Finding Records Shared With a Specific Team or User
We recently made some changes to our data governance in my company that required me to change sharing permissions for a significant number of the Accounts in our Dynamics system. I needed to find all Accounts that were shared with a specific Team so I could then amend the permissions the Team had on each record. As you may be aware, information relating to the Sharing of records in… Continue Reading ryanmaclean365’s...
Calculate Full Months between two dates with Power Automate
My friend Antti Pajunen recently asked me whether it is possible to calculate the number of months between two dates with Power Automate, akin to the DateDif function in Excel. I like a challenge, and I’ve done a lot of experimenting with dates in Power Automate so this is the solution I came up with. The Scenario In this scenario Antti was working with Managed Services contracts which… Continue Reading...
Converting UTC Date Time to UNIX Time with Power Automate
Recently Ben Vollmer asked if it was possible to convert a UTC datetime value to Unix time in Power Automate. There’s no function available out of the box to do this, but it seemed pretty achievable to me and I’ve outlined the solution I came up with below. According to Wikipedia, Unix time is a system for describing a point in time; it is the number of seconds that have elapsed since the… Continue Reading...
Converting Excel Date Time Serial Values With Power Automate
A common issue I’ve run into and that I’ve heard others experience, is trying to use Excel DateTime values in Power Automate. You will encounter an error like below: The reason this is an issue is due to the way Excel stores dates and times: Dates are stored as a number representing the number of days since 1900-01-00Times are stored as a fractional portion of a 24 hour day Thus,… Continue Reading...
Calculate Quarter for a Date in Power Automate
A common request in my company is for dates to be expressed in relation to the Quarter of the year in which they fall. Using Power Automate there is no native way of calculating this, so in this post I’m demonstrating two different methods to calculate the Quarter from a given input date: Nested IF ConditionsFiltered Array Nested IF Conditions 1. Trigger Flow – for the… Continue Reading ryanmaclean365’s Article...
Change a User’s Business Unit and retain their Security Roles using Power Automate
I saw a tweet recently from Linn Zaw Win asking if it was possible to change a Users Business Unit without losing their Security Roles Is there any existing @XrmToolBox or standalone tool that allows changing Business Unit of Users/Teams without losing security roles?The closest I can find is "User Profile Migration" tool which allows changing BU with a templatehttps://t.co/jiHtPREmyA—… Continue Reading...
Calculating ISO 8601 Week Number for Dates in Power Automate
An issue that a lot of users have faced with Power Automate is the inability to find out the ISO 8601 Week Number for a given date; this was raised as an idea in the Power Apps Ideas forum back in 2017, and you can find numerous questions about it on the Power Automate forums, but a lot of the answers I’ve seen are incomplete or are overly complex. If I was using Excel, I could find out… Continue Reading...
Dynamics 365 Opportunity Revenue Forecasting – Creating Monthly Forecasts
In my last post I explored how to create a structure and a triggering flow to create Opportunity Revenue Forecasts. In this post I’ll delve into the child flow to create a set of Monthly Revenue Forecasts. The Solution 1. Manually trigger a flow – as I explained in the last post, when we trigger this child flow we need the following elements from the triggering flow: Loops – we… Continue Reading...
Dynamics 365 Opportunity Revenue Forecasting with Power Automate – Part 1
A common complaint I hear about Opportunity pipeline management in Dynamics 365 is that it’s difficult to use for revenue/income forecasting, as the system considers that you will receive the whole Estimated Revenue on the Estimated Close Date, whereas in reality it’s common for the revenue on a Won Opportunity to split into periodic draw downs (i.e. the client will be billed weekly, monthly,… Continue Reading...
Selecting a specific SharePoint Document Library to Upload Dynamics 365 Email Attachments using Teams Adaptive Cards
In my recent series of posts I covered how to implement a better integration between Dynamics 365 and SharePoint. One of the common scenarios that you will encounter if you’ve integrated the systems is the requirement to move Email Attachments from Dynamics 365 to SharePoint. In my implementation a lot of my sites have more than one Document Library, and Users want to be able to select a… Continue Reading...
