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Testing Data Migration with Dynamics 365 On-Premise

I recently had a requirement to perform some Data Migration, but I needed a test system while I built up my SSIS process as I didn’t want to use the real online environments. Luckily, I have my own on-premise Dynamics 365 Version 9 Server which I have always used for testing and messing around with solutions and compatibility.

The main issue I have always had with using on-premise servers however is that these days, we are all developing with online environments, and solutions and what not from online cannot be imported into an on-premise environment. In the past, I have often just resorted to hand modifying solutions to get them in to the system. This would often involve editing the solution.xml file within the solution zip file, to alter the version tags at the top, and to remove the crmonline tag. Quite often, this would also require a few modifications to the customizations.xml file to remove any tags that do not exist in version 9 of Dynamics.

Its a hack, but for testing purposes, this was always something that worked.

These days though, you more often than not will face all manor of other issues, such as dependencies on other solutions, and its become a lot harder to achieve this.

I needed a new plan.

Continue reading “Testing Data Migration with Dynamics 365 On-Premise”
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Microsoft Dynamics Template for Visual Studio updated

I have recently updated my Visual Studio Template for holding Microsoft Dynamics Assets. Its available on the Marketplace by searching for Hallstudios, or you can download it using the button below.

  • I have added a new Project within the Solution Template for holding TypeScript files for use in the Entity Forms. Creating and editing a TypeScript file will automatically create a matching JavaScript file which can be uploaded to Dynamics.
  • The solution also includes Intellisense for the Xrm Client API within the TypeScript files.
  • The Solution Unpacker tool has been updated with the latest version so it now supports packing and unpacking Dynamics Solutions that contain Flow’s.
Download Now!
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Update to CRM Utilities for Visual Studio

Just recently updated the CRM utilities extension with the following fixes :

  • Supports SVG files correctly. Although publishing files to an SVG Web Resource was working, if a file in Visual Studio had the SVG extension, when right clicking it, it would not offer the option to Link or Publish.
  • When extracting a solution from Dynamics, if the Web Resource naming convention does not have a file extension, then the Publish and Linking features would not work properly. Now, if it detects that the file has a corresponding “filename.data.xml” file (which it will if its been exported and unpacked from Dynamics), then it will offer the Publish and Linking options.
  • When trying to link or publish a TypeScript file, if an equivalent JavaScript file exists in either the same folder, or in an alternative JS folder, then its that file that will get linked or published. This means you can directly edit a TS file, save it and publish, without having to select the JS file.
  • An Entity Filter has been added to the Class Generation options allowing a list of entity logical names (separated by a semi-colon) to be entered. When creating a class file, any entities that are found in this list are not added to the file. This is very useful when you have a similar named custom entity that always clashes with a system entity. For example, if you have your own address entity, you can exclude the system address entity.

As usual, you can get the update from the Marketplace, or by downloading here :

Download Now!
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Dynamics Solution Dashboard

I have decided to release a small utility that I have been working on to assist me in my day to day work with Dynamics CRM.  A common requirement in the standard Development, Test, Train and Production environment setup is the moving of solutions between organisations, and version numbering.  One thing I often need to do is to check the version numbers of a solution across different CRM instances, to see if there are any discrepancies.

I needed a tool that could just do it for me with a click of a button and highlight any differences.

And so, here it is.

The application can simply be configured to connect to any number of CRM environments (within reason) and it will detect all of the solutions installed, and their version numbers, and show them in a grid.  Any instances where an environment does not have the same version number, the solution is highlighted.

To configure it, simply click the Settings button, and then the Connections button to add your connections. On the settings screen, you can enable and disable the connections you wish to view.  It should be fairly straight forward.

I shall probably be adding more features to it as I go, but for the first version, its already proving very useful to me, so thought I would share it.

If you wish to Download it, you can download the Zip file, extract it and run it.

Downloadable version of Dynamics Solution Dashboard

Download Now!

 

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Portals Support added to CRM Utilities for Visual Studio

Get it on the Marketplace

I have updated my extension to support publishing of files from Visual Studio to Microsoft Dynamics Portals.

The tool now supports publishing files to Web Templates and Web Files, allowing you to use Visual Studio to edit and track changes of your portal related files, and quickly update Dynamics with the appropriate Portal files.

Web Files and Web Templates are simply listed within the Web Resource linker dialog for you to select.  You can then publish the appropriate files within your Visual Studio solution to Dynamics.

If you have installed the extension from the Marketplace, then it should prompt you to update, but if not, you can get it from the below link.

CRM Utilities for Visual Studio

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Discord channel (update)

I have decided to remove the Discord links from this site, although, its still an open channel.

I wanted to set up a global group chat for people within the Microsoft Dynamics Development space.  I use Slack at work, but the problem with that is the closed invite system.  It is difficult setting up Slack to allow people from different teams/companies if they have different email addresses.

Discord is traditionally a gaming chat system that works very similar to Slack, but is free, and with an appropriate Link, allows anyone to join specific channels.

So, I thought I would give it ago.  If you are reading this blog, then feel free to use the link below and join Microsoft Dynamics Discord channel and introduce yourself.

Microsoft Dynamics Discord Channel