How to Install Developer Tool Kit in Visual Studio for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Development Extension

Below are the steps to install the Developer Tool Kit in Visual Studio for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Development Extension

Step 1 – Download the VSIX for Dynamics 365.

This can be downloaded from here. Save it somewhere locally.

Step 2 – Extract the VSIX.

The VSIX is an archive. We need to update a file in there to get it to install. Extract the file. Right click and extract to a subfolder.

Step 3 – Update the VSIX Manifest

With a text editor, update the extension.vsixmanifest file. The existing VSIX will only work up to Visual Studio 2015 (14.0), so you need to update the references from version 14 to version 15. Once complete as shown below, save the file.

Step 4 – Install the VSIX

Because the VSIX was compiled by and for VS 2015, you will get a warning when installing, but it should still install successfully. We won’t be able to get rid of this warning, but just click OK, close and Restart Visual Studio.

Step 5 – Set your Dynamics 365 SDK Paths in Visual Studio

If you haven’t already installed the SDK, download and extract it now. Then go to Tools -> Options -> Dynamics 365 Developer Toolkit -> Tool Paths. Set the paths to point to the plugin registration tool folder and bin folder where you extracted your SDK.

Step 6 – Update the Toolkit dlls with more recent versions from the SDK (Optional)

To avoid some connectivity issues with the Developer Toolkit, I found by replacing the embedded SDK dlls which have an older version than those in the current Dynamics 365 SDK it worked fine. You can do this before installing by updating the packed VSIX and reinstalling. Alternatively you can update post-install by looking for and updating the dlls in the folder C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Local\Microsoft\VisualStudio\14.0\Extensions\<pluginid>

Update these libraries:
Microsoft.Crm.Sdk.Proxy.dll
Microsoft.IdentityModel.Clients.ActiveDirectory.dll
Microsoft.IdentityModel.Clients.ActiveDirectory.WindowsForms.dll
Microsoft.Xrm.Sdk.Deployment.dll
Microsoft.Xrm.Sdk.dll
Microsoft.Xrm.Sdk.Workflow.dll
Microsoft.Xrm.Tooling.Connector.dll
Microsoft.Xrm.Tooling.CrmConnectControl.dll
Microsoft.Xrm.Tooling.Ui.Styles.dll
Microsoft.Xrm.Tooling.WebResourceUtility.dll

Cheers !!

Console Application to Connect to Microsoft Dynamics 365

Often times we get the situations where we need to perform some checks of doing some operations which can’t be achieved from the front end in Microsoft Dynamics 365. To overcome this we can create a console application and do the operations are required.

Below are the steps to create the console application to connect to Microsoft Dynamics 365 online.

Step 1: Open the visual studio and create the new console application project.

Step 2: Install the NuGet Packages from package manager console in Visual Studio.

Path Tools -> NuGet Package Manager -> Package Manager Console

1. Install-Package Microsoft.CrmSdk.XrmTooling.CoreAssembly -Version 9.0.0.7
2. Install-Package Microsoft.CrmSdk.CoreAssemblies -Version 9.0.0.7

Step 3: Add the References as Required.

Below is the Sample:

using System; using System.Collections.Generic; using System.Linq; using System.Text; using System.Threading.Tasks; using System.Configuration; using Microsoft.Xrm.Sdk; using Microsoft.Xrm.Sdk.Messages; using Microsoft.Xrm.Sdk.Query; using Microsoft.Xrm.Tooling.Connector;

Step 4: Create the connection string in App.config in the project.

connectionString=”Url=https://.crm.dynamics.com; Username=admin@.onmicrosoft.com; Password=qwerty; authtype=Office365″/>

Step 5: Get the connection string in the class.

string ConnectionString = ConfigurationManager.ConnectionStrings[“CRMConn”].ConnectionString; CrmServiceClient connection = new Microsoft.Xrm.Tooling.Connector.CrmServiceClient(connectionString); if (conection.IsReady) { // Perform Additional Actions Here }

Step 6: Get the organization service.

IOrganizationService crmService = connection.OrganizationServiceProxy;

Step 7: Add the logic as required and run the program.

This concludes the creation of console application basic for connecting to Dynamics 365.

Cheers!!

Fetch XML in Microsoft Dynamics 365

FetchXML is a XML based query language used in Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM to fetch data. FetchXML is capable of doing many things as explained below.

• Can only be used to retrieve data not able to perform CUD (Create/Update/Delete) operation.
  
• Can be used in JavaScript to retrieve data in client side also used in server side code to retrieve data.
  
• Can perform Aggregations such as Sum, Average, Minimum, Maximum, Count(*), Count(attributename).
  
