CRM 2013 (Orion): Business Process Overview

CRM 2013 (Orion): Re-imagined User Interface

Re-imagined User Interface

Microsoft has completely re-imagined the user interface of Microsoft Dynamics CRM. The re-imagined design introduces cleaner, faster and more intuitive user interface which drives productivity.

The biggest obstacle to success of any software application is the user adoption. The user interface design principles are focused on ease of use and productivity. The main design principles are shown in this figure (taken from Microsoft's documentation). 

Form Changes (Refreshed User Interface) 

In Dynamics CRM 2011, Ribbonized entities were introduced and the main objective was to refresh the user experience and to make it more consistent across Microsoft products.

In December 2012 Service Update of Dynamics CRM, three form modes were introduced.

• Classic experience
• Read Optimized experience (using inline form controls)
• Process Flow based User interface (available for 5 core entities)

Client SDK or form events were not supported in Read Optimized or Process Flow based user interface, so if any JavaScript was detected the form would always fall-back to the classic mode.

In CRM 2013, new refreshed experience has been extended to the rest of the application covering most of the end-user facing entities. Additionally, custom entities will also get this refreshed experience with full client sdk and form events. Classic forms are restricted to the administrative settings area.

In CRM 2013, we have two types of form experience

• New form experience
• Classic form experience

This diagram represents all the refreshed entities in the system.

The form itself has been has been completely redesigned (as shown below)

The Primary Information is displayed on the left, social pane (including activities and notes) in the middle and top right corner highlights the important data points which are in-line editable.

Microsoft has also introduced “Create” button which enables the users to quickly create records from the top navigation. When the button is clicked, a quick form pops up for optimized data capture (which can be customized).  The forms are also resizeable which make them usable with different devices for mobility. 

Refer to Microsoft's documentation for more information. 

CRM 2013 (Orion): Administration and Management Features in Dynamics CRM 2013

Dynamics CRM 2013 - Administration and Management Updates

Performance Optimisation Feature
Microsoft has released a new feature in Dynamics CRM 2013 to optimise the performance of the Quick Find queries. Every 24 hours, Quick Find Views are processed to add or remove indexes based on the Find Columns.

Dynamics 2013 Best Practises Analyser (BPA)
Best Practises Analyser (BPA) is a diagnostic tool that performs the following

- Gathers information about server roles that are installed on that server.
- Determines if the configurations are set according to the recommended best practises.
- Reports on all configurations, indicating settings that differ from the recommendations.
- Indicates potential problems in Dynamics CRM 2013 server features installed.
- Recommends solutions to potential problems.

PowerShell Changes
Microsoft has made some enhancements to the available PowerShell Commands, remote execution of PowerShell commands is now possible.

Data Encryption
All new and upgraded organisations will have data encryption enabled and cannot be disabled. Data encryption prevents the Database administrator from accessing encrypted data.

Three new privileges to manage SQL encryption

o   Manage SQL Encryption key – Read

o   Manage SQL Encryption key – Change

o   Manage SQL Encryption key – Activate

Yammer Integration
Microsoft introduced Yammer integration with the December 2012 service update for Dynamics CRM Online. With the release of Dynamics CRM 2013, Microsoft has made the same functionality available for the on-premise deployments. 

Activity Feeds
Activity Feeds is now part of core solution and cannot be un-installed.

When Activity Feeds functionality is enabled for an entity

o   Follow and Unfollow buttons appear on the form.

o   Post tab appears on the social pane within the form.

VSS Writer Service (Data Protection Manager)
Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2013 introduces new functionality for backup and restore of Dynamics CRM database through Volume Shadow Copy Service framework. However, it is dependent on System Centre 2012 Data Protection Manager (DPM) –earlier versions of System Centre Data Protection Manager are not supported

For more information, Please refer to Microsoft's documentation. 

CRM 2013 (Orion): Known Issues with CRM 2013 as of September 2013

There are some known issues with CRM 2013 as of September 2013, please refer to the link for more details.

