Introduction: This blog explains how to hide custom buttons on create form in D365. Problem Statement: We often get requirement from Client to hide custom buttons on Create record and to be shown on updating of record. Solution: We can achieve this functionality by having ribbon Customization with Enable Rules using FormStateRule. Steps of Implementation: 1. Create a new Command. 2.  Create a new Enable Rule. 3.  Create a new FormStateRule. 4.  Set Enable Rule on Command. 5.  Set Command on Button. Conclusion: Below image confirms button is hidden on Create Record and it is shown on Update Record. Create Record: Update Record:

Introduction: Like asynchronous workflows, real-time workflows can be used to model and automate real world business processes. Real-time workflows are for business users, for example business analysts, to implement similar functionality to synchronous plug-ins without requiring .NET Framework programming experience. How to use Real time Workflows for Custom Business Validations: Real time workflows can be used to not only implement business logic in Dynamics, but also simple and complex validations in the business flow. Let us understand this using 2 examples: Example 1: We have a business Validation that leads with employee size less than 100 should not be allowed to qualify. Earlier, we used to do this either from JS form scripting or using Plugin. But we can also use Real time workflow to achieve this, and it can throw a validation message as well to user. 1. For it to throw a validation message, we need to stop the workflow and select reason as cancelled. Then we can set the status reason as the message we want to display the user. 2. This is what the User will see if he/ she tries to qualify a lead with employee size less than 100. 3. This is the workflow that we configured: 4. You can specify the validation message in the Stop Workflow properties. Please note that Status of “Stop Workflow” should be cancelled for users to see the message. Example 2: We can have more complex validations as well using Real time workflow. 1. For example, Lets say we don’t want the opportunity to be Won unless the Account (Customer) has Credit limit greater than the Opportunity Budget Amount. We can configure this condition as well in Workflow. Refer Screenshot below: 2. And the End user will see the error message as below when he/ she tries to mark the opportunity as Won when the customer’s credit limit is less than the Opportunity Budget. Conclusion: Real time workflows are very powerful, and can be leveraged to perform server side validations in Dynamics CRM, along with real time CRUD operations and Email messages.  

Introduction: In this blog, we shall see how can a user create an Entity List OData Feed using custom JavaScript in CRM Portals. Pre-Requisites: D365 CRM Portals D365 CRM Environment Why Use OData (Open Data) Protocol? OData provides external access to a data source via a website. Recommended for the Open Government Data Initiative. Data API for Microsoft Azure Data is delivered in JSON format unlike XML format. Use of OData for custom live reports, new feeds, external applications, or leveraged by client-side AJAX for unique Entity List UI. Scenario: In the following scenario the user will learn how to configure an Entity List OData Feed and Configure OData Display Using Client-Side JavaScript. The following below image shows the OData feed from an Account Entity List, that we are going to create using client-side JavaScript. Fig 1. The OData to be configured using client-side JavaScript Steps for Implementing Above Scenario Step 1: The user will have to first create a new ‘Entity List’ in this case a ‘Account’ Entity List by going to Portals>Entity List and click on ‘New’ and in the Entity Name input select ‘Account’ and create a view Name “Active Accounts” that will display a grid view of all the Active Accounts as shown below in the following two images. Fig 2.1 Creating a New Entity List Fig 2.2 Setting Properties for the Entity List Now, user will have to enable the Entity List for OData Feed by checking on the ‘Enable’ option and entering the details into the input fields in the OData Feed Section for the Entity List as shown below: Fig 2.3 Setting Properties of OData Feed for the Entity List Step 2: The user will have to create a Page on the CRM Portals to display the following Entity List. The user will have to use the Admin panel and click on ‘Child Page’ to create a new Page which will display the Entity List after setting the properties of the page as shown below. Fig 3.1 Setting Properties for the Portal Page that will display the Entity List Fig 3.2 Setting up the Account Entity List Page Step 3: The user will now have to obtain the OData Feed by entering ‘/_odata’ to the end of the Portal URL that the user uses to open the CRM Portals which will open a XML page as shown below. Fig 4.1 OData URL of the CRM Portal Note:  The user will have to save the odata xml format and open it in another application like ‘Notepad’. Fig 4.2 XML Format of the OData Feed on CRM Portals Now in the above XML format we can see that accounts is being used as the href. To obtain the JSON format of the OData Feed the user will have to add the href used in the XML format to the end of the previously seen OData URL which is shown below. Fig 4.3 URL to obtain JSON format of the OData Feed Fig 4.4 JSON Format of the OData Feed on CRM Portals Note: The user will obtain a URL to the bottom of the JSON Format of the OData Feed which will provide the user to go to next set of records for the Entity List Step 4: Once the user has obtained the OData Feed the user will have to render the following OData Feed with a unique UI provided by ajax JavaScript on the client Side. The following is the Custom JavaScript containing the ajax call function against the OData Feed as shown below. Fig 5.1 Custom JavaScript to display OData Feed on CRM Portal Page The user will have to paste the code into the source code of the CRM Portal Page as shown below to which he wants to display the OData Feed as shown previously in the Scenario above and click on Save as shown below.  Fig 5.2 Pasting the JavaScript into the Source Code Conclusion: In this way the user can implement a simple Entity List OData Feed on CRM Portals using a client side custom JavaScript.

