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July 2009
July 29, 2009
CRM 4.0 SSRS Report hyperlinks with ObjectIds
I needed to build a report with hyperlink actions. The hyperlink needed to have the account id passed to the url. The SQL query I used for the dataset was:
SELECT name, accountid FROM account
I then went to the Properties of the Chart field that will contain the hyperlink and clicked the Action tab and selected Jump to URL. The value for the URL was
="http://localhost/CRM/sfa/accts/edit.aspx?id={" & Fields!accountid.Value & "}#"
This resulted in the following warning on previewing the report and caused the hyperlink to not work.
[[rsRuntimeErrorInExpression] The Hyperlink expression for the chart ‘ProjectStatusReports.DataPoint.ActionInfo.Action’ contains an error: Operator '&' is not defined for string http://localhost/CRM/sfa and type 'Guid'.
Preview complete -- 0 errors, 1 warnings
The issue is that I was trying to pass a GUID type value when I needed a string. To resolve this, I altered my SQL query to return the accountid as a string by using the CAST function. Here is the new query in the dataset.
SELECT name, CAST(accountid as char(36)) as acctid FROM account
After making that change, I updated the hyperlink expression to read
="http://localhost/CRM/sfa/accts/edit.aspx?id={" & Fields!acctid.Value & "}#"
That solved the issue with the GUID.
Posted by Mark Weilandt on July 29, 2009 at 11:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)
July 28, 2009
CRM 3.0 Only System Admin user can run reports
Recently I had an issue with customer using CRM 3.0. The issue was that only the default system administrator could run reports. The other users in the system could not run any reports or access them. All users were already in the system admin security role. I then checked active directory settings and those users were in the correct AD groups and reporting groups. I also reviewed the trust for delegation settings and those were correctly in place.
We were about to run the Kerberos authentication tool when we discovered that a registry setting was incorrect. The issue was resolved by adding the NTLMForSQLRSServer registry key with a value of 1 on the CRM server at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\MSCRM.
I know this was a quick blog but I wanted pass this along in case someone encounters it again. It may help them to resolve this type of issue in a timely fashion.
Posted by John Whisonant on July 28, 2009 at 03:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
July 27, 2009
Resolving some issues when upgrading from CRM 3.0 to CRM 4.0
I was recently upgrading an environment from CRM 3.0 to CRM 4.0 and ran into an IIS issue. The CRM 4.0 wizard performed its environment checks. I was presented with an IIS error that stated "The Web site's NTAuthenticationProviders must be Negotiate,NTLM." A quick look at the log file was not much more helpful. It stated "Error| Check NTAuthenticationProvidersValidator : Failure: The Web site's NTAuthenticationProviders must be Negotiate,NTLM.
The parameter "NTAuthenticationProviders" is not set at this node."
To resolve this, the NTAuthenticationProviders value to needs to be set to "Negotiate,NTLM". To check this value, perform the following actions.
1. On the IIS server, click on Start, select Run, type in CMD and press Enter.
2. Switch to the Adminscripts directory by typing cd\ and pressing enter. Then type "cd inetpub\adminscripts" and press enter. This is the default location for the scripts.
3. Determine the number identifier for your website by opening IIS and selecting the "Web Sites" node. On the right you will see the Identifier column to the right of each Description. My Microsoft Dynamics CRM website identifier was 1.
4. Go back to the DOS window and type the following command:
cscript adsutil.vbs get w3svc/1/root/NTAuthenticationProviders
You should get back - NTAuthenticationProviders: (STRING) "Negotiate,NTLM". In my case, the statement returned - The parameter "NTAuthenticationProviders" is not set at this node. When the value is not set, it should default to "Negotiate,NTLM" but I was still having the issue.
5. To set that value, type the following command:
cscript adsutil.vbs set w3svc/1/root/NTAuthenticationProviders "Negotiate,NTLM"
To validate that it was set I ran the "GET" command and verified it was set.
6. At this point you need to reset IIS. Be warned that if anyone is using any of the websites running with this IIS, they will get dropped. In the DOS window, type IISRESET and press enter.
7. Unfortunately for me, I still received the error. The next step was to check what the NTAuthenticationProviders value was one level up so I ran the following command:
cscript adsutil.vbs get w3svc/1/NTAuthenticationProviders
The value for NTAuthenticationProviders was set here but it was set to
"Negotiate, NTLM" and the issue with that is there is a space after the comma. I set the value by running this command:
cscript adsutil.vbs set w3svc/1/NTAuthenticationProviders "Negotiate,NTLM"
and then ran the IISRESET command.
