In AX7, a new feature of Global General Journal has been released. The use of this feature is only for those companies where there are more than one legal entities in AX and the users who are doing accounting entries are same. The benefit of this feature is the user no need to switch legal entities while creating Journal Entries which can ultimately can save lot of time. The path to create global general journal is General Ledger->Journal Entries->Global General Journal. When you create a new journal, you can select the Legal entity and the journal name of that entity for which you want to create the journal entry. You can then continue to create the journal lines inside the current entity and you can directly Open the journal in the other entity if you wish to, or you can complete the entire journal entity, validate and post in the current entity and the entry will be created and posted in the destination entity.  

Introduction In earlier versions of CRM (before 2016), when a solution was exported from one environment to another, the entity and all of its assets i.e. forms, views, relationships, visualizations, attributes etc. were exported. Exporting all unrequired assets could unintentionally modify objects on Target Environment or carry unintended dependencies. In CRM 2016, solution patches can be created that contain ‘sub components’ of the entity that needs to be modified and then roll up the patches in the updated version of managed solution and export the updated version in target environment. In the section below, we look at how ‘clone to patch’ and ‘clone to solution’ features work in CRM 2016 to accomplish the above. Clone to Patch Example: Suppose there is a ‘Base Solution’, with all assets of Account and Contact entity but now we want to edit the length of field say ‘Account Number’ from 20 to 40. Step 1: Since this field is a part of ‘Base Solution’ and changing the field length is only requirement we will create a patch for the original solution. So we use ‘Clone as Patch’ option for ‘Base Solution’. Since it’s a patch, system allows only last two digits to be modified for versioning. This option creates a patch for the parent solution as shown below.     Step 2: Now in the patched solution we will only add the Account Number field of Account entity and update the field length to 40.     Step 3: When the patched solution is imported in another environment, it is applied on top of base solution and account number field is updated. Things to note when creating patches: When a patch is created at that time the parent solution is locked and can no longer be modified. Patches can be installed on another environment only If the parent solution is present in that environment. Patches should be exported as managed and should be imported on top of managed parent solution. Do not use unmanaged Patch solutions in Production environments. Patch is always created for Unmanaged Parent solutions. In the future, if any other changes are to be done in ‘Base Solution’, we can create another patch for the ‘Base Solution’ and follow the above procedure. Clone to Solution So now when we plan to have next version of solution, we use the option ‘Clone to Solution’. All related patches to the ‘Base Solution’ get rolled up in the newly created version of ‘Base Solution’ and the patches are deleted automatically.     If we want the upgraded solution to be imported on target environment, import the Upgraded Solution and then select the Parent Base Solution and choose option ‘Apply Solution Upgrade’. This option removes the previous parent solution and keeps the Upgraded new solution in the environment. Conclusion Thus with solution enhancements in CRM 2016, instead of making changes in the entire parent solution, solution patches can be created with the changed customizations and then with the help of Clone Solution option the patches gets rolled up and new version of parent solution is created.  

Introduction In this blog, we are going to discuss how to create a ClickDimensions Event Participation record from WordPress plugin Gravity Forms. Pre requisites In order to create Event Participation record User must have Gravity Forms plugin ClickDimensions entities (Events and Event Participation) Requirement We had a client with requirement that whenever a user registers for an event, event participation record should be created linking event and contact. Event and Event Participation are ClickDimensions entities. Solution to requirement By following the below step we can track the Event Participation records. Step 1: Create an option set field “Event” on Contact form in CRM. The field consists of list of different events that need to be displayed to the registration users.   Step 2: The option set values should be same as Event records created. The name should be same as we are going to retrieve the events record based on the name. As shown here, the Event name and the Option set label are same i.e. “Conztruct Queenstown”   Step 3: On the registration form, same list of events should be present in the drop down list. The value and name of the option sets should be same as option set values in CRM.   Step 4: Write an asynchronous plugin which will get triggered when a contact is created or updated. When a contact is created from Gravity forms, asynchronous plugin triggers and checks if any event is registered. If registered event found in CRM, event participation record will be created. When contact is updated, asynchronous plugin triggers and checks whether new event is registered or not. If new event is registered, create a new event participation record. If event is not registered, update the existing event participation record. When existing contact is updated from CRM, asynchronous plugin triggers and it checks if the event field is empty or not. If event field is empty, the plugin stops and If event field is not empty it updates the event participation record with same contact and event. Thus Event Participation record gets created with contact and Event field associated to each other and the registration count on the event gets increased by 1.   We hope this have given you a useful information on Tracking Event Participation record in CRM.  