Overview: The purpose of this article is to help fellow entrepreneurs and sales managers leverage technology for effectively managing their sales pipeline with a few easy steps. As an entrepreneur, one of the most difficult aspects of my work is generating sales and building a healthy sales pipeline. On June 1st 2017, CloudFronts will complete 5 years and looking at all the systems we have in place, I feel we have adequate sophistication in our Operations and Administration processes. On the other hand, I feel our Sales processes are still not mature and need to evolve. This and future articles will focus on how we can leverage Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Sales for managing sales. This is something we use today and so I feel it should help others. “I know I need to keep track of my sales pipeline, but I am just so busy.” Step 1 – Data Entry We are always so busy and entering data into CRM can be such a pain! Just quickly sending out that email makes sense when you have just a few opportunities to manage. Eventually this method fails as our memory can only hold so much information. So, you will need to enter data in your CRM! While the term, ‘garbage in, garbage out’ applies to data, this is apt for a sales person – “No data entry = lost opportunities”. So, take a few seconds (now is the best time) and enter that Customer, Contact and Opportunity data into CRM! You already paid for the licenses, might as well use it! Step 2 – Managing your pipeline by keeping your ‘Est. Close Date’ up-to-date. Once I enter my Opportunity for the first time, I just really want to update the Est. Close Date and sometimes the Est. Revenue. I really do not want to open the Opportunity every time. I could have used Editable Grids for this but I also wanted to add some ‘intelligence’ here which I could use later for analysis. I wanted to capture some notes on why I changed the Est. Close Date and put these notes in the Notes section with a predefined title (like – ‘Est. Close Date Change Reason’). I worked with our CRM team to setup a simple workflow dialog. This is how I manage my Opportunities now – 1. My Open Opportunities View> Select my Opportunity and then run my Dialog. The dialog is simple and really has only 2 input options, Est. Close Date and Reason – The reason becomes a note record on my opportunity. The above process works well for me for my Pipeline Management. My opportunity view is sorted by Est. Close Date, so this further ensures I do not have any past due opportunities. Step 3 – Just do it. No, we don’t need to really buy a pair of running shoes, but we need to do the above 2 steps diligently and every day. The benefits of this exercise will become obvious very soon and you will be running faster than before towards better close rates as things stop falling through the cracks (of our brain). Remember – ‘Sales cures all.’ Let’s take care of that sales pipeline! You can always email me at AShah@CloudFronts.com to discuss your sales processes and technology adoption. In the coming articles, I will talk about how Sales Pipeline Management ties into business decision making – from Resource Allocation to Recruitment.

Introduction: In this blog, we are going to discuss how to set a party list field using JavaScript in Dynamics CRM. Many times, there is a requirement that any email send from CRM must be send from a specific user, irrespective of the user logged in to CRM. Scenario: In the Incident Management, there is a need that each mail send from CRM to Customers must be send from Support User. Steps: Step 1: Write a function on load of email form. Retrieve the Queue or User you want to set from Web API Step 2: Party List basically consists of User or a Queue. So, we can set User or a Queue in party list. You can differentiate the User and Queue by specifying the Entity Type. a. Queue: “queue” b. User: “systemuser” Code is given below:  var partylistData = new Array(); partylistData[0] = new Object(); partylistData[0].id = queue.value[0].queueid; partylistData[0].name = queue.value[0].name; partylistData[0].entityType = “queue”; Xrm.Page.getAttribute(“from”).setValue(partylistData); More validation can be set on basis of the requirements. On the status of the email validation can be done.

