Customer Effective Blog

Installing Microsoft CRM for Outlook Offline with SQL 2008 Express

While deploying Microsoft Dynamics CRM for Outlook recently, I had an issue with one PC.  This PC had previously had an installation of MSDE, the predecessor to SQL 2005 Express.  Even though all installed SQL programs had been uninstalled and the program files had been deleted, SQL 2005 Express would not successfully install.  I knew from reading the log files that somewhere in the registry there was a reference to the previously installed SQL instance that was preventing SQL 2005 Express from successfully installing.  This was a showstopper for installing Microsoft Dynamics CRM with Offline Access.

Before jumping in to registry surgery, I remembered that according to KB 957053:

If you use the Microsoft Dynamics CRM client for Outlook with Offline Access and Microsoft Dynamics CRM Data Migration Manager, SQL Server 2008 Express Edition is also supported.

So, I decided to try installing SQL 2008 Express first, and then installing CRM Offline.

I downloaded SQL Server Express 2008 and installed it.  I had to install or upgrade a bunch of components, such as Powershell, but it went flawlessly.

Lesson learned number 1:  if you have a pc that won’t let you install SQL 2005 for some strange reason, SQL 2008 may work.

After the SQL install was completed, I tried to install Microsoft Dynamics CRM for Outlook with Offline Access.  When it got to the components check, it started to download SQL 2005 Express.  Something wasn’t right.

After inquiring with the Microsoft team and my fellow MVP’s, I determined that the SQL 2005 Express instance that is created is named “CRM.”  When the offline client is installed, it looks for an instance called “CRM,” and if it doesn’t exist, it downloads and installs SQL 2005 Express.

I reinstalled SQL 2008 Express, this time specifying a named instance called “CRM.”

Then I installed the offline client.  This time it worked.

Lesson learned number 2: You have to name your SQL 2008 Express instance “CRM” before installing CRM for Outlook with Offline Access.

And the final test—did it work?  Yes, it did.  We could successfully install and configure CRM and go offline, even though the server SQL version was 2005.

Lesson learned number 3: You can use SQL 2008 Express with CRM even if your CRM SQL Server database is SQL 2005.

Thanks to CRM MVP Jürgen Beck for your helpful suggestion.

Technorati Tags: Microsoft CRM,Dynamics CRM,offline,Outlook,SQL 2008

CRM Summer School 2009 by Customer Effective

After a very successful 2 day Customer Effective CRM User Group in 2008 with over 43 companies participating Customer Effective has decided to pack up the gear and hit the road in the Summer of 2009.  We are beginning our CRM Education Campaign by conducting one day education sessions in various Microsoft offices.  The first couple of events are scheduled and the remaining dates and locations will be finalized over the coming weeks.  The agenda covers it all including a focus on the new buzz, "XRM" applications powered by Microsoft Dynamics CRM.   These sessions will include presentations by our CRM MVP's including Joel Lindstrom.

We welcome our customers, prospects, and partners to attend.

Link to Events - http://www.customereffective.com/News_&_Events/Events

Microsoft CRM IFD Users Unable to Access Help Files

When you configure Microsoft Dynamics CRM Internet Facing (IFD), users may be presented a Windows login dialogue box when they try to access the CRM Help menu.

They will not be able to log in with the login box, and they will get an "Access denied" error message.

To fix this issue, edit the Help virtual directory on the CRM web site to accept anonymous authentication.  In IIS MGR 6.0, expand Microsoft Dynamics CRM web site tree under the Web sites folder.  Right Click on "Help" and select properties

 

On the Directory Security tab, click "Edit" under the "Authentication and Access control" section

Click the checkbox to "Enable anonymous authentication."  Click OK.

That's it.  Now your IFD users can access help files.

 

Technorati Tags: Microsoft CRM,IFD,internet facing deployment,help files

Where Did My Tracked Contact Icon Go?

In Microsoft Dynamics CRM for Outlook, when you track a contact in CRM, the icon of the record in the contacts view in Outlook changes from the standard Outlook "business card" icon   to the CRM synched contact icon .  This can help you quickly separate which contacts are personal contacts from your CRM synchronized contacts.