Posting account use for the setup ledger account for automatic ledger transactions which are generated from Inventory transactions. In AX 7 posting name has been changed for Sales, Purchase, Inventory and Production. Below are posting name differences in AX 2012 and AX 7. In AX 7 Posting names are more logical and easy to understand.  

Prerequisite: Power BI Desktop Tool, Power BI Online, CRM Online and HTML Purpose of the Setup: Purpose of this setup is to embed interactive Power BI reports in CRM Online Dashboard so that it can be viewed by end users directly within CRM Online instead of login into Power BI account. Find the steps given below for publishing Power BI reports to CRM Online. Step 1: Create a new Web Resource in CRM Online as shown below   Step 2: Give this Web Resource a name and select the HTML file which contains the necessary iframe code to access Power BI reports. Save and publish Web Resource created. You can find more about steps for creating an HTML webpage for accessing Power BI reports here.   Step 3: Once you create Web Resource, you can find the same in the list of Web Resources as shown in the image below   Step 4: Now navigate to Dashboard. Create a new Dashboard and give this Dashboard a name.  Select Web Resource to be inserted in Dashboard as shown below Step 5: After that select the Web Resource created and uncheck restrict cross frame scripting option and hit OK   Step 6: Once you save and publish Dashboard, you can see Power BI reports as shown below directly from your CRM Online  

Introduction In this blog we are going to discuss about the new Auto completion feature of CRM 2016. First, a disclaimer – the term ‘autocomplete’ might be a bit misleading since the field is not automatically completed but instead you can select the suggested item from the list. Requirement To use the Country text field on the address section of the Account and Contact record to enter the Country but restricting users from entering any random values. Instead, the users need to enter country codes only. The goal was to accomplish this without using lookup field on the form. For the text fields, the auto complete feature was not available in previous CRM versions. Hence instead of using text fields, we used to have either lookup fields (for many items) or option set fields (for limited set of options). Solution In CRM 2016, new methods are introduced for text fields. Using these methods, we can implement auto complete feature for text fields, where users can see the suggestions and either select any option or type its own value.   1. showAutoComplete This method allows us to show list of possible values as dropdown to add auto complete feature to text fields. As soon as we select any item under the list, it will be populated in target text field and OnChange event of that field will fire. Use this to show up to 10 matching strings in a drop- down list as users press keys to type character in a specific text field. Also add a custom command with an icon at the bottom of the drop down list. The above method can be used as follows: Xrm.Page.getControl(field name).showAutoComplete(object); This method takes object as parameter which includes results and command. Object can be defined like below: var resultset = { results: [{ id: <value1>, icon: <url>, fields: [<fieldValue1>]}], commands:{ id: <value>, icon: <url>, label: <value>, action: <function reference> } } Here, the result represents an array of possible values that we want to show under the drop down on keypress. Under the results, we can define id, for individual array item, icon to show particular icon for array items and the field where we pass values. Commands is used to define additional action on the drop down, for example opening any additional page by providing a link.   2. hideAutoComplete This method is used to hide the auto complete drop down list that is implemented using showAutoComplete method. No need to explicitly use this method because, by default, the drop down list hides automatically if the user clicks elsewhere or if a new drop down list is displayed. The above method can be used as follows: Xrm.Page.getControl(field name).hideAutoComplete() Note: Both of above methods only works with Web and Outlook client. Steps for creating an auto complete feature on single line text field are as follows: Save and publish script event OnLoad of the form. When user is going to type some character in auto complete text field, drop down list will display the list of records present. It will show only the first 10 results which are suggested. When user types some character in auto complete text field, the list of results matching the characters is shown in the drop-down. Advantages: This feature is useful when we have a master list of data from which users can select the value, at the same time users can also put data if they don’t find value in the master list. Lookup approach was restricting users from selecting data only from master list and was not allowing users to put their own values. One of the best example to this is list of Cities. Users can either select city from master list or if city is not available, then they can put their own value. Current Limitations: Autocomplete does not work on phone/tablet native apps yet. Autocomplete works only on updated entity forms. We hope this blog have given you useful information on the new Auto Complete feature of CRM. Contact us for any queries!  

