Across industries, companies are looking for ways to become more competitive and agile operations and generate greater returns from their investments in processes and infrastructures. Many of them engage in business transformation initiatives to ensure ...read more![]()
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Managing change strategically by using BPM for Microsoft Dynamics AX in business transformation
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Change Customer Lookup Behaviour
In MS CRM there are some lookups which allows multiple entities, like Customer lookup. When clicked on customer lookup, we have choice to select either account or contact. But some time requirements are...(read more)![]()
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Strategic, high-value examples of BPM with RapidValue for Dynamics AX include compliance and organizational change management
In two recent blog posts, I talked about how business process management (BPM) with To-Increase RapidValue for Microsoft Dynamics AX can help companies reduce the risk and strengthen the positive outcomes of their business transformation initiatives ...read more![]()
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Innovation Drives Success
Imagine a situation where you get to spend time with the leader of a world-class organization. Have that person be the head of one of the most popular racing teams in the world with a global racing viewership...(read more)![]()
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How to find the latest Hotfixes (Cumulative Updates) for Microsoft Dynamics NAV?
Most people who have tried looking for the latest Dynamics NAV hotfixes or cumulative updates on Microsoft PartnerSource or CustomerSource would know that finding these hotfixes is a very cumbersome and...(read more)![]()
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Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2015 spring release at a glimpse
The Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2015 spring release AKA Vega will launch in Q2 2015 and promises some great new tools for your Dynamics CRM toolkit. The really big news for the spring Dynamics CRM release wave is the integration of Parature, a leading cloud-based customer engagement software acquired by Microsoft last year. Parature’s knowledge management capability which allows users to search and receive automated messages is the starting point for this dynamic duo. This functionality comes out of the box for Dynamics CRM 2015 online with this release. Moving forward Microsoft will continue to introduce Parature customer care capabilities in upcoming Dynamics CRM releases with an ultimate goal of creating an innovative customer service solution.
How can you take advantage of Parature? Once your Dynamics CRM Administrator has set up Knowledge Base Management in Dynamics CRM users will be able to connect to Parature and its comprehensive information. Knowledge management search controls become available for use on Dynamics CRM entity forms including custom entities; these customizations enable users to search for knowledge base articles in Parature within a Dynamics CRM record.
Another exciting component of the spring release is the offer of seamless OneNote integration. While out of the box Dynamics CRM features are limited to storing notes in plain text and allowing files to be attached, an OneNote integration arms users with OneNote features without ever leaving Dynamics CRM. OneNote enhances the Notes entity with its photo capture, voice notes, real-time collaboration, embed pictures and Excel spreadsheet features as well as the ability to add notes in OneNote and have those directly available within Dynamics CRM.
What about mobility? Every Microsoft Dynamics CRM license includes access to mobile phone apps at no additional cost. With the spring release Microsoft introduces a new Dynamics CRM for Phones App which boasts a newly designed intuitive interface created with the user tablet experience in mind.
The new release brings with it numerous feature and navigational improvements. One of the slick new features allows users to embed analytical spreadsheets directly from Excel into Dynamics CRM as their own dashboards. Another offering is the streamlined Excel Export feature allowing export anytime to almost anywhere.
From a navigational perspective, Microsoft addresses user concern regarding scrolling navigation items and a cluttered screen look. Now when you navigate to a Dynamics CRM work area the user is presented with Item Icons which are Role Driven.
For a complete list of release features, check out the Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2015 Release Preview Guide. For other information on Microsoft Dynamics CRM news, subscribe to our Dynamics Community News publication.
McGladrey is a full service Dynamics CRM partner with offices throughout the United States. From evaluation and implementation to development and support, we can help you with all your Dynamics CRM needs. Contact our professionals for more information on our services at 855.437.7202 or crm@mcgladrey.com.
By: Kathie Bennie – Pennsylvania Microsoft Dynamics CRM partner
The post Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2015 spring release at a glimpse appeared first on Microsoft Dynamics CRM Professionals.
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Reading CSV files in Dynamics Ax 2012.
Today I come across a scenario where, I have to read data from csv file.
Reading data from csv file is very easy with IO operation. For example I have csv file with following student first name and last name which I have to migrate into custom ax table.
Custom Ax table.
Following a simple code snippet which read csv file and insert data into custom data
staticvoid Job9(Args _args)
{
#File
IO iO;
Name FirstName;
Name LastName;
StudentInfo _StudentInfo;
FilenameOpen filename = “c:\\StudentInfo.csv”;//To assign file name
Container record;
boolean first = true;
;
iO = new CommaTextIo(filename,#IO_Read);
if (! iO || iO.status() != IO_Status::Ok)
{
throw error(“@SYS19358″);
}
while (iO.status() == IO_Status::Ok)
{
record = iO.read();// To read file
if (record)
{
if (first) //To skip header
{
first = false;
}
else
{
FirstName = conpeek(record, 1);//To peek record
LastName = conpeek(record, 2);
_StudentInfo.FirstName=FirstName;
_StudentInfo.LastName =LastName;
_StudentInfo.insert();
// info(strfmt(‘%1–%2′,custAccount,custname));
}
}
}
}
After running the ax job, I found following data into Ax table.
