Sam Jones CRM Corner

Removing Options from the Actions Menu

If you have taken a good look at the 'Actions' menu in Microsoft CRM 4.0, you will see that it is a list of all the things you can do. This is great, in some cases, but catastrophically bad in others. Take the 'Cases' form, see below :

The first thing that struck me when I looked at this was, Oh No!

e.g

The user goes to resolve a case and accidentally hits the delete option instead! I know that there is (mercifully) a check dialogue immediately afterwards, but why is this option there anyway? In a well run organisation, I cant think of a single reason why you would want to delete a case anyway!

So, how do we remove it?

Well, this isnt any way of altering the underlying code, so we have to do this with Javascript in the OnLoad event, but first, we need to find the 'id' of the element in the code. If you 'view source' on the page, you will see that 'Delete Case' is part of a list element [LI] and it's ID is _MIonActionMenuClickdelete112. So, by pasting the following code into the OnLoad event :

//*****************************************************************************

//This code will remove the 'Delete Case' option from the drop down 'Actions' menu

//******************************************************************************

//Get all of the List Elements

var lis = document.getElementsByTagName('LI');

var i = 0;

//Loop through the list items

while (i < lis.length) {

//Don't worry about any list item that doesn't have the title you are looking for.

if (lis[i].getAttribute('id') == '_MIonActionMenuClickdelete112')

{

//Replace the DHTML with blank tags to hide the button

lis[i].outerHTML='<SPAN></SPAN>'

}

i = i + 1;

}

we get this....

Done.

Alternatively, this will do the same thing...

//DEACTIVATE MENU ITEM

if (document.all._MIonActionMenuClickdelete112 != null) 

{

document.all._MIonActionMenuClickdelete112 .style.display = "none";

}

WebException (HTTP 401) thrown in 4.0 plug-ins

Last week I identified a need for an auto-incrementing numbering system and so I hunted around for something to use. At first, I used the old stand by of a basic UTC date conversion but it quickly became apparent that this was inadequate.

So, I came across a free auto-increment counter on this site which uses a plugin. Yay!

I installed the plugin on my development environment and it worked a treat. After some further testing, I then moved it to my Production environment which is where the problems started. No matter what I did, I kept getting a 401 Unauthorised Error. Round and round I went playing with IIS, changing permissions, re-installing the plugin, rebooting until I finally gave up and emailed the writers of the plugin.

Long story short, it seems that there is a bug within CRM 4.0 that causes the plugin to execute permissions using the Organization Friendly Name rather than the Organization Unique Name. Since, like most companies, our friendly name was just that, friendly, complete with spaces, I could see why the plugin was throwing an exception. The exact answer is reproduced below for you interest and also for future reference since this is rather a fundamental bug which could see you throw yourself out of the window in frustration.

 

Problem

The cause of the problem is that the wrong version of the organization name is being passed to the plug-in by the platform. The organization's friendly name is being used instead of the unique name. A friendly name can contain spaces while the unique name cannot. The platform expects an organization's unique name when doing authentication. The organization name is used internally by the CreateCrmService and CreateMetadataService methods of the IPluginExecutionContext class to authenticate the user in Microsoft Dynamics CRM. This problem only occurs if an organization name containing one or more blank spaces was specified when Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 was installed.

Workaround

(Option 1) Use Deployment Manager to change the name of the organization to remove any blank spaces in the organization's display name. You must first disable the organization in Deployment Manager before you can edit the display name in the Edit Organization Wizard. An easy approach to guarantee using a correct organization name is to simply copy the value in the Name field of the wizard and paste it into the Display name field. After making the change in Deployment Manager wizard and clicking the Apply button, enable the organization and reset IIS. This option fixes the problem without requiring any plug-in code changes and does not change plug-in performance.

(Option 2) Do not use the CreateCrmService or CreateMetadataService methods in your plug-in to obtain an ICrmService or IMetadataService instance. Instead, create an instance of the Web service proxy using the CrmService or MetadataService class just as you would if you were calling Web services outside of a plug-in. When setting the CrmAuthenticationTokenValue property, remember to strip out any spaces in the organization name that you have obtained from the IPluginExecutionContext.OrganizationName property which is passed to the plug-in's Execute method. When a hotfix is made available for this bug, you should change your code back to using the CreateCrmService or CreateMetadataService methods for improved plug-in performance. This option will reduce the performance of your plug-in.