• Supports Linked entity data retrieval with conditions, filters, GroupBy, Sorting
  
• Can fetch 5000 record data at a time and supports paging concept to fetch more records page by page.
  
• Can be saved in user query entity as user owned view and saved query entity as organization owned view.
  
• Can also be used in SSRS query in Reporting.
  
• Supports aliased name for attributes retrieved.
  
• Supports similar query capabilities as query expressions.
  
• Can be executed by using the RetrieveMultiple method.
  
• Can be downloaded/saved from Advance Find query.
  

  Here is a list of sample FetchXML Queries given below.
  

  Every day we use fetchXML in development. So here i have given a list of ready-made fetchXMLs which you can use by modifying the code as per your business requirement. FetchXML query should validated by the xsd schema.
  

   
   

  Retrieve all attributes of account entity   <fetch mapping=’logical’>   <entity name=’account’>    <all-attributes/>   </entity> </fetch>

  Retrieve selected attributes of account entity   <fetch mapping=’logical’> <entity name=’account’> <attribute name=’accountid’/> <attribute name=’name’/> </entity> </fetch>

  Retrieve records of account entity with filter condition   <fetch mapping=’logical’> <entity name=’account’> <attribute name=’accountid’/> <attribute name=’name’/> <filter type=’and’>   <condition attribute=’name’ operator=’ne’ value=’Softchief’ /> </filter> </entity> </fetch>

  Retrieve contract records using linkedentity with customer using filter condition in linked entity   <fetch mapping=’logical’> <entity name=’contract’> <attribute name=’title’/> <attribute name=’customerid’/> <link-entity name=’contact’ from=’contactid’ to=’customerid’> <filter type=’and’> <condition attribute=’lastname’ operator=’eq’ value=’Pradhan’ /> </filter> </link-entity> </entity> </fetch>

  Limit the Maximum (Lets Say 5)Number Of Records to be retrieved in contact entity.   <fetch mapping=’logical’ count=’5′> <entity name=’contact’> <attribute name=’name’ /> </entity> </fetch>

  Limit the Maximum (Lets Say 5)Number Of Records to be retrieved in contact entity.   <fetch mapping=’logical’ count=’5′> <entity name=’contact’> <attribute name=’name’ /> <attribute name=’lastname’ /> </entity> </fetch>

  Use of Inner Join in FetchXML   <fetch version=’1.0′ mapping=’logical’ distinct=’false’> <entity name=’contact’> <attribute name=’fullname’/> <link-entity name=’account’ to=’parentcustomerid’ from=’accountid’ link-type=’inner’> <attribute name=’name’/> </link-entity> </entity> </fetch>

  Use of Left Outer Join in FetchXML   <fetch mapping=’logical’> <entity name=’account’> <attribute name=’name’ /> <link-entity name=’lead’ from=’leadid’ to=’originatingleadid’ link-type=’outer’ /> <filter type=’and’> <condition entityname=’lead’ attribute=’leadid’ operator=’null’ /> </filter> </entity> </fetch>

  Use Avarage Aggregate in FetchXML   <fetch distinct=’false’ mapping=’logical’ aggregate=’true’> <entity name=’opportunity’> <attribute name=’estimatedvalue’ alias=’estimatedvalue_avg’ aggregate=’avg’ /> </entity> </fetch>

  Count No. of records retrieved in FetchXML   <fetch distinct=’false’ mapping=’logical’ aggregate=’true’> <entity name=’opportunity’> <attribute name=’name’ alias=’opportunity_count’ aggregate=’count’/> </entity> </fetch>

  Using “older than” clauses for date and time values in FetchXML Query   <fetch> <entity name=”incident”> <attribute name=”title” /> <attribute name=”ticketnumber” /> <attribute name=”createdon” /> <attribute name=”incidentid” /> <filter type=”and”> <condition attribute=”createdon” operator=”olderthan-x-minutes” value=”40″ /> </filter> </entity> </fetch>

  fiscal-period FetchXML Query   <fetch aggregate=”true”> <entity name=”order”> <attribute name=”totalamount” aggregate=”sum” alias=”total”/> <attribute name=”datefulfilled” groupby=”true” dategrouping=”fiscal-period”/> </entity> </fetch>

  Order by in FetchXML Query   <fetch distinct=’false’ mapping=’logical’ aggregate=’true’> <entity name=’opportunity’> <attribute name=’opportunityid’ alias=’opportunity_count’ aggregate=’count’/> <attribute name=’estimatedvalue’ alias=’estimatedvalue_sum’ aggregate=’sum’/> <attribute name=’estimatedvalue’ alias=’estimatedvalue_avg’ aggregate=’avg’/> <attribute name=’actualclosedate’ groupby=’true’ dategrouping=’quarter’ alias=’quarter’ /> <attribute name=’actualclosedate’ groupby=’true’ dategrouping=’year’ alias=’year’ /> <order alias=’year’ descending=’false’ /> <order alias=’quarter’ descending=’false’ /> <filter type=’and’> <condition attribute=’statecode’ operator=’eq’ value=’Won’ /> </filter> </entity> </fetch>