Problem solved!
Posted by Mark Weilandt on July 27, 2009 at 03:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)
July 24, 2009
Encrypting Microsoft Dynamics CRM data
I recently had a case where sensitive data needed to be stored in Microsoft CRM, and the company management wanted to make sure that the data would be securely encrypted.
One of the great new features in SQL Server 2008 is Transparent Data Encryption (TDE). TDE encrypts everything in the database while being transparent to applications. The encryption is sticky, so files are encrypted as they are detached or backed up
TDE is fully supported with Dynamics CRM 4.0.
For more details see Improving Microsoft Dynamics CRM Performance and Securing Data with Microsoft SQL Server 2008 by the CRM E2 Team. It contains a great overview of TDE, and benchmarks showing potential performance impact of encryption.
Thanks to Matt Parks for reminding me about this white paper.
Posted by Joel Lindstrom on July 24, 2009 at 12:17 PM in Microsoft CRM Implementation | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
July 22, 2009
CRM 4.0 Performance
I often get asked "What can I do to speed up CRM"? Without getting into too much detail about servers and networks, here are a few resources and suggestions for you to use and think about.
1. Microsoft recently updated their "Optimizing and Maintaining Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0" white paper. Here is the link:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=ba826cee-eddf-4d6e-842d-27fd654ed893&displaylang=en
2. You may also want to download the CRM 4.0 Implementation Guide. The Planning Guide specifies the hardware requirements for the CRM server. Make sure your hardware meets or exceeds recommendations.
Here are the recommended values for the CRM Server:
Processor - P4 Multi-core or multiple 1.8-GHz CPU or higher
Memory - 2GB RAM or more
Hard disk - 400 MB of available hard-disk space
3. If you are running CRM and SQL on the same server, you may want to consider putting each one on its own server.
4. Here is a link to white paper on "Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 Suggested Hardware for Deployments of up to 500 Concurrent Users".
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=3bf7ecda-7eaf-4f1c-bbfe-cae19bc8bb78&displaylang=en
Posted by Mark Weilandt on July 22, 2009 at 10:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
July 17, 2009
Date Only fields display different dates for users in different Time Zones
If you have CRM users in multiple time zones and happen to use “Date Only” fields in CRM, such as for Birthdays, Contract Dates, etc. –You may want to ensure that a date set by a user in one time zone is displayed correctly to users in time zones west of them.
When a Date Only field is populated, CRM actually still stores the date with a time of midnight in the users’s local time zone.
When a user in New York saves the date 1/1/2010 in CRM, it is stored as Midnight, January 1st Eastern Time. – However when a user in Los Angeles views the record, the date time is adjusted to display in Pacific Time and the LA user sees 12/31/2009!
This is because [1/1/2010 00:00:00 AM] in New York is the same moment as [12/31/2009 09:00:00 PM] in Los Angeles.
To adjust for this apparent discrepancy, I set the unseen time portion of a date-only value to Noon local time. – By doing so, users in other time zones will see the same date displayed in CRM.
For Example If I wanted to ensure that the Birthday of a Contact if set by a user in New York will be displayed correctly for a user in Los Angeles, I add the following script to the ‘on-change’ event of the contacts’ birthday to set the time value of the date to Noon.
When the user updates the birthdate field, the time portion is set to noon allowing other users to see the same date – even after it’s adjusted to their own time zone.
(By the way, the timezone effect isn't apparent if the user in in the western timezone sets the date field, since Midnight Tuesday in LA is still also Tuesday in New York. (Tuesday 3AM Eastern Time) )
VERY IMPORTANT for users in world wide deployments: This tip is for implementations where all users are within 12 hours of each other and all on the same side of the International Date Line. (e.g. all users are in US or all in Europe, etc.) Because any given moment of the day is recognized as 2 different dates around the world, no date/time setting will allow users in every time zone to see the same date when that date is adjusted to their local time zone. – In cases where you need a consistent date displayed in a world-wide deployment, use a text field – even though you will lose CRM’s time comparison features in Advanced Find, you are able to control the displayed date for all users.