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics/crm-customer-center/readme.htm

CRM 2013 (Orion): Upgrade

Upgrade/Re-implement Legacy features

The following legacy features will no longer be supported in Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2013

• CRM 4 plug-ins and custom workflow activities
• CRM 4 client-side scripting
• 2007 web service endpoint
• ISV folder for custom web applications

Following two tools can be used to detect the legacy features/custom code.

Legacy Feature Check Tool - On-Premise Only
It detects the use of the server side code such as CRM 4 plug-ins, custom workflow activities and the ISV folder (for custom web applications). 

Dynamics CRM 2011 Custom Code Validation Tool - CRM Online and On-Premise
This tool is focused on detecting the use of unsupported client-side code in the JavaScript web resources (includes CRM 4 client APIs).

Upgrade Methods

• Migrate by using a new instance of SQL Server (recommended by Microsoft)
• Migrate by using the same instance of SQL Server
• In-place Upgrade (simply run Dynamics CRM 2013 Setup on Dynamics CRM 2011 application server) - Optionally choose to upgrade one organisation database (only one database can be upgraded with the server upgrade), all other organisations will be disabled during the upgrade process and will need to be upgraded separately. 

   The only supported upgrade path to Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2013 is from Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011.

   Refer to Microsoft's documentation for further information.

CRM 2013 (Orion): Getting Started

Getting Started with Dynamics CRM 2013 (Orion)

YouTube Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-L7rcj1LFxs

CRM 2011: Integration using SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS) 2008 throws an error "The Identity check failed for the outgoing message"

Error:

The Identity check failed for the outgoing message. The remote endpoint did not provide a domain name system (DNS) claim and therefore did not satisfied DNS identity 'user.name@domain'. This may be caused by lack of DNS or CN name in the remote endpoint X.509 certificate's distinguished name.

Resolution: 

Modify the parameter passed in the EndpointIdentity.CreateDnsIdentity() method call.

Update the following

EndpointIdentity.CreateDnsIdentity(string.Format("{0}@{1}", UserName, Domain)

to 

EndpointIdentity.CreateDnsIdentity("xyz")

CRM 2011: Integration using SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS) 2008 throws SOAP Security Negotiation Exception

Objective: 

Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Integration using Microsoft SQL Server Integration Services 2008 (SSIS)

Issue:

SOAP security negotiation with 'http://CRMServer/Org/xrmservices/2011/Organization.svc' for target 'http://CRMServer/Org/xrmservices/2011/Organization.svc' failed. See inner exception for more details.

Server stack trace: 

   at System.ServiceModel.Security.IssuanceTokenProviderBase`1.DoNegotiation(TimeSpan timeout)

   at System.ServiceModel.Security.SspiNegotiationTokenProvider.OnOpen(TimeSpan timeout)

   at System.ServiceModel.Security.WrapperSecurityCommunicationObject.OnOpen(TimeSpan timeout)

   at System.ServiceModel.Channels.CommunicationObject.Open(TimeSpan timeout)

   at System.ServiceModel.Security.CommunicationObjectSecurityTokenProvider.Open(TimeSpan timeout)

   at System.ServiceModel.Security.SecurityUtils.OpenTokenProviderIfRequired(SecurityTokenProvider tokenProvider, TimeSpan timeout)

   at System.ServiceModel.Security.SymmetricSecurityProtocol.OnOpen(TimeSpan timeout)

   at System.ServiceModel.Security.WrapperSecurityCommunicationObject.OnOpen(TimeSpan timeout)

   at System.ServiceModel.Channels.CommunicationObject.Open(TimeSpan timeout)

   at System.ServiceModel.Channels.SecurityChannelFactory`1.ClientSecurityChannel`1.OnOpen(TimeSpan timeout)

   at System.ServiceModel.Channels.CommunicationObject.Open(TimeSpan timeout)

   at System.ServiceModel.Channels.ServiceChannel.OnOpen(TimeSpan timeout)

   at System.ServiceModel.Channels.CommunicationObject.Open(TimeSpan timeout)

   at System.ServiceModel.Channels.ServiceChannel.CallOpenOnce.System.ServiceModel.Channels.ServiceChannel.ICallOnce.Call(ServiceChannel channel, TimeSpan 