You may find, however, that a tracked contact's icon may revert back to the standard Outlook contact icon.

This happens when a user makes a change to the contact record in Outlook after the record is synchronized with CRM.  For example, a user adds notes to the Outlook contact.   When this happens, don't worry--the contact is still tracked in CRM, but the contact icon is changed by Outlook to the standard contact icon.

It is important to remember that the contact synchronization only happens when the contact is tracked from Outlook or when one of the synchronized fields is updated in CRM. 

Here are some tips for how to clean this up or prevent this from happening to you in the first place:

1. If you have tracked contacts where the icon has reverted back to the standard icon, make a change to one of the synchronized fields on the CRM record.  For example, put a dash in the email address 3 field on the contact, or one of the other synched fields that you don't use.  The next time CRM synchronizes, it will change the icon for the record to the CRM tracked contact icon.  See http://blog.customereffective.com/blog/2008/02/crmoutlook-sync.html for a full list of synchronized fields.  
2. To prevent this from happening, only modify tracked contacts in CRM, not on the Outlook contact form. 

Technorati Tags: Microsoft CRM,Contacts,synchronization

Setting Blank IFRAME Sources

When working with iframes in Microsoft Dynamics CRM, you may find that you need to set the source of the iframe to a blank page (often I set the source to a blank page in the form configuration – I almost always have javascript dynamically build the url for the source during the page load). Traditionally, CRM developers and consultants (myself included in this bunch) have always been setting the iframe source to about:blank. While this has been adequate for many situations, I’ve started to notice there can be issues when viewing the iframe in a browser that has Enhanced Security Configuration installed. The issue that crops up is that about:blank will trigger warning notifications in Internet Explorer – if you’re pulling the pages up from the server (which is how I’m usually doing config work – since I’m an outside consultant), this can be a bit of a nuisance. But I’ve also been in a situation at a client who had a very tightly controlled and locked-down Active Directory environment and about:blank was throwing security warning on the client XP machines. Needless to say, this was not acceptable.

Fortunately, there is a CRM url you may use to display a blank page. Instead of setting the iframe source to about:blank, I’ve gotten into the habit of setting it to /_root/Blank.aspx. This gives you a valid url to set the iframe source to while also providing a blank space within the iframe. This method works in any iframe situation without throwing the security warnings, so I’ve made it a standard practice to always use /_root/blank.aspx when I need a blank page.

 

Technorati Tags: Microsoft Dynamics CRM,CRM,about:blank,iframe,blank iframe

Introducing the Microsoft Dynamics CRM Developer Toolkit

Some of the most interesting Dynamics CRM content is coming from the CRM Engineering for Enterprise (E2) team.  They are responsible for advocating for Enterprise customers.  They are the people behind some of the best CRM white papers, including the fantastic Nuts and Bolts of Offline and Online Synchronization white paper.

Today they released the Microsoft Dynamics CRM Developer Toolkit.  The following is from the release from E2:

To provide developers with the ability to create and manage on-premise CRM solutions in an integrated Visual Studio environment, the Microsoft Dynamics CRM Engineering for Enterprise (CRM E2) team initiated and sponsored the development of the Microsoft Dynamics CRM Developer Toolkit. The Toolkit has been designed to make it easier for developers to customize, extend, and maintain an on-premise CRM solution, all from within an integrated Visual Studio environment. Key benefits for developers include the ability to:

• View All CRM Entities - Displays a listing of CRM entities that are dynamically available from the CRM Explorer within Visual Studio 2008
• Create and Update CRM Entities - Allows for creating new entities and updating existing entities from within the CRM Explorer experience
• Create a Wrapper Class - Provides the ability to auto-generate wrapper classes for entities, which exposes the CRM entities and their corresponding attributes as classes and properties respectively to enable development of code to interact with the entities
• Generate Plug-in Code - Enumerates the available Plug-ins for an entity and generates the code necessary to jumpstart the plug-in development process
• Integrate the Build and Deploy Process - Simplifies the process of building and deploying a CRM solution
• Deploy Across Multiple Servers - Assists in deployment and maintenance of Windows installer packages across multiple environments

The E2 team would also like to encourage Toolkit users to submit comments, suggestions, or other general thoughts about extending Toolkit functionality to better support the efforts of developers in planning, developing, customizing, and maintaining on-premise deployments of Microsoft Dynamics CRM.  To initiate or participate in Toolkit discussions, In Code Gallery, please see visit the Toolkit Discussions tab at http://code.msdn.microsoft.com/E2DevTkt/Thread/List.aspx

Update -- CRM MVP Jim Wang has posted a good overview of how to install the developer toolkit.