Scott Sewell
Posted by Scott Sewell on July 17, 2009 at 12:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (7) | TrackBack (0)
July 15, 2009
Introduction to XRM Video From WPC
This is a video that premiered at Worldwide Partner Conference. It does a great job of answering the question “What is XRM?”
Posted by Joel Lindstrom on July 15, 2009 at 05:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
July 14, 2009
Mobile Express for CRM 4.0
In case you haven’t heard, Microsoft CRM Mobile Express for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 was released recently. Mobile Express is a mobile browser friendly interface for CRM 4.0 that makes it easy for users to look up CRM data and enter data on the go. Mobile Express is a free download.
I played with the beta of Mobile Express 4 several months ago, so I was excited to see what the final release looked like. Here are my initial reactions:
1. The installation is one of the easiest installations I have ever done—it is literally a hotfix. The total installation time is less than 3 minutes. It does require you to restart your CRM server, so be sure to do it at a time that won’t disrupt your users.
2. It is a great complement for IFD implementations. If you used the 3.0 version of Mobile Express, you had to set up an externally available URL for users to use. ME4 simplifies this by using the existing IFD url. So if your CRM external URL is https://crm.contoso.com, after installation, you will have a mobile url https://crm.contoso.com/m that will direct users to the mobile express site. Especially if you already have an IFD enabled implementation, Mobile Express is a no brainer—with really very little work you gain a lot of functionality and user convenience.
3. Configuration is very convenient. After installation you will find a Mobile Express configuration link in Settings—>customizations. This allows a user to configure Mobile Express and select ME form layouts without having to log on to the server.
Some considerations as you roll out Mobile Express:
1. Configuration of forms is separate from CRM form customization—you have to select which entities and attributes are available from Mobile Express—this allows you to lay out the mobile form in a way that makes the best use of the smaller form factor.
2. Mobile access is controlled via CRM security. After installation you will see a new permission called “Go Mobile” in CRM security roles. This permission is enabled by default for all roles, and it gives you an easy way to exclude users from being able to use Mobile Express if there are security concerns.
3. It works with virtually any mobile device. I have tested on an iphone, Windows Mobile, and Blackberry. It is also an option if you have limited use users that use a Mac or Linux and just need to look up data, since it works from browsers such as Safari, Firefox, Opera, etc.
4. Blackberry users--if you have problems accessing your Mobile Express site, check your browser options. Enabling javascript and changing the emulation mode to IE mode may help.
Posted by Joel Lindstrom on July 14, 2009 at 11:29 PM in Microsoft CRM Implementation | Permalink | Comments (8) | TrackBack (0)
Scribe Software and Celenia Software Combine Product Offerings for Dynamics NAV and Dynamics AX Customers
Some news from our friends at Scribe Software:
Bedford, NH; July 13, 2009 – Scribe Software, a rapid integration vendor and the leading integration and migration solution choice of Microsoft Dynamics® CRM, Microsoft Dynamics® GP and Microsoft Dynamics® NAV partners and customers, and Celenia Software, the global leader in Microsoft Dynamics development services and add‐on products for Dynamics NAV and AX, have formed a strategic partnership. By combining Scribe’s strength in the Dynamics CRM and Dynamics GP markets with Celenia’s strength in the Dynamics NAV and Dynamics AX markets, customers can now utilize one data management platform to integrate the entire Dynamics product line with virtually any application, data source, or SAAS platform. The partnership will also provide more out‐of‐the‐box integration solutions, enabling customers to achieve an unprecedented level of integrated applications with minimal cost and effort.
The highlights of this strategic partnership are:
•Scribe and Celenia will consolidate their integration offerings for Dynamics NAV and Dynamics AX on the Scribe Insight platform, available exclusively through Scribe’s worldwide network of over 800 resellers
•Celenia will take over the development of the Scribe Adapter for Dynamics NAV and create a new Scribe Adapter for Dynamics AX
•Celenia will incorporate many of the unique capabilities of their CRM Connector for Dynamics NAV and Dynamics AX into these new and enhanced Scribe Adapters for NAV and Dynamics AX
•Celenia will develop additional solution templates and accelerators for the most common data integration scenarios
•Celenia will provide expanded services to Scribe partners to support the demands of their Dynamics NAV and Dynamics AX customers
“Dynamics NAV and Dynamics AX customers are the big winners in this partnership. They are recognizing the strategic impact of fully integrated business applications and demand better solutions with less overhead and cost,” said Mark Prestipino, CEO of Scribe Software. “By combining forces with Celenia, Scribe now offers one club in the bag for integrating their critical business applications.”