The following sample code is taken from the Walkthroughs\Plugin\CS\AccountCreate SDK sample and shows the affected lines of code.

// Create the task on the Microsoft CRM server.

ICrmService service = context.CreateCrmService(true);

service.Create(followup);

Replace the above code with the following code to implement option 2 for the sample plug-in.

// Workaround to bug #33458.

CrmAuthenticationToken token = new CrmAuthenticationToken();

token.AuthenticationType = AuthenticationType.AD;

token.CallerId = context.UserId;

// Remove any blank spaces in the organization's name.

token.OrganizationName = context.OrganizationName.Replace(" ", "");

// Instantiate the CrmService Web service. 

CrmService service = new CrmService();

service.UseDefaultCredentials = true;

service.CrmAuthenticationTokenValue = token;

// Obtain the service Url from the registry.

service.Url = (string)(Registry.LocalMachine.OpenSubKey("Software\\Microsoft\\MSCRM").GetValue("ServerUrl"));

service.Url += "/2007/crmservice.asmx";

// Create the task on the Microsoft CRM server.

service.Create(followup);

You will also need to add a using statement (using Microsoft.Win32) to the sample plug-in.

This same technique applies to any plug-in that is affected by this particular bug.

 

Personally, I favour Option 1 which is to change the Organization Friendly Name to match the Organization Unique Name and hope that Microsoft bring out a hotfix shortly. This is exactly what I did and hey, it works. Option two is something to be aware of if you are developing your own plugin, but for the purposes of my exercise, option 1 would suffice.

The method for implementing Option 1 is the following :

1. Launch Deployment Manager on the Web server

2. Select the Organization, Right Click ->

Disable 3. RightClick Again and Click Edit Organization

4. Change the Organization Name and FriendlyName to be the same

5. Click Next and Finish.

You can view the Knowledge Base article on this issue HERE

New Users Guide for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0

Get your new user guide HERE

The Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 User’s Guide includes all of the basic end-user information available in Help, including documentation on sales, marketing, and customer service features, as well as step-by-step instructions on working with Advanced Find and workflow.

You can also buy a printed book by Redware HERE

How To : Turn on ISV customizations

Just a quick note for reference.

If you would like to add custom menu's and buttons, you must do this under ISV.config. You will need to export the file from the Entity collection, make your modifications and re-insert it into Dynamics.

Once you have done this, you need to enable your customizations by altering the following box.

Settings --> Administration --> System Settings --> Customizations --> Custom Menues and Toolbars

Add the clients that will use your new settings and click <OK>

Remember to take a back up before you do anything. Original ISV below.

Here is a copy

Job done.

Type Id's

Poking around in the code, I found this under :

wwwroot\_static\_common\scripts\Global.js

var None = 0;

var Account = 1;

var ActivityMimeAttachment = 1001;

var ActivityParty = 135;

var ActivityPointer = 4200;

var Annotation = 5;

var AnnualFiscalCalendar = 2000;

var Appointment = 4201;

var AsyncOperation = 4700;

var AttributeMap = 4601;

var BulkDeleteFailure = 4425;

var BulkDeleteOperation = 4424;

var BulkOperation = 4406;

var BulkOperationLog = 4405;

var BusinessUnit = 10;

var BusinessUnitNewsArticle = 132;

var Calendar = 4003;

var CalendarRule = 4004;

var Campaign = 4400;

var CampaignActivity = 4402;

var CampaignResponse = 4401;

var Competitor = 123;

var ResourceGroup = 4007;

var Contact = 2;

var Contract = 1010;

var ContractDetail = 1011;

var ContractTemplate = 2011;

var CustomerAddress = 1071;

var CustomerOpportunityRole = 4503;

var CustomerRelationship = 4502;

var Discount = 1013;

var DiscountType = 1080;

var DisplayString = 4102;

var DocumentIndex = 126;

var DuplicateRule = 4414;

var Email = 4202;

var Equipment = 4000;

var Fax = 4204;

var FixedMonthlyFiscalCalendar = 2004;

var Import = 4410;

var ImportFile = 4412;

var ImportJob = 9107;