Technorati Tags: Dynamics CRM,E2,Developer Toolkit

New Customer Effective Case Study featuring our client, Dixon Hughes

We always enjoy working with the Microsoft Marketing Team and they have done another outstanding job with this recent write-up.   The case study discusses our growth and overall success as well as highlights one of our favorite clients, Dixon Hughes, and their road to success with Micrsosoft Dynamics CRM. Enjoy the read !!

http://www.microsoft.com/casestudies/casestudy.aspx?casestudyid=4000003914

MSCRM 4.0 Documentation Generator (Excel Add-in)

The MS CRM 4.0 Documentation Generator Available for download as an open-source project. http://crm4documentation.codeplex.com/  A compiled installer is available for download in the ‘release’ section – full source code is available in the project as well.

The utility operates as an add-in for Microsoft Office Excel 2007 to automatically generate documentation for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 - [This is a fork off the original CRM 3.0 project.]

Functionality
This tools generates documentation from an exported CRM 4.0 Customizations file (zip or XML):

• Entity Forms - including Tabs, Sections, Field Names, Types and Descriptions
• Picklists - List Picklist Field Names, Text and numeric Values for Picklists on a form
• JScripts - Extract the scripts associated with the Form/Attributes on the form. (This is still a work in progress)

Installation
The add-in will run on Office 2007 Excel (with Visual Studio Tools for Office (3.0))
Extract the installation files and run Setup.exe - it will attempt to install any prerequisites.
Once complete, Start Excel.
The first time Excel runs with the add-in, you will be presented with a customization installation message - choose "Install."

Usage
Open the Add-Ins ribbon, press the load button to load your XML, then press the "Forms" button.
Once you've created a "Forms" documentation spreadsheet, Open a new blank spreadsheet and click the "Scripts" button, and then repeat with the "Picklists" button.

Credit
The foundation of this project is the result of the work of Merijn van Mourik in the CRM 3.0 Documentation Generator Project. - I've been unable to reach Merijn, if anyone has contact information, please pass it along.

Thanks!
Scott Sewell
CustomerEffective

Filtered Views and Picklist Labels

When you do a SQL query of the CRM database, such as for a report, the recommended, supported way to query is using the Filtered Views.

By default, these are the only database views to which CRM users have access.  The filtered views have several benefits:

1.  They support Dynamics CRM security.  When running a query of the filteredaccounts view, for example, users will only be able to see the records that they have permission to view.

2.  They retrieve the metadata for CRM picklist labels, which will make your job much easier than the alternative, working with the stringmap table.

When writing reports for CRM, it is important to use the filtered views whenever possible to avoid giving crm users access to data that they shouldn’t have.  For more details about the filtered views, recommended reading is one of the first posts on the CRM Team blog, Why Filtered Views Are Cool.

Considerations

I had an interesting experience recently where we added a user to an environment to be a report writer.  We added this user to CRM and gave her a security role.  She could query the filtered views; however, when she got the results of her query, all of the picklist names were null.

I tested the other users, and they could query the filtered views and retrieve the picklist names.

I knew that she had never logged in to CRM yet, so on a whim, I asked her to log in to CRM.  After that she tried again, and this time, the query retrieved the picklist names.

Turns out that  when you create a user in CRM, the UILanguageId in the usersettingsbase table is set to 0 for that user. When the user logs in the first time, CRM sets the uilanguageid based on the Internet Explorer language settings. This is for the case where you have users in another language that may not be able to read the base language to change their language settings. 

