We have started to use Microsoft CRM for all our client information however we would like to have the most up to date information from CRM for internal tools.
The way we could do this is by running a tool that looks at the data every x minutes and keeps all updated records in the database.
Could someone give a explination on how we could use webhooks for this and if it actually is possible. This would be a lot more efficient to be notified when there is a change rather than checking all the time.
I have researched and found a few projects but they were all in beta - invite only or not available.
In Dynamics CRM Webhooks are not available as intended in the normal definition.
But you can use plugins to implement your notifications. From MSDN:
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/gg328490.aspx
Another way to think about plug-ins is that they are handlers for
events fired by Microsoft Dynamics CRM. You can subscribe, or
register, a plug-in to a known set of events to have your code run
when the event occurs.
Related
Wondering if anyone can help a total newbie to Dynamics 365. Have started working on an existing implementation of Dynamics 365 (on premise) and am told by current developers that under no circumstances can I amend a column in a table for one of our entities directly on the DB. I am simply wanting to default an INT column to value 1.
They tell me "Dynamics is a black box and you will be breaking the law if you amend directly". This can't be true can it?
Thanks for any advice you can offer.
Building on what Josh said, it is true that the Dynamics SQL database is a black box. Everything must be done through the API with the exception of creating custom indexes on tables and reading from the "Filtered" views.
(And with the new T-SQL endpoint in preview for the online product, you're able to run SQL select queries against an online org.)
The reason for this that all events in Dynamics go through the "platform" via messages. For example, you might have plugin or workflow automation that triggers on the Update of an Account. When the platform receives the "Update" message for an Account, it searches for subscribers to that event and runs any subscribed processes. If you write a change directly to an Account record in SQL, you deprive the platform of the opportunity to run its processes for that event.
And it is good to note that Microsoft uses the same event framework for internal events. So, if you say, "Well, I have no custom plugins or workflows running on the Update message for Accounts so I can edit Accounts directly in SQL." By doing so you'd still risk breaking an internal Microsoft process that triggers on that event.
In a nutshell the platform's need to process ALL events is why direct updates to the database are unsupported. If you do them, Microsoft will refuse to support your system.
Another consideration is that if you ever want to move to the Dynamics Online, writing to the database isn't even possible, so you'd have to redo any automation that relied on that. This is another reason why everyone generally accepts the need to customize their system in the supported way.
Do people occasionally do unsupported things, with good justification? Yes, perhaps most commonly in making unsupported changes to the UI. Even so, writing directly to the database is among the highest offenses to be avoided.
Back to your scenario... it can be jarring to discover that the SQL database is off limits for any direct writing or schema changes. Fortunately Dynamics provides many other automation "hooks" including client-side JavaScript, Business Rules, Power Automate Flows, workflows, and plugins (synchronous and asynchronous).
To set a default value in the UI, the options include a Business Rule and JavaScript. To set a default value in the database, a synchronous workflow or plugin would do the trick.
The Developer Guide is a good place to start.
This would be considered an “unsupported” customization by Microsoft. If it breaks something in the logic of the app, Microsoft won’t help you fix it. If you ever move to Online instead of On-premise, you won’t have this ability. The current developers are battle-hardened and are trying to help you. This is a very bad idea - better would be to create a plug-in on Create of that entity that sets up default values for null fields. This way your logic is in the app with all the other custom logic and is supported.
I have a logic question regarding the capabilities of automatically resolving Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM (or similar platforms) cases. I utilize an Access database to create emails to send to customers with specific data, while copying my team email to keep track of communications in Microsoft CRM. This action creates a new case in my CRM, which I then need to "Work On" case, add my specific operational catalogs and affected contacts, then finish case as Resolved just to ensure tracking in the CRM system.
My team is currently testing out the capabilities of XML coding in the email which allows the CRM to automatically capture the case specifics described above, however they still need to go in and resolve each case at the end of the day.
