How to Debug Custom Workflow Activity and Async Plug-In in MSCRM

One of the most common requirement while developing, testing and/or troubleshooting is the ability to debug our code. This is not an exception in the case we are developing a Dynamics CRM plug-in or workflow assembly.

Hence, I decided to briefly describe here steps to debug your code in MSCRM which might be either Sync Plug-In or A Sync Plug-In or Custom Workflow

To debug a Custom Workflow Activity Follow below steps :

1. Copy the .pdb file for the assembly to the %installdir%(c:)\server\bin\assembly or 
3. C:\Program Files\Microsoft Dynamics CRM\Server\bin\assembly

folder. The assembly can be deployed as on-disk or stored in the database. The recommended deployment is in the database, but for debugging you should choose on-disk. 
4. Next, attach the debugger to the CrmAsyncService.exe process. 
5. Make sure that you remove the .pdb & .dll file when you have finished debugging because it uses memory to have it loaded.

To debug a Asynchronous Plug-In Follow below steps :

1. Firstly Build Plug-in solution
2. Register it on Plug-in registration tool
3. Go to Plug-in solution in Visual Studio 2012
4. Add Debugger at specified location within code.
5. Attach process from Tools >Attach To Process > CrmAsyncService.exe(both) > OK
6. Perform action for debugging Plug-in Solution

To debug a Synchronous Plug-In Follow my below post :

 http://arpitmscrmhunt.blogspot.in/2014/04/how-to-debug-plugin-in-mscrm-2011-on.html


Note : Make sure that you remove the .pdb and .dll file when you have finished debugging because it uses memory to have it loaded and it will give "Plug-In assembly could not be loaded" error while you import Plug-In Solutions from one organisation to other have different Database.
To Import Plug-In solution from Organisation1 to Organisation2(both have different database) make sure all the plugins of Organisation1 must be in Database



Hope it will help someone to debug Plugin & Workflows :)

Retrieve N:N relationship records by Query Expression in MSCRM

Sometimes we have requirement to get records from N: N relationship. So today I would like share how we can get these relationship records by query expression in code. When we create N: N relationship between 2 entities, it creates an intermediate entity (i.e., Relationship Entity) . Below screen shot showing N:N relation between account and marketing list.

for details attribute you can see the database table with same relationship entity name as here is “contactleads”

Contact Lead N:N Relationship 

contactleads(Intersect Entity) fields in DB

I am taking example of existing  2 entities “Contact” and “Lead” with N:N association as above screenshot showing . Because an Contact can be in multiple Leads or Vice-Versa

for e.g we have requirement to get all the ‘Leads’ which the Contact with name “Arpit Shrivastava” is associated . for this query code viz:

string entity1 = “Contact”;

string entity2 = “Lead”;

string relationshipEntityName = “contactleads”;

Private  EntityCollection getM_to_M_Record(string entity1 ,string entity2, string relationshipentityName)

{

QueryExpression query = new QueryExpression(entity1);

query.ColumnSet = new ColumnSet(new string[]{"firstname"});

LinkEntity linkEntity1 = new LinkEntity(entity1, relationshipEntityName, “contactid”, “{Entity 1 Primary field}“, JoinOperator.Inner);

LinkEntity linkEntity2 = new LinkEntity(relationshipEntityName, entity2, “lead”, “{Entity 2 Primary field}“, JoinOperator.Inner);

linkEntity1.LinkEntities.Add(linkEntity2);

query.LinkEntities.Add(linkEntity1);

// Add condition to match the Contact Name with “Arpit Shrivastava”

linkEntity2.LinkCriteria = new FilterExpression();

linkEntity2.LinkCriteria.AddCondition(new ConditionExpression(“firstname”,ConditionOperator.Equal, “Arpit Shrivastava”));

EntityCollection recordcollection= service.RetrieveMultiple(query);

return recordcollection ;

}

Show ASPX Grid inside IFrame in MSCRM 2011

Today I am going to show one interesting thing that i have recently done in MSCRM. Hope it will help someone in any scenario.

Recently I got one requirement to call one of the web service (Search API), which will return number of Customer records stored in other Database(Not in MSCRM DB) based on some input like Name, Email ID, Mobile No, Head of Family, State etc.
Then Select only one record(actual record) from the number of records and create Contact of the same in MSCRM.

Visual Representation of Requirement :

Implementation in MSCRM:

APPROACH ?

We should use grid inside Contact form which will contain Fields to take Input Search Parameter and Grid to show searched record provided by 'Search API'.

Show Aspx Page inside MSCRM Contact form would be the best approach to do this task.Do you have any other optimize approach for the same it would be welcomed

WHY this Approach ?

We cannot do this task using MSCRM itself. Since to show searched record coming from API, we need to store in MSCRM DB first without storing in DB it is not possible to show in MSCRM platform either in Sub Grid or in Grid. Because both itself a Entity in MSCRM.

Data coming from API might contains multiple records for entered Input parameter, some of records might be useless. For Example - i have searched 'Arpit' as name. 'a@gmail.com' as EmailID, '8787874785' as Mobile No etc, it might possible API return 5 records for the same. but among 5 record only 1 record is mine and rest of records are useless, so there is no need to keep these record in MSCRM DB

Step 1:   Create I Frame in Contact Form. Host C# Web Application in IIS and give URL inside I Frame.Make sure 'Restrict Cross-Form Scripting' must be unchecked to avoid aspx page redirect to another window as shown below:

Step 2:  Click on Search Button from Ribbon, aspx Grid inside I Frame will get highlighted. Type Input Parameter to search Customer Record

Step 3: Select Customer Record

Step 4: Create Contact of selected Record 

Cheersssssssss :) :)

Overview of Entity in MSCRM

Entities Overview – Microsoft Dynamics CRM

Entities form a vital piece of the Microsoft Dynamics CRM framework. Essentially, entities are used to model and manage business data. Some common entities that most Dynamics CRM users are familiar with are Account, Case, Campaign, Contact, Lead, and Opportunity. These entities deal with many of the most common sales, service, and marketing data with which a CRM user frequently engages.

