Extreme CRM

CRM 4.0 Master Schema Management and Customization Change Control

CRMbrenden — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 18:37:26 +0000

Recently I found a CRM 4.0 Schema comparison tool that I find makes life much easier when I’m playing the role of Schema Master. Managing schema changes is in my opinion a arduous and very manual process. It is not advisable to use TFS for schema file comparisons and definitely not for merging, this is because TFS does line by line comparison not XML tag comparisons. The Customization Comparison Utility lets you compare the customization files between two Microsoft Dynamics CRM systems and the Configuration Data Utility lets you transfer custom configuration data from one Microsoft Dynamics CRM system to another. You can download the solution file here

The process I recommend for the proper management and change control practices essential for the ongoing life cycle of a Microsoft CRM Dynamics Organization Database Schema. The diagram below represents the three typical scenarios that the Schema Master may encounter on a frequent basis. The three scenarios are Jr. Developer or Third Party Developer interactions, Senior Developer Interactions and Multi-Developer Entity Edits. Using the Customization Comparison Utility along with this process will ensure the integrity of your CRM schema and save you from a lot of pain.

Scenario 1

Under scenario 1 a junior developer or a third-party or outside vendor may need to promote changes to the CRM Master Schema. In this circumstance the Schema Master would likely be responsible for heavy validation of the schema changes.

1. The schema items impacted are exported from the developers environment .

2. The schema items impacted are documented in a standard SharePoint change-log.

3. The schema export file is checked in to the weekly schema build folder.

4. The Schema Master reviews the change-log and the may make manual or automated adjustments to the Master Schema.

Scenario 2

Under scenario 2 a senior developer may need to promote changes to the CRM Master Schema in this circumstance would likely be responsible for validation of the schema changes.

1. The schema items impacted are exported from the developers environment .

2. The schema items impacted are documented in a standard SharePoint change-log.

3. The schema export file is checked in to the weekly schema build folder.

4. The Schema Master reviews the change-log and the may make manual or automated adjustments to the Master Schema.

Scenario 3

Under scenario 3 multiple developers may need to promote changes to the CRM Master Schema impacting the same entity. In this circumstance the developers would likely be responsible for creating and validating a single schema export file.

1. The schema items impacted are exported from the developers environment .

2. The schema items impacted are documented in a standard SharePoint change-log.

3. The schema export file is checked in to the weekly schema build folder.

4. The Schema Master notifies the developers of potential conflicts or collisions.

5. The developers create a single schema export file and check it in to TFS.

6. The Schema Master reviews the change-log and the may make manual or automated adjustments to the Master Schema.

The TFS Role

TFS is used as a repository for the incremental schema edits that are proposed as candidates to the Schema-Master. It’s critical that developers only submit specific entity schema segments rather than the full CRM schema, this is because TFS analyzes code line by line rather than in the XML tag format the CRM schema model uses. Also because the environment that the CRM schema is exported from can alter the format and order of the XML. For these reasons it will be incumbent upon the Schema-Master to understand where the schema segments are coming from and to identify the risks associated with the submitting party.

The SharePoint Role

A standard SharePoint form should be used to capture the schema changes being submitted by each developer. The SharePoint form should capture at minimum:

o ID Number

o Entity, Workflow or Role Name

o Attribute

o Deployment Comments

o Impact Analysis Comments

The ID Number shoul

d always be references within the TFS check-in comments and included in the release and deploy notes sent to the Deployment team for each build.

HTML Editor for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0

CRMbrenden — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 20:21:33 +0000

Until Microsoft Dynamics 5.0 to comes out the only way to get a HTML or Rich Text editor capability in Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 is to roll your own or use a third party application. I have had tremendous success using the TinyMCE editor. click here to download The editor has a plethora of features available including everything from spell check to word count and is available in a number of build format and examples including; jQuery, JavaScript, PHP, .Net and JSP. I prefer to use the jQuery build for my Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 implementations.