After some research, I see that a workflow may be able to do this job of automatically Resolving cases. Is this a possible function for a workflow or plugin to do? Alternatively I have been told by my IT department that we need to have a robot built to complete this task, but I would like to keep this as efficient (and cost savvy) as possible. Any input or suggestions are greatly valued and appreciated.
Thank you!
There are two ways you can solve your problem.
If you want to close all the "CASES" by the day end you can schedule
a "System Workflow" that will execute daily at a specific time and
"Close/Resolve" all the open CASES in your system. Please find below
link on how to setup a "Schedule Workflow" in Dynamics CRM Create
Recursive or Scheduled Workflows in CRM
You can resolve specific cases on Dynamics CRM using C#. Please find below link on how to resolve case using C#.How to close cases in crm 2011 programmatically
Yes. Workflows can be used to close Case records in CRM
If you have the resources (staff) available to write CRM code, you can do it via Code (C#) as well
I have a plugin ex:which updates all its child records when that is updated.
This plugin is registered to execute in offline mode as well.
I have done this using ExecuteMultipleRequest. This is working fine when I am updating the parent record from CRM instance.
When I go offline and try to update the parent record its throwing business process error "executemultiplemaxbatchsize".
I checked the exception with Debugging it is as below.
System.NotImplementedException: Microsoft Dynamics CRM has experienced an error. Reference number for administrators or support: #ABA895C7
Does ExecuteMultipleRequest work in Outlook offline mode?
As per MSDN link https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-in/library/microsoft.xrm.sdk.messages.executemultiplerequest.aspx
it says
This message works regardless whether the caller is connected to the server or offline.
Per the SDK documentation it should but I think that is typo in the documentation. You can open a ticket with Microsoft and they'll probably correct the documentation but not change the functionality.
The reason I believe it's a documentation is is that there is NO reason to use ExecuteMultipleRequest in a plugin. Since there is no SOAP overhead or latency - because the plugin is running on the server and does not use the Organization.svc endpoint - you don't gain any benefit from using ExecuteMultipleRequest in a plugin. ExecuteMultipleRequest is intended for use in client applications to improve performance, not for plugins and workflows.
I am .NET developer and new to both JIRA and MS Dynamics API development. Recently I got a task to integrate JIRA and MS Dynamics. Basically I need to update JIRA Issue time tracking Information to Dynamics. And also need to share some Dynamics Information on JIRA.
Possible approaches to solve this problem.
Write JIRA plugin to Connect with Dynamics via WEB API. (This approach need Java development Experience)
Write Dynamics extension to communicate with JIRA through JIRA web service
Write Scheduled task to synchronize JIRA and Dynamics using JIRA and Dynamics web services
Develop ASP.NET web site and use JIRA and Dynamics Webhooks to synchronize
I am thinking of write a scheduled task or use Webhooks to achieve this task. Is there any other way to achieve this task? What is the best possible approach to sync JIRA and MS Dynamics.
If you are updating issues only one way (JIRA to CRM) then you can't do this with CRM plugin. Also I don't see how you could do this with ASP.NET website (I mean without any user action on this site). If you need most current data in CRM then best option would be JIRA plugin if not then sheduled task.
I've more or less always seen people go with #3 when having to sync CRM (usually with ERPs like NAV or SAP). We too code custom programs to be scheduled in order to do the syncing.
Or you could buy Scribe, which allegedly syncs anything with anything... No hands-on experience on that, but I know it's used by big companies so it should work.
Is there a way to track user activity in Microsft Dynamics CRM? The end result would be a list of users, showing a datetime for each access into CRM, and possibly what modules are being accessed.
Also, is there a way to tie users to database connections, as is done in AX?
Why do you want to do this? The reason I ask is because there are many different ways to log user access depening on purpose.
Detailed access logging can be performed by IIS (web log).
Logons are also tracked in the Event Log->Security log.
Changes to entities can be tracked by implementing an audit log using workflows (or buying a third party component to do this).
The third option is to write a .NET plugin that logs whatever you want on whatever event you want on the entities you choose. Lookup plugins in the Microsoft CRM SDK for more information on how to do this.