var ImportLog = 4423;

var ImportMap = 4411;

var Incident = 112;

var IncidentResolution = 4206;

var Invoice = 1090;

var InvoiceDetail = 1091;

var KbArticle = 127;

var KbArticleComment = 1082;

var KbArticleTemplate = 1016;

var Lead = 4;

var Letter = 4207;

var List = 4300;

var ListMember = 4301;

var MailMergeTemplate = 9106;

var MonthlyFiscalCalendar = 2003;

var Opportunity = 3;

var OpportunityClose = 4208;

var OpportunityProduct = 1083;

var OrderClose = 4209;

var Organization = 1019;

var PhoneCall = 4210;

var PriceLevel = 1022;

var Privilege = 1023;

var Product = 1024;

var ProductPriceLevel = 1026;

var QuarterlyFiscalCalendar = 2002;

var Queue = 2020;

var QueueItem = 2029;

var Quote = 1084;

var QuoteClose = 4211;

var QuoteDetail = 1085;

var RelationshipRole = 4500;

var RelationshipRoleMap = 4501;

var Report = 9100;

var ResourceSpec = 4006;

var Role = 1036;

var SalesLiterature = 1038;

var SalesLiteratureItem = 1070;

var SalesOrder = 1088;

var SalesOrderDetail = 1089;

var SavedQuery = 1039;

var SemiAnnualFiscalCalendar = 2001;

var Service = 4001;

var ServiceAppointment = 4214;

var Site = 4009;

var Subject = 129;

var SystemUser = 8;

var Task = 4212;

var Team = 9;

var Template = 2010;

var Territory = 2013;

var TransactionCurrency = 9105;

var UnresolvedAddress = 2012;

var UoM = 1055;

var UoMSchedule = 1056;

var UserFiscalCalendar = 1086;

var UserQuery = 4230;

var UserSettings = 150;

var WFProcess = 121;

var WFProcessInstance = 122;

var WFActionLog = 1062;

var Workflow = 4703;

// Custom Dialogs

var ServiceRestrictionCalendarRule = 5003;

var TimeOffCalendarRule = 5004;

var HolidayCalendarRule = 5005;

var OccurrenceCalendarRule = 5006;

var RecurrenceCalendarRule = 5007;

var OccurringWorkShift = 5008;

var RecurringWorkShift = 5009;

var NotWorkingWorkShift = 5010;

var ActivityScheduling = 5011;

var AppLicense = 9002;

var AppSalesPerson = 9003;

var AppOfflineFilter = 9004;

var AppWorkflowInstance = 9005;

var ReportPropertyDialog = 9099;

var ScriptErrorDialog = 9200;

var ScriptErrorDetailsDialog = 9201;

var UnresolvedEmailParty = 9206;

var AccountAddress = 1000;

var ContactAddress = 1008;

var BaseAddEntityObjectTypeCode    = 10000;

You can look them up under

http://<yourserver>/sdk/mdbrowser/entity.aspx?entity=<yourentity>

but that really is allot of typing...

Microsoft CRM 4.0 and CSS Styling

Further to the excellent post HERE by Stunnware,  I just wanted to add my $0.10 worth.

CRM uses CSS styling to achieve much of the look and feel of the application. Therefore, it stands to reason that you can change this look and feel to suit yourself. Well, yes and no, so here goes.

Obligatory Warning : This is an unsupported customization. If you wish to do what I have done, I suggest you take a backup of the relevant files for reference. Also, as Stunnware has pointed out, future upgrades and hotfixes may not be applied correctly once you begin customizing the core files so take a backup anyway if you intend to keep your changes. This way, you can always change back temporarily to accommodate a hot fix and then re-install the sliced/diced file when you are ready.

Proof of Concept

Is it in fact possible to change the look and feel of Dynamics?

Judge for yourself....

Well, yes is the answer and by the way (Yech!)

How do you change the Look and Feel?

Well, Stunnware has suggested that you change the individual styling of the classes and paste this into the <head> section of Homepage.aspx under the _root folder. This is fine, but all those classes have to be held somewhere. Well, they are...

