Exam MB-400 Revision Notes: Series Roundup
Welcome to the final post in my series focused on providing a set of revision notes for the MB-400: Microsoft Power Apps + Dynamics 365 Developer exam. In today’s post, I wanted to consolidate all of the content from the series into a single, concise post for ease of access. I’ll also provide some general advice and tips that I hope will come in useful for when you sit the exam. This series… Continue Reading The CRM...
Exam MB-400 Revision Notes: Implementing Data Synchronisation with the Data Export Service
Welcome to the fifteenth and penultimate post in my series focused on providing a set of revision notes for the MB-400: Microsoft Power Apps + Dynamics 365 Developer exam. Previously, we examined what events are and how they can provide a streamlined mechanism for executing complex business logic outside of Dynamics 365 online / the Common Data Service. In today’s post, we conclude our review… Continue Reading The CRM...
Exam MB-400 Revision Notes: Publishing and Consuming Events
Welcome to the fourteenth post in my series focused on providing a set of revision notes for the MB-400: Microsoft Power Apps + Dynamics 365 Developer exam. Last time around, we explored some of the capabilities offered by the Dynamics 365 Web API, that can be particularly useful when you are building integrations targeting Dynamics 365 / the Common Data Service. This post finished up our… Continue Reading The CRM Chap’s...
Working with the TryGetAttributeValue Method (Dynamics 365 / Common Data Service SDK)
You can discover all sorts of useful capabilities if you dive your nose deep enough into the Dynamics 365 Online / Common Data Service SDK. And, given that these products are evolving continually within the cloud, new features are being introduced all the time. With this in mind, it’s perhaps natural to expect that even the so-called “experts” of these platforms may sometimes overlook new or… Continue Reading...
Exam MB-400 Revision Notes: Working with the Dynamics 365 Web API
Welcome to post number thirteen in my series focused on providing a set of revision notes for the MB-400: Microsoft Power Apps + Dynamics 365 Developer exam. Last week, we took a deep dive look into custom connectors, a powerful feature within Power Automate and canvas Power Apps that allows us to expose out our bespoke APIs for consumption within these services. Today, we finish off our… Continue Reading The CRM Chap’s...
Exam MB-400 Revision Notes: Building a Custom Connector for Power Apps & Power Automate
Welcome to the twelfth post in my series focused on providing a set of revision notes for the MB-400: Microsoft Power Apps + Dynamics 365 Developer exam. In the last post, we saw how developers could leverage C# code as part of plug-ins to implement complex business logic within Dynamics 365. We now move on to examine another extensibility component within the Extend the platform section of… Continue Reading The CRM Chap’s...
Exam MB-400 Revision Notes: Building, Deploying & Debugging Plug-ins using C#
Welcome to the eleventh post in my series focused on providing a set of revision notes for the MB-400: Microsoft Power Apps + Dynamics 365 Developer exam. For those following the series, apologies again for the mini-hiatus. In fact, it’s been so long that Microsoft has now announced that MB-400 will be going the way of the Dodo at the end of the year. Despite this, I will be continuing and,… Continue Reading The CRM...
Some Thoughts on the New Business Application Microsoft Certifications
With Microsoft Inspire 2020 happening earlier this week, we naturally saw a whole host of new announcements, with Business Applications, the Power Platform and the Common Data Service Microsoft Dataflex forming a core part of this. As a result of the COVID-19 crisis, tools such as Microsoft Teams have become increasingly invaluable, by allowing teams to work together collaboratively, while… Continue Reading The CRM Chap’s...
Hiding the PDF Generation Buttons in Dynamics 365 Sales
Sometimes, when you find yourself customising Dynamics 365 or a model-driven Power App, you need to go the extra mile in fine-tuning how the interface looks. And while we can use themes or the site map designer to achieve most requirements in this area, it may become necessary to add, remove or modify individual buttons displayed within the application ribbon when a user accesses a dashboard,… Continue Reading The CRM...
SQL Server Computed Columns & DACPAC Deployments – Why Is My Table Dropped Each Time?
During my time working in IT, I’ve seen and dealt with my fair share of bizarre issues – ones which I can easily term as “WTF” in both their cause and potential resolution. What’s worse is when they occur using a system that, ostensibly, you think you have a pretty good handle over. Clearly, despite often having years or decades or familiarity with something, you can never honestly claim to be…...
