Overview: After much wait, the new Email feature in the Unified Interface is finally here. So this blog is about what all the new Email functionality can do in the Unified Interface. This feature is only for the Unified Interface. Now, you can see the Email button appearing on the ribbon. In the To field, you can select the record type in more intuitive way without having to load the Lookup view. Rich Text Editing: Now, the new Unified Interface offers Rich Text Editing capabilities wherein you can add new media to your email body. HTML Preview: Even you get to see the HTML preview of your email Preview of the Email You’d definitely want to see what goes out before sending the email out. You can also preview the final email before sending the same. Email: And this is how it looks when received by the recipient Hope this helps to a great start in email editing in D365!

Introduction: Reports are used to see summary of data.  We also set parameter to filter data but at times we don’t want to filter using a parameter and keep it as blank. By default, parameter values are always mandatory in D365 Finance and Operations, Enterprise Edition. In this blog article, we will see how we set property to allow null values to a parameter in SSRS Report. Steps: Go to Report -> Parameters. Select the Parameter which you don’t want to be mandatory. Go to Properties -> Nullable. Set the value to True. This will allow you to pass null value. This is how you can make the report parameter as optional.

Introduction: This blog consists of information on how you can find the triggering parameter of the Workflow. Scenario: There are many workflows on update of a record and which workflow is triggering for which fields and on which fields the workflow is dependent on. It may be handy to identify which fields are being used to trigger workflows. You would open each workflow and check or you could click field in every entity and Check Dependencies. But there is much easier way for it. Solution: We can make use of Advance Find on the Process Entity. There are some fields like 1) Trigger On Update Attribute List 2)Trigger On Create 3) Trigger On Delete 4) Is Child Process This fields can be useful in many ways. Trigger On Update Attribute List has a field list separated by comma. This are the fields on which the workflow triggers.

Introduction: Dynamics 365 for Retail Provides Modern POS functionality (MPOS). It supports online as well as offline mode. The blog describes the configuration and Installation of MPOS step by step. Steps: Step 1: Go to Retail -> Channels -> Retail Stores -> All Retail Stores Select the Store for which you want to configure MPOS. In my case I have selected the warehouse. Step 2: On right hand side Go to registers and select which register you want for that particular store. Double click on the register Step 3: Under General Fast Tab, Enable Support Offline and Double click on the Device Please Note: If Device is not set for the register of the store. Go to Devices and assign a device of type Retail Modern POS to the register. Step 4: Click on Download and select the Configuration file Step 5: When the download starts click on save or the browser will automatically download it. Step 6: Again Go to Download and now select the Retail Modern POS Step 7: Once the download starts click on Save and then click on Run. This completes the installation of Modern POS  

Introduction: Let’s consider a scenario where we need to raise an expense entry for a Fixed Bid project. PSA by definition does not charge for expenses. If you want to have fixed price for the project and expense to be charged for other things, you need to do it via adjusting the contract. Steps: Follow the steps below to prepare the contract: Prepare a contract and add a Fixed Bid project with “Time” and “Fee” as the option shown below: Add another line and create another Time and Material Type project and select “Expenses” as the option. You will have to inform the team to select the right project while raising the expense, that is the T&M one. Now when you create the invoice via that contract, you will get your milestone as well as the expenses coming up in the same invoice as shown below.

Introduction: By default, Dynamics 365 online sets user time out 24 hours. In that case a user not required to login in up to 24 hours regardless or active or inactive. Applicable for- Applies to Dynamics 365 (online), version 9.0 Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2016 (on-premises, version 8.2) Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2016 (on-premises, version 8.1) User session timeout: Earlier there was no configuration provided to set the session timeout. Dynamics 365 with specified version have provision to set the session timeout. To enforce the users to re-authenticate after pre-defined time, this can be set by admin. Once the specified time is passes the user will logoff automatically from the system. Configure session timeout: To configure the session timeout, you need to follow the below path and set the time Dynamics 365 -> settings -> Administrator -> System Settings -> General tab By default, it is set to 1440 minutes and maximum value as well. If you want to set session time out as per you convince then you need to select the option “Set Custom” and specify the desire value. You can also specify time for warning message before the session timeouts. Inactivity timeout: By any reason a user forgot to logoff from his system then if Dynamics 365 detects the ideal mode then it will logoff the user automatically after certain period. Configure inactivity timeout: To configure the session inactivity timeout, you need to follow below path and set time Dynamics 365 -> settings -> Administrator -> System Settings -> General tab By default, “session timeout” is inactive and not enabled. If you want to configure inactive timeout, you need to enable it from general tab as shown below point no 6. Session timeout section: Minimum duration for inactivity is 5 minutes and maximum duration of inactivity is 1440. Conclusion: It is good practice to have session timeout and inactive timeout, which will provide security to data.