Below I have included a code sample you can use in your custom iFrame. Accessing the raw HTML source during the CRM onSave event was a little bit tricky, here’s the code for that.

crmForm.all.IFRAME_Accomplishment.contentWindow.tinymce.getInstanceById('elm1').getBody().innerHTML

You can either make a call to the CRM SDK and save this value to the database or use javascript and simply copy to a hidden nText field located directly on the form next to the iFrame. All we have to do is save and load the raw HTML and the HTML editor does the rest.

I use a FetchXML function to load the raw HTML…

$('#elm1').val(GetContacts());

The GetContacts function simply uses FetchXML to retrieve the value of a nText attribute I have added to the Contacts entity.

Here’s a page that instantiates a HTML editor in a iFrame for use in Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0.


Full featured Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 tinyMCE example using jQuery plugin by ExtremeCRM.net






//****** REMEMBER TO CHANGE THIS PATH TO THE PROPER ISV LOCATION  *******//







 
 
 Full featured example using jQuery plugin

 
 This example shows how TinyMCE can be used from Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0  using jQuery. The jQuery plugin will also attach it's self to various jQuery methods to make it more easy to get/set editor contents etc.
 

 
 
  <p>
 This is some example text that you can edit inside the <strong>TinyMCE editor</strong>.
 </p>
 <p>
 ExtremeCRM provides developers coding examples, insights, concepts and options for developing customizations for Microsoft CRM 4.0.  The primary contributor, Brenden Smith is a Microsoft MCP and Microsoft CRM 4.0 Lead developer for a federal agency in Washing D.C.  If you would like to be a contributor for extremeCRM.net
 </p>
 
 

 
 [Show]
 [Hide]
 [Bold]
 [Get contents]
 [Get selected HTML]
 [Get selected text]
 [Get selected element]
 [Insert HTML]
 [Replace selection]

CRM CSS Look and Feel, Now With jQuery Support

CRMbrenden — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 19:46:52 +0000

jQuery ThemeRoller

I’m currently creating a framework for using jQuery and jqGrid with Microsoft Dynamics CRM. I will be posting the final concept and making it public soon. One piece that may be helpful to some even if they don’t utilize the framework is a jQuery UI Dynamics CRM theme which I have added to my CRM Look and Feel Kit. Both can be downloaded here.

How to Programmatically Create a Microsoft Word Document from Dynamics CRM

CRMbrenden — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 15:47:09 +0000

Recently I had a need to create a Microsoft Word document and dynamically populate it from data in CRM. Microsoft Word can be invoked from JavaScript using the ActiveXObject . This first example shows a very basic application of the concept. Create a blank document , add a report title then add some body text. In my application I call the JavaScript from a toolbar button added with the ISV.config file. For more information on adding buttons that call javaScript see Calling JavaScript from Microsoft CRM Toolbar Buttons

// Start a new instance of Microsoft Word

var MsWord = new ActiveXObject(“Word.Application”);

// Create a new document

MsWord.Documents.Add();

//Carriage Return

MsWord.Selection.TypeParagraph();

//Report Name

MsWord.Selection.TypeText(crmForm.all.new_name.value);

//Carriage Return
MsWord.Selection.TypeParagraph();
//Carriage Return
MsWord.Selection.TypeParagraph();

//Memo field from CRM containing paragraphs of text

MsWord.Selection.TypeText(crmForm.all.new_body.value);

//Show Microsoft Word

MsWord.Visible = true;

To create a new document using a Microsoft Word Template do this:

msWord.Documents.Add(“http://myserver:5555/documentTemplate.dotx”);

To add text to a specific Microsoft Word form field first create a Word template and add a field to it using the developer toolbar then use this code:
msWord.ActiveDocument.FormFields(“Text1″).Result = crmForm.all.new_name.value;

Obviously you can take this much further, in my application I use a AJAX call to a web service to get related CRM records. I also lock all the fields so their content can’t be modified by the user. What the user can do is add content to the document which may include HTML content. The need to generate a report but then add custom content was the genesis for this feature.

Here’s a article about creating fields in Microsoft Word. Click Here

Show hide form elements in Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 based on user role.