Using SQL Server Views within Entity Framework Core (Code First Data Annotations)
If you’ve done any serious work involving Entity Framework (EF) Core in the past, there’s a good chance that you’ve worked with Code First Data Annotations when modelling your classes in C#. To summarise, these provide you with an in-line mechanism of describing the various DDL objects that you are referencing from your underlying data source. Typically, this may be required when you need the… Continue Reading...
Resolving “The parameter LinuxFxVersion has an invalid value” Error (Azure DevOps)
Working with Azure Resource Manager (ARM) templates can sometimes feel like a pure grind. You could say the experience is akin to spending many hours wandering around a JRPG video game, killing enemies and hoping to get that super rare drop you’ve got your heart set on. No matter how much you try, your prize can often not surface until completing many hours of tedious, repetitive tasks…. Continue Reading The CRM...
Working with Common Data Service Owner & Customer Fields in Azure Data Factory V2
Regular readers of the blog and Azure Data Factory aficionados may recall a post I did last year, where I discussed some of the limitations present as part of the Dynamics 365 / Common Data Service connector. The post focused its attention on the tools inability to map data into two specific field types – Owner and Customer. These differ from the norm of other fields within the Common Data… Continue Reading The CRM...
Exam MB-400 Revision Notes: Working with Command Buttons
Welcome to the ninth post in my series focused on providing a set of revision notes for the MB-400: Microsoft Power Apps + Dynamics 365 Developer exam. Last time around in the series, we took a deep-dive look into Power Apps Component Framework (PCF) controls and how they could be used to extend the user interface within Power Apps. PCF controls work great for situations where we cannot… Continue Reading The CRM Chap’s...
Resolving ‘Entity could not be retrieved from data source’ Errors with Virtual Entities (Dynamics 365 / Common Data Service)
Anyone who has spent a considerable length of time working with virtual entities in Dynamics 365 Online / the Common Data Service will have their collection of war stories to share. A great concept on paper – namely, to allow you to surface read-only versions of external system as fully-fledged entities within the Common Data Service database – they are, regrettably, a finicky feature to start… Continue Reading The...
Securing Access to Azure Functions from Logic Apps via Azure Templates
A great benefit when working with Azure Logic Apps in conjunction with Azure Functions is that setting up secure authentication between the two services is a cakewalk. Security considerations like these can be important if, for example, you don’t want anonymous callers triggering functions that may create or retrieve business-sensitive information. Microsoft provides step-by-step instructions… Continue Reading The CRM...
Reviewing the New Power Platform App Maker Associate Exam & Certification
One of the exciting announcements that came out earlier this week, in tandem with Microsoft Build 2020, was the introduction of a new Power Platform exam and corresponding certification, which will be released later on this year. Exam PL-100 will target those building applications on top of Power Apps and, for those fortunate enough to get a passing grade in this exam, you will automatically… Continue Reading The CRM...
Using Logic Apps & Azure Functions to Parse Variable Common Data Service Entity Data
The great thing when you are working with Azure Logic Apps is that, if you have previously spent any amount of time understanding Power Automate flows, the knowledge gained in this area is instantly transferable. That’s mainly because Power Automate is utilising Logic Apps underneath the hood. In practice, therefore, you can anticipate that a lot of the same trigger actions, connectors and… Continue Reading The CRM...
Building Resource Manager Templates for Azure API Management & Logic Apps
Azure Logic Apps are a great tool to look at when addressing simple or complex system integration requirements, and one which experienced Power Platform developers should instantly be familiar with, given they form the backbone of Power Automate flows. As a tool with such a wide array of connectors and features, they can often negate the need to write bespoke code to achieve your particular… Continue Reading The CRM Chap’s...
Generating OAuth2 V2.0 Endpoint Tokens for Dynamics 365 / the Common Data Service
OAuth 2.0 authentication can transform into a very deep rabbit hole if you find yourself stumbling into it for the first time. Perhaps this is for a good reason. As the primary authentication mechanism for the vast majority of cloud services available today, there is an obvious expectation that the security aspects of this protocol remain top-notch at all times. Otherwise, all manner of… Continue Reading The CRM Chap’s...