As an entrepreneur, if you want to streamline your operations and finance departments, you should go for an ERP solution. Countless companies are offering ERP or Enterprise Resource Planning solutions or software. Dynamics 365 for finance and operations, however, is one of the best ERP solutions that you can find in the market today. One of the key reasons why a lot of companies are using this software is that it is easy to install, configure, and to use. You can scale your business when you use ERP solutions like Dynamics 365. A lot of resources are available online that will help your employees become smart and efficient.  Deploying this software is easy. Here is some information for you In this blog article, we will see how we can deploy the package in Dynamics 365 Operations. This Package can be any latest update, hotfix or deployment package you have created. Prerequisites: LCS login VM Instance Steps: 1. Download, Extract and Unblock Package 2. Update topology configuration data 3. Generate a runbook from the topology 4. Execute runbook Download, Extract and Unblock Package a. Login to LCS and download the Zip file of Deployable Package. b. After downloading, go to downloaded Zip file properties and select unblock. c. Extract the Zip file to a non–user folder. Update topology configuration data a. Go to extracted folder and open the file “DefaultTopologyData.xml” b. Populate the file with VM name. i. Go to This PC -> Properties. Find the name of the machine. ii. Update the VM name with the machine name in the file. c. Populate the file with installed components i. Open a command prompt as an administrator. ii. Run the command from extracted folder path to see a list of all installed components on the computer. iii. Update the file with a list of components. 3. Generate a runbook from the topology a. Run the command to generate a runbook. AXUpdateInstaller.exe generate -runbookid=[runbookID] -topologyfile=[topologyFile] -servicemodelfile=[serviceModelFile] -runbookfile=[runbookFile] Example: b. Runbook will contain instructions in sequential steps to deploy the package. 4. Execute Runbook a. Import the runbook. AXUpdateInstaller.exe import -runbookfile=[runbookFile] Example: b. Verify the runbook. c. Execute the runbook. AXUpdateInstaller.exe execute -runbookid=[runbookID] Example: d. Export the runbook. Export the runbook for future reference, you can use it to refer the steps, time to execute each step and logs for each step. UpdateInstaller.exe export -runbookid=[runbookID] -runbookfile=[runbookFile] Example:

Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Retail Management Solution is the perfect answer to the questions from the modern day consumers related to cost-effectiveness, fast and flexible services that they aim for. Microsoft Dynamics aims at seamless management solutions across all retail channels making it easier for the customer to establish a balance between their business requirements and the deliverables. When it comes to power and performance, Microsoft Dynamics is the best enterprise resource planning (ERP) cloud solution currently available in the market This amazing retail management solution from Microsoft has considerably reduced the complexities faced by the retailers in their day-to-day life in a new and unified way making it one of the most wanted and demanded software solutions in the market. Introduction: Dynamics 365 Operation Retail is providing CPOS.  This Blog Describe you, how to configure CPOS in AX 7 Operation. CPOS is Online POS, Offline POS functionality does not support to CPOS. CPOS can be Open in Internet Explorer, chrome, Firefox browser. MPOS having Online and offline functionality. In this blog for Demo Purpose, we are configuring CPOS for Huston store. And for CPOS, I am using Chrome browser. Follow the Below Setup to Configure CPOS . Before you Start: Before you Start Configuration of CPOS. Go to the Retail and Commerce -> Headquarter setup -> Parameter -> Retail Shared Parameters Select Entity Validation Templates.  Click on Import Default template. After that Drill-down to template Option and select Select RetailVal and click on SAVE button. Step 1: Go to the Retail and Commerce > Channels > Retail Store > All Store And select Houston Store. Click on Configuration Status. Select Approve All and click on Update Button. Step 2: Go to Retail and Commerce > Channels > Channel Deployment In Retail Store search for Houston Store. You will find that Progress for Houston store is 100%. Step 3: Click on Registers. Next to that you will see all the register which is created all stores. Put the filter on “HOUSTON” on Store Number. After that you can able to view list Houston Store Registers. Select Registers Number “Houston-30” and Open it. Click on configuration Status Click on Approve all and click on Update. Once you click on Update. Status will change to Completed. Click on close button. Step 4: On register page click on Device Select “HOUSTON-30”. Application Type of this Device is “Retail Cloud POS”. which mean this is CPOS. Activation status is Pending and Validation Status is not Run. Change Activation Status from pending to Pending to Activated and click on Validate Devices for Activation. Step 5: In General Tab of Device “Houstone-30” copy POS URL and Past it in Browser. Or you can click on that URL Link. Click on Next Button. Server URL, Device ID and Register ID is set by Default base on your Cloud POS Device. Click on Activate button. Once you click on Activate, it will start for activating Cloud POS. Once its Active, you will get message Click on Get Stated. You can able to view Cloud POS Login Screen. Enter Worker user ID and Password to login. Conclusion: By following this Steps, you can configure CPOS in Dynamics 365 Operation.