Introduction: In this blog article, we will be showing how use fetch XML to retrieve multiple records with the new Web API in Dynamics 365 version 9.0 Implementation: Step 1: The retrieveMultipleRecords() method retrieves a collection of entity records. The basic syntax is as follows: Xrm.WebApi.retrieveMultipleRecords(entityLogicalName,options,maxPageSize).then(successCallback, errorCallback); Here the options parameter refers to the query that will decide the data which has to be retrieved from the system. We will be using the fetchXml attribute  to specify a FetchXML query  to retrieve contacts of a specific account. The maxPageSize indicates number of records to be returned per page. If this is not specified the default value is 5000. In this example we have not specified the maxPageSize. Step 2:  First we write the code and upload it as a JavaScript web resource. Code var scripting = { retrieveMultipleContacts(executioncontext) { debugger; var formContext = executioncontext.getFormContext(); var accountId = formContext.data.entity.getId(); var fetchXml = “<fetch version=’1.0′ output-format=’xml-platform’ mapping=’logical’ distinct=’false’><entity name=’contact’ ><attribute name=’fullname’ /><attribute name=’telephone1′ /><attribute name=’contactid’ /><order attribute=’fullname’ descending=’false’ /><filter type=’and’><condition attribute=’parentcustomerid’ operator=’eq’ uitype=’account’ value ='” + accountId + “‘ /></filter></entity ></fetch > “; Xrm.WebApi.retrieveMultipleRecords(“contact”, “fetchXml= ” + fetchXml).then( function success(result) { for (var i = 0; i < result.entities.length; i++) { console.log(result.entities[i]); } }, function (error) { console.log(error.message); } ); } }; Here we take the execution context as the input parameter and we get the form context using the getFormContext() method. This method returns a reference to the form or an item on the form. Using the formContext we get get the account id which is used to fetch the contacts of that specific account. Step 3: On the account form, in  the form properties we set the Event to OnSave as shown below. Step 4: In the handler properties we set the function name, in our case it is scripting.retrieveMultipleContacts. And it is important to check the “Pass execution context as the first parameter” checkbox as shown below. Step 5: We see that the account A. Datum Corporation (sample) has two contacts. Step 6:  The script runs when the form is saved and while debugging we can see in the console, two contacts are returned in the results. We get the the attributes that were present in the FetchXML query. Hope this article was helpful!

Introduction: This blog is the continuation of Part 1 and it will show you the code that are required for the action to work and the workflows created in CRM. Steps: 1. Add a button on marketing list using Ribbon Workbench and script which calls the action. 2. Create an action “MailChimpBatchCreateCall” that triggers on Sync button click. When the button is clicked, action is called using JavaScript. This action Retrieves configuration and Marketing list records from CRM and add the members to Mail Chimp Marketing list by Mail Chimp API Call (Batch request). The code to be included in the action is given below: This is a POST request as we are creating list members in MainChimp using (WebClientEx client = new WebClientEx()) { string authorizationKey = string.Empty; authorizationKey = Convert.ToBase64String(ASCIIEncoding.ASCII.GetBytes(string.Format(CultureInfo.InvariantCulture, “{0}:{1}”, username, api))); client.Timeout = 60000; client.Headers.Add(HttpRequestHeader.ContentType, “application/json”); client.Headers.Add(HttpRequestHeader.Authorization, “Basic ” + authorizationKey); tracer.Trace(“jsonData: ” + jsonData); createBatchResponseJSON = client.UploadString(basicURL, jsonData); } tracer.Trace(“createBatchResponse :” + createBatchResponseJSON); Model.MailChimpContactCreateBatchResponse createBatchResponse = GetInfoFromJSON(createBatchResponseJSON); CreateMailChimpSyncRecord(createBatchResponse, tracer, service, marketinglistid); The JSON request to be passed is given below: The JSON response for the BATCH call is given below: 3. Create an action “MailChimp status” which triggers on MailChimp Sync record creation. Mail Chimp API call is made to get the status of the synchronization process. Batch ID is the unique value which helps to retrieve the status of sync call. If status is finished, sync process is completed. The code to be included in the action is given below: This is a GET request to check the status and update the status record in CRM. //// Call the web service using (WebClientEx client = new WebClientEx()) { string authorizationKey = string.Empty; authorizationKey = Convert.ToBase64String(ASCIIEncoding.ASCII.GetBytes(string.Format(CultureInfo.InvariantCulture, “{0}:{1}”, username, api))); basicURL = basicURL + “/” + batchId; HttpWebRequest request = (HttpWebRequest)WebRequest.Create(basicURL); request.Accept = “application/json”; request.Method = “GET”; request.Headers.Add(“Authorization”, “Basic ” + authorizationKey); using (HttpWebResponse response = (HttpWebResponse)request.GetResponse()) using (Stream stream = response.GetResponseStream()) using (StreamReader reader = new StreamReader(stream)) { getBatchResponseJSON = reader.ReadToEnd(); } } tracer.Trace(“createBatchResponse :” + getBatchResponseJSON); Model.MailChimpContactCreateBatchResponse createBatchResponse = GetInfoFromJSON(getBatchResponseJSON); //// Update the MailChimp Sync record with new status UpdateMailChimpSyncRecord(createBatchResponse, tracer, service, currentRecord.Id); The JSON response for the GET request is given below: 4. Create workflows that keep on checking the status of the batch call. The initial batch call is a sync process and we get a status showing no. of record finished and pending. Thus, the syncing process takes place in background. Therefore, we need to create workflows to keep on checking in specific interval. In the initial call, we have kept waiting time of 5 min and then kept waiting time of 1 hour and called the same workflow again till we get the status of batch call as “finished”. a. Main Workflow: b. Child Workflow 1 Check Mail Chimp Sync. c. Child Workflow 2 Check Mail Chimp Sync. For more code details, you can refer the GitHub link. Hope it help you and thus we can integrate the CRM with Mailchimp and make use of MailChimp API calls listed in their documentation. Members can be added individually or by using the batch operations. You can refer the below links from MaiChimp  which shows how we can make individual and batch calls. i. Creating a new member ii. Batch Operations