Introduction Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2016 introduces new mobility features to enhance and increase the user experience for CRM apps for both Tablet and Mobile. In our today’s blog, we will go over the mobile controls in CRM 2016. Mobile Controls In Dynamics CRM 2016, Microsoft introduced 15 UI controls that can replace standard data entry field for Phone and Tablet. These controls provide more appealing, faster interaction and touch friendly experience for mobile devices. Controls are added on Fields under Form Customizations as show below.   Under Controls Tab, Control added for that particular field and can be enabled for phone, tablet or both. For the control added, user needs to configure the values i.e. specify the minimum, maximum and step value for that field. Calendar Control Instead of traditional list view, User can view their phone calls, appointments and meetings on a calendar. This control can be used on dashboard, entity list view or as sub-grid within another form. This control works with any entity that has date field. For e.g. by default, this control is enabled on Activities Area where activities can be viewed in Day, Week and Month format.   Star Rating Star Rating control can be used to replace numeric value. This control allows easy and effective way that allows to rate on the scale from 0-5.   Arc Knob This control binds the numeric value and allows user to visualize the value in arc format. This arc is configurable in minimum, maximum and step value.   Number Input Number Input control allows to quickly update number, decimal and currency fields. The value can be easily incremented and decremented with use of Plus (+) and Minus Sign (-).   Radial Knob Radial Knob allows to show numeric values with a circular presentation. So by clicking and dragging the control clockwise the value can be incremented and with anticlockwise value can be decremented based on the step configured.   Linear Gauge Linear Gauge is another control for displaying number and currency field in a linear manner. Here user can add value by simply sliding to right to increment and left to decrement the value. This control is again configurable with minimum, maximum and step value.   Linear Slider Linear slider is exactly similar to Linear Gauge control that was mentioned above but the only difference is in visual appearance. Similarly, even this control is configurable with minimum, maximum and step value.   Bullet Graph Bullet Graph is another control that works with number fields but in more attractive manner. This control is configurable with minimum, maximum value also in addition user can add up to good and bad values. This control adds shading to target value i.e. shading defines the range of good and bad area. So for e.g. if we have Probability field with min value as 1, max value as 100, good value as 90 and bad value as 50, user can see the value as represented below.   Option Set As the name suggests, this control is used with Option set fields. This control provides tabs in horizontal line with available options. So here user can simply tap on the tab and select the option set value. This control is best used for smaller number of options, where the length of the text in those values is short and easily fit in single line.   Flip Switch Flip Switch can be used on field with Two options as their datatype. So instead of check boxes and radio buttons this control adds a visual effect of ‘On-Off’ Switch manner.   Input Mask Input Mask control works with fields of data type Single Line of Text. This control helps users to fit in data with format that is specified well in before. So for e.g. For Phone number field, if user wants to have number with parenthesis and dashes then user can mask the value well in advance.   Auto Complete Auto Complete control is another control that works with fields of data type Single Line of Text. This control value bounds to option set or to entity’s view. So when user enters data it provides quick way of entering data from the source that is provided thereby enhancing the speed.   Pen Control Pen Control is way to use touch feature of mobiles or tablets. This control enables users to capture the value in form of free from drawings, signatures or text. This control is available on fields with data type as Multiple Line of Text.   Website Preview As the name suggests, website preview control provides the glimpse of web URL that is specified in the field. This control works on field with data type as single line of text URL. Note: This control is only available on CRM Online Organizations   Multimedia Control Lastly the final control i.e. the Multimedia Control, this allows users to play the multimedia files directly within the application. This control works with field of data type Single line of Text in URL format. Note: No controls can be added on fields with data type as Lookup or Date and Time. Conclusion Thus with Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2016, these were the 15 new mobile UI controls that can be enabled for both Mobile and Tablet with seamless user interaction.  

Introduction In CRM, an account or a contact can have more than 1 address out of which primary address is shown on Account/Contact form in address fields. This blog explains how can we set any other address as a primary address and show on the form. Requirement: An account can have more than 1 address which are shown under more addresses tab of an account record. The Primary Address is always shown on Account form and it is not shown under More Addresses section. User has customized address entity and added a checkbox field on Address form to decide whether the address is primary address or not. Now when user sets this field as True, the address should become primary address on account/contact form and existing primary address should be shown under more addresses section. How addresses are stored in CRM? Addresses in CRM are stored in Address entity. Address entity has unique identifier field as Address Number for each of the parent record i.e. either Account or contact. Whenever an account or contact is created in CRM, by default 2 address records are created in Address entity for the respective account or contact record. Address Number of the primary address is always set as 1. For one account or contact, address number field cannot contain duplicate values. Solution to the requirement As primary address is identified with the help of Address Number field, i.e. when Address Number is set as 1, it becomes primary address. Hence, when user sets the checkbox to YES, we just have to change the address number field to 1 to make that address as a primary address. On main form of account or contact, details of address will be shown where account number is 1. Catch in the solution: As already said above, for one account or contact, address number field cannot contain duplicate values, hence if we directly try to set address number field to 1, it will throw an error saying duplicate record found. Below is the solution to this problem. Deploy a plugin on update of ‘Is Primary’ field on Address entity We will see the solution with the help of below example:   Assume we have A. Datum account with 5 addresses. Account Name Address Number Is Primary? A. Datum 1 YES   2     3     4     5   Now, User updates ‘Is Primary’ Field of Address 5 as YES. Below is the data update done by User. Account Name Address Number Is Primary? A. Datum 1 YES   2     3     4     5 YES Below data operations should be performed in Plugin. Step 1: Account Name Address Number Is Primary? A. Datum 1 YES   2     3     4     0 YES Step 2: Account Name Address Number Is Primary? A. Datum 5 NO   2     3     4     0 YES Step 3: Account Name Address Number Is Primary? A. Datum 5 NO   2     3     4     1 YES  