“For customer and partners, this brings together rich, flexible integration technology with unique domain expertise in the Dynamics AX and Dynamics NAV space,” said Rex Clausager, CEO of Celenia. “The combination of a strong Integration platform and service offerings around Dynamics will enable all Dynamics partners to be more competitive in and around their customers’ Dynamics implementations.”
Posted by Joel Lindstrom on July 14, 2009 at 04:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
July 10, 2009
Restrict Access to Direct E-mail in Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0
In Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0, when you open the Account or Contacts entity, you will see an e-mail button on the toolbar on top of the view. This button allows you to select a group of contacts or accounts via a view or advanced find, and send them an e-mail. This functionality can be a very useful way to communicate with a large number of people with a minimal amount of effort. But it can also be dangerous, as a user can fairly e-mail every contact or account in your database, so you probably will want to restrict access to direct email to only those users who need to have access.
But restricting access to direct e-mail is not a very obvious process. There is no permission in CRM security roles for “Direct E-Mail” or “Bulk E-mail.” There is a permission for E-mail; however, you won’t want to restrict users from creating e-mails—if you do, they will not be able to track their e-mail communications in CRM, which is a major reason to use CRM in the first place.
The answer lies in the way that Direct E-mail works. Direct E-mail is dependent on templates—you can’t just hit bulk e-mail and type a message. You have to first create an e-mail template, and then select that template from the Direct E-mail form.
So if you wish to restrict Direct E-mail functionality from a group of users, the following process will help:
1. In CRM go to Settings—> Administration—> Security Roles
2. Open the Security role of the group of users for which you wish to restrict Direct E-mail functionality
3. Click the Core Records tab
4. Remove permissions for E-mail templates
5. Save and close the Security Role.
Now when the users with this role log in to CRM, they will no longer see the Direct E-mail button on the toolbar
Want to learn more about CRM bulk e-mail options? Check out this fantastic post written by Jim Steger on the CRM Online blog.
Posted by Joel Lindstrom on July 10, 2009 at 08:33 PM in Microsoft CRM Tricks and Tips | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
July 06, 2009
Tagging Microsoft Dynamics CRM Contacts
A Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 user asked recently how to tag or categorize his CRM Contacts. He wanted to have a list of tags such as golf, baseball, accounting, etc with which he could easily tag users and organize them based on category. The categories will also be useful as classifications to use in building marketing lists.
This is pretty easy to do using basic Microsoft CRM customization.
1. Create a custom entity called “Category.” I set it as Organization owned, as no one will be owning a particular category. Set the display area to “Settings.” The form will contain just the name field—this is ok, that’s all we need. Click Save and Close.
2. Create another custom entity called “Contact Category. Again, select Organization ownership rather than user owned. Click the Primary Attribute tab, and set the primary attribute requirement level to “No Constraint.” Click Save (not save and close).
3. From the Contact Category entity customization, click N:1 Relationships. Select Contact as the Primary Entity. Under Relationship Attribute enter “Contact” as the Display Name. Under Navigation Pane Item for Primary Entity select “Use Custom Label” for Display Option and enter “Categories” as the Custom Label. We do this because we want the navigation bar link from a contact record to say “Categories.” Save and Close.
4. From the Contact Category entity customization, click N:1 Relationships. Under Relationship Attribute enter “Category” as the Display Name. Under Navigation Pane Item for Primary Entity select “Use Custom Label” for Display Option and enter “Contacts” as the Custom Label. We do this because we want the navigation bar link from a Catogory record to say “Contacts.” Save and Close.
5. From the Contact Category entity customization, click Forms and Views and double click on the form customization link. Remove the Name field from the form and add the Contact and Category fields created by the newly added relationships. You will also want to be sure to modify the Contact Category associated view to display the contact and category fields. Click Save and Close.
6. Publish the Contact, Category, and Contact Category entities. Refresh your browser.
7. In Microsoft CRM, click Settings and select the “Categories” entity from the navigation bar. By default it will appear on the bottom of the list. You can change its position in the list—see Organizing Settings Navigation Bar for more details. Add categories to the list by creating new Category records. Use the Save and New button to efficiently add multiple categories.