Introduction: CRM SDK provides a data migration tool/application called “DataMigrationUtility” which allows simple data migration from one CRM environment to another CRM environment. Prerequisite: Microsoft Dynamics CRM. CRM SDK Purpose of the set up Our goal is to migrate accounts from one Online CRM environment to another CRM environment. Steps: Open CRM SDK folder and run ‘DataMigrationUtility’ application. Path: SDK\Tools\ConfigurationMigration Click on Create Schema. You’ll be asked to log in to your source CRM system. Select the solution, entity and fields. Then click ‘save and export’, this will save a XML schema file. To export data: select XML file created in the above steps and create a file to save the data (zip file); then click Exportdata. Click exit after successful export of data. To import data: Click on Import data and then continue. Login to your target system. Select Zip file which was created in the above steps. Click on Import data Error logs can be viewed from Logs stored.  

Dynamics 365 for finance and operations is an ERP system built and designed to match your business needs in this modern day business scenario. Elements are currently as much a business system as it is innovation deliverable, some portion of a bigger biological system where data pulled from unique channels, (for example, social, IoT, and Office) is caught, investigated, and spread so as to help explicit business objectives. Make planning simpler by giving your spending chiefs simple to-utilize apparatuses. A wizard causes them to make spending plan worksheet formats for Microsoft Excel.  This cloud-based ERP framework gives the pertinent data you have to convey vital, information-driven bits of knowledge to key divisions. Additional quick monetary bits of knowledge drive corporate procedure and development, declining obligation through effective assortment of the board. Generally, users spend lot of time in selecting each product and their variants for sales in Sales order. Dynamics 365 for operations gives option to select the product by category. Following is the process to select multiple products and their variants in a quick way: 1. Create a new Sales Order 2. Click on Add products in Sales Order Line 3.  A new form will open which is divided in to three parts Select category – To select the respective category Available Products – It shows all the products available in the selected category Add Selected products- The products which are selected for the Sales order 4.  Once the category is selected, select the product and click on Add variants to select the variants for that product. 5.  A new form will open listing all the variants for that product. The user can select all the variants by checking on Select all or can select specific variants and can put quantity. 6.  On clicking OK , all the products selected with their variants will come in the sales line. Conclusion : In this way the user can save lot of time in creating Sales order having multiple lines.

Introduction: Microsoft introduced a cloud-based platform that works with Mobile Devices known as Microsoft Staff Hub. This platform enables workers and their Managers to manage, communicate and share content. Workers can ask for time off or swap and offer their shifts with their co- workers whereas Managers can send messages to one person or the entire team. Managers can also upload files and then workers can access that file within their Mobile Apps. Microsoft Staff hub is available for Office 365 Business Subscribers as a Web App for Managers and as a Mobile App for Employees/Workers supported on iOS and Android. Settings To start with Microsoft Staff Hub, the very first step is to activate the Staff Hub which can be done by Global Admin. Enabling Microsoft Staff Hub After Login, Admin can go to the mentioned URL https://staffhub.ms/admin and enable StaffHub. Self-Provision Accounts This setting enables the ability to create the new Office 365 accounts for desk-less workers. It adds the Security Group “DesklessWorkers” and creates an account in Azure Active Directory and provisions an Office 365 Group for every team that is created. Microsoft StaffHub Team members are added as members of Office 365 Group and the files and documents that are uploaded in Microsoft StaffHub Team are stored in Group SharePoint of that Team.     Employee Resources Admins can provide their desk-less workers with links to important internal resources or PowerApps i.e. the ones that are most often used by employees. You can enter max up to three links and can give corresponding Titles. Working: Create Schedule Managers can use Microsoft StaffHub to create Schedule, Manage Requests for Shift swaps or Time off and they can also share information with files across the team. With StaffHub, Managers can update shifts from week to week, by “Copy Last Schedule” button with different color labels and can update the notes in the shift that can be highlighted to the workers. Schedules can be viewed in Day, Week, Month, Today or we can just go to a specific day. Managers can add an employee in the schedule for a shift. They can set the start and end time. Managers can also assign a color or add notes to the shift. Custom Label can be used to display in the schedule. Raise Requests Employees can request to schedule changes in the shift using Microsoft StaffHub mobile app. The request is sent to Manager for approval and once approved it is automatically updated on the schedule. Employees can also offer to swap the shift i.e. to get the shift exchanged by some other co-worker. Workers can decline the request and approve the request. View Shifts Workers can view their shifts in a single view on their Mobile App. Conclusion Thus, Microsoft Staff Hub helps managers and workers understand and manage shifts and also allows the flexibility to swap their shifts with Manager’s Approval.