Category Archives: Blog
Publishing Power BI Reports to Web
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.
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Pin Excel Data to Power BI Online Dashboard
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.
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Open Table Browser with different legal entity in AX 7
As developer, we work on different legal entities to customize data. Generally, DAT is the default entity in AX 7 but we wonder how to use data of other legal entity. In this article, we will tell you how to open Table in Table browser in Visual Studio with different legal entity (USMF) by modifying settings from Dynamics AX Online. Go to System Administration > Users > Users in Dynamics AX Online. Select the user for which you want to change the Company Id and click Edit. In the Company column change the Company Id to USMF. In Visual Studio open the table browser. Table will open with data of selected company that is USMF. So, this is how we can open Table in Table Browser in Visual Studio with different legal entity. Let us know your reviews. We will soon come with more articles, as we further explore AX 7.
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Convert Email in Queue to Case (Interactive Service Hub in CRM 2016)
Introduction This blog would help to understand how to create a case from an email in the queue in Interactive Service Hub, CRM 2016. Here the User need not need to create a case Manually for the issue reported in the Email coming in Queue. Ever since using the Interactive Service Hub from the beginning there was a question whether an email can be converted to Case or not? If you open the email in the Service queue, there appears to be no option for converting it to case. Finally, we have found a way wherein you can convert an email to case. Let’s have a look how to do so. Description Steps that we need to follow are shown below. Below snapshot shows all items (emails) in Support Queue. Open the email item. Click on Reply or Reply all. Once we click on Reply, Click on More-> Convert TO -> Case. Enter the Customer Name and Subject to create a new case. Finally the case is created. Enter the mandatory details and save it. Conclusion Finally, we can conclude that the conversion of an email to case in the Interactive Service Hub, CRM 2016 is possible.
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Mobility Feature in CRM 2016 – Task Based Experience
Introduction This Blog post tells users about one of the Mobile features in CRM 2016. Task Based Experience enables users to focus on tasks and not on records. So data from multiple entities are brought together as a single user experience. Here user do not have to navigate on multiple entities for performing a single task. Pre-Requisites Under System Settings first user will have to enable this feature. Functionality So, by default users can perform three basic tasks: After Meeting Make Contact on Opportunity Update Contact Whereas if user wants some customized Business Process Flow to be enabled as Task on Mobiles, that can be done by using Task Based Experience feature in CRM 2016. On Mobiles this feature can be used by icon which is present on bottom left hand side as shown below. Let’s see how the default tasks can be used on mobile. 1. After Meeting After Meeting enables users to edit the list of existing appointments or to create a new appointment. For an example the below screenshots shows how to update the existing appointment. 2. Make Contact on Opportunity As the name suggests, this task enable users to update the contact details on existing opportunity list or to create a new opportunity and then add contact details on the newly created opportunity. So, in the screenshot given below, user can update the contact details on the opportunity that was selected. 3. Update Contact Update Contact enable users to edit the contact details that are listed or to simply create a new contact record. Example: Here user can select a contact record and simply update the record. Whereas if a user wants to have a separate Task to be enabled for mobile that can be done by creating a Business Process Flow in CRM 2016. So let’s say if we want to create a Task for ‘Service Case’ on Case Entity. Step 1: Under Processes, create Business Process Flow. Step 2: Add Label, Source and Field Values. Once the Process is ready, save and activate the process. Step 3: User when clicks on icon, here they can see one new task ‘Service Case’ apart from the default tasks that were mentioned earlier. Step 4: Now user can create a case from the enabled process on Case Entity. Note: Task based experiences will be available on phones and tablets as a preview feature for Dynamics CRM Online 2016 customers Conclusion So with task based experience feature in CRM 2016, user can perform tasks from one single point instead of navigating to multiple entities.