8. Now you will be able to easily tag your contacts. From a Contact record, click the side navigation bar link for Categories and add a category to the contact.
9. So say that John Smith has a new interest, Vegetable Gardening, which is not part of the list? CRM 4.0 makes it easy to add values on the fly. When you click “New Contact Category” from the John Smith record, when you click the lookup for Category, click the “New” button on the lookup form and define your new category. This will add the category to the list and add the category to the John Smith record.
10. So now that we have tagged our contacts, how do we find the contacts are tagged “Fishing?”
We can navigate to Settings—> Categories and open the record for the desired category. By clicking the side navigation link for contacts, you will see a list of all contacts that are tagged with “Fishing.”
You could also do an advanced find to get all contacts where related category entity Category equals “Fishing.”
Posted by Joel Lindstrom on July 06, 2009 at 02:06 PM in Microsoft CRM Customizations | Permalink | Comments (13) | TrackBack (0)
Changing Microsoft Dynamics CRM Numerical Formats
Let’s say you want to change the number format that Microsoft CRM uses. Instead of showing 123,456, you would like to use a space instead of a comma, and make it 123 456.
In CRM, click Settings—> administration—> System Settings and go to the Formats tab.
From here, you can change the default format and customize the settings to change the delimiter. However, after you make this change, you will notice that the numbers are still formatted the same way they were before you made the change.
The reason is that the System settings format options set the default format; however, the format is actually a user setting. A change to the format in System Settings will affect any new users that are added, but it will not change any existing users format preferences. This is actually a good thing, as users can have the number formatted as they like them, even if it is different from the organization default.
For existing users, you will need to go to the personal options, either by clicking Personalize Workplace in the web client or by clicking CRM—>Options in the Outlook client. From the format tab you will be able to set the formatting options for the user.
Lesson Learned
It is important to set the desired number format prior to adding users, especially if it is different from the default for your region. Otherwise, you will find yourself spending a lot of time making the change user by user.
Posted by Joel Lindstrom on July 06, 2009 at 12:52 PM in Microsoft CRM Tricks and Tips | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Customer Effective Senior Consultant Scott Sewell Named Microsoft CRM MVP
Microsoft has named Customer Effective Senior Consultant Scott Sewell Most Valuable Professional (MVP) for his outstanding contributions to the Microsoft Dynamics CRM community. Scott was recognized for his exceptional work in the Microsoft Dynamics CRM Forum, and other contributions such as the CRM 4.0 Documentation Generator and work on the Extended Sales Forecasting Accelerator.
The Microsoft MVP Award Program recognizes outstanding members of technical communities for their community participation and willingness to help others. Given annually to a select group of exceptional technical community leaders, the MVP Award celebrates the most active Microsoft community members from around the world who provide invaluable online and offline expertise that makes a difference in technical communities that feature Microsoft products.
There are a total of 33 Microsoft CRM MVPs worldwide. Scott joins the Customer Effective MVP ranks, with Joel Lindstrom, CRM MVP, and Bill Ryan, Mobile Products MVP.
Congratulations, Scott, for your achievement
Posted by Customer Effective on July 06, 2009 at 12:34 PM in Customer Effective News | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
July 04, 2009
Where did my default start page settings go?
A user called me last week with a problem. They were wanting to set the Microsoft Dynamics CRM web client to open to a Wunderbar area other than the default workplace. In CRM, when you click “Personalize Workplace,” typically the first option is to set the default Wunderbar pane and tab. So, for example, if you have a user who is a Marketing Manager, you can have Microsoft CRM 4.0 open directly to the Marketing area Campaign tab.
The user’s problem was that when they went to the CRM Personal Options, they did not have the option to set the default pane—the top option that they saw was to set the number of records shown per page.
It turns out that this user was running CRM for Outlook at the time. The Personal Options form is shared between CRM web client and CRM for Outlook. The default pane option does not apply to CRM for Outlook, as the folders are managed through Outlook.
When a user is logged on to CRM for Outlook, if you go to the personal options form, the default start page option will be hidden, even if you launch it through the web client.
The answer is to log out of CRM for Outlook—right click on the Dynamics icon in the system tray by your Windows clock, and click “sign out.” Now when you go to the Personal Options you will see the default start page options.
Posted by Joel Lindstrom on July 04, 2009 at 07:53 AM in Microsoft CRM for Outlook, Microsoft CRM Tricks and Tips | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)





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