Random writings, thoughts, tools, and ideas....

The workflow configuration tool is a great tool in the SDK which you build. It creates a couple of assemblies and and nice installer. You then run that and it puts the add-in into visual studio 2005, which I don't use anymore :( So I have updated it for Visual Studio 2008: The changes to do it were:

• Add the missing sdk proxy assembly to the files for the installer.
• Set the directory for the templates to the Visual Studio 2008 one.
• Changed the version of the assembly from 8.0 to 9.0 in the CRMWorkflowAddin.AddIn file.
• Change the title to show it is specially for Visual Studio 2008
• Changed the product ID so that it is not confused with the semi-offical one in the SDK.

You can download the actual installer files here and the updated deployment project file (in case you want to check) here.

Note: This is based on the first public release of the Microsoft CRM 4.0 SDK. If newer versions come out, you maybe better off using those versions. I'll (try) keep this one up to date.

Update 16 Jan 2008: This tool doesn't add the MSCRM workflow actvities which are available. To add those to the tool box see this post.

It seems that my stupid tips is catching on, however I did not expect this level of duh from the official MSCRM blog itself. The post states that you can use .Net 3.5 for development as it uses the same CLR as .Net 3.0 (which MSCRM 4.0 is based), however they don't recommend it because it could break if .Net 3.5 isn't installed. Duh! Does that mean that I should not use .Net 3.5 at for any dev since I can't guarantee that it will ever be available on a machine?! How about not using Windows cause I might write code and then there is a Linux box that exists. *sigh*
They should have said if you write code in .Net 3.5 and it breaks because it's not installed and you can't figure it out, then you need to stop writing code and become a chef or something and leave the dev to the people with at least a double digit IQ.

Two stupid tips when using it (it's duh if you think about it, but anyway I did it):

• Don't try to create a new organisation when installing Windows updates, especially if there is a SQL update in there which stops the SQL server.
• Don't run multiple copies of the deployment manager to create multiple organisations at the same time.

If I do anything else duh with the deployment manager I'll be sure to let you know.

If you get the MSCRM 4.0 SDK there is a little html file called sdkreadme.htm, which you would assume (incorrectly) is about the SDK itself and not the development side. Well in there is a number of issues that can occur. So in the interest of helping someone out who is searching for this particular issue on the net (instead of reading the manual, like we ever do that) here are the issues (related to development only. There is some samples stuff which I have removed):