Synchronising Azure Active Directory Security Groups between D365 Records and SharePoint Sites
In my previous post I discussed how to synchronise permissions between D365 Access Teams and a related SharePoint site. This works really well if you have a system locked down and only want to grant access to records to specific named users, but what happens if you want to allow all Users to Read all records, unless they need to be restricted? In my organisation, our default position is to… Continue Reading...
Synchronising Permissions Between Dynamics 365 and SharePoint Using Power Automate
This is the third post in my series discussing a better integration betwen Dynamics 365 and SharePoint. If you’d like to read the previous two posts, check them out by clicking the links below: Creating a custom site structureSynchronising Document Libraries In this post I’m going to demonstrate how to synchronise a Dynamics 365 Access Team with a related SharePoint site using Power… Continue Reading...
Better Integration Between Dynamics 365 and SharePoint – Part 2
In my previous post I discussed how to improve the integration between Dynamics 365 and SharePoint by creating a site collection for each record, instead of using the OOTB integration. Now that you have a site, you might give some thought as to how you will structure your data; typically SharePoint best practice would tend to suggest you should use metadata instead of folders, but if you… Continue Reading ryanmaclean365’s...
Ten Regex Expressions To Use With Forms Pro
If you’ve been using Forms Pro to create surveys then you should be aware that you can do custom validation on fields with Regular Expressions (regex). My friend Megan Walker blogged about this recently, showing how easy it is to add the custom formatting checks to a field on your survey. Megan and I were discussing this functionality and, as I’m a massive geek, she asked if we could work… Continue Reading...
Better Integration between Dynamics 365 and SharePoint using Power Automate — Part 1
If you’ve used the standard OOTB connection between Dynamics 365 and SharePoint then I’m sure, like me, you’ll have found your share of frustrations. The technical functionality is great, allowing you to see your documents stored in SharePoint in a subgrid on the related Dynamics 365 record, however the standard implementation will probably make your SharePoint admins cry because it uses… Continue Reading...
Exchange Rate Conversion with Power Automate
Many of us will work in organisations that have a global presence and therefore may have a need to know the value of something in a local currency. There isn’t any out of the box way to convert a base currency to another currency in Power Automate, so I wanted to see how easy it would be to configure. The Solution For the purposes of this blog I’m going to configure a simple manually… Continue Reading...
Quick Tip: Resolving Error Retrieving Teams via Fetchxml with List Records Action in CDS (Current Environment) Connector
I ran into a rather odd error recently when I was trying to use a FetchXML query to retrieve a list of Teams using the List Records action with the Common Data Service (Current Environment) Connector in a Power Automate flow, so to save you any future headaches I’ve outlined the issue below and the solution to the problem. The Problem In this instance I needed to retrieve a list of Teams… Continue Reading...
Converting Time zones with Power Automate
If you’ve ever had to convert a timezone with Power Automate then you’re hopefully aware that there is a “Convert Time Zone” action that is designed to make this process easier for you. If you’ve had to convert one time to multiple different time zones all at once then it very quickly becomes a pain to create a Flow as it requires a new action for each conversion. Did you know that… Continue Reading...
Power Automate HTML Table Styling
If you’ve been using Power Automate flows to send notification emails to people in your organisation then there’s a fair chance you’ve run into a requirement to send a table of results in the email. This is a regular occurence in my organisation, and I’ve run into some limitations with the standard “Create HTML Table” action so in this blog I’ll explore them and demonstrate how I’ve...
Calculate Working Day between Two Dates – Video
Continue Reading ryanmaclean365’s Article on their blog Calculate Working Day between Two Dates – Video Visit the post for more. Blog Syndicated with ryanmaclean365’s...
Calculate Working Days in a time period using Power Automate
I’ve been working on a Flow recently that requires either the total amount of days between two dates, or the amount of working days (i.e. total days minus weekends and holidays), and the lack of a proper DateDiff expression in Power Automate has been a bit of a headache for me to work around. If you’ve ever worked with Excel then you’ll know that the networkdays formula would be perfect… Continue Reading...