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Document Generation in Dynamics CRM 2016
In this article, we will review the new and improved out-of-the-box capabilities to generate documents that contain data from CRM records. Users can now create Word and Excel templates for letters, agreements, quotes, invoices and other, in just a single click! Out of the box Templates Out of the box, here are the templates Microsoft includes with the CRM 2016 release Figure 1.0 1 To run the Template you’ll first need to select the appropriate record. For the Account Summary Template, select an Account record and select it from the Action menu. As shown in Figure 2.0 1. Figure 2.0 1 Account (Cloudfronts Technologies LLP) Summary template is generated. Figure 3.0 1 Open the Account Summary.docx file. Figure 4.0 1 Create a new Excel Template Go to Settings – Templates – Document Templates. Click on +New to launch the wizard. Here you can select either Excel or Word templates, the entity and the View. The Edit Columns link provides users a quick way to add columns to the template similar to that of an Advance Find. CRM knows where to display the template file based on the entity selection. If you already have a template, choose Upload, otherwise choose Download to see what CRM created as the Template based on your field selections. Figure 5.0 1 To upload a file we need to just drag & drop in the box and click the upload button Figure 6.0 1 Once the upload is complete, the template record is displayed. Figure 7.0 1 Once you have selected the Template, you also have the ability to set the security roles and control. Figure 8.0 1 Create a Word Template Go to Settings – Templates – Document Templates and click +New. Choose the Word Template, select the entity and press Select Entity button. Figure 9.0 1 A wizard form opens to provide options in navigating across various entities depending on the relationship types. Figure 10.0 1 The relationships you select on this screen determine what entities and fields are available later when you define the Word template. Only select relationships you need to add CRM data to the Word template. Click Download Template on the Select Entity page to create a Word file on your local computer with the exported entity included as XML data. Enable the Developer Tab Open the Word template file. At this point, the document appears to be blank. Figure 11.0 1 For To see and add CRM XML data, you need to enable the Word Developer tab. Go to File > Options > Customize Ribbon, and then enable Developer. Figure 12.0 1 Developer now appears in the Word ribbon. Figure 13.0 1 You use the XML Mapping Pane to add CRM entity fields to your Word template. Be sure to only add fields as Plain Text or Picture. Figure 14.0 1 Define the Word template Use the XML Mapping Pane to define the Word template with CRM entity fields. In your Word template, click Developer > XML Mapping Pane Figure 15.0 1 The default XML schema is selected. Select the CRM XML schema. It will begin with “urn:microsoft-crm/document-template/”. Figure 16.0 1 Expand the CRM entity, right-click the entity field, and then clickInsert Content Control > Plain Text. Figure 17.0 1 The CRM entity field is added to the Word template. Add additional entity fields, add descriptive labels and text, and format the document. A completed template might look like this: Figure 18.0 1 Some content control fields you entered likely have multiple lines of data. For example, accounts have more than one contact. To include all the data in your Word template, set the content control field to repeat. Set content control fields to repeat Put fields with repeating data in a table row. Select the entire table row in the template. In the XML Mapping Pane, right-click the relationship containing the content control fields, and then click. Figure 19.0 1 When you use the Word template in CRM to create a document, the table will populate with multiple rows of data. When the template has the fields and formatting you want, save it and upload it into CRM. Upload the Word template back into CRM When you have your Word template built the way you want, save it so you can upload it into CRM. To use the Word template you’ve created, do the following: Open a record with information you want to create a document. For example, open a customer account record in Sales. ClickMore (…) > Word Templates, and then under Word Templates select the template you created. Once generated, documents can be downloaded and then printed, shared, emailed or collaborated on with Microsoft Office 365
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Complex Power BI Reports using DAX Functions
Prerequisite: Power BI Desktop Tool and knowledge on DAX functions Purpose of the Setup: To learn how we can leverage DAX functions to create complex Power BI reports. Here we will be looking at different DAX functions for the below mentioned reports in Power BI; Calculate and compare Sales Figure by Day Calculate and compare Sales Figure by Date Calculate and compare Sales Running Total Source File Details: To demonstrate this concept, we have created an excel file with dummy data and connected it to Power BI Desktop Tool. In the Excel source file, we have created few sheets along with sample data as shown below: Fig: Modified Sales
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Known issue when using Web API with Alternate key feature
Introduction With the release of Web API, Dynamics CRM now allows developers to build robust solutions and integrations using modern REST APIs consumed through OData. While working on a CRM customization by leveraging the Web API, we found an issue that causes the API to stop working when we use the Alternate Key with the same name as the schema name of a field. This only applies to custom entities. In the section below we have defined the issue and a workaround. Description Recently we were working on a requirement using the CRM web API but we were not able to access the web API using the entity endpoint. When calling the endpoint from the browser, instead of displaying the metadata result in the browser, it generates an error. It simply says that the ‘Object reference not set to an instance of an object’ (we love this error!). This typically happens when during coding we forget to initialize the object. So getting this particular error when calling our endpoint, we were confused. Microsoft has now confirmed that this is a known issue and they will resolve it soon. But for now, the only fix is to delete the key and publish the customization. So we removed the alternate key and generated a new one. This got the endpoint working again! We were not able to understand how an alternate key will stop the web API from working. They ask use to delete the alternate key from the system which we had created recently. As soon as we deleted the key and published the customization we found that the WEB API working. Example: The below screen shots confirm the issue. Step 1: Browse to the Web API endpoint. You can see that it works. Step 2: Define Alternate Key – to replicate the issue we created a field and an alternate key with the same name- Step 3: Browse to the same endpoint – Now when trying to browse to the same endpoint we get the below error- Conclusion So there is a known issue when using Web API and Alternate Key for custom entities. Currently there is no resolution to this issue but to delete the alternate key and have a unique name which does not match with name field ‘s schema name. Hope you found this useful!
