Working on a Dynamics CRM Custom Workflow that updates "Modified By" field -- need help debugging - dynamics-crm

Question

I am working on a Dynamics CRM CWA that updates the "Modified By" field based on a text field called "Prepared By". I currently have 3 errors that I need some help debugging (see below). They may be pretty easy fixes but I am fairly new to coding. Any help de-bugging would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Collections.ObjectModel;
using System.Globalization;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using System.ServiceModel;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
using System.Activities;
using Microsoft.Xrm.Sdk;
using Microsoft.Xrm.Sdk.Workflow;
using System.Runtime.Serialization;
namespace KED365.Workflows
{
/// </summary>
public class ModifiedBy : WorkFlowActivityBase
{
private Guid contactid;
[Input("User Full Name")]
public InArgument<string> UserFullName { get; set; }
/// <summary>
/// Executes the WorkFlow.
/// </summary>
/// <param name="crmWorkflowContext">The <see cref="LocalWorkflowContext"/> which contains the
/// <param name="executionContext" > <see cref="CodeActivityContext"/>
/// </param>
/// <remarks>
/// For improved performance, Microsoft Dynamics 365 caches WorkFlow instances.
/// The WorkFlow's Execute method should be written to be stateless as the constructor
/// is not called for every invocation of the WorkFlow. Also, multiple system threads
/// could execute the WorkFlow at the same time. All per invocation state information
/// is stored in the context. This means that you should not use global variables in WorkFlows.
/// </remarks>
protected override void Execute(CodeActivityContext activityContext, IWorkflowContext workflowContext, IOrganizationService orgService, ITracingService tracingService)
{
//get entity record for which plugin was fired
Entity _target = (Entity)workflowContext.InputParameters["Target"];
//check if portaluser name is to be obtained from custom createby or from custom modifiedby
if (workflowContext.MessageName.ToUpper() == "CREATE")
{
contactid = _target.Attributes.Contains("new_createdby") ? _target.GetAttributeValue<EntityReference>("new_createdby").Id : Guid.Empty;
}
else
{
contactid = _target.Attributes.Contains("new_modifiedby") ? _target.GetAttributeValue<EntityReference>("new_modifiedby").Id : Guid.Empty;
}
//retrieve contact fullname from contactid
var _contact = activityContext.CreateQuery("contact").Where(c => c.GetAttributeValue<Guid>("contactid").Equals(contactid)).FirstOrDefault();
if (_contact != null)
{
if (_contact.Attributes.Contains("fullname"))
{
fullname = _contact.GetAttributeValue<string>("fullname");
}
//retrieve Systemuser that has same name as that of new_portalcreatedby/ //new_portalmodifiedby
Entity _user = context.CreateQuery("systemuser").Where(e => e.GetAttributeValue<string>("fullname").Equals(fullname)).FirstOrDefault();
if (_user != null)
{
//check if we need to update createdby or modifiedby
if (workflowContext.MessageName.ToUpper() == "CREATE")
{
_target["createdby"] = _user.ToEntityReference();
}
else
{
_target["modifiedby"] = _user.ToEntityReference();
}
//assign new target to plugin executioncontext
workflowContext.InputParameters["Target"] = _target;
}
}
}
}
}
Error 1 :
Severity Code Description Project File Line Suppression State
Error CS1061 'CodeActivityContext' does not contain a definition for 'CreateQuery' and no extension method 'CreateQuery' accepting a first argument of type 'CodeActivityContext' could be found (are you missing a using directive or an assembly reference?) Workflows C:\Users\tgiard\Downloads\GetUserByName-master\GetUserByName-master\Workflows\ModifiedBy.cs 68 Active
Error 2 :
Severity Code Description Project File Line Suppression State
Error CS0103 The name 'fullname' does not exist in the current context Workflows C:\Users\tgiard\Downloads\GetUserByName-master\GetUserByName-master\Workflows\ModifiedBy.cs 75 Active
Error 3 :
Severity Code Description Project File Line Suppression State
Error CS0103 The name 'context' does not exist in the current context Workflows C:\Users\tgiard\Downloads\GetUserByName-master\GetUserByName-master\Workflows\ModifiedBy.cs 79 Active