CRMbrenden — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 14:50:16 +0000

Because Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 only allows a single form for each entity it is often necessary to show or hide certain form elements like buttons, iFrames and tabs based on the role of the currently logged in user.

Calling the CrmService of Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 allow us to determine who the currently logged in user is and what roles they have been assigned. I have attempted to keep this example straightforward the only code that has nothing to do with getting the current user and their role are the the two line turning off a tab in the event the user doesn’t have the role of “Manager”.

crmForm.all.tab2Tab.style.visibility = “hidden”;

crmForm.all.tab2Tab.style.position = “absolute”;

Everything else is specific to calling the CrmService getting the current user and finding their user roles in the XML DOM that the CrmService returns.

//Based on the role of the user logged in, hide the named tab on the entity form

}

(currentUserHasRole(‘Manager’)) {else

crmForm.all.tab2Tab.style.visibility =

crmForm.all.tab2Tab.style.position =

}

{“hidden”;“absolute”;function

UserHasRole(roleName) {}function

xmlhttp.open(

xmlhttp.setRequestHeader(

soapXml += GenerateAuthenticationHeader();

soapXml += soapBody;

soapXml +=

xmlhttp.send(soapXml);

xmlDoc =

xmlDoc.async =

xmlDoc.loadXML(xmlhttp.responseXML.xml);

}

getUserId() {try {var xmlhttp = new ActiveXObject(“Msxml2.XMLHTTP”);“POST”, “../../mscrmservices/2007/crmservice.asmx”, false);“Content-Type”, “text/xml; charset=utf-8″);“SOAPAction”, “http://schemas.microsoft.com/crm/2007/WebServices/Execute”);var soapBody = “” + “” + “” + “”;var soapXml = “ + “xmlns:soap=’http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/envelope/’ “ + “xmlns:xsi=’http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance’ “ + “xmlns:xsd=’http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema’>”;“”;new ActiveXObject(“Microsoft.XMLDOM”);false;var userid = xmlDoc.getElementsByTagName(“UserId”)[0].childNodes[0].nodeValue;return userid;catch (e) {return null;function

command.SetParameter(

}

getUserRoles(userId) {try {var command = new RemoteCommand(“UserManager”, “GetUserRoles”);“userIds”, “” + userId + “”);var oResult = command.Execute();if (oResult.Success) {return oResult.ReturnValue;catch (e) {return null;function

result = getUserRoles(userId);

oXml.resolveExternals =

oXml.async =

oXml.loadXML(result);

roleNode = oXml.selectSingleNode(

hasRole =

}

userHasRole(userId, roleName) {var hasRole = false;if (result != null) {var oXml = new ActiveXObject(“Microsoft.XMLDOM”);false;false;“/roles/role[name='" + roleName + "']“);if (roleNode != null) {if (roleNode.selectSingleNode(“roleid[@checked='true']“) != null) {true;return hasRole;function

userId = getUserId();

}

currentUserHasRole(roleName) {return userHasRole(userId, roleName);

For more information see….

WhoAmI Message (CrmService)

CrmService Messages

Creating a CRM 4.0 test/training organization from your production organization and or Recovering a CRM organization database

CRMbrenden — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 12:57:25 +0000

This article will also help with the following scenarios:

You want to move the Microsoft Dynamics CRM databases to another Microsoft SQL Server and Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services server in the same domain. Additionally, you want to leave the Microsoft Dynamics CRM Server on the existing server.
You want to redeploy the Microsoft Dynamics CRM deployment that includes the Microsoft Dynamics CRM server within the same domain or to another domain.
You want to move the Microsoft Dynamics CRM Server or one of the Microsoft Dynamics CRM server roles. However, you want to leave the SQL Server and SQL Server Reporting Services server intact.