Types of Enity in MSCRM

There are three main types of entities: system, business, and custom. In Dynamics CRM, system entities handle internal processes such as workflows. It is important to note that system entities cannot be deleted or customized. Business entities are the default entities within Dynamics CRM which include Case, Account, and Opportunity. One of the most important elements in Microsoft Dynamics CRM is customization. Custom entities provide organizations with a way to meet their needs head-on. One example of this is that you can create a vendor entity if you are a retail business and then dictate how it relates to different entities within your organization. Since each entity supports a variety of actions, streamlining communications processes among est your organization is now an attainable goal.

Entities Ownership – Microsoft Dynamics CRM

Ownership is a key factor in how entities work. In Microsoft Dynamics CRM, most entities have an owner, which is determined by the ownership type. There are four ownership types in CRM: organization, business, user, and none. Organization-owned entities can be accessed by an entire organization. These records cannot be assigned to an individual owner (or shared). Business-owned entities belong to a Business Unit, while user-owned entities are owned by one specific CRM user and typically contain customer-related data. Accounts, Contacts, and Cases are examples of user-owned entities. A few entities in Dynamics CRM have no ownership type. They are not owned by another entity (user, business unit, or organization) within CRM.

The following table lists the complete ownership types:

Ownership Type	Description
Organization Owned	Organization-owned entities typically contain data involving something that belongs to or that can be viewed by the whole organization. Organization-owned entities cannot be assigned or shared. For example, products are owned by the organization.
Business Owned	Business-owned entities belong to a business unit.
User Owned	User-owned entities are associated with a user. User-owned entities typically contain data that relates to customers, such as accounts or contacts. Security can be defined according the business unit for the user.
None	The entity is not owned by another entity. For example, the uom (unit-of-measure) and workflowlog (workflow log) entities are not owned by another entity.

Relationship Behavior in MSCRM

In Microsoft Dynamics CRM you can create different types of relationships. Below are the relationships that can be created:

1.     1:N

2.     N:1

3.     N:N

In a relationship you can configure relationship behaviors. Below are the different relationship behaviors that can be configured in CRM:

1.     Parental

In parental relationship, any action taken on the parent record is also taken on the child entity record.  For example if the parent record is shared with a user, all the child records will also be shared with the same user.

2.     Referential

In a referential relationship, the action taken on the parent entity record will not impact the child entity record

3.     Referential, Restrict Delete

In a referential, restrict delete relationship, the action taken on the parent record will not impact the child entity record but you cannot delete the parent record until the parent record exists

4.     Configurable Cascading

Configurable cascading allows the user to choose the behavior they want to be apply. Below are the behaviors that can be configured:

·        Cascade All – This behavior performs an action on all the related child records. For example if my opportunity is assigned to an another user then all the child records should be assigned to the same user

·        Cascade None – This behavior performs no action on the child records

·        Cascade Active – This behavior performs action only on the active records

·        Cascade User- owned – This behavior performs action on the child records which are owned by the same user as parent

·        Remove Link – This behavior only removes the link for the child record without modifying anything on the record.

Cheersssss :) :)

What's new in MSCRM 2013.

With all the hype and boom around the new version of Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2013 release, let’s take a look at a comparison of what features and functionalities between current version (CRM 2011) and the new version (CRM 2013).  Hopefully, the differences will you help decide if upgrading to CRM 2013 is worth the investment.
Here I am going to show some screens of MSCRM 2013 new features which can understand you much better :

1.  New Navigation Model 

2.  Quickly Accessable

3.  Excellent Form Structure and Design

4.  Enter Data 'On-The-Fly' with Quick Create

6.  New Command bar

7. Work Anywhere,AnyHow

Bye-Bye Succeeded System Jobs at One-Click to Improve CRM System Performance

Fortunately, in CRM 2011 there is a simple one-click solution that helps maintain the size of the AsyncOperationBasae table. If you open your workflow definition and go to the Administration tab, you will find the “Workflow Job Retention” option. If you click on the checkbox, it means that every time this workflow job is executed AND if it succeeds, the system job will be deleted. 

Selecting that option is perfect for processes that you don’t need to audit and you just need the logic to execute. However, if you need to keep a history of which workflows have executed on which records you should not select this option to delete the workflow job on completion (note that this option is disabled by default).

Setting to Auto Delete Succeeded System Jobs :

For Workflows :

If you open your workflow definition and go to the Administration tab, you will find the “Workflow Job Retention” option, under this you will see option to check “Automatically delete completed workflow jobs (to save disk space)”, 

For Asynchronous Plug-In:

if you want plug-in related system jobs automatically deleted when the status is successful. (Note that this option is disabled by default for all asynchronous plugin steps).

In case If your AsyncOperationBase table becomes too large in Microsoft Dynamics CRM, you can follow my below post to reduce the size.

http://arpitmscrmhunt.blogspot.in/2014/04/clean-up-asyncoperationsystem-jobs.html