Answer 1

Here is some feedback on your issues:
Error 1 - 'CodeActivityContext' does not contain a definition for 'CreateQuery'
This issue is related to the lines:
var _contact = activityContext.CreateQuery("contact").Where(c => c.GetAttributeValue<Guid>("contactid").Equals(contactid)).FirstOrDefault();
and
Entity _user = context.CreateQuery("systemuser").Where(e => e.GetAttributeValue<string>("fullname").Equals(fullname)).FirstOrDefault();
I don't know what that method is but you have better options; for the contact you already have the guid, so you can simply use a Retrieve():
var _contact = orgService.Retrieve("contact", contactid, new ColumnSet("fullname"));
And for the system user write a QueryExpression filtering by fullname:
var query = new QueryExpression("systemuser"):
query.Criteria.AddCondition("fullname", ConditionOperator.Equal, fullname);
var _user = orgService.RetrieveMultiple(query).Entities.FirstOrDefault();
Error 2: The name 'fullname' does not exist in the current contex
This is basic C#, you must instantiate your variable before you use it:
string fullname;
Error 3: The name 'context' does not exist in the current context
Ironic and true. This should be activityContext, but we have already fixed this issue in the change we made for Error 1.
Entity _user = context.CreateQuery("systemuser").Where(e => e.GetAttributeValue<string>("fullname").Equals(fullname)).FirstOrDefault();

Answer 2

As Zach Mast correctly pointed out, using a Pre-Operation is recommended. It also seems an odd case where you retrieve a contacts name and match it with a user. Instead, You could change the type of the field to a user reference, add a user field to the contact you retrieve or add a code to match the Contact to the User. This way, you won't have issues with users with the same name or typo's.
Please find below your workflow activity converted to a Pre-Operation plugin.
using Microsoft.Xrm.Sdk;
using Microsoft.Xrm.Sdk.Query;
using System;
using System.Linq;
namespace KED365.Plugins
{
public class CreateUpdateContact : IPlugin
{
public void Execute(IServiceProvider serviceProvider)
{
var tracingService = (ITracingService)serviceProvider.GetService(typeof(ITracingService));
var context = (IPluginExecutionContext)serviceProvider.GetService(typeof(IPluginExecutionContext));
var factory = (IOrganizationServiceFactory)serviceProvider.GetService(typeof(IOrganizationServiceFactory));
var service = factory.CreateOrganizationService(context.UserId);
tracingService.Trace("Start plugin");
tracingService.Trace("Validate Target");
if (!context.InputParameters.Contains("Target") || !(context.InputParameters["Target"] is Entity))
return;
tracingService.Trace("Retrieve Target");
var target = (Entity)context.InputParameters["Target"];
String message = context.MessageName.ToLower();
SetCreatedByAndModifiedBy(tracingService, service, target, message);
}
private void SetCreatedByAndModifiedBy(ITracingService tracingService, IOrganizationService service, Entity target, string message)
{
tracingService.Trace("Start SetPriceList");
tracingService.Trace("Validate Message is Create or Update");
if (!message.Equals("create", StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase) && !message.Equals("update", StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase))
return;
tracingService.Trace("Retrieve Attributes");
var createdByReference = target.GetAttributeValue<EntityReference>("new_createdby");
var modifiedByReference = target.GetAttributeValue<EntityReference>("new_modifiedby");
tracingService.Trace("Retrieve And Set User for Created By");
RetrieveAndSetUser(tracingService, service, target, createdByReference, "createdby");
tracingService.Trace("Retrieve And Set User for Modified By");
RetrieveAndSetUser(tracingService, service, target, modifiedByReference, "modifiedby");
}
private void RetrieveAndSetUser(ITracingService tracingService, IOrganizationService service, Entity target, EntityReference reference, string targetAttribute)
{
tracingService.Trace("Validating Reference");
if (reference == null)
return;
tracingService.Trace("Retrieving and Validating User");
var user = RetrieveUserByName(service, reference.Name, new ColumnSet(false));
if (user == null)
return;
tracingService.Trace("Setting Target Attribute");
target[targetAttribute] = user.ToEntityReference();
}
private Entity RetrieveUserByName(IOrganizationService service, string name, ColumnSet columns)
{
var query = new QueryExpression
{
EntityName = "systemuser",
ColumnSet = columns,
Criteria = new FilterExpression
{
FilterOperator = LogicalOperator.And,
Conditions =
{
new ConditionExpression
{
AttributeName = "fullname",
Operator = ConditionOperator.Equal,
Values = { name }
}
}
}
};
var retrieveResponse = service.RetrieveMultiple(query);
if (retrieveResponse.Entities.Count == 1)
{
return retrieveResponse.Entities.FirstOrDefault();
}
else
{
// Alternatively you can thrown an error as you have unexpectedly multiple matches
return null;
}
}
}
}