Requirements

SQL Server Management Studio
CRM 4.0 Deployment Manager
CRM Enterprise Server License
CRM Deployment Administrator Permissions
SQL Server Administrator Permissions
An existing backup of your CRM database

Procedure

Restore SQL Database

On the CRM SQL Server navigate to: Start -> All Programs -> Microsoft Dynamics CRM -> Deployment Manager
Click “Connect” to open a connection to the SQL server
Right click the “Database” folder and select “Restore Database”
In the “To database” field enter your database name (Note: It is a best practice to name your database with a “_MSCRM” to help distinguish this database from others on that server)
Select “From Device” and click the browse button
Click the “Add” button and select the backup of the CRM database that you wish to restore. Click “OK” to select the backup file.
Click “OK” to accept your selections.
Check the “Restore” checkbox next to the Database that you wish to restore, and click the Options link in the left hand column.
Check “Overwrite the existing database” and click the “OK” button to restore the backup file
Once complete you will be notified via the following screen.

Import the CRM Organization

On the CRM Server navigate to: Start -> All Programs -> Microsoft Dynamics CRM -> Deployment Manager
With Deployment Manager open, navigate to Organizations to get a listing of the current Organizations available in CRM.
Click the “Import Organization” link in the right hand column to start the process of importing a CRM Organization.
On the “Import Organization Wizard” enter in the name of the SQL server, select the newly restored database and click “Next”
Enter the name of the Organization as you want it to appear in CRM and click “Next”
Enter the name of the SQL Reporting Server and click “Next”
Select Auto-map users and click “Next”
Make any adjustments as necessary and click “Next”
Review the requirements screen and click “Next”
Click the “Import” button to begin the import of the Organization
After complete click the “Finish” button to close the wizard

Additional Notes:

The import process will automatically attempt to add all the necessary Active Directory group membership for each user that listed in the CRM SystemUserBase table. This step of the process can be lengthy depending on the total number of users in your production CRM organization, and often times it may seem as if the process has hung. A simple yet manual way to monitor the status during this operation is to compare the deployment manager logs with the listing of users in the SystemUserBase table. The import process will process each user, as they are entered in the table, and will write out a log entry for each user that it has processed. The log for the deployment manager is located in:

%USERPROFILE%Application DataMicrosoftMSCRMLogscrm40dmsnapin.log

Although this process will create a separate CRM organization with a point in time snapshot of your company’s customizations as well as its data, it will not allow you to test the deployment of Rollups or other hot fixes. If you are looking to obtain this capability, you will need to setup a separate environment in which you can install a separate copy of CRM. With such a scenario, it is always important to take into consideration, the licensing ramifications of all the software involved (CRM, SQL, Windows, etc). However, if you are simply attempting to setup a duplicate environment where you can train new users or test out new customizations before introducing them into production, this procedure should fully meet your needs.

Routinely companies need the ability to utilize a training or test Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 environment that operates on a similar set of data as their Production deployment. With CRM 4.0 we can achieve this goal by making use of its multi-tenancy capabilities, or the ability to have multiple CRM Organizations.

Additional help

How to move the Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 deployment

Deployment Manager: Import Organization vs. Edit Organization …

Configure a Microsoft Dynamics CRM organization for database mirroring …

Microsoft CRM 4.0 Look and Feel Kit

CRMbrenden — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 14:09:18 +0000

I notice confusion out there about CSS styles to achieve a native CRM look and feel, for reasons I’m not sure of many folks can’t find the CSS template provided in the CRM SDK which can be downloaded here. Additionally the CSS template that is included by Microsoft doesn’t have much in it, for example there aren’t any CSS styles for grids.

For those of you new to CRM what were really discussing here is iFrames embedded in to your CRM entity form page so the need to match up to CRM to present seamless integration and a clean user interface is important.

I’m going to post the CSS template and images I use in my projects and as I add more styles to it I will update it from time to time.