• Organization specific URL requests to CrmService.asmx are case-sensitive (32068)
• You must use all lowercase for mscrmservices in the following URL.
• http://ServerName/OrgName/mscrmservices/2007/CrmService.asmx
• PreReturnValue.Stop Callout in 3.0 does not show any error (22605)
• Returning a Stop value from a Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0 callout has been deprecated and is made equivalent to returning an Abort value. Callouts returning a Stop value will result in an Abort. However, a standard error message will be displayed to the user instead of a custom message.
• Offline plug-ins or offline SDK creating entities   (10858)
• Inside a plug-in, if an entity is created or updated, the action is recorded as offline user even though it is impersonated as SYSTEM.
• Offline plug-ins that create entities use the offline user's credentials, even if the plug-in specifies impersonation.
• Deletion of plug-ins   (8574)
• When an Asynchronous plug-in or Custom Workflow Activity is deleted, it is recommended that you stop and restart the Async Service so that entries in the Async queue are aware of the plug-in or custom workflow deletion.
• Metadata API: Failure on update of system required attribute  (32170)
• When you try to update an attribute that is system required, an exception is thrown.
• Workaround: Set the required level to NULL before calling update.
• Metadata API: Unable to update the default value on the statuscode attribute (31251)
• There is no method in the MetadataAPI that allows you to update the default value for a statuscode attribute.
• Workaround: Use import or edit the value using the application user interface.
• Metadata API: GetValidReferencingEntities and GetValidReferencedEntities messages return results for entities that cannot be referenced from the task entity (32116)
• The task entity cannot be a referenced or referencing entity in a custom relationship. However, the GetValidReferencing and GetValidReferenced messages return a list of possibile entities for a relationship.
• Workaround: Use the CanBeReferenced or CanBeReferencing messages to determine if the task entity can participate in a relationship.
• Text attribute value cannot contain escape characters   (2134)
• When you create an entity instance such as an account, the name attribute value cannot contain escape characters. For example, if you create an account where the name is "Name_\r_123", after the create the actual name of the account will be "Name_\n_123".
• Bulk Delete UI: Deleted records not shown in Bulk Record Deletion Grid (31741) 
• When executing the BulkDelete message, if the BulkDeleteRequest.RecurrenceStartTime property is set to "today", the Bulk Record Deletion grid will not show the correct number of deleted records and the number of failures for the bulk delete job.
• Lookup Type is not always populated (31612)
• For the following attributes, the lookup type is not set when you retrieve an entity instance:
• activitypointer.serviceid
  annotation.objectid
  appointment.serviceid
  customeraddress.parentid
  documentindex.documentid
  fax.serviceid
  incidentresolution.serviceid
  letter.serviceid
  listmember.entityid
  opportunityclose.serviceid
  orderclose.serviceid
  phonecall.serviceid
  queueitem.objectid
  quoteclose.serviceid
  site.createdby
  site.modifiedby
  task.serviceid
  timezonelocalizedname.timezonedefinitionid
  timezonerule.timezonedefinitionid
• AssociateRequest message does not work for several relationships (28900)
• The AssociateRequest message will fail for these relationships: systemuserroles_association and teammembership_association.
• Workaround: Use the following specialized requests that are available for these relationships: AssignUserRolesRoleRequest and AddMembersTeamRequest.
• SPLA/IFD: Anonymous access for DiscoveryService in SPLA is not allowed on all methods (32683)
• In some configurations, download of the WSDL will fail because anonymous access is not allowed.
• Workaround:  You can publish the Discovery service WSDL for partners/developers. You can use the static WSDL shipped with the SDK, located in the folder \SDK\WSDL.

I recently was looking for some concrete information on the various status meanings in MSCRM 4.0 for the duplicate rules publishing. Checking the help didn't help, so I used the feedback option on it to say so. This morning I got a response answering the exact question. Anyway for anyone else looking for this information here it is (not like you couldn't guess, but better to be safe than sorry):

• Unpublished: Rule has been created, but matchcodes have not yet been created.
• Publishing: Matchcodes are in process of being created. Rule is not yet in effect. This step can take a while if you have many records.
• Published: Matchcodes have been created for each record in the base and matching record type for the rule. Records created or updated after the rule is published will be checked against existing records.

If you downloaded MSCRM and you do the server install you are likely presented with a lovely missing requirements screen like the one below, which you then need to download the requirements and install. Besides the waste of time and bandwidth, there are occasions where this isn't possible so this is how you can download the files yourself (using your favorite download manager for added speed) and put them in the install location so the installer finds them. It also helps with the fact that no matter if the Visual C++ runtime is installed it wants to download and install it each time.

Note: This is compiled from a x86 install. The x64 install mileage may vary.
The file locations are relative to the setupserver.exe.

• Microsoft .NET Framework
• Download From: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=91338&clcid=1033
• Location: DOTNETFX\dotnetfx3.exe
•  Microsoft Visual C++ Runtime
• Download From: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=91355&clcid=1033
• Location: VcRedist\vcredist_x86.exe
•  SQL Reporting Service Report Viewer Control
• Download From: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=91351&clcid=1033
• Location: ReportViewer\ReportViewer.exe  

Note you find this information in the crm40srvsetup.log file in <system drive>:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Application Data\Microsoft\MSCRM\Logs

