitiyname"; //first attribute to fetch from this entity [CHANGE THIS]
var FirstColumn = "attributename1"; //first attribute to fetch from this entity [CHANGE THIS]
var SecondColumn = "attributename2"; //second attribute to fetch from this entity [CHANGE THIS]
var ThirdColumn = "attributename3"; //third attribute to fetch from this entity [CHANGE THIS]

How to get CRM grid View Id

If we add this piece of code to ISV.config we get the current View Id currently displayed in the CRM grid:

if (top.stage.crmGrid != null)
{
    var ViewID = top.stage.crmGrid.GetParameter('viewid');    
    alert(ViewID);
}

CRM Save Events - you can do more

    When user saves the form we can check which save event was executed and regarding to that event make some actions. Two most popular save events are Save and SaveAndClose.

Javascript functions to call from  your script:
crmForm.Save(); 
crmForm.SaveAndClose();


To check which event was executed  we use "event.Mode"
Output for Save event = 1;
Output for SaveAndClose event = 2;


example:   
if  (event.Mode == 1) {
alert("You click Save button");
} else if (event.Mode == 2) {
alert("You click SaveAndClose button");
} 

JavaScript in CRM ISV.config

Writing JavaScript code in ISV.config can be painful. There is one important thing you need to know when you write JS code in ISV - Some JavaScript characters here are not supported and that's why you need to encode them:

Symbol                 Encoded value
   <                       &lt;    
   >                       &gt;
   "                       &quot;
   &                       &amp;

Great site for CRM developers

If you are familiar with Russian language this is great site about CRM customization. If not.. there still are lot of scripts to pick up.
Мелкомягкий CRM