Check out wwwroot\_grid\AppGrid.css.aspx (see below)

<%@ Page Language="c#" Inherits="Microsoft.Crm.Application.Pages.Common.CrmStyles"  %>

<%@ OutputCache Duration="60000" Location="Client" VaryByParam="lcid" %>

<%@ Import Namespace="Microsoft.Crm.Application.Pages.Common" %>

table.ms-crm-ListControl

{

behavior: url(/_static/_grid/grid.htc) url(/_static/_grid/appgrid.htc) url(/_static/_grid/presence.htc);

border: solid 1px #6699CC;

height: 100%;

width: 100%;

table-layout: fixed;

background-color:#FFFFFF;

}

table.ms-crm-ListControlEx

{

behavior: url(/_static/_grid/grid.htc) url(/_static/_grid/appgrid.htc)  url(/_static/_grid/presence.htc);

height: 100%;

width: 100%;

table-layout: fixed;

background-color:#FFFFFF;

}

.ms-crm-List-Data

{

table-layout: fixed;

width: 100%;

behavior: url(/_static/_grid/appgrid_defaultdata.htc);

}

.ms-crm-ListArea

{

height: 100%;

width: 100%;

table-layout: fixed;

background-color:#FFFFFF;

}

.ms-crm-List-DataBody

{

HEIGHT:100%;

}

.ms-crm-List-DataBodyEx

{

HEIGHT:auto;

}

.ms-crm-List-DataArea

{

OVERFLOW-X:auto;

OVERFLOW-Y:auto;

width:100%;

height:100%;

background-color: red;

/*background-color: #FFFFFF;*/

}

.ms-crm-List-DataAreaEx

{

OVERFLOW-X:auto;

height:100%;

behavior:    url(/_static/_grid/rowsbeforescrolling.htc);

}

.ms-crm-List-RefreshButton

{

table-layout:        fixed;

height:                20px;

width:                16px;

margin-bottom:        -20px;

table-layout:        fixed;

position:            relative;

display:            none;

}

.ms-crm-List-RightMarker

{

<% if (CrmStyles.IsRightToLeft) { %>

padding-right: 2px;

<% } else { %>

padding-left: 2px;

<% } %>

}

.ms-crm-List-Paging

{

color:        #666666;

<% if (CrmStyles.IsRightToLeft) { %>

text-align: left;

<% } else { %>

text-align: right;

<% } %>

}

a.toolbarbutton

{

text-decoration: none;

border: none;

}

a.toolbarbutton:link img

{

text-decoration: none;

border: none;

}

a.toolbarbutton:visited img

{

text-decoration: none;

border: none;

}

a.toolbarbutton:active img

{

text-decoration: none;

border: none;

}

a.toolbarbutton:hover img

{

text-decoration: none;

border: none;

}

td.ms-crm-List-Sortable

{

<% if (CrmStyles.IsRightToLeft) { %>

padding-right: 8px;

text-align:right;

<% } else { %>

padding-left: 8px;

<% } %>

cursor: hand;

}

th.ms-crm-List-Sortable

{

<% if (CrmStyles.IsRightToLeft) { %>

padding-right: 8px;

text-align:right;

<% } else { %>

padding-left: 8px;

<% } %>

cursor: hand;

}

img.ms-crm-List-Sortable

{

vertical-align: middle;

visibility: hidden;

<% if (CrmStyles.IsRightToLeft) { %>

filter:FlipH();

<% } %>

}

nobr

{

width: 100%;

overflow: hidden;

text-overflow: ellipsis;

<% if (CrmStyles.IsRightToLeft) { %>

text-align:right;

<% } %>

}

.ms-crm-List-Header

{

width: 100%;

height: 21px;

background-color: #F0F0F0;

table-layout: fixed;

border-bottom:1px solid #999999;

}

.ms-crm-List-DataColumnHeader

{

<% if (CrmStyles.IsRightToLeft) { %>

padding-right: 8px;

<% } else { %>

padding-left: 8px;

<% } %>

}

.ms-crm-List-Row

{

padding-top: 1px;

margin-bottom: 1px;

height: 21px;

border-bottom: 1px solid #C4DDFF;

}

.ms-crm-List-DataCell

{

border-bottom: 1px solid #c4ddff;

}

td.ms-crm-List-Disabled

{

border-bottom: 1px solid #dddddd;

cursor:default;

color: #999999;