The picklist names you see are based on the language code the user has set.  If the uilanguageid isn't set then it could cause the picklist names not to appear.

Lesson learned:  Have users log in to CRM at least one time before they write queries/reports.

Technorati Tags: Dynamics CRM,reports,filtered views

More Details on Scribe Insight 6.5

The guys at Scribe Software have released a 14-page overview containing more details about Scribe 6.5.  This really shows a commitment to listening to feedback from customers and partners and making improvement to an already great product.

Download it here.

Technorati Tags: Scribe,Insight 6.5,Microsoft Dynamics CRM

Tips on Moving Your Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 Deployment to a New Server

So you need to move your your Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 to a new server.  Maybe your CRM server is getting old, or maybe your usage requirements have outgrown the capacity of your current hardware.

Times like this can make even the most seasoned CRM administrator nervous.  However, if you follow a few a few basic steps, it should be a relatively pain free experience.

1.  Backup.  It goes without saying, but is worth repeating.  Backup.

• MSCRM Database
• Config Database
• Export of customizations (including sitemap and isv.config)
• Custom reports

2.  Follow the instructions.  Microsoft has provided detailed instructions in KB 952934 for several common scenarios, inluding:

• Move the Microsoft Dynamics CRM databases to another SQL Server and SQL Server Reporting Services server in the same domain, and leave the Microsoft Dynamics CRM Server on the existing server
• Redeploy the Microsoft Dynamics CRM deployment that includes the Microsoft Dynamics CRM Server within the same domain or to another domain.
• Move the Microsoft Dynamics CRM Server or one of the Microsoft Dynamics CRM server roles. However, leave the SQL Server and the SQL Server Reporting Services server intact

3.  If you are redeploying to a new SQL and CRM server, make sure that your SQL server has enough disk space for the redeployment.  When you import your organization, the SQL log file will grow at least as large as the database.  So if you have a 25 GB CRM database, you will need over 50 GB of free space on the SQL server for the process

4.  If you are redeploying to a new SQL and CRM server, remove any unnecessary records from your database to make the process go faster.  When you import the organization with the deployment manager, so any records you can remove will speed up the import.  For example, delete completed system jobs from the asynchronousbase table.

Technorati Tags: server,migration,Dynamics CRm

Make it easier for users to find contacts in CRM

Finding a contact when you’re not exactly sure of the spelling of the first or last name can challenging – especially in a large database. If you can only remember a portion of the person’s name or if you aren’t sure of the spelling of either the first or last name you may wind up with a long list of Smith’s or Singh’s to sort through – or if you search on first name, you could wind up with all the “John”s or “Uma”s and having to pick through those trying to find a near-match on the last name.

Most of us remember names by first name first and then (hopefully) at least a part of the last name, but remembering the spelling of the last name is often beyond hope.

In a recent environment, we added a secondary fullname field (in addition to the normal ‘fullname’) to capture the name in an alternate configuration and allow the user to include the first and part of the last name in their quick look up. That way, even if they couldn’t remember the exact spelling of the last name, they could key in “Alex F*” in the quick look-up bar and still find Mr. Farquharson’s contact record.

The solution is simple, but I believe it adds a nice improvement in terms of usability by allowing users to search the database as they see fit, rather than forcing them to conform to the implementation settings.

Scribe Insight 6.5 release and product launch webcast

We are pretty excited about the release of Scribe Insight 6.5.  This release includes several new capabilities that we have wanted for a long time—here are some of the highlights:

• Support for Windows authentication
• Failover/Disaster Recovery
• Web Services Adapter
• Support for 64-bit Windows Server 2008

The folks at Scribe Software will be hosting a  webcast to  provide product overview information as well as detailed feature information and demonstrations.

Scribe 6.5  Product Launch Thursday, April 16 @ 11am - 12pm EST

This webcast will provide a first look at the new release with the opportunity to ask questions.   Register here.

The Scribe presenters for the webcast will be:

• Bob Sturim - Vice President, Products
• John Gravely - Vice President, Marketing and Product Marketing
• Lou Antonucci - Director, Sales

Technorati Tags: Microsoft Dynamics CRM,Scribe,webcast