Prerequisite: Power BI Online report and a sample HTML webpage Purpose of the Setup: Purpose of this setup is to embed interactive Power BI visualizations in your blog or website and share the stunning visuals through your emails or social media communications and reach millions of users on any device, any place, for an engaging experience. Find the steps given below for publishing Power BI reports into your webpage or blog. Step 1: Create a dummy webpage with some content, as shown below so that we can go to iframe page.   Step 2: Now, let’s move on to the Power BI Online Service account part. Firstly, open your Power BI Online Account and select the report to be published. Once you select the report, you click on File menu there you will find a new option as Publish to Web. Select the option to proceed further.   Step 3: Now, it will show option to Create embed code, click on that and then it will display a warning with Publish option. Click on Publish.     Step 4: Then you will get a Success message! The message window will show 2 options i.e. Link you can send in email and Html you can paste into your blog or website.   Thus, Power BI has automatically created the link and embed code which can be used to get the dashboard in our webpage. We get different pixel size option also. You can use the link to share with others or you can paste the html code generated here into your blog or website. Step 5: Now, we can paste the embed code into the webpage html code. We have given sample code below: <! DOCTYPE html> <html> <head> </head> <body> <iframe width=”800″ height=”600″ src=”https://app.powerbi.com/view?r=eyJrIjoiZjAzYTNjYzQtNjI1ZC00NTA2LWEyYjQtZjM3YWQ2OGNlYzBiIiwidCI6IjI2YzRiMmU0LWVjMDctNGM3Yi05MmU1LTk3ZjUyODY1ZTk4YiIsImMiOjEwfQ%3D%3D” frameborder=”0″></iframe> </body> </html> Step 6: Now, with this code, when we click on the Power BI Demo button “Demo Registration” on the webpage created initially we will get the report directly on the our webpage.   This is the final output that we get. Thus, we have published Power BI report to our webpage. Now, we can view the code and link again through setting icon and clicking on Manage embed codes. We can also delete the report published. To view the code: Setting -> Manage embed codes -> Right click on ellipses against the report -> Get Code   </>Get Code will again display the link and embed code.   And Delete option will confirm the deleting action and the delete the embed code for the particular report.  

Prerequisite: Microsoft Excel, Power BI Online Service, Power BI Publisher for Excel Power BI Publisher for Excel: With the help of introduction to Power BI publisher for Excel, we can now easily share key Excel insights directly to Power BI online. Using this feature PivotTables, charts, cell range from Excel sheet can be easily shared across different location to a single location in Power BI Dashboard. Note: Power BI publisher for Excel is still in preview mode. To download the Power BI publisher for Excel, click here. Once downloaded and installed, following screen will be shown when you open Excel:   You can then click on Sign up and start using the publisher as shown in screenshot below:   Login to Power BI using your account   You can find the publisher installed on top ribbon under Power BI tab as shown below:   Steps for sharing Excel data to Power BI online dashboards: Step 1: Select desired data from the Excel spreadsheet and click the Pin button on the Power BI ribbon above.   Step 2: When you clicked on Pin, you will be prompted whether to pin to an existing dashboard or create a new dashboard and then pin. You can also view the preview at the right side to see how this will look.   Step 3: Once you log in to your Power BI Online account, you will be able to see the pinned Excel data in Power BI Dashboard.   Step 4: You can also manage tiles that have been already pinned using Pin Manager on top of the ribbon as shown below.   Using Pin Manager, you can update tile data for which you have already pinned to dashboard or also you can remove the tile pinned on Power BI dashboard.