}

.ms-crm-List-ResizeBar

{

cursor:        col-resize;

behavior:    url(/_static/_grid/columnresize.htc);

}

tr.ms-crm-List-StatusBar

{

height: 22px;

background-color: #F0F0F0;

}

table.ms-crm-List-StatusBar

{

width: 100%;

height: 22px;

table-layout: fixed;

width: 100%;

border-top:1px solid #999999;

}

.ms-crm-List-Index

{

width: 100%;

color: #000000;

cursor:    hand;

text-align: center;

table-layout: fixed;

border-top:    1px solid #999999;

height: 20px;

padding-top:4px;

background-color: #F0F0F0;

behavior: url(/_static/_grid/appgrid_jumpbar.htc);

}

.ms-crm-List-IndexItem

{

font-weight:        <%= GetFontResourceForStyle("AppGrid.css.aspx.TD.previewLabel.font_weight")%>;

color:                #000088;

}

.ms-crm-List-SelectedIndex

{

font-weight:        bold;

color:                #000088;

}

.ms-crm-List-DefaultIndex

{}

.ms-crm-List-Message

{

padding:1;

width:100%;

height:100%;

text-align:center;

COLOR: #999999;

behavior: url(/_static/_grid/appgrid_defaultdata.htc);

}

.ms-crm-List-PreviewLabel

{

vertical-align:    top;

font-weight:    <%= GetFontResourceForStyle("AppGrid.css.aspx.TD.previewLabel.font_weight")%>;

overflow:        hidden;

text-overflow:    ellipsis;

behavior:        url(/_static/_forms/styles/mouseover.htc);

}

.ms-crm-List-Spacer

{

width: 2px;

}

TD.previewData

{

vertical-align:     top;

overflow:        hidden;

text-overflow:    ellipsis;

behavior:        url(/_static/_forms/styles/mouseover.htc);

}

TD.previewDataNum

{

vertical-align:     top;

overflow:        hidden;

text-overflow:    ellipsis;

behavior:        url(/_static/_forms/styles/mouseover.htc);

direction:        ltr;

<% if (CrmStyles.IsRightToLeft) { %>

text-align: right;

<%} %>

}

TD.previewDataDatetime

{

vertical-align:     top;

overflow:        hidden;

text-overflow:    ellipsis;

behavior:        url(/_static/_forms/styles/mouseover.htc);

direction:        ltr;

<% if (CrmStyles.IsRightToLeft) { %>

text-align: right;

<%} %>

}

SPAN.previewDirSpan

{

direction:        ltr;

behavior:        url(/_static/_forms/styles/mouseover.htc);

}

.ms-crm-List-PreviewRow

{

padding:    5px;

height:        auto;

}

.ms-crm-List-Preview

{

width: 100%;

border-left: 1px solid #cccccc;

border-right: 1px solid #cccccc;

border-bottom: 1px solid #999999;

filter: progid:DXImageTransform.Microsoft.Gradient(GradientType=0, StartColorStr=#ffffff, EndColorStr=#EAF1FF);

}

.ms-crm-List-PreviewCell

{

cursor: default;

padding-bottom: 2px;

border-bottom: 1px solid #dddddd;

<% if (CrmStyles.IsRightToLeft) { %>

padding: 0px 17px 2px 0px;

<% } else { %>

padding: 0px 0px 2px 17px;

<% } %>

}

TR.ms-crm-List-SelectedRow

{

padding-top: 1px;

margin-bottom: 1px;

height: 21px;

background-color: #a7cdf0;

color: #000000;

border-bottom: 1px solid #c4ddff;

}

SPAN.gridLui

{

text-decoration:    underline;

cursor:                hand;

}

IMG.ms-crm-Lookup-Item

{

height:                16px;

width:                16px;

vertical-align:        top;

<% if (CrmStyles.IsRightToLeft) { %>

margin-right:        2px;

margin-left:        5px;

<% } else { %>

margin-left:        2px;

margin-right:        5px;

<% } %>

}

IMG.ms-crm-Lookup-PresenceItem

{

height:                12px;

width:                12px;

margin-top:            2px;

vertical-align:        top;

<% if (CrmStyles.IsRightToLeft) { %>

margin-right:        2px;

margin-left:        5px;

<% } else { %>

margin-left:        2px;

margin-right:        5px;

