Accessing composite control in CRM

To access the composite control in crm.
Syntax:

(Composite control name)_compositionLinkControl_(Attribute Name);

Example:

function onload(){

//Disable the address1_city control

Xrm.Page.getControl(“address1_composite_compositionLinkControl_address1_city”).setDisabled(true)

//Relabelling address1_city 

 Xrm.Page.getControl(“address1_composite_compositionLinkControl_address1_city”).setLabel(true);

}





Add this function in form onload

The above piece of code is to disable the City attribute of the address1 composite control.

This way you can access all the composite fields in the CRM.

CRM Optionset and the StringMap Table-Insert/Update/Delete

If you have a look at the CRM base tables (eg: AccountBase) in MSCRM, you would notice that all columns of Picklist datatype seem to store Integer values. So from where exactly does CRM get the actual text value to be displayed on the UI?
Well, this comes from a not so well known table called 'StringMap'. MSCRM stores all related option values for any picklist in this table.

InsertOptionValueRequest insertOptionValueRequest =
    new InsertOptionValueRequest
{
    AttributeLogicalName = "new_picklist",
    EntityLogicalName = Contact.EntityLogicalName,
    Label = new Label("New Picklist Label", _languageCode)
};

// Execute the request.
int insertOptionValue = ((InsertOptionValueResponse)_serviceProxy.Execute(
    insertOptionValueRequest)).NewOptionValue;

Console.WriteLine("Created {0} with the value of {1}.",
    insertOptionValueRequest.Label.LocalizedLabels[0].Label,
    insertOptionValue);

Here's the Structure of the StringMap Table:

Column Name	Description
StringMapId	Primary ID of the record
ObjectTypeCode	Object Type Code of the entity
AttributeName	Schema Name of the picklist attribute
AttributeValue	Integer value of the picklist option. This value is actually stored in the base tables.
LangId	Language Code
OrganizationId	Organization ID
Value	text value displayed within the picklist on the CRM UI
DisplayOrder	Order of the values in the picklist on the CRM UI
VersionNumber	Last updated Timstamp (used during synchronization process)

Modifying the StringMap table to add new values is not recommended and can cause undesired results. In fact CRM does not support modifying any of the CRM tables directly. All updates are to be made via the CRM UI or Web Services.

CRM seems to store picklist values in 2 tables:
1. StringMap
2. Metadataschema.AttributePicklistValue (This seems to be used as a temporary table)
Whenever an option value is added/edited/deleted for any picklist and saved from the UI, CRM updates the METADATASCHEMA.AttributePicklistValue table. Upon publish of the Form the values are pushed into the StringMap table based on the values in the above table.
Hence directly updating the StringMap table via Sql with new values won’t suffice, since CRM will replace the values in DB with the new values, when the Entity is published via the UI.
There are 2 possible ways to edit picklist values:
1. The Metadata Service (The only SUPPORTED way to add/edit/delete picklist values)
2. Modifying the Entity xml. (This requires editing the xml file for an entity)(UNSUPPORTED)

Newly created values for any system picklist will have a value of 200000 or greater. This is to maintain backward compatibility during upgrades from CRM 3.0. This ensures that upto 199999 values for any picklist from CRM 3.0 will be successfully transferred during an upgrade to CRM 4.0
Note: Newly created values for any custom picklist would however start from 1.

Below is an example of both the options:
Option 1:
   InsertOptionValueRequest insertOptionValueRequest =
                new InsertOptionValueRequest
                {
                    AttributeLogicalName = "new_timezone",
                    EntityLogicalName = Account.EntityLogicalName,
                    Label = new Label("New Picklist Label", 1033)
                };
            //Execute the Insert Request
            InsertOptionValueResponse insertResponse = (InsertOptionValueResponse)_serviceProxy.Execute(insertOptionValueRequest);

Option 2:

Export the required entity. (MSCRM-Settings-Customization-Export Enitities) OR use the ExportXmlRequest and ExportXmlResponse if you want to perform the export via web services.
Open the file within an xml Editor.
Search for the attribute schemaname you want to update.
You should find something similiar to the text given below
                <options>
                <option value="1">
                  <labels>
                   <label description="Buyer" languagecode="1033" />
                  </labels>
                </option>
                <option value="2">
                  <labels>
                    <label description="Seller" languagecode='1033" />
                  </labels>
                </option>
              </options>
An additional option node would need to be created for every new option you want to add.
Eg :
          <option value="200000">
                  <labels>
                    <label description="Re-Seller" languagecode="1033" />
                  </labels>
                </option>


You can use the ImportXmlRequest/ ImportXmlResponse and PublishXmlRequest/ PublishXmlResponse classes to publish the xml back into CRM.

