Microsoft Dynamics CRM API Development for Online and On-Premise Environments

115 Pages·2013·3.26 MB·English

by  Mark Beckner

Microsoft Dynamics CRM API
Development for Online and On-
Premise Environments
Mark Beckner
Triston Arisawa
Microsoft Dynamics CRM API Development for Online and On-Premise
Environments Copyright © 2013 by Mark Beckner and Triston Arisawa
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ISBN-13 (pbk): 978-1-43026346-3
ISBN-13 (electronic): 978-1-4302-6348-7
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Contents at a Glance
Foreword
About the Authors
Chapter 1: Plugins and Workflow Activities
Chapter 2: .NET Apps and the CRM SDK
Chapter 3: Integration and Migration
Chapter 4: JScript and the REST Endpoint API
Chapter 5: Reporting
Index
Contents
Foreword
About the Authors
Chapter 1: Plugins and Workflow Activities
Developing Plugins
Basic Code Framework for Plugins
Core Functionality for Plugins
Querying Data
Setting State
Sending E-mail
Tying It Together
Developing Workflow Activities
Plugin and Workflow Activity Registration
Setting Up the Plugin Registration Tool
Registering an Assembly
Registering a Step
Debugging Plugins
Debugging CRM On-premise Solutions
Debugging CRM Online Plugins
Conclusion
Chapter 2: .NET Apps and the CRM SDK
Building an Application and Assembly
References
Calling the Assembly
Retrieving CRM Data and Writing to SQL Server
Retrieving Data
Writing to SQL Server
Creating and Deleting Records in CRM
Creating a Record
Deleting a Record
Using Early Bound Classes
Conclusion
Chapter 3: Integration and Migration
Custom-Coded Solutions
Scribe Online
Migrating Data from CRM 2011 on-premise to CRM Online
Conclusion
Chapter 4: JScript and the REST Endpoint API
Writing and Triggering JScript
Create a Web Resource
Reference the Web Resource
Incorporating OData/REST Queries
OData Queries with Single Results
OData Queries with Multiple Results
Anatomy of an OData Query
Creating and Updating Records with OData/REST
Update Record
Create Record
Conclusion
Chapter 5: Reporting
SSRS Development Environment
Creating a Report Project and Report
Connecting to CRM Online from SSRS
Querying and Displaying Data
Filtering Records with Parameters
System Defined Parameters
User Defined Parameters
Linking Child Records
Additional Filtering in SSRS
Conclusion
Index
Foreword
I have had the pleasure to work with Dynamics CRM since its 1.1
version. I can be honest—I didn’t feel cheated when Microsoft skipped
the 2.0 release, and although it has been a late bloomer in the CRM
market, it has gained significant traction over the last few releases and
manages to land in the right (top right, to be specific) quadrant according
to Gartner year after year.
Software, like clothing, seems to have trends, and CRM has been
subject to these software fashion trends. CRM software is fashionable
again, and innovation in social media, cloud computing, big data, and
mobility have all provided a renewed focus for Microsoft to innovate
with Dynamics CRM. Product release cycles are shrinking, and
deployment is becoming faster. At the same time, customization and
integration of systems are becoming easier. Mobile applications are
making it easier to access information and mine data analytics, and
business intelligence is making it easier to gain better business insights.
Marketing automation software is another category that has emerged
rapidly as part of the expanded CRM offering. Vendors are integrating
their data with CRM software to provide a deeper level of customer
insight. Future versions of CRM will have a richer feature base for
marketing automation.
It’s now easy to purchase and own CRM through an Office 365
subscription and even easier to integrate it with all the familiar tools, like
SharePoint, Outlook, and Lync. This creates a connected and powerful
user experience that only Microsoft is able to provide. Through
Microsoft’s cloud offering, partner-hosted and on-premise model
Microsoft Dynamics is available to organizations on their specific terms.
In addition to being an effective sales, marketing, and service automation
solution, Dynamics CRM is a powerful platform that allows you to
orchestrate and automate business processes.
System ownership costs are accrued in the form of infrastructure
costs, software use rights, implementation and customization, training,
support, and maintenance. As CRM consultants and architects, we spend
most of our time helping organizations implement, integrate, and extend
Dynamics CRM’s capabilities. Dynamics CRM provides a rich set of
tools and features for any organization to customize its system. It is a
.NET-based enterprise application with an n-tier architecture. Complex
software components make up this platform, including a database, a web
services layer for integration, workflows for business process
automation, forms and dialogs for data entry, and a reporting
infrastructure for business insight.
For a successful CRM implementation, I suggest the following
guidelines:
Invest in the partner selection that allows you to have
a combination of good functional skills (preferably
experience with your industry) and technical skills
bundled with methodologies and reusable assets.
Establish a good delivery model through a set of
onsite, offsite, or hybrid teams.
Ensure the partner follows a defined delivery
methodology, like Sure Step, and uses a decision
analysis framework.
Have reusable technical assets, tools, add-ons, and a
network of other partners.
Determine the parts of projects that you want to
outsource or offshore like development, maintenance,
and administration.
Strike a balance between cost and reward so you get
the most of your investment.
As a Microsoft partner, IOTap performs various activities, including
planning, estimation, design, development, training, administration, and
support. Partner selection is a critical step that happens early in the
process. A wide range of consulting skills are available with an equally
wide range of consulting bill rates. There are partners with CRM
solutions for an industry, functional and technical experts, and
administrators, and all these are available through different models now