Changing Common Data Service Task Entity Ownership in a Canvas Power App
Activity entities within the Common Data Service / Dynamics 365 have traditionally been…problematic at the best of times. While an entirely useful construct when working from a functional standpoint in the application, their backend structure can cause some challenges when evaluating more technical requirements. A lot of this comes down to their unique characteristics. For example, all default… Continue Reading The CRM...
Exam MB-400 Revision Notes: Introduction to Power Apps Component Framework (PCF) Controls
Welcome to post number eight in my series focused on providing a set of revision notes for the MB-400: Microsoft Power Apps + Dynamics 365 Developer exam. In last week’s post, we took a look at how JavaScript can be used to extend model-driven app forms. Client-side scripting is not the only potential usage case to trigger custom logic on a form or even override how default controls behave…. Continue Reading The CRM...
Exam MB-400 Revision Notes: Implementing Client-Side Scripting on Model Driven Power Apps
Welcome to the seventh post in my series, focused on providing a set of revision notes for the MB-400: Microsoft Power Apps + Dynamics 365 Developer exam. For those following the series, apologies for the small hiatus. Last time around, we saw how to leverage Business Process Flows within a model-driven app, as part of focusing on the Configure business process automation area of the exam… Continue Reading The CRM Chap’s...
Resolving PowerShell TimeoutExceptions when using Export-CrmSolution (Dynamics 365/Common Data Service)
Have you heard of the Microsoft.Xrm.Data.PowerShell module? If you have aspirations involving or are doing work with Dynamics 365/the Common Data Service and DevOps, then the functionality that this provides could speed you along. Utilising the capabilities found within the Dynamics 365 SDK, the module allows you to: Retrieve details regarding your Dynamics 365 organisation and the metadata… Continue Reading The CRM Chap’s...
Setting Default Option Set Values within Canvas Power App Forms
Canvas Power Apps have come a long way since I last seriously looked at them. Although from an interface standpoint, there is not much that’s changed, there has been a plethora of new features added, including: The ability to execute expressions/functions when your application loads the first time. The inclusion of enhanced options, designed to detect performance or accessibility issues… Continue Reading The CRM...
Hiding Multi-Select Option Set Fields on a Model Driven App Form (Power Apps / Dynamics 365)
Without question, Dynamics 365 / Power Platform developers should always be leveraging Business Rules as opposed to implementing client-side scripting, using JavaScript or TypeScript. I’ve gone into detail previously on why this is such a crucial approach to follow, and many of these justifications do (in my humble opinion) stand the test of time well. To summarise, any solution built on top… Continue Reading The CRM...
Displaying Newly Created Record After Saving in a Canvas Power App Form Control
Canvas app development in Power Apps is pretty fun. Having the ability to not only fine-tune your interface but also connect to a wide variety of data sources makes it an essential tool to turn to these days. Indeed, if you still find yourself working with Access databases, I would push you to at least look at what canvas Power Apps can do for you and your organisation. I’d also encourage… Continue Reading The CRM...
Enabling Security Defaults on Azure Active Directory: Things to Consider
Recently, as our Gold Partner consultancy practice has gone live with enforcing security default policies on Azure Active Directory (AAD), we’ve had to grapple with some interesting “gotchas” that arose. Therefore, I thought it might be useful to do a post where I discuss and highlight some of the issues you might face when you enable security defaults for the first time on your tenant. So,… Continue Reading...
An Overview of Dynamics 365 / Common Data Service Application User Accounts
When you’re looking at any sort of IT integration project, that involves getting two separate systems “talking” to each other, a common challenge to address is how to achieve this as securely as possible. The traditional approach often involves the implementation of a dedicated service account, with a distinct user name and password. You would then grant this the correct level of privileges to… Continue Reading...
Interacting with the Dynamics 365 / Common Data Service Web API from Azure Data Factory
I’ve blogged somewhat frequently in the past about using Azure Data Factory (ADF) V2 alongside Dynamics 365 / the Common Data Service (CDS). The main focus with these posts has been in pointing out the “gotchas” to consider when using it. For example, we’ve reviewed the list of data type limitations when importing data into Dynamics 365 / CDS. ADF has also been the focus of several talks I… Continue...