Create a Lead for Every ClickDimensions Posted Form – Video
Continue Reading ryanmaclean365’s Article on their blog https://ryanmaclean365.com/2019/12/05/create-a-lead-for-every-clickdimensions-posted-form-video/ Blog Syndicated with ryanmaclean365’s Permission
Creating a Lead for every ClickDimensions Posted Form using Power Automate
Recently, my good friend Megan Walker did a guest post for ClickDimensions showing how to create a Lead for every ClickDimensions Posted Form and if you haven’t read it then you really should! When I was reading this post one of the things I noticed was the requirement to use a Filter Array step and Compose step for each question in your Form in order to be able to use them when you created… Continue Reading...
Dynamically setting option set fields in CDS using Microsoft Power Automate – Video
Continue Reading ryanmaclean365’s Article on their blog Dynamically setting option set fields in CDS using Microsoft Power Automate – Video Visit the post for more. Blog Syndicated with ryanmaclean365’s...
Using Flic Buttons with CDS – Dynamically setting Option Set fields
In my previous post I demonstrated how to use a Flic button with CDS to create a Fire Evacuation record and notify Users that an office is being evacuated. The eagle-eyed amongst you may have noticed that the Office option set field value was hard-coded, meaning no matter where you were when you triggered the Flic button it would create an evacuation record against the specifically named… Continue Reading ryanmaclean365’s...
USING FLIC BUTTONS WITH CDS – MANAGING FIRE EVACUATIONS – Video
Continue Reading ryanmaclean365’s Article on their blog USING FLIC BUTTONS WITH CDS – MANAGING FIRE EVACUATIONS – Video Visit the post for more. Blog Syndicated with ryanmaclean365’s...
Using Flic Buttons with CDS – Managing Fire Evacuations
I was asked to create a tech demo in work recently that could show off some of the capabilities of Power Apps and Power Automate, and I figured this would be a perfect opportunity to use the Flic button I got from Matt Beard of Data8 when I attended the User Group Summit in Amsterdam earlier this year . The Scenario Anyone who’s worked in an office will undoubtedly have experienced the… Continue Reading...
Display SharePoint Documents related to Parent on Child Record in Dynamics 365 – Video
I blogged about displaying SharePoint Documents related to Parent Records on a Child Record in Dynamics 365 earlier this week, and today I’m dipping my toes into the world of vlogging for those who’d prefer a more visual overview of the functionality I described Continue Reading ryanmaclean365’s Article on their blog Display SharePoint Documents related to Parent on Child Record in Dynamics 365 – Video I...
Display SharePoint Documents related to Parent on Child Record in Dynamics 365
Recently my friend Sara Lagerquist asked if there was a way to show the documents stored on SharePoint for a parent entity record on a child entity record (e.g. seeing Documents related to an Account on an Opportunity) without having to copy the documents between SharePoint sites. This sounded like an interesting challenge so I decided to see if I could find a solution. < h2>The… Continue Reading ryanmaclean365’s...
Filtered Lookup Field based on Linked Entity using North52
If you’ve ever had a requirement to filter lookup fields then you’ll no doubt be aware that this is possible in Dynamics 365, but that there are some limitations to the functionality. Microsoft have done a great job of enabling out of the box filtering for simple scenarios using the “Related Records Filtering” options or by limiting the records returned using specific view(s) To read… Continue Reading...
Update a User’s Business Unit and retain their Security Roles
If you have ever had to change the Business Unit of a User then you will know that the change causes their security roles to be dropped, so you need to ensure the security roles are reassigned. This is mildly frustrating when you have one or two Users to update, but what happens when you have to update all Users in your organisation? I recently encountered a scenario where the organisation… Continue Reading ryannipper’s...
Postcode Region Mapping via Workflow
I recently delivered a session at Dynamics 365 Saturday Scotland covering some advanced functionality you can implement in your Dynamics 365 environment using free custom workflow activities. To read my thoughts on #D365SatSco and how amazing it was, see the article I posted on LinkedIn One of the scenarios I covered in my session was looking at how we can carry out regional analysis of… Continue Reading ryannipper’s...
Custom Rollup fields – Ryan Maclean
Microsoft introduced Rollup Fields to the Dynamics CRM platform in 2015, and this added significant positive functionality to the platform. Rollup fields contain aggregated values that have been calculated from child records for a parent record. Typical examples of this would be total value of Open Opportunities for an Account, or the total number of Emails received for a Contact. Whilst… Continue Reading ryannipper’s...