If you saw, first row of csv is missing in table. The reason for that above code snippet consider first row as header so it did not require to insert it.
One thing I missed, The reference, original code snippet is belongs to “Jitendra Kumar Singh”
http://axaptacorner.blogspot.com/2012/09/how-to-read-csv-files-in-ax-2012.html
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How Do I: Simulate Users when Load Testing in Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2015
(Please visit the site to view this video)This video demonstrates how to simulate users when load testing in Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2015. For more information, please visit Microsoft Dynamics NAV GetReady page
http://aka.ms/NavGetReady
https://mbs.microsoft.com/partnersource/global/readiness-training/readiness-training-news/GetReadyforMicrosoftDynamicsNAV![]()
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Tips: Keep Your CRM Solution File Slim
Keep yourself slim is an interesting topic from health perspective, but what does this title mean for Dynamics CRM customization? To start with, I’d highlight on what we could have in a Dynamics CRM solution. Based on MSDN article: https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/gg334576.aspx below are the list of items that can be added to a CRM solution:
Most of the above items are relatively small in size (XML markup in customization.xml), however one part that makes the solution file becomes really big is the Web Resources, typical large files that attached to the solution are the image files. One of the consequences of having large solution file is solution import timeout (this problem happened quite often to me). So, I’d share my tips to overcome this issue.
First tips is separating the solution for deployment e.g: one solution for anything apart the images web resources and another solution to include the images. Note: be mindful on the sequence of the import (the images solution need to be imported first in this case).
Second tips is to check whether there is any unused web resource. To check this, I’m using XrmToolbox with “Web Resources Manager” plugin:
Load the web resources, once loaded, there is a nifty feature on Tools menu called: Find web resources without dependency.
This feature will list up the web resources without dependency (orphan record that uploaded but no longer used)
Now after this, it is your decision whether you would like to delete the record straight away or use this as your own reference. My suggestion would only use this for your reference, remove the item manually from the solution without deleting it.
Hope this helps!
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BKD Technologies Professionals Featured in GPUG Magazine
Christina Phillips and Charles Allen from the BKD Technologies Dynamics GP team recently were featured in a GPUG Magazine cover story discussing Microsoft Dynamics GP 2015. In the article, “Why (or Why Not) Microsoft Dynamics GP 2015?,” Charles and Christina discuss various topics related to GP 2015, including:
- Initial thoughts and impressions of GP 2015
- Why users should (or shouldn’t) upgrade
- What users should know about cost and licensing
- Their favorite features in GP 2015
- What to be aware of when planning an upgrade
Later in the issue, the two are featured again in a short “On Topic” article discussing the GP 2015 features that excite them the most.
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Business Rules in CRM 2015 – What should one know?
I came across a new thing about Business Rules in CRM 2015 which I was not aware of. While working on JavaScript to hide a section OnChange of a field, I ran into an issue where the section was not getting...(read more)![]()
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Auto Create Classes
I think we all have this little archive of code that we use again and again in AX. So i have made to different tools for handling these code snippets, and here is the first one of them, the Auto Create...(read more)![]()
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Using actions to avoid intermediate entity
When actions were first introduced into Dynamics CRM, I did not quite understand its potential and appreciate how useful they are. But after using actions in quite a few projects, I am true believer of...(read more)![]()
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Nokia Has No Plans To Release Smartphones
Nokia has stated that there are currently no plans to bring smartphones to market. Rumors appeared several times that Nokia wants to make Android phones, but there is, according to the Finnish company...(read more)![]()
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The Rise of the Small Business Cloud
Average small business owners spend 4 hrs/day online on their biz (not just #accounting)
The Rise of the Small Business Cloud
By 2020, most small businesses in the U.S. will be powered by the cloud, according to Intuit. Is your business ready?accountantvip
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Nueva solución SparkleXRM revive las jerarquías de Microsoft Dynamics CRM y xRM.
Con el lanzamiento de Dynamics CRM 2015, Microsoft no ha empujado exactamente a xRM como punto clave de …↧
How Viewpost Works – Viewpost
Welcome to Viewpost, a network for exchanging invoices and payments electronically.
I’m a big fan of Viewpost. I highlighted what they do for GP at Convergence. Checkout their How Viewpost Works video and visit the site at www.viewpost.com/ibg
The post How Viewpost Works – Viewpost appeared first on DynamicAccounting.net.