Exam MB-400 Revision Notes: Mapping a Business Process with Business Process Flows
Welcome to the sixth post in my series, focused on providing a set of revision notes for the MB-400: Microsoft Power Apps + Dynamics 365 Developer exam. After a small hiatus to the series, it’s great to resume things again this week. Last time around, we saw how to leverage Business Rules within a model-driven app, as part of focusing on the following exam assessment area: Configure Microsoft… Continue Reading The CRM...
Using Publish Profiles to Deploy a DACPAC Database Without User Accounts
Often, when developing a database as a data-tier application package (more commonly known as DACPAC), you will need to execute regular deployments onto a local SQL Server instance, to verify that you haven’t accidentally broken anything when changing your database. Where this can get potentially complicated is when you are also managing security objects (contained user accounts, database… Continue Reading The CRM...
On-Premise, In-Cloud: Reviewing Microsoft Azure & Power Platform Gateway Tools
A common requirement as part of any cloud IT project may involve surfacing data from on-premise systems into, for example, a cloud Customer Relationship Management (CRM) application such as Dynamics 365. Meeting this requirement is often easier said than done. Often – and quite rightly so – on-premise database systems will be segregated away from any internet-facing endpoints, protected from… Continue Reading The CRM...
Resolving AADSTS65001 Common Data Service / Dynamics 365 Online OAuth Errors
Setting up and managing authentication can sometimes be a bit of a nightmare, even more so when it comes to creating a solution that integrates with an existing system. In these circumstances, the desire will often be to avoid the use of named accounts belonging to individuals or to ensure the configuration of any service accounts involves the granting of the minimum amount of privileges… Continue Reading The CRM Chap’s...
Exam MB-400 Revision Notes: Implementing Business Rules
Welcome to post number five in my series, focused on providing a set of revision notes for the MB-400: Microsoft Power Apps + Dynamics 365 Developer exam. In last week’s post, we looked at how you can use Power Automate as the ultimate workflow and automation tool within the Power Platform. Power Automate flows only scratches the surface at what is available from a process automation… Continue Reading The CRM Chap’s...
Exam MB-400 Revision Notes: Using Power Automate Flows
Welcome to the fourth post in my series, focused on providing a set of revision notes for the MB-400: Microsoft Power Apps + Dynamics 365 Developer exam. We’ve covered a lot of ground in the series so far, finishing up our discussion on model-driven apps and canvas apps over the past fortnight. While these tools are often great at getting your data into the system, they usually are not enough… Continue Reading The CRM...
Exam MB-400 Revision Notes: Working with Canvas Apps
Welcome to the fourth post in my series, focused on providing a set of revision notes for the MB-400: Microsoft Power Apps + Dynamics 365 Developer exam. Previous posts in the series have looked at areas such as creating a technical design using the Power Platform and working with the Common Data Service (CDS). Today’s post will look to complete last week’s discussion on model-driven Power… Continue Reading The CRM...
Exam MB-400 Revision Notes: Working with Model-Driven Apps
Welcome to the third post in my series, focused on providing a set of revision notes for the MB-400: Microsoft Power Apps + Dynamics 365 Developer exam. In last week’s post, we took a massive deep dive into some of the core customisation topics that you need to have a good grasp of when tackling the exam. This week, we’ll be taking a look at the equally huge topic area Create and Configure… Continue Reading The CRM...
Exam MB-400 Revision Notes: Configuring the Common Data Service
Welcome to the second post in my series, focused on providing revision notes for the MB-400: Microsoft Power Apps + Dynamics 365 Developer exam. In last week’s post, we looked at some of the fundamental concepts and theory around the Power Platform, in support of the first learning objective – Create a Technical Design. Next, we’ll focus towards some more practical focused content, as we dive… Continue Reading...
Exam MB-400 Revision Notes: Creating a Technical Design with the Power Platform
Recently, I blogged about an exciting new exam for Dynamics 365 and Power Platform developers. Off the back of this, I wanted to do another series of posts providing revision notes, to help support others who may be sitting the MB-400 exam in future. Similar to my previous series all around the Power BI Exam 70-778, each post will break down the list of skills measured, focusing on the… Continue Reading The CRM Chap’s...