Custom Rollup fields
Microsoft introduced Rollup Fields to the Dynamics CRM platform in 2015, and this added significant positive functionality to the platform. Rollup fields contain aggregated values that have been calculated from child records for a parent record. Typical examples of this would be total value of Open Opportunities for an Account, or the total number of Emails received for a Contact. Whilst… Continue Reading ryannipper’s...
Excel Project Plan – Ryan Maclean
This isn’t strictly a CRM/D365 post, but I think it could provide some assistance for planning CRM related projects, so I thought I’d share. Any good CRM project, whether that be a new deployment or a small change, requires planning to ensure it is effective; the 5 P’s cliché “Proper Preparation Prevents Poor Performance” exists for a reason. I am aware that plenty of people use… Continue Reading ryannipper’s Article on...
Excel Project Plan
This isn’t strictly a CRM/D365 post, but I think it could provide some assistance for planning CRM related projects, so I thought I’d share. Any good CRM project, whether that be a new deployment or a small change, requires planning to ensure it is effective; the 5 P’s cliché “Proper Preparation Prevents Poor Performance” exists for a reason. I am aware that plenty of people use Microsoft… Continue...
Setting a Lookup from a Workflow – Ryan Maclean
One of the limitations of the workflow engine that I have found frustrating for a long time is the inability to dynamically set lookup fields based on the output of a FetchXML query, however I no longer have to worry as Alex Shlega has provided the answer to my problems with his TCS Tools Solution I’ve used this tool for a few solutions in my environment and, after discussion with my good… Continue Reading ryannipper’s...
Setting a Lookup from a Workflow
One of the limitations of the workflow engine that I have found frustrating for a long time is the inability to dynamically set lookup fields based on the output of a FetchXML query, however I no longer have to worry as Alex Shlega has provided the answer to my problems with his TCS Tools Solution I’ve used this tool for a few solutions in my environment and, after discussion with my good… Continue Reading...
CRM Development – As easy as making a cup of tea?
Last weekend I attended the Dynamics 365 Saturday Summer Bootcamp in London; this was a great event full of opportunities to network, engage and learn, and I am very grateful to the organisers for putting on the event. Whilst at the event I was speaking to someone who told me that he was currently working as a business analyst but was considering training to become a CRM Functional… Continue Reading ryannipper’s Article...
CRM Development – As easy as making a cup of tea? – Ryan Maclean
Last weekend I attended the Dynamics 365 Saturday Summer Bootcamp in London; this was a great event full of opportunities to network, engage and learn, and I am very grateful to the organisers for putting on the event. Whilst at the event I was speaking to someone who told me that he was currently working as a business analyst but was considering training to become a CRM Functional… Continue Reading ryannipper’s Article...
Designing CRM Forms for User Experience
Introduction In order to ensure User Adoption of CRM is successful and that the system is delivering results for Users, it is important to ensure that their experience of using the system is as painless as possible. In practice, this means removing unnecessary obstacles to enable them to find the information they need, when they need it. Whilst CRM is, by its nature, a data input system, it is… Continue Reading...
Update an Account in CRM with the latest Stock Price using North52
I recently installed North52 in my CRM environment and I’ve been having great fun exploring the capabilities of the solution to replace some existing plugins, and to develop some new functionality. North52 is an amazing solution that enables functional consultants like me to develop technical solutions using a simple point-and-click editor. North52 is probably worth several blog posts all… Continue Reading...
Long Date Formatting for Date fields – A Different Way
I recently read a great blog post by Megan Walker regarding the formatting of a long date field in CRM. Megan has explained really simply how to achieve this using JavaScript, and I’d thoroughly recommend reading her blog to see how easy it is. I know that some people are uncomfortable even with using simple scripts so I wanted to highlight an alternative way of achieving this without using… Continue Reading...
CRM Power Pane – Review
One of my favourite tools in my CRM Administrator Toolkit (*not an actual thing) is the Dynamics CRM Power Pane extension for Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox. The Power Pane add-on has been developed to help developers, testers and power users to accomplish tasks that they may require in their day-to-day role. Installation of the add-on is as simple as installing the extension in your… Continue Reading ryannipper’s...