  Order by in FetchXML Query   <fetch distinct=’false’ mapping=’logical’ aggregate=’true’> <entity name=’opportunity’> <attribute name=’opportunityid’ alias=’opportunity_count’ aggregate=’count’/> <attribute name=’estimatedvalue’ alias=’estimatedvalue_sum’ aggregate=’sum’/> <attribute name=’estimatedvalue’ alias=’estimatedvalue_avg’ aggregate=’avg’/> <attribute name=’actualclosedate’ groupby=’true’ dategrouping=’quarter’ alias=’quarter’ /> <attribute name=’actualclosedate’ groupby=’true’ dategrouping=’year’ alias=’year’ /> <order alias=’year’ descending=’false’ /> <order alias=’quarter’ descending=’false’ /> <filter type=’and’> <condition attribute=’statecode’ operator=’eq’ value=’Won’ /> </filter> </entity> </fetch>

  List of Operators used in FetchXML are given below.
  

  FetchXML Operator	ConditionOperator	Description
  like	BeginsWith	The string occurs at the beginning of another string.
  between	Between	The value is between two values.
  like	Contains	The string contains another string.
  not-like	DoesNotBeginWith	The string does not begin with another string.
  not-like	DoesNotContain	The string does not contain another string.
  not-like	DoesNotEndWith	The string does not end with another string.
  like	EndsWith	The string ends with another string.
  eq	Equal	The values are compared for equality.
  eq-businessid	EqualBusinessId	The value is equal to the specified business ID.
  eq-userid	EqualUserId	The value is equal to the specified user ID.
  eq-userteams	EqualUserTeams	The record is owned by teams that the user is a member of.
  ge	GreaterEqual	The value is greater than or equal to the compared value.
  gt	GreaterThan	The value is greater than the compared value.
  in	In	TheThe value exists in a list of values.
  in-fiscal-period	InFiscalPeriod	The value is within the specified fiscal period.
  in-fiscal-period-and-year	InFiscalPeriodAndYear	The value is within the specified fiscal period and year.
  in-fiscal-year	InFiscalYear	The value is within the specified year.
  in-or-after-fiscal-period-and-year	InOrAfterFiscalPeriodAndYear	The value is within or after the specified fiscal period and year.
  in-or-before-fiscal-period-and-year	InOrBeforeFiscalPeriodAndYear	The value is within or before the specified fiscal period and year.
  last-seven-days	Last7Days	The value is within the last seven days including today.
  last-fiscal-period	LastFiscalPeriod	The value is within the last fiscal period.
  last-fiscal-year	LastFiscalYear	The value is within the last fiscal year.
  last-month	LastMonth	The value is within the last month including first day of the last month and last day of the last month.
  last-week	LastWeek	The value is within the previous week including Sunday through Saturday.
  last-x-days	LastXDays	The value is within last X days.
  last-x-fiscal-periods	LastXFiscalPeriods	The value is within the last X (specified value) fiscal periods.
  last-x-fiscal-years	LastXFiscalYears	The value is within the last X (specified value) fiscal periods.
  last-x-hours	LastXHours	The value is within the last X hours.
  last-x-months	LastXMonths	The value is within the last X (specified value) months.
  last-x-weeks	LastXWeeks	The value is within the last X (specified value) weeks.
  last-x-years	LastXYears	The value is within the last X years.
  last-year	LastYear	The value is within the previous year.
  le	LessEqual	The value is less than or equal to the compared value.
  lt	LessThan	The value is less than the compared value.
  like	Like	The character string is matched to the specified pattern.
  next-seven-days	Next7Days	The value is within the next seven days.
  next-fiscal-period	NextFiscalPeriod	The value is within the next fiscal period.
  next-fiscal-year	NextFiscalYear	The value is within the next fiscal year.
  next-month	NextMonth	The value is within the next month.
  next-week	NextWeek	The value is within the next week.
  next-x-days	NextXDays	The value is within the next X (specified value) days.
  next-x-fiscal-periods	NextXFiscalPeriods	The value is within the next X (specified value) fiscal period.
  next-x-fiscal-years	NextXFiscalYears	The value is within the next X (specified value) fiscal years.
  next-x-hours	NextXHours	The value is within the next X (specified value) hours.
  next-x-months	NextXMonths	The value is within the next X (specified value) months.
  next-x-weeks	NextXWeeks	The value is within the next X weeks.
  next-x-years	NextXYears	The value is within the next X years.
  next-year	NextYear	The value is within the next year.
  not-between	NotBetween	The value is not between two values.
  ne	NotEqual	The two values are not equal.
  ne-businessid	NotEqualBusinessId	The value is not equal to the specified business ID.
  ne-userid	NotEqualUserId	The value is not equal to the specified user ID.
  not-in	NotIn	The given value is not matched to a value in a subquery or a list.
  not-like	NotLike	The character string does not match the specified pattern.
  not-null	NotNull	The value is not null.
  ne	NotOn	The value is not on the specified date.
  null	Null	The value is null.
  olderthan-x-months	OlderThanXMonths	The value is older than the specified number of months.
  on	On	The value is on a specified date.
  on-or-after	OnOrAfter	The value is on or after a specified date.
  on-or-before	OnOrBefore	The value is on or before a specified date.
  this-fiscal-period	ThisFiscalPeriod	The value is within the current fiscal period.
  this-fiscal-year	ThisFiscalYear	The value is within the current fiscal year.
  this-month	ThisMonth	The value is within the current month.
  this-week	ThisWeek	The value is within the current week.
  this-year	ThisYear	The value is within the current year.
  today	Today	The value equals today’s date.
  tomorrow	Tomorrow	The value equals tomorrow’s date.
  yesterday	Yesterday	The value equals yesterday’s date.

