Get Dynamic Entity Primary Attribute Guid Example

Example by CrmSdk

public Guid GetDynamicEntityPrimaryAttributeGuid(DynamicEntity entity)

{

    if (entity != null)

    {

        string strPrimaryKeyAttributeName = entity.Name.ToLower() + "id";

        return ((Microsoft.Crm.Sdk.Key)entity.Properties[strPrimaryKeyAttributeName]).Value;

    }

    return Guid.Empty;

}

Example by Web Service

public Guid GetDynamicEntityPrimaryAttributeGuid(DynamicEntity entity)

{

    if (entity != null)

    {

        string strPrimaryKeyAttributeName = entity.Name.ToLower() + "id";

        for (int i = 0; i < entity.Properties.Length; i++)

        {

            if (entity.Properties[i].Name.ToLower() == strPrimaryKeyAttributeName)

            {

                KeyProperty property = (KeyProperty)entity.Properties[i];

                return property.Value.Value;

            }

        }

    }

    return Guid.Empty;

}

Create Dynamic Entity Record Example

StringProperty firstname = new StringProperty();

firstname.Name = "firstname";

firstname.Value = "Ranjit"; 

StringProperty lastname = new StringProperty();

lastname.Name = "lastname";

lastname.Value = "Singh"; 

// Create the DynamicEntity object.

DynamicEntity contactEntity = new DynamicEntity(); 

// Set the name of the entity type.

contactEntity.Name = EntityName.contact.ToString(); 

// Set the properties of the contact.

contactEntity.Properties = new Property[] {firstname, lastname}; 

// Create the target.

TargetCreateDynamic targetCreate = new TargetCreateDynamic();

targetCreate.Entity = contactEntity; 

// Create the request object.

CreateRequest create = new CreateRequest(); 

// Set the properties of the request object.

create.Target = targetCreate; 

// Execute the request.

CreateResponse created = (CreateResponse) service.Execute(create);

Working with FetchXml()

Fetch is a proprietary query language that is used in Microsoft Dynamics CRM. It is based on a schema that describes the capabilities of the language. The FetchXML language supports similar query capabilities as query expression. It is used primarily as a serialized form of query expression, used to save a query as a user owned saved view in the userquery entity or as an organization owned view in the savedquery entity. A FetchXML query can be executed by using the Fetch method. There are also messages to convert between query expression and FetchXML.

Generally, the RetrieveMultiple method performs faster than the Fetch method because it does not have to parse the query.

Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 supports a new attribute on the link-entity node called visible. Setting visible to false will hide the linked entity in the advanced find user interface. It will still participate in the execution of the query and will return the appropriate results.

The following table lists the messages that work with the FetchXml language.

ExecuteFetch -> Executes a query.
FetchXmlToQueryExpression -> Converts from FetchXML to query expression.
QueryExpressionToFetchXml -> Converts from query expression to FetchXML.
ValidateSavedQuery -> Validates a saved query (view).

NOTE:
Notice that in either case, the privileges of the logged on user will affect the set of records returned. The Fetch method only retrieves records for which the logged on user has read access.

By default FetchXml returns MAX of 5000 records.

Dynamic Entity Add Attribute Helper Methods

Examples: Calling the below methods:

string strDaysAttributeName = "cap_actualeffortdays";

string strHoursAttributeName = "cap_actualefforthours";

if (ObjProject.Properties.Contains(strDaysAttributeName))

    ((CrmNumber)ObjProject.Properties[strDaysAttributeName]).Value = iDays;

else

    CrmHelper.AddNumberProperty(ObjProject, strDaysAttributeName, iDays);

if (ObjProject.Properties.Contains(strHoursAttributeName))

    ((CrmNumber)ObjProject.Properties[strHoursAttributeName]).Value = iHours;

else

    CrmHelper.AddNumberProperty(ObjProject, strHoursAttributeName, iHours);

public static void AddStringProperty(DynamicEntity entity, string strColumnName, string DefaultValue)

{

    #region If Column attribute not in entity Collection 

        if (!entity.Properties.Contains(strColumnName))

        {

            StringProperty AttributeContactID = new StringProperty();

            AttributeContactID.Name = strColumnName;

            AttributeContactID.Value = DefaultValue;

        }

    #endregion If Column attribute not in entity Collection

}

public static void AddNumberProperty(DynamicEntity entity, string strColumnName, int DefaultValue)

{

    #region If Column attribute not in entity Collection 

        if (!entity.Properties.Contains(strColumnName))

        {

            CrmNumberProperty AttributeID = new CrmNumberProperty();

            AttributeID.Name = strColumnName;

            AttributeID.Value = new CrmNumber(DefaultValue);

        }

    #endregion If Column attribute not in entity Collection

}

Update Dynamic Entity Record Example

public static bool UpdateDynamicEntity(ICrmService Service, DynamicEntity entityName)

{

try

{

    // Create the update target.

    TargetUpdateDynamic updateDynamic = new TargetUpdateDynamic(); 

    // Set the properties of the target.

    updateDynamic.Entity = entityName; 

    //   Create the update request object.

    UpdateRequest update = new UpdateRequest(); 

    //   Set request properties.

    update.Target = updateDynamic; 

    //   Execute the request.

    UpdateResponse updated = (UpdateResponse)Service.Execute(update);

    return true;

}

catch (System.Web.Services.Protocols.SoapException ex)

{                

    return false;

}

catch (Exception ex)

{                

    return false;

}

}

Retrieve Dynamic Entity Records Example

DynamicEntity ObjProject = GetDynamicEntity(crmService, "new_timesheet", new Guid("{21CCFA77-FFF8-DD11-AE96-0003FFD751E0}"));

public static DynamicEntity GetDynamicEntity(ICrmService crmService, string strEntityName, Guid EntityGuid)
{
try
            {
#region Retrieve Entity Record Dynamically

// Create the retrieve target.
                TargetRetrieveDynamic targetRetrieve = new TargetRetrieveDynamic();

// Set the properties of the target.
                targetRetrieve.EntityName = strEntityName;
targetRetrieve.EntityId = EntityGuid;

// Create the request object.
                RetrieveRequest retrieve = new RetrieveRequest();

// Set the properties of the request object.
                retrieve.Target = targetRetrieve;
retrieve.ColumnSet = new AllColumns();

// Indicate that the BusinessEntity should be retrieved as a DynamicEntity.
                retrieve.ReturnDynamicEntities = true; 

// Execute the request.
                RetrieveResponse retrieved = (RetrieveResponse)crmService.Execute(retrieve);

// Extract the DynamicEntity from the request.
                DynamicEntity entity = (DynamicEntity)retrieved.BusinessEntity;
return entity;

#endregion
            }
catch (System.Web.Services.Protocols.SoapException ex)
{
throw new System.Exception(ex.Detail.InnerText);
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
throw new System.Exception(ex.Message);
}
}

Working with Dynamic Entity

The DynamicEntity feature lets you generically access the data in any attribute on any entity in the system. In order to develop against the Microsoft CRM SDK, you must generate and consume a WSDL during code compilation. Because you must do this against a specific instance of the application, the only entities available are the core set included in the initial installation of Microsoft CRM. The WSDL does contain entity and attribute customizations but it is recommended that your code works with a clean installation. See Using the Microsoft CRM WebServices.

The DynamicEntity class is also used in plug-ins / callouts so that your callout code can work generically with any attribute on any entity without a re-compile.

The DynamicEntity class does not provide a name-base indexer, however, you can write your own. A simple approach to this problem is to loop through the dynamic entities property bag until you find the appropriate property.