CRM Diagnostics Tool URL

If you are using Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online or Dynamics CRM 2011 on-premises and have at least Update Rollup 4 installed, you can run a diagnostics utility that will provide helpful information about your network connection to CRM and on your machine’s browser performance. You will need to have the System Administrator role to utilize this tool.

Login your CRM

• https://<SERVERNAME>/<ORGNAME>/main.aspx  or
• https://<ORGNAME>.<DOMAINNAME>/main.aspx or 
• https://websitename/tools/diagnostics/diag.aspx

Simply replace the /main.aspx with /tools/diagnostics/diag.aspx

You should then see something like this, after clicking the Run button:

This report, which can be also be emailed, provides some useful information:

Latency Test: 
This measures how long it takes for packets to travel to from the CRM server to your browser. This number should be as low as possible and will be affected by things like the distance between your PC and the server. Generally, if you are running CRM Online or on a remote server, your latency will be higher than having a local CRM server. Latency can also be affected by things like proxy servers and anti-virus software so if possible you should run the diagnostics with and without these things to measure the true impact on CRM performance.

Bandwidth Test: 
This measurement approximates the speed of your connection. If you are running your CRM server on a local network, you will probably see much higher numbers here than if you are accessing the server on the Internet. If your Internet Service Provider is promising you 10MB speeds and you are regularly seeing much smaller numbers here, you may need to talk to your provider.

JavaScript Benchmarks: 
This set of numbers tests the performance of your browser and PC hardware against a set of JavaScript functions. If your CRM forms are loaded with customizations that include JavaScript, this number can be very important. If your organization has a number of older machines running older versions of Internet Explorer, you might want to use these numbers as justification for either upgrading, or to eliminate unnecessary form level JavaScript. Many common JavaScript form customizations were created to get around shortcomings in earlier versions of CRM, and can be replaced by new native CRM 2011 functionality.

Debug Utility

Login your CRM

• https://<SERVERNAME>/<ORGNAME>/main.aspx  or
• https://<ORGNAME>.<DOMAINNAME>/main.aspx or 
• https://websitename/home/home_debug.aspx

In this case, simply replace /main.aspx with /home/home_debug.aspx

You should then see the Debug Information page. The first section, shown below, provides general configuration information on your server environment including details like server name, configuration and organization database name, and build level of the CRM software.

Dynamically add and remove value in the CRM optionset.

Dynamically add and remove value in the CRM optionset

If you have any doubt in the post please post comments. I will try to solve your problem.

Option set control is used for populating a group of static values in CRM. In option set there are two types.

• Local Option set
• Global Option set

we have to display some(dynamically add or remove) value in the option set based on the business unit.

In our example, we have two business unit("TAN","TAZ"), one business unit has different timezone and other business unit has different time zone. So  based on login user business unit we have to show/display some timezone value in the option set. In the timezone option set there 6 time zones is added by default.

//get the ownerid var ownerid = Xrm.Page.getAttribute("ownerid").getValue(); //Get the business unit name based on user id SDK.REST.retrieveRecord( ownerid, "SystemUser", null, null, function(objResult) { populateTimezone(objResult.BusinessUnitId); }, errorHandler ); //Populate timezone option set based on business unit. function populateTimezone(dBusinessUnitId) SDK.REST.retrieveRecord( dBusinessUnitId, "BusinessUnit", null, null, function(objBusinessUnit) { //Get all the value from option set. var arrTimeZone = Xrm.Page.getAttribute('new_timezone').getOptions(); var objTimeZoneInstance = Xrm.Page.ui.controls.get('new_timezone'); if (objBusinessUnit.Name == "TAN") { objTimeZoneInstance.clearOptions(); objTimeZoneInstance.addOption(arrTimeZone[0]); objTimeZoneInstance.addOption(arrTimeZone[2]); objTimeZoneInstance.addOption(arrTimeZone[3]); } else { objTimeZoneInstance.clearOptions(); objTimeZoneInstance.addOption(arrTimeZone[1]); objTimeZoneInstance.addOption(arrTimeZone[4]); objTimeZoneInstance.addOption(arrTimeZone[5]); } }, errorHandler, function() { //OnComplete handler } ); }

Outlook features are unavailable/Limitation in CRM for Outlook

If you have any doubt in the post please post comments. I will try to solve your problem with in a day.