Click here to download the CRM Look and Feel Kit

Monitoring your Microsoft Dynamics CRM Infrastructure with System Center Operations Manager 2007

CRMbrenden — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 16:54:31 +0000

Introduction

For any organisation, Systems Availability is crucial to the business and business continuity. Because of the nature and complexity of a CRM Architecture, it is vital to understand the current state of its various components and computers. The entire CRM Architecture can be centrally managed and monitored using System Center Operations Manager 2007 (SCOM), a Dynamic Systems Initiative from Microsoft to help support and be more effective and efficient, thereby saving time and money. The use of SCOM takes guess work out of the support equation, by identifying the root cause of an issue and providing the appropriate solution. As a predictive product it also provides alerts on unforeseen potential problems, enabling proactive support. In this document we discuss the use of SCOM to manage and monitor the CRM architecture comprising of Windows 2003 server, Microsoft SQL Server 2005 or 2008, Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 or 2007, Microsoft Internet Information Server IIS 6 and 7, BizTalk Server 2006, Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0, Windows XP, 2000, Vista, Microsoft Office 2007 and custom .Net applications

SCOM alerts are based on real world problems and solutions developed by domain experts and Windows error reporting is linked to latest resolution knowledge. For illustration purposes the diagram below shows the Asynchronous Service Architecture, a small part of the CRM 4.0 Architecture. The Asynchronous architecture is monitored in the SCOM deployment for CRM 4.0.

SCOM Solution for a Dynamics CRM 4.0 Architecture

Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 architecture can be complex, depending on deployment. To ensure that all the CRM 4.0 components are functioning properly requires a robust support infrastructure. Microsoft System Center Operations Manager is a software solution that meets the need for end-to-end service monitoring in the enterprise. Deploying SCOM is key to effective support for any organisation that values its technology investment, and takes systems availability and uptime seriously.

SCOM components

Operational Database consists of operational data and configuration data for a management group. A Root Management Server is used for configuration management. Management Agents discover, collect, analyse and manage servers’ and clients’ alerts so as to resolve issues and can also wake failed systems. A Reporting Server provides reports for the management group and is displayed in the SCOM console.

Agentless Exception Monitoring extends monitoring to operating systems and applications. It configures error-reporting clients to redirect their reports to the management server providing information on failure and available solutions. An Audit Collector, found on the management server, provides information on security of managed computers from audit enabled agents. In DMZ configurations, a Gateway Server can be used for agents beyond a firewall or found in Non Trusted Domains.

Deploying SCOM

To setup SCOM OpmMgr and RMS databases, SCOM is deployed on a MS SQL Server where the Action, SDK and Service Accounts are specified. A webconsole is deployed specifying the SQL instance, the database name and SQL Listening port, plus provide relevant accounts. With installation complete, an Administrator has to logon to the SCOM server to complete the setup by configuring Discovery and select the managed objects in addition to configuring computers and devices to manage, and importing management packs[1].

Operations Manager 2007 Reporting is setup by installing the data reporting data warehouse and reporting server for reports and dashboards. It is recommended to install the Data Warehouse and Reporting Server on separate servers. A SQL Server Instance is used for the Audit Collection Service and Audit Collection Database setup and enablement.

SCOM Monitoring

A SCOM Monitor looks at different application aspects, known as Object Types, consisting of system devices or services with one of three operational states: healthy, warning or failure. A Distributed Application Designer is built on Service Oriented Monitoring and is easy to configure using a graphic designer. It can also be used to monitor ports and IP addresses of given systems. It also handles Line of Business Applications.

Roles have to be created to manage the SCOM system. Roles are integrated with Active Directory and they can manage tasks authorised for specified roles.

Notifications can be delivered individually via Email, Pager, Instant Messaging, Session Initiation Protocol, Short Message Service support (SMS) and SMTP via the Notification Device Wizard.

SCOM can be integrated with AD for Security Discovery and Agent Management enabling agent deployment and configuration automatically. The SCOM Discovery Wizard feature uses LDAP identify devices in the Directory to manage agents automatically. The MOMADAdmin tool is used to integrate with AD by creating an admin access point with the ability to specify exclusions through the ADSI Edit[2] tool.

To setup Agentless Exception Monitoring, requires configuring the Customer Experience Improvement Program (CEIP) and Error alert routing, transmission settings (through HTTP/S or with SSL with authentication preferences) and Error Crash Behaviour. These alerts can be forwarded to Microsoft and Microsoft will provide available information to solve the issue or in crash cases Microsoft will investigate the issue further.