  List of older than clauses in a FetchXML expression
  

  Older than X minutes

  Older than X hours

  Older than X days

  Older than X weeks

  Older than X months

  Older than X years

   
   

  How to Retrieve Data using Fetch XML in server side (Sample given below)

  // Retrieve all accounts owned by the user with read access rights to the accounts and // where the last name of the user is not Cannon. string varFetchXML = @”    <fetch mapping=’logical’>      <entity name=’account’>         <attribute name=’accountid’/>         <attribute name=’name’/>         <link-entity name=’systemuser’ to=’owninguser’>            <filter type=’and’>               <condition attribute=’lastname’ operator=’ne’ value=’Cannon’ />            </filter>         </link-entity>      </entity>    </fetch> “;     EntityCollection result =     _serviceProxy.RetrieveMultiple(new FetchExpression(varFetchXML));     foreach (var c in result.Entities)   {      System.Console.WriteLine(c.Attributes[“name”]);   }

  How to Retrieve Data using Fetch XML in client side using WebAPI(Sample given below)

  var fetchXml = “<fetch version=’1.0′ output-format=’xml-platform’ mapping=’logical’ distinct=’false’>”+  “<entity name=’account’>”+  “<attribute name=’name’ />”+  “<attribute name=’primarycontactid’ />”+  “<attribute name=’telephone1′ />”+  “<attribute name=’accountid’ />”+  “<order attribute=’name’ descending=’false’ />”+  “<filter type=’and’>”+  “<condition attribute=’name’ operator=’like’ value=’C%’ />”+  “</filter>”+  “</entity>”+ “</fetch>”; var encodedFetchXml = encodeURI(fetchXml);     var queryPath = “/api/data/v8.0/accounts?fetchXml=” + encodedFetchXml; var requestPath = Xrm.Page.context.getClientUrl() + queryPath;     var req = new XMLHttpRequest(); req.open(“GET”, requestPath, true); req.setRequestHeader(“Accept”, “application/json”); req.setRequestHeader(“Content-Type”, “application/json; charset=utf-8”); req.onreadystatechange = function () { if (this.readyState === 4) { this.onreadystatechange = null;     if (this.status === 200) { var returned = JSON.parse(this.responseText); var results = returned.value;     for (var i = 0; i < results.length; i++) { var accountName = results[i][“name”]; var primaryContactId = results[i][“_primarycontactid_value”]; var telephone = results[i][“telephone1”]; var accountId = results[i][“accountid”]; //TODO: Implement logic for handling results as desired } } else { alert(this.statusText); } } }; req.send();

   

  How to Put Parameters in Fetch XML
  

  string fetchNotifications = @” <fetch version=’1.0′ output-format=’xml-platform’ mapping=’logical’ distinct=’false’> <entity name=’new_notification’> <attribute name=’new_notificationid’ /> <attribute name=’new_name’ /> <attribute name=’createdon’ /> <attribute name=’new_isread’ /> <order attribute=’new_name’ descending=’false’ /> <filter type=’and’> <condition attribute=’new_contact’ operator=’eq’ value='”+ contactId + @”‘/> </filter> </entity> </fetch> “;