Feature	Workaround
Email signatures	Use a global email template or use native email signatures in Outlook.
Full-text editing features	Use standard editing controls. For example, press Enter for double-spaced lines and Shift+Enter for single-spaced lines.
Attach files during creation	Save an email activity before attaching files.
Move records by dragging and dropping.	There's no workaround for dragging and dropping records. Dragging and dropping records causes data loss.
Reminders	After synchronization with Outlook, 15-minute reminders are created for appointments and service activities created in the Microsoft Dynamics CRM folders or in the web application.
Microsoft Dynamics CRM Service calendar	The CRM Service calendar isn't available by default, but you can ask your system administrator to add it.

Thanks to microsoft team http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics/crm-customer-center/do-your-crm-work-in-outlook.aspx

Security Roles in CRM

If you have any doubt in the post please post comments. I will try to solve your problem with in a day.

There are five levels of access to determine the access of the records of an entity.

None :   No privileges given
User  :   Privileges to the records owned by the user or shared with the user. Also includes the privileges owned by the team to which the user belongs.
Business Unit :  Privileges for all records owned in the business unit to which the user belongs(child business unit records are not visible)
Parent: Child Business Unit :  Privileges for all records owned in the business unit to which the user belongs and to all the child business units subordinate to that business unit(child business unit records also can visible)
Organization:  Privileges for all records in the organization regardless of who owns it

Thanks to power object

Switch between multiple forms in the CRM

Switch between multiple forms in the CRM

If you have any doubt in the post please post comments. I will try to solve your problem with in a day.

You have the ability to create multiple forms per entity. But by default it shows only one forms.

Step:1 
Go to Setting->Customization->Default solution

Step:2
Select in which entity you have to switch between forms, expand it and click forms and all forms loaded in the right side panel.

Step:3
Open which form you want to switch from default forms.Click the "Enable Security Roles" button

Step:4
 Assign security roles form will be open. If you want to display that form to all user then check "Display to everyone" or check "Display only to these selected security roles". Save the form and publish it.

Step:5
Open the current entity form, now you can see in the form name there is small down arrow icon. click it and switch the form.

Crm Exception: Message: Generic SQL error., ErrorCode: -2147204784, InnerException: Microsoft.Crm.CrmException: Generic SQL error. ---> System.Data.SqlClient.SqlException: Transaction was deadlocked on lock resources with another process and has been chosen as the deadlock victim. Rerun the transaction.

Crm Exception: Message: Generic SQL error., ErrorCode: -2147204784, InnerException: Microsoft.Crm.CrmException: Generic SQL error. ---> System.Data.SqlClient.SqlException: Transaction was deadlocked on lock resources with another process and has been chosen as the deadlock victim. Rerun the transaction.

If you have any doubt in the post please post comments. I will try to solve your problem with in a day.

The problem was that as it looped through the quoteproducts returned which I was updating, there was a lock on subsequent records as the first one was being updated. I put a half-second delay in between each update and now it works just fine.
     
            for (var i = 0; i < retrievedData.length; i++) {
                var objQuoteDetail= {};
                objQuoteDetail.new_DeliveryTerms = "FWG";

                var quoteDetailGUID = "{" + retrievedData[i].QuoteDetailId + "}";

                SDK.REST.updateRecord(quoteDetailGUID,
                                      objQuoteDetail,
                                      "QuoteDetail",
                                      function () { },
                                      function (error) {
                                          alert("Please retry updating the date as there was some problem. \r\l" + error.message);
                                      });
                //wait .5 seconds
                var dt = new Date();
                dt.setTime(dt.getTime() + 500);
                while (new Date().getTime() < dt.getTime());
            }