timeout)

   at System.ServiceModel.Channels.ServiceChannel.CallOnceManager.CallOnce(TimeSpan timeout, CallOnceManager cascade)

   at System.ServiceModel.Channels.ServiceChannel.EnsureOpened(TimeSpan timeout)

   at System.ServiceModel.Channels.ServiceChannel.Call(String action, Boolean oneway, ProxyOperationRuntime operation, Object[] ins, Object[] outs, TimeSpan 

timeout)

   at System.ServiceModel.Channels.ServiceChannel.Call(String action, Boolean oneway, ProxyOperationRuntime operation, Object[] ins, Object[] outs)

   at System.ServiceModel.Channels.ServiceChannelProxy.InvokeService(IMethodCallMessage methodCall, ProxyOperationRuntime operation)

   at System.ServiceModel.Channels.ServiceChannelProxy.Invoke(IMessage message)

Exception rethrown at [0]: 

   at System.Runtime.Remoting.Proxies.RealProxy.HandleReturnMessage(IMessage reqMsg, IMessage retMsg)

   at System.Runtime.Remoting.Proxies.RealProxy.PrivateInvoke(MessageData& msgData, Int32 type)

   at NECCrmProxy.Crm.IOrganizationService.Create(Entity entity)

   at NECCrmProxy.Crm.OrganizationServiceClient.Create(Entity entity)

   at ScriptMain.Input0_ProcessInputRow(Input0Buffer Row)

   at UserComponent.Input0_ProcessInput(Input0Buffer Buffer)

   at UserComponent.ProcessInput(Int32 InputID, PipelineBuffer Buffer)

   at Microsoft.SqlServer.Dts.Pipeline.ScriptComponentHost.ProcessInput(Int32 inputID, PipelineBuffer buffer)

Resolution: 

Change EndpointIdentity.CreateUpnIdentity() to EndpointIdentity.CreateDnsIdentity() in your code.

CRM 2011: Impersonation in Plug-ins

Impersonation is used in Microsoft Dynamics CRM platform to execute the business logic on behalf of a system user, this includes the custom code execution governed by Microsoft Dynamics CRM security privileges of the impersonated user. Pre-entity and Post-entity images as passed to plug-ins as the execution context on behalf of the impersonated user.

Plug-ins not executed by sandbox or asynchronous service execute under CRMAppPool Identity service account. By default, CRMAppPool uses Network Service account but it can be changed by the administrator. If it is changed then administrator will need to add this identity account to the PrivUserGroup in the Active Directory.

Impersonation during Plug-in Registration

A user can be impersonated during the plug-in registration, administrator can specify a user account to execute the plug-in.
If the plug-in is getting registered programmatically then impersonation can be done by setting the property ImpersonatingUserId to a specific user, web service calls made by the plug-in execute on behalf of the impersonated user.

Impersonation during Plug-in Execution

Impersonation defined at the registration level can be overridden at run time during plug-in execution. 

For security purposes, the plug-ins can also be impersonated as the user who actually initiated this process/plug-in (by doing a specific action within the CRM application) by using the property InitiatingUserId. 

// Get a reference to the Organization service.

IOrganizationServiceFactory factory = (IOrganizationServiceFactory)serviceProvider.GetService(typeof IOrganizationServiceFactory));

IOrganizationService service = factory.CreateOrganizationService(context.InitiatingUserId);

Refer to Microsoft's documentation for more information.

CRM 2013 (Orion): Upgrade to CRM 2013 (Orion)

Upgrade to CRM 2013

Upgrade/Re-implement Legacy features

The following legacy features will no longer be supported in Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2013

• CRM 4 plug-ins and custom workflow activities
• CRM 4 client-side scripting
• 2007 web service endpoint
• ISV folder support for custom web applications
• Solution down level tool

Legacy Feature Check tool can be used to detect legacy feature usage in the solution.

Dynamics CRM 2011 Custom Code Validation Tool can be used to detect unsupported client-side code in the solution. 