<% } %>

}

col.ms-crm-List-NonDataColumnHeader

{

<% if (CrmStyles.IsRightToLeft) { %>

padding-right:0px;

<% } else { %>

padding-left:0px;

<% } %>

}

.ms-crm-List-StatusBar-Label

{

<% if (CrmStyles.IsRightToLeft) { %>

padding-right:8px;

<% } else { %>

padding-left:8px;

<% } %>

}

nobr.num

{

width: 100%;

overflow: hidden;

text-overflow: ellipsis;

direction: ltr;

}

nobr.datetime

{

width: 100%;

overflow: hidden;

text-overflow: ellipsis;

direction: ltr;

}

So, rather than adding the following to the Homepage.aspx page as suggested in this article which is technically fine.

<script language="JavaScript">

var nobrElements = document.getElementsByTagName("nobr");

if ((nobrElements != null) && (nobrElements.length > 0)) {

    for(var index in nobrElements) {

        var nobr = nobrElements[index];

        if ((nobr.className == "num") && (nobr.parentElement != null) && (nobr.parentElement.tagName == "TD")) { 

            nobr.style.textAlign = "right";

        }

    }

}

</script>

You need to add the following to AppGrid.css.aspx instead.

nobr.num

{

width: 100%;

overflow: hidden;

text-overflow: ellipsis;

direction: ltr;

/*

Added by XXX 17/07/2008 - Alligns numbers - right

*/

text-align:right;

}

 

In my opinion, this method is much neater because you can keep all of your customizations in one place. You can remove the customizations very easily by renaming your cut and shut file to BAK and renaming your backup file to it's original designation. You dont have to interfere with the underlying code of the Homepage.aspx.

Cannot promote E-mail in Dynamics because message is too big

Problem

If you receive e-mail messages from time to time that you cannot track in CRM 4.0.  and you receive an error message stating the message is too big (even if it is only a one word email) then this is the answer.

Solution

Thanks to CRM MVP Michael Höhne who published the solution. It's simple. Just increase the size of the MessageID attribute on the Email entity. It defaults to 100. Michael suggested increasing it to 250. However, other MVPs suggested perhaps an even larger was sometimes necessary.

Quickly Add New Activities within the Form Assistant

Personally, I dont mind clicking the 'follow-up' button on a Form, but some people might. Here is a demonstration of how to show the FollowUp dialogue within the Form Assistant.

First, we want to add this to the OnLoad event of the Accounts Form. Here is what the form looks like normally...

And this is what we want....

So, the first step is to customize the Account Entity Form

1) Go to the form and add a new IFRAME called 'IFRAME_Activities'

 

2) Now for the code....

This piece of code will give you the FollowUp on the Form Assistant on it's own.

//Only use on the edit form

if (crmForm.FormType == 2)

{

    //Set the dropdown to Follow Up

    document.getElementById("followup_context").selected = true;

    //Call the onchange event of the dropdown

    RelatedInformationPane.LoadContextData();

}

Great, but how about the IFRAME with the activities showing?

Try this...

//Only use on the edit form

if (crmForm.FormType == 2)

{

    //Set the dropdown to Follow Up

    document.getElementById("followup_context").selected = true;

    //Call the onchange event of the dropdown

    RelatedInformationPane.LoadContextData();

    //Get the current Account's Id

    var objectId = crmForm.ObjectId;

    //Get the Security Token

    var securityId = crmFormSubmit.crmFormSubmitSecurity.value;

    //Load the iframe

    document.getElementById("IFRAME_Activities").src = "/sfa/accts/areas.aspx?oId="

    + objectId + "&oType=1&security="+ securityId +"&tabSet=areaActivities";

}

 

And the output is this...

 

Not bad, but notice that the filter and tool bars are still active. This can be improved. See my post about displaying related activities within an IFRAME so we can definitely do something about this problem.

Putting the Code all together

By amalgamating the two pieces of code together, we come up with this...