Introduction: In Dynamics 365 New Modules are created using Menu. This is Customization in Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations. Steps: Following are the Steps of Implementation: Step 1: Create a Menu Item Add a new Item to your Project .  Under Dynamics 365 Items go to User Interface.  Select Display Menu Item and give appropriate name to it. Now open the Designer and Set the Properties of the Menu Item. Set the label Name for the Menu Item, Specify the Object to Run under Object. Refer this Menu Item under the Properties of Menu. Step 2: Create a Menu Add a new Item to your Project Under Dynamics 365 Items go to User Interface Select Menu and give appropriate name to it. Now open the Designer and Set the Properties of the Menu. Set the Label Name for the Menu under Appearance and Menu Item name under Data. Step 3: Link the Menu Item under Menu Open the Menu  Drag and drop the Display Menu Item from the Solution Explorer to the Menu. Step 4: Display the New Module Open the AOT and expand the Main Menu. Right click and click on Create Extension. You will be able to see the MainMenu.Extension in your solution Explorer. Rename it and open in Designer. Right click on the MainMenu.Extension and add new Menu Reference. Rename the Reference Menu and set its Properties. Set the Menu Name to the Menu Created in Step 2 Compile your Project You can see your Module in the Main Menu.

Introduction: This blog explains how to Connect with Dynamics 365 and use Lookup Field of Dynamics CRM in PowerApps. Steps for Creating Connection to Dynamics 365: Go to https://web.powerapps.com Create a new Connection with Dynamics 365. Click  on  New Connection and search for Dynamics 365. Select Dynamics 365  and click on  Create. Enter the Credentials for the Connection. Steps for Creating an App: Go to App and Click on Create an App. Under Start with your data select Phone Layout for Dynamics 365. Now Select Connection and choose a  dataset from that Connection. Select the Entity from the list. Click on Connect. PowerApps will create Browse, Details and Edit screen for you. Browse Screen: You can search for the record and see all the records which are created. Detail Screen: It gives details of record which is selected in Browse Screen. Edit Screen: You can create or update the records from this Screen. Important : The current Dynamics 365 connector does not support lookup or option set data types. so we’ll demonstrate how we worked around the lookup limitation. Example: For contact entity there is Lookup field for accounts.To use Lookup Datatype in contacts for account you must add account entity also in PowerApps. Steps for adding Account Entity: Go to View -> Data Source -> Select the Connection Choose Dataset->Select Account Entity ->Connect. Now Make changes on each screen so that you get account name instead of GUID of account entity. Browse Screen: Select the field in which you want to display account name. Under Text Property of that field write : LookUp(Accounts , accountid = ThisItem._parentcustomerid_value , name) Now it will return the name of Account instead of GUID. Detail Screen: Select the field in which you want to display account name. Under Text Property of that field write : LookUp(Accounts, accountid = ThisItem._parentcustomerid_value ,  name) Now it will return the name of Account instead of GUID. Edit Screen: Steps: Create a new Blank screen name it as account lookup. Add Gallery control inside Blank Screen and set its items property to accounts. Select the next arrow and set its OnSelect property to : ClearCollect( Selectedaccount, { Account: Gallery1.Selected } ); Back()  Now Go back to Edit Screen Select  the Data Card of Company Name and Go on Advanced Properties and Unlock the Data Card. After Unlocking the Data Card Add search icon inside the Data Card. Now select that Data Card of Company Name and set its Default value to:If(IsBlank(First(Selectedaccount).Account.accountid ) , ThisItem._parentcustomerid_value , First(Selectedaccount).Account.accountid ) Select the Data Card value of Company Name and set its Default value to:LookUp(Accounts, accountid= ThisItem._parentcustomerid_value , name) Select the Data Card and set its update Property to:Gallery1.Selected.accountid Select the search icon and set its OnSelect property to:Navigate(‘account lookup’,ScreenTransition.Fade) Select the Data Card of Company Name Type field and set its Default value to: “accounts” Select the form and set its OnSuccess Property to:Clear(Selectedaccount);Back() Select the Cancel icon and set its OnSelect Property to:Clear(Selectedaccount);ResetForm(EditForm1);Back()