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Power BI Connectivity to PostgreSQL
Prerequisite: Power BI Desktop Tool, PostgreSQL Database, pgAdmin III, Visual Studio 2008 or higher Introduction Power BI supports connectivity to different databases such as SQL Server, MySQL, Oracle and many more (list of all supported databases given here ). By providing necessary details such as server name, database name, username & password, you can easily connect to database and start exploring data using different visualizations in the form of reports/dashboards. This article will walk you through the necessary steps required to configure in your system before establishing connection of Power BI Desktop Tool to PostgreSQL Database. After installation of PostgreSQL database in your machine, if you try connecting Power BI Desktop Tool to PostgreSQL Database, you will get following error as shown in the screenshot below: Following are the steps required to connect Power BI Desktop Tool to PostgreSQL Database: Setup PostgreSQL Client Connect Power BI Desktop Tool to PostgreSQL Steps to set up PostgreSQL Client: Step 1: Download and unzip the Npgsql package from the link mentioned here You will find two DLL files named as Npgsql.dll and Mono.Security.dll as shown in screen capture below: Step 2: You need to have Visual Studio 2008 or later. Open visual studio command prompt using administrative rights as shown in the screen capture below: Step 3: Locate and Open machine.config from the location given below: C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework64\v4.0.30319\Config \machine.config .Net framework and Npgsql version might vary depending on the version of installation. Add the following below <DbProviderFactories> tag: <add name=”Npgsql Data Provider” invariant=”Npgsql” description=”.Net Framework Data Provider for PostgreSQL Server” type=”Npgsql.NpgsqlFactory, Npgsql, Version=2.0.1.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=5d8b90d52f46fda7″/> Find the screenshot given below for this step: Step 4: Now in your visual studio command prompt, use the following command to successfully move DLL files to C:\windows\assembly gacutil -I “C:\Users\ajagd_000\Downloads\Npgsql2.0.1-bin-ms.net3.5sp1\Npgsql2.0.1-bin-ms.net3.5sp1\bin\Npgsql.dll” Where C:\Users\ajagd_000\Downloads is the file location for the Npgsql package downloaded. Similar command you can run for Mono.Security.dll file gacutil -I “C:\Users\ajagd_000\Downloads\Npgsql2.0.1-bin-ms.net3.5sp1\Npgsql2.0.1-bin-ms.net3.5sp1\bin\Mono.Security.dll” Step 5: Once this is done, you can now try connecting Power BI to PostgreSQL. However you will notice below error Once you restart your machine, you can now connect to PostgreSQL and start playing with your data. Steps for connecting Power BI Desktop Tool to PostgreSQL: Step 1: Open pgAdmin III interface to create database, table and few records to display in your report as shown in screen capture below Step 2: Open Power BI Desktop Tool and click ‘Get Data’ and select PostgreSQL Database as shown below Step 3: Enter server name (in our case it is localhost), database name, username and password as shown in below screen capture Step 4: Select required table from database and click load as shown in screen capture below Step 5: Once data is loaded in model, you can start playing around with the data and create beautiful visualizations/reports as shown in image below and later publish it to Power BI Online Service.
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Agile project implementation methodology at CloudFronts
We have been hearing a lot about Agile Methodology for project implementation. But, we also need to see if it is the right choice for Dynamics world. Agile in short says “Do not wait till end, rather let’s see the deliverable in pieces”. Well, that’s justified too. Clients here get to see their baby at regular intervals. Each delivery sprint can go in a controlled manner from End-to-End delivery cycle like the complete projects does, excluding the deployment phase, which happens at the end of the last Sprint of the project. We at CloudFronts practice Agile for all the project implementation. In fact, our PSM solution is getting redesigned to suit the needs of such Agile project implementation. This is done in order to help project managers keep the data intact in CRM and do not scatter it in multiple excel files. Right from Project creation to Resource allocation to Gantt Charts to Time sheet’s we keep all of it inside CRM so that the PM is in pace of the project and all is in single place. Agile generally demands clear requirements for the project to be implemented. Keeping this in mind the project moves through Sprints. The following image illustrates “Where does Sprints come into picture”. We too follow the standard practise dictated by Agile: Daily stand up meeting Iteration planning Unit testing Release planning Burndown/team-based estimation Coding standards Continuous integration Automated builds The project planning is done in MS Project in Sprinted approach. Though MS Project is not the ideal tool to do Agile Planning but taking the advantage of its flexibility that allows us to do it. We have the following documents in place for each Sprint and the Sprints coming ahead: Daily Agile task allocation Sheet: This is an Excel sheet where we allocate the tasks to the team during the daily stand up meeting and mark the Pending tasks that are incomplete. Sprint Document: This contains the following 4 things: Achievable Backlog Completed Other Remarks All the incomplete tasks from previous sprint are move to next sprints Backlog section. This also then becomes the part of the current sprint. There are multiple benefits of following Agile: Development process gets streamlined and simplified. Higher rate of customer satisfaction. Reduces risk. Improves project Visibility. Success rate for project goes higher by 70% Reduces the cost of development. So, this is what CloudFronts follows as Agile practice. Hope you found this article useful. We will continue to publish more articles as we implement “Agile” that works for Dynamics projects !
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Anil Shah, CEO
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