Refer to Microsoft's documentation for further information.

more to follow on this topic ....

CRM 2011: Signing the Plug-in Assembly

Only signed plug-in assemblies are allowed to be registered on Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011.

To sign an assembly with a strong name, it must have a public/private key pair.

The assembly can be signed using

• Microsoft Visual Studio, OR
• Strong Name Tool (sn.exe)

Using Microsoft Visual Studio (UI)

Follow these steps to sign the assembly using Microsoft Visual Studio 2010

1. Right-click the project and click "Properties".
2. Select "Signing".
3. Check "Sign the assembly".
4. Select an existing key or create a new one.
5. Save the properties.
6. Rebuild the DLL.

Using Strong Name Tool (sn.exe)

1. Open Visual Studio 2010 Command Prompt
2. Run the command, sn -k [filename]

Refer to Microsoft's documentation for more information.

CRM 2011: Limited/reduced functionality of Sandboxed plug-ins

Microsoft recommends running plug-ins in a sandbox mode. The plug-ins running in a sandboxed environment have reduced functionality to ensure security.

The following network access restrictions apply to this sandbox capability.

• Only HTTP and HTTPS protocols are allowed.
• Access to localhost is not permitted.
• Plug-ins must rely on DNS name resolution (using a named web address).
• Anonymous authentication is recommended and supported by Microsoft.
• .NET framework classes can be used in the plug-in code to access web resources considering previously outlined restrictions.

Refer to Microsoft's documentation for further information.

CRM 2011: Update Rollup 14 for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011

Update Rollup 14 for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 has been released.

Publish date : 11th July 2013

Knowledgebase Article - Link

Download - Link

CRM 2011: Plug-in Isolation(Sandbox), Trusts and Statistics

Plug-in Isolation (Sandbox Mode)

Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 supports the execution of plug-ins in an isolated environment, also known as Sandbox.

A Sandbox plug-in can access

•  Microsoft Dynamics CRM SDK web services
• External endpoints just as Windows Azure cloud and other common web services

and CANNOT access the following

• File system
• System event log
• Network and more 

The execution of plug-ins in a sandbox mode is recommended by Microsoft because 

• It is more secure
• It supports run-time monitoring and statistics reporting
• It is supported for all Microsoft Dynamics CRM deployments

Full and Partial Trusts

Plug-ins can be registered

• In the sandbox mode, known as partial trust
• Outside the sandbox mode, known as full trust

The table illustrates the deployment types and the supported trust level.

Run-time Statistics  

The Microsoft Dynamics CRM platform collects run-time statistics and also monitors the plug-ins that execute in a sandbox mode. If sandbox worker process exceeds the threshold utilisation of resources or is unresponsive then the CRM platform ends the process, this won't impact the other organisations because each organisation has its own sandbox worker process. This information is stored in the database table "PluginTypeStatistic". 

CRM 2013: Orion - Screenshots

CRM 2013 - Orion (Application Screenshots)

http://blog.north52.com/2013/07/09/wpc-2013-dynamics-crm-2013-application-screenshots/

CRM 2013 - Orion (Mobile Screenshots)

http://blog.north52.com/2013/07/09/wpc-2013-dynamics-crm-2013-mobile-screenshots/

Credits: North52

CRM 2011: Workflow Activity Input and Output Parameters & Data Types

Microsoft Dynamics CRM supports two types of parameters for a workflow activity.

• Input Parameters
• Output Parameters

Input Parameters

The input parameter is annotated with the .NET attribute "Input".

DefaultAttribute

DefaultAttribute class can be used to specify a default value (using "Default" attribute) for an input parameter. 