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Microsoft and Adobe partner to deliver 'large scale' customer experience solution
Microsoft and Adobe announced a partnership today at Adobe Summit that will integrate Dynamics CRM and Dynamics Marketing with Adobe's Marketing Cloud Solutions.
The partnership will target "many" specific industries, according to a statement, including financial services and travel and leisure.
Thousands of brands worldwide including two thirds of Fortune 50 companies rely on Adobe Marketing Cloud with over 30.5 trillion transactions a year, according to Adobe.
Adobe is a consumer of Microsoft Azure for its Marketing Cloud Solutions. Adobe Campaign and Experience Manager, two of the solutions in the suite, are Azure certified. Adobe has also partnered with Microsoft Azure to deliver streaming of major sporting events including the...
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Developers need to stop being so happy!
This blog has a great title because over the years I have met some extremely grumpy developers. Classic old school developers who liked to sit in dark corner and not be disturbed.
The point of this article is grumpy developers can still skip and dance down the happy path when it comes to writing and testing their code.
I am continuing to read Code Complete 2 (it’s over 900 pages long it will take me a while), today I came to an interesting paragraph.
Avoid Failure
Petroski argues that many spectacular bridge failures have occurred because of focusing on previous successes and not adequately considering possible failure modes. He concludes that failures like the Tacoma Narrows bridge could have been avoided if the designers had carefully considered the ways the bridge might fail and not just copied the attributes of other successful designs
Developers are too happy
The process of development usually goes
- Requirements gathered
- Functional requirement specified
- Technical requirements specified
- Code written to deliver requirements
- Test –> fix bugs cycle
Developers often focus on delivering the functionality, which is often known as following the happy path
Wiki describes as the Happy Path
In the context of software or information modeling, a happy path is a default scenario featuring no exceptional or error conditions, and comprises the sequence of activities executed if everything goes as expected.[1][2] For example, the happy path for a function validating credit card numbers would be where none of the validation rules raise an error, thus letting execution continue successfully to the end, generating a positive response.
This result of focusing on the happy path is the required functionality is created by leaves room for bugs when the users stray from the happy path into the alternative path or the exception path.
Developers are prone to following the happy path and only happy path testing because from their point of view they don’t often consider the real world use of the functionality but see the problem from a code point of view. It isn’t obvious to developer why end users would supply different values to what they are expecting.
Happy path testing can leave gaps for nulls, incorrect values and error checking/validating code.
The other area bugs come in is, is developer under estimate the random actions of end users.
Developers are not good testers
The paragraph raises a good point, developers often are poor at testing. Developers are so poor at testing their own code it’s considered good practise to get other people to test the code.
One of the reasons CRM developers miss bugs in CRM is they test everything using the System Administrator role which I have written about in this blog
The System Administrator role is a benefit and a curse to CRM developers
Developers often are not good at testing because after writing the code it’s difficult to step back and test the functionality rather than test the code. This is similar to writers editing their own writing, they feel attached to their creation to the extent they find it hard to evaluate it dispassionately.
How to avoid failure
An effective way of avoiding failure is writing unit tests for the code. The act of writing unit tests make the developer think
What should this functionality do e.g. what am I testing
- What values (min, max) are allowed
- What alternative values might be presented
- What should happen when an error happens
Thinking before coding is always beneficial but sometimes developers are eager to get coding they miss this step out.
Once the code is written is unappealing for developers to write unit tests, so the best method of unit testing is to write unit tests while you create the code and use those unit tests to make sure it’s working as expected.
Thinking about errors and failures is very beneficial. You will capture and avoid many errors. The developer will decide how to handle errors and its usually a choice
- Fail fast, abort action
- continue and warn the user
Errors are not good but code which has blundered on and changed half the values it was expecting can make a greater mess and take longer to clean up, so it’s better to have a plan up front.
Don’t let these often simple errors slip out of your development environment to the end user, make sure you harden your code.
If you don’t write unit tests you should consider doing it
Why CRM Developers should unit test their code
Experiences of Unit testing with Microsoft Dynamics CRM Projects
If you still are not persuaded to write unit tests make sure you go through you code and look for potential errors, validation checks. Make sure you have decided how you will handle errors in the code. It’s much better/quicker/easier to manage errors in a dev environment than having to add it in at a later date.
More reading for you
Filed under: Hosk CRM Dev, Hosk Stuff, Hosk’s Microsoft Dynamic CRM Development
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Product Bundles VS Product Kits in CRM 2015
If you’ve used Product Kits in the past, you’ll be familiar with Product Bundles. Bundles are an enhanced version of Product Kits (e.g., you cannot view Kit Items when selling a Kit, but you...(read more)![]()
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