SCOM Management Features

Through the monitoring space, administrators are able to see in Real-Time the state of systems and or services. Through the health explorer administrators can see the events that are not healthy and can then take corrective action to fix the problem using diagnostics and recovery features found in the management packs. Administrators can work with reports, creating reports for customers etc. and report on planned and unplanned operations and much more. Reports can also be specific, providing information on specific issues.

SCOM 2007 has an excellent and customisable knowledgebase known as Company Knowledge. This knowledgebase is an invaluable resource that provides information on root causes of issues and how they can be resolved. The Company Knowledge is editable, allowing for the addition of company related issues and how they have been resolved.

Company Knowledge is used to capture the steps required to resolve an alert in an OpsMgr installation. When paired with the Product knowledge (which provides application developers knowledge on the causes and suggested resolution steps for an alert), the two help any operator with the best steps they can take to resolve an alert. Product Knowledge is embedded in a rule or monitor.

The power of SCOM lies in the End-to-End visibility of the health and performance of the CRM architecture. This powerful feature empowers support staff to have a complete view of their supported environment, with access to easily accessed information on how to resolve issues affecting their CRM environment in case of an IT issue. They are empowered to take proactive action regarding issues before users can start calling or before systems actually fail, ensuring short Mean Time To Identify (MTTI) and Mean Time to Repair (MTR).

Figure 2 SCOM monitoring in a CRM Architecture

Organisations that have successfully deployed System Center Operations Manager 2007 testify to the ability to provide efficient support and avoiding time wasting extensive manual investigations that can give support a bad name. Many have deployed SCOM and integrated it with their Helpdesk systems. This integration facilitates the automatic generation of tickets or calls, leading to a significant reduction in waste of support staff effort used to manually create, update and manage tickets or support Calls.

A Microsoft Dynamics CRM (Customer Relationship Management) 4.0 system is built on a three tier Enterprise Architecture consisting of; Client, Application and Data. SCOM is able to monitor the health and performance of these systems and their applications, easily providing service level monitoring that allows the support team to meet their operational level agreements. Because CRM can be web-enabled, SCOM has the capability to monitor several URLs at any one time and provide real-time data on connectivity status.

Note

SCOM has the capability to monitor non Microsoft technology through Operations Manager Connector Framework. It does this through the bi-directional synchronised partner connector solutions that connects to the third party management packs.

Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 Management Pack

At the time of writing, there is no SCOM Management Pack for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0. However, Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 can be managed using SCOM, by converting the MOM 2005 Management Pack for CRM[3]. This particular management pack monitors the CRM Architecture including:

CRM Asynchronous Processing services.
World Wide Web Publishing
Microsoft Dynamics CRM Deletion Service
Microsoft Dynamics CRM databases

Deploying SCOM 2007 provides support staff with an easy-to-use monitoring environment to monitor corporate servers, applications, and clients. This coverage gives staff a full view of the organisation’s systems, something that allows support staff to provide pro-active solutions to issues before they happen, enabling them to proactively maintain and reduce resolution times for any issues that may affect overall availability and performance of the CRM system.

Microsofts SCOM site can be found here

Attaching Javascript code to a CRM Toolbar Button

CRMbrenden — Fri, 28 May 2010 15:16:14 +0000

Attaching Javascript code to a tool bar button can be very ugly. Generally the code needs to be included within the CRM, ISV Config XML file. It’s pretty easy to add a button via the ISV Config. Click Here for more information on adding custom buttons to a Microsoft Dynamics CRM Entity form, toolbar.

The red highlighted Javascript tag below shows you where you would typically place your JavaScript or JavaScript function call but this isn’t the best place for the JavaScript. I have seen huge JavaScript routines embedded in to the tag whci makes debugging and readability a painful exercise. Even if you call a JavaScript function and leave the tag nice and cleas as shown here that Javascript function has to be maintained outside of the CRM Model.