Dealing with ‘Cannot convert a value to target type ‘Edm.Decimal’ Error in Power Apps PCF Control
The introduction of Power Apps Component Framework (PCF) controls provides developers with a potentially groundbreaking way of extending Dynamics 365’s model-driven app experience, in ways that are currently impossible to do straightforwardly via Web Resources or similar. Developed using Node Package Manager (NPM) and TypeScript, they allow us to replace existing fields and views within the… Continue Reading The CRM...
The New Project for the Web: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Significant changes are happening with Microsoft Project at the moment. For a long time, this mammoth of a desktop application has seen very minimal modifications to the core experience. It’s one of those tools that project managers could use brilliantly. Or, if you are anything like me, sink hours into instead, as you figure out all of its nuances and unique features, compared to other… Continue Reading The CRM...
The Service Trust Portal and Dynamics 365: A Helping Hand to Meet Security & Compliance Needs
When implementing a business system within an enterprise organisation, there are typically several hoops that you have to jump through to assure stakeholders that the system meets all relevant Information Security (InfoSec) requirements. While this process can be often tortuous (I have many battle scars to prove this!), it is a necessary and worthwhile exercise to complete. By ensuring that… Continue Reading The CRM Chap’s...
The Return of the Developer Exam: Evaluating Microsoft Exam MB-400
I’ve blogged quite frequently in the past about exams and certifications for Microsoft Dynamics CRM and its successor product Dynamics 365. There’s been a lot of change and, for the most part, improvements in this space. Back in the days of Dynamics CRM 2016, there were up to 4 exams that you could get your teeth into; these days, this number has trebled and now covers a wide array of… Continue Reading The CRM...
Overview of Microsoft Azure App Service Managed Certificates
Typically, the most costly – and frankly most misunderstood – part of deploying a website these days involves the setting up of a Secure Socket Layer/Transport Layer Security (SSL/TLS) certificate for your website. Previously, you would want to deploy these out if your site involves any form of secure authentication or the entering of personal data. This requirement is necessary because a… Continue Reading The CRM...
Lessons Learned from Migrating Azure CSP Subscriptions Across Multiple Tenants
Persistent readers of the blog may recall I did a post recently, where I outlined the only available route to migrate Microsoft Azure Cloud Solutions Provider (CSP) subscriptions from one Azure Active Directory (AAD) tenant to another. The way described in the post is perhaps not the most ideal, mainly due to the number of steps involved, but it is nonetheless a viable route that “works” – I… Continue Reading...
Getting Started with the Dynamics 365 Sales Business Card Scanner
In today’s busy and frantic world, organisations should welcome any solution that can reduce manual data entry and improve accuracy. These concerns are perhaps the most prudent areas that Artifical Intelligence (AI) solutions can address. If utilised correctly, they can take most of the work out of menial tasks, allowing individuals to instead focus their effort on evaluating the output from… Continue Reading The CRM...
Implementing a Custom Pricing Engine Within Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement
After a long hiatus, I’m pleased to be back with a brand new tutorial video for Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement! This time, we’ll take a closer look at how to set up a custom pricing solution within the application, using a C# plug-in. For organisations who are looking to tailor out of the box pricing for Quotes, Opportunities, Orders and Invoices, a custom pricing plug-in provides a… Continue Reading The CRM...
Dealing with “FailoverGroupCreateOrUpdateRequestReadOnlyPropertyModified” Errors in a Azure Resource Manager Template Deployments
Azure Resource Manager templates have been a regularly discussed feature on the blog, perhaps reflecting the experiences and issues I have had working with them over the past year. For example, we’ve seen: How to perform pre-deployment validation of your templates, to ensure they are valid and any issues are resolved as part of your continuous integration (CI) process. Some of the pitfalls… Continue Reading The CRM...
Resolving ‘Unable to parse language expression’ Error in Azure Data Factory V2
Another week, another error message to contend with! Typically, there is no way of predicting how a full diagnosis and resolution of a troublesome fault will take. Often, if you don’t follow the mantra of keeping things sample, you might end up spending many fruitless hours resolving an ultimately simple issue. In other cases, you may need to rely on inferred knowledge from other areas to… Continue Reading The CRM...