This is a great proof of how NOT to protect software. When you try to uninstall it can ask for a password configured by the network admin, but what it the server admin, servers or entire infrastructure is gone basically giving you no chance of getting the password back. Well facing that scenario myself, I hacked around and found a work around.
First off I would not have figured this out if it wasn't for a similar post about bypassing the protection on the server available at http://www.sbsfaq.com/Lists/FAQs/DispForm.aspx?ID=23
The differences on the client side (compared with article above) start with the location of the file it's in C:\Program Files\Trend Micro\OfficeScan Client. Next the keys are a little different, first you need to find the [INI_CLIENT_SECTION] and in that file, change the following keys:

• Client_Allow_Uninstall to 1
• Client_Allow_Unload to 1
• Uninstall_Pwd to 70
• Unload_Protect to 0
• RemoveCTA to 1

Save the ini file and launch the uninstall. Now enter 1 as the password and viola it's gone! From a development point of view this is an example of how not to use encryption. The machine encryption in the patterns&practises Enterprise Library is a much better place to start, and in addition you should also look into using hash to sign files like this, so that tampering with them, invalidates them and requires an update from the server.

Vista has a great feature called complete backup with makes a VHD of your hard drive (more details see channel 9: http://channel9.msdn.com/Showpost.aspx?postid=229767), or so I'm told. Yesterday was the first chance I got to sit down and use it, and I'm not over the moon by it. I used an external SATA drive (connects via USB) to store the backup and that was fine. It didn't run the first time cause the laptop was on battery mode (probably a good thing that it warned me).
The VHD was created in an acceptable time and I moved to the new machine and popped the Vista disk in and started the restore. That was quick. However when I tried to boot it blue screened. So I popped the Vista disk back in and tried to use the startup repair tool, it said ti found a problem but couldn't repair it. So in the end I installed Vista over the restored version, which has it's plus in that it meant any files out side of the My documents of the user also got copied across but meant cleanup of the Windows.Old folder.
Looking around this morning it seems there are some issues in it

• http://techrepublic.com.com/5208-10877-0.html?forumID=102&threadID=210131&messageID=2163410 (some minor things to be aware of)
• http://professionalinsight.net/VistaBackup.aspx (didn't have this issue and the drives were very different)

To be fair thought some people have good luck with it, like this guy: http://coolthingoftheday.blogspot.com/2007/11/vista-complete-pc-backup-it-winner-in.html

In MSCRM 4.0 you can specify how the user works with their incoming and outgoing email. Incoming is none, the router, outlook client or the forward mail box while outgoing is the router, outlook client or none. There is two ways to config this, one get the user to set it in their settings (yeah right) or go through the users in the admin side, manually, one by one (boring and a waste of time). Well you can create a simple workflow to do it bulk:

• Step 1: Create a new blank workflow and set the entity to system user (despite my picture). http://www.sadev.co.za/files/user1.png 
• Step 2: Turn off the automatic options (well maybe, you may want this to run on create so future users also are set right). Click "On Demand" under available to run. Add a step to update the user. http://www.sadev.co.za/files/user2.png 
• Step 3: Click the set properties and update the "Email Access Configuration" to your preferred method. http://www.sadev.co.za/files/user3.png
• Step 4: Save your work flow and now click the "Run Workflow" button on the user list and select your workflow and click OK. http://www.sadev.co.za/files/user4.png

And voila now you have the users updated to the correct method. Another nice option for the network admins is once you installed the email router the ad users and groups has a menu option to launch the config tool for them (see http://www.sadev.co.za/files/ad.png)

When configuring the MSCRM 4.0 email router for Exchange incoming you may get the following message when testing: Incoming Status: Failure - The remote server returned an error: (403) Forbidden.

This is actually caused by a bad UI (IMHO) which kinda gets you to configure it wrong. What has happened is that the outgoing has a tick box saying to use SSL and asks for a server name, while the incoming asks for a URL. It automatically puts in http:// so naturally you fill in your server, i.e. http://myexchange

However Exchange runs on SSL so it actually needs to be https://myexchange

If that doesn't help then open up the URL you are putting in, in a web browser and see if it works. You'll get a lot more information on the real cause.