//Only use on the edit form

if (crmForm.FormType == 2)

{

    //Set the dropdown to Follow Up

    document.getElementById("followup_context").selected = true;

    //Call the onchange event of the dropdown

    RelatedInformationPane.LoadContextData();

        //Now show the Current Activities within an IFRAME on the form

        //the first part is to hide the borders

        var frameName = 'IFRAME_Activities';

        var objFrame = document.getElementById(frameName);

        var objWindow = document.frames[frameName];

        objFrame.allowTransparency=true;

        objFrame.onreadystatechange = function () 

        {

        if (objWindow.document.readyState=='complete') 

        {

        objWindow.document.body.style.backgroundColor='transparent';

        if (objWindow.document.getElementsByTagName('BODY')[0]!=null)

        {

        objWindow.document.getElementsByTagName('BODY')[0].style.padding='0px';

        }

        if (objWindow.document.getElementsByTagName('TABLE')[0]!=null) 

        {

        objWindow.document.getElementsByTagName('TABLE')[0].cellPadding='0';

        objWindow.document.getElementsByTagName('TABLE')[0].style.border='0px';

        }

        }

        //hide the Filter bar

        if (objWindow.document.all.AppGridFilterSelector!=null) 

        {

        objWindow.document.all.AppGridFilterSelector.parentElement.parentElement.parentElement.parentElement.parentElement.parentElement.parentElement.children[0].style.display='none';

        }

        //hide the menu bar

        if (objWindow.document.all.mnuBar1 !=null) 

        {

        objWindow.document.all.mnuBar1.parentElement.parentElement.parentElement.parentElement.parentElement.parentElement.parentElement.style.display='none';

        }

        }

        //Get the current Account's Id

    var objectId = crmForm.ObjectId;

    //Get the Security Token

    var securityId = crmFormSubmit.crmFormSubmitSecurity.value;

    //Load the iframe

    document.getElementById("IFRAME_Activities").src = "/sfa/accts/areas.aspx?oId="

    + objectId + "&oType=1&security="+ securityId +"&tabSet=areaActivities";

}

You can place this code within a dedicated function held within a custom code file on IIS or you can just copy and paste it directly into the OnLoad event of the form.

Developer Ramp Up Kit for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0

Ok, so I've been pottering around for the last couple of weeks exploring the CRM interface. I understand that it is very powerful in it's 'out of the box' incarnation, but there is one huge problem with it. Whilst CRM is very customisable and intuitive, it is just not possible to tailor the program to suit every customer without delving into the code, or at least overlaying your own code on top. This is about where I am up to. I want to develop a widget that will use the power of CRM but be able to present data in the way that I want it displayed. CRM is a wonderful interface, but it just doesn't handle queues properly, nor does it do nifty things like flow analysis or trend analysis. I want my widget to do both. Luckily for me, CRM is about as close to 'open source' as Microsoft is willing to get and so there is allot of scope for third party development. To help developers with this, Microsoft have released a number of tools and most of us are familiar with the SDK, but there are also a number of video tutorials out there that I am sure will prove equally useful. To take a look for yourself, visit the link below.

Get you videos here....

Queries, Saved Views and Fetch XML

This is one of those very cool and incredibly useful tips you will want to make a note of.

One of the things that I had to do quite recently, was to change the view that were available to an entity in the GridView. Well, it is just a query afterall, so lets start by going to the Advanced Find button at the top of the page.

 

 

Now, Click the <Find> button to return the results...

Go ahead and build yourself a query. In this case, I want to view all accounts that have activities which are open (dont ask me why, it's a long story). When you are finished, you should have something like this...

Now for the fun bit. Press the F11 Key twice to pop out of Application Mode and paste the following piece of javascript into the resulting URL bar.

javascript:void( new function() { var s=""; function f(p){ s+= p + "=" + eval("advFind." + p) + "\n\n" };f("FetchXml");f("LayoutXml");f("EntityName");f("QueryId");f("QueryObjectType");alert(s) } )

Or this....

javascript:alert(resultRender.FetchXml.value);

But by using the 'prompt' command, this is better...

javascript:prompt("my query:", resultRender.FetchXml.value);

 

Or even this...

Javascript:void( alert( document.getElementsByName("fetchxml")[0].value ))

 

When you hit <enter> you will see the following popup...

This will work for any query. The Advanced Find dialogue is pretty powerful and you can design quite intricate queries with it, but the best of the lot is that you get to see the actual code being output. This lends itself to being embedded in your custom webpages or external websites.

Finally, this can be used to build custom lookups....