Bool

[Input("Bool input")]

[Output("Bool output")]

[Default("True")]

public InOutArgument<bool> Bool { get; set; }

DateTime

[Input("DateTime input")]

[Output("DateTime output")]

[Default("2013-07-09T02:54:00Z")]

public InOutArgument<DateTime> DateTime { get; set; }

Decimal

[Input("Decimal input")]

[Output("Decimal output")]

[Default("20.75")]

public InOutArgument<decimal> Decimal { get; set; }

Double

[Input("Double input")]

[Output("Double output")]

[Default("200.2")]

public InOutArgument<double> Double { get; set; }

Integer

[Input("Int input")]

[Output("Int output")]

[Default("2322")]

public InOutArgument<int> Int { get; set; }

Money (Currency)

[Input("Money input")]

[Output("Money output")] 

[Default("232.3")]

public InOutArgument<Money> Money { get; set; }

OptionSetValue

[Input("OptionSetValue input")]

[Output("OptionSetValue output")]

[AttributeTarget("account", "industrycode")]

[Default("3")]

public InOutArgument<OptionSetValue> OptionSetValue { get; set; }

Attribute Target must specify the entity and attribute being referenced. 

String

[Input("String input")]

[Output("String output")]

[Default("string default")]

public InOutArgument<string> String { get; set; }

Entity Reference

[Input("EntityReference input")]

[Output("EntityReference output")]

[ReferenceTarget("account")]

[Default("3B036E3E-94F9-DE11-B508-00155DBA2902", "account")]

public InOutArgument<EntityReference> AccountReference { get; set; }

Reference Target attribute must specify the type of entity being referenced. 

Required Argument Attribute 

System.Activities.RequiredArgumentAttribute class can be used to specify that the input parameter is required.

[RequiredArgument]

[Input("Update next Anniversary date for")]

[ReferenceTarget("contact")]

public InArgument<EntityReference> Contact { get; set; }

Output Parameters

The output parameter is annotated with the .NET attribute "Output"

//this is the name of the parameter that will be returned back to the workflow

[Output("Credit Score")]

//this line identifies the specific attribute which will be passed back to the workflow

[AttributeTarget(CustomEntity, "new_creditscore")]

//this line declares the output parameter and declares the proper data type of the parameter being passed back.

public OutArgument<int> CreditScore {get;set;}

Refer to Microsoft documentation for more details

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/gg328515.aspx

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/gg327842.aspx

CRM 2011: Set IFRAME source using JavaScript

Xrm.Page.getControl("IFRAME_myframe").setSrc(http://www.microsoft.com/);

CRM 2011: Client-side (forms, fields, tabs and IFrame) events in Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011

1. Form Events

There are two events at the form level in Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011

• OnLoad Event
• OnSave Event

OnLoad Event

The OnLoad event occurs after the form has been loaded. Normally OnLoad event is used to apply logic relevant to user interaction like

• Display/Hide components on the form
• Enable/Disable components on the form
• Alert users of a specific business situation 
• Perform calculations/actions using web service calls etc.

OnSave Event

OnSave event occurs after the form is saved. Normally following actions cause the form to be saved

• User clicks the "Save" button
• User clicks the "Save and Close" button
• Other actions also cause the form to be saved, the Save method in the JavaScript
• Xrm.Page.data.entity.save( null | "saveandclose" |"saveandnew" )
• save() - if no parameter is included then it simply saves the record
• save("saveandclose") - save and close the record form
• save("saveandnew") - save current record and open new record form

OnSave event is commonly used for data validation or to perform a specific operation using web services.

The OnSave event can also be cancelled to prevent the data from being saved, following JavaScript code can be used to cancel the save operation.

event.returnValue = false;

return false;

2. Field Events

OnChange Event

OnChange event is available for every field on the form. The OnChange event triggers when the following two actions occur

• The field data changes AND
• The field loses focus

This event is commonly used to do the following

• Display/Hide components on the form
• Mark other fields mandatory or non-mandatory based on this field's value
• Implement dynamics option sets
• Perform calculations/actions using web service calls to change other fields based on changing values
• formatting (e.g phone field)

OnChange event can also be triggered by invoking FireOnChange method for a specific field.

3. Tab Events

TabStateChange Event

TabStateChange event occurs when a tab is expanded or collapsed, implementing this event can defer the execution of code until a tab state is changed.

4. IFRAME Events

OnReadyStateComplete Event

OnReadyStateChange event is the indication that the contents of the IFRAME has been loaded and are available to be accessed in the script. If the script interacts with the IFRAME contents before they are fully loaded, the script will fail.

CRM 2011: Share/Unshare records with a Team or a User using CRM SDK, C#

Sharing and Unsharing records with a Team using Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 SDK (early bound classes). You can also do a slight modification to use this code for sharing records with specific users.

Share Record with Team - Read only Access

public static void TeamShareWithReadAccess(IOrganizationService service, Guid recordId, string recordEntityName, Guid teamId)
        {
            GrantAccessRequest grantAccessRequest = new GrantAccessRequest()
            {
                Target = new EntityReference(recordEntityName, recordId),

                PrincipalAccess = new PrincipalAccess()
                {
                    Principal = new EntityReference(Team.EntityLogicalName, teamId),
                    AccessMask = AccessRights.ReadAccess,
                }
            };

            GrantAccessResponse grantAccessResponse = (GrantAccessResponse)service.Execute(grantAccessRequest);
        }

Share Record with Team - Read-Write Access (+Share, Assign, Append and AppendTo access)

public static void TeamShareWithReadWriteAccess(IOrganizationService service, Guid recordId, string recordEntityName, Guid teamId)

        {

            GrantAccessRequest grantAccessRequest = new GrantAccessRequest()

            {

                Target = new EntityReference(recordEntityName, recordId),

                PrincipalAccess = new PrincipalAccess()

                {

                    Principal = new EntityReference(Team.EntityLogicalName, teamId),

                    AccessMask = AccessRights.ReadAccess | AccessRights.WriteAccess | AccessRights.ShareAccess | AccessRights.AssignAccess | AccessRights.AppendAccess | AccessRights.AppendToAccess,

                }

            };

            GrantAccessResponse grantAccessResponse = (GrantAccessResponse)service.Execute(grantAccessRequest);

        }

Revoke Shared Access from Team

 public static void RevokeTeamShare(IOrganizationService service, Guid recordId, string recordEntityName, Guid teamId)

        {

            RevokeAccessRequest revokeAccessRequest = new RevokeAccessRequest()

            {

                Target = new EntityReference(recordEntityName, recordId),

                Revokee = new EntityReference(Team.EntityLogicalName, teamId)

            };

            RevokeAccessResponse revokeAccessResponse = (RevokeAccessResponse)service.Execute(revokeAccessRequest);

        }

CRM 2011: Auditing Features

Why Need Auditing ?

Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 offers auditing features and there are many reasons for an organisation wanting to audit business data.

 Some are:

• Analyse user actions to improve business processes
• For maintaining history of the business data
• To comply with legal regulations
• To maintain security

Levels of Auditing 

There are three levels of Auditing in Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011

• Organisation
• Entity
• Field

Supported Features

• Organisation Level
• Audit of Areas (Sales, Marketing, Service)
• Audit of audit events
• Audit log deletion
• Entity Level
• Audit of custom and customizable entities
• Audit of create, update and delete events of records
• Audit of changes to the shared privileges of a record
• Audit of relationships (1:N, N:1, N:N) - Associations or disassociations
• Audit of privilege changes (changes to security roles)
• Field Level
• Audit of fields of custom and customizable entities
• Audit of update event of fields

Unsupported Features

• CRM cannot audit/log who reads data and when
• this includes reading data on forms, views, reports and data exports
• CRM cannot audit/log changes to metadata, for example renaming a field

Key Concepts

• Auditing can be enabled at Organisation, entity and field levels. CRM will  ONLY start auditing the data when auditing is enabled at the Organisation level (enabling at entity and field level will not start auditing)
• Audit data is stored in a database table, it is not represented as an entity within the Organisation
• Audit data is divided logically into quarterly segments called "Audit Logs", Audit Logs can be individually deleted to free up some space.

Audit Permissions

Only System Administrator and/or System Customizer has rights to enable or disable Auditing at the Organisation level.

Other auditing permissions which can be granted by configuring security roles

• View Audit Partitions
• Delete Audit Partitions
• View Audit History
• View Audit Summary

Refer to Microsoft's documentation for more information.