CRM Customization Version Add-In

CREATED ISSUE: w2k8 SOAP Problem?

CarstenGroth — Thu, 15 May 2008 12:39:47 GMT

Today I´ve tested the tool with CRM 4.0 on a w2k8 Server with SQL 2k5. After prompting for URL and Organization the Discovery Service starts, but will prompt with an error. Tried the Solution and build this with vs2008 (webreferences updated), without getting errors while building the solution. But starting the solution, I got the same error.

CREATED FEATURE: Active Language Detection

philipri — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 05:10:26 GMT

Add code to detect current active languages and ensure at least one of the supported languages is present.

CREATED FEATURE: Multi-Lingual Entity Creation

philipri — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 05:09:36 GMT

Allow multiple languages for the entity creation.

CREATED FEATURE: Add Click Sounds

philipri — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 05:08:24 GMT

Use standard windows sounds for the wizard.

EDITED FEATURE: Dutch Version

philipri — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 22:44:25 GMT

Create a Dutch Version.

CREATED ISSUE: Dutch Version

philip — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 19:41:53 GMT

Create a Dutch Version.

CREATED ISSUE: Icon Publish Status

philipri — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 04:59:29 GMT

Improve the Icon Helper class so that it checks the publish status of the orgui record.

UPDATED RELEASE: 2.0.0.1 (Mar 31, 2008)

Thu, 03 Apr 2008 01:53:27 GMT

If you choose to recompile the source you will need to:
- Sign both projects with your own key.
- Update the following resource strings in the ConfigureAddIn Project's resource file (ConfigureResources.resx): PluginContent, PluginPublicKeyToken and PluginVersion.

If you just want to use the solution - simply download the Configure Add In file, unzip it and then run it. It will connect to CRM and configure the Add In for you!

I've also included my CRM Plugin Tool. It can accept a file path as a startup argument (so you can use it as a Visual Studio external tool). This tool will read an Assembly and tell you the Name, Version, Culture, Public Key Token and also do the Base 64 encoding.

*Note: You don't need the Source Code to use the solution. Just download the Configure Add-In*

CREATED FEATURE: German Version

philipri — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 22:55:12 GMT

Add a German language version of the Add-In.

UPDATED WIKI: Home

philipri — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 18:13:22 GMT

This small CRM 4.0 Add-In enables developers to easily keep track of customizations on their system.

Support:
This Add-In is not officially supported by Microsoft however it is built using supported techniques and it is compliant with the CRM 4.0 ISV Certification Guidelines. The use of this Add-In will not place the user's system in an unsupported state. Questions regarding this Add-In can be posted in the Issue Tracker or you can email philipri@microsoft.com.

Requirements:

CRM 4.0 On-Premise Server. This Add-In makes use of Plugins which are currently not available in CRM Online. For Partner Hosted customers you should contact your hosting company who can configure this add-in on your behalf.
The client which runs the configuration exe must have .NET Framework 3.5 installed. This machine does not need to be the CRM server. It can be any windows client which can connect to the CRM Server using integrated windows authentication.

Components:

Entity Provisioning: Using the Metadata API a new entity (Customization Version) is added to the system.
Icon Provisioning: Adding new icons with the OrganizationUI object.
SiteMap Configuration: Adds the Customization Version to the Settings Area of your SiteMap.
Plugin Registration: A plugin is added to attach the current customization XML to the Customization Version entity (each time one is created).
Configuration App: A small Console Application which runs the above components and remotely configures your CRM system with the Add-In.

Install:

Download the zipped exe and run this on your desktop computer. It is a simple Console Application which will not leave behind any files.
Enter your CRM Server and Organization information when prompted.

How to use:

Create a new Customization Version record.
Hit Save. The plugin will now run and attach the latest customizations.zip file to this Customization Version record.
Additionally the plugin will fire anytime you Publish or Publish All. It will automatically create a new Version and name it appropriately.

Source Code:
Source code has been provided for the Configurator (Framework 3.5) and the Plugin (Framework 3.0). Both are compiled with CLR 2.0 of course. The provided project was created with Visual Studio 2008.

Old Version:
Information regarding the previous version of this add-in (for CRM 3.0) can be found here. The old version is no longer available for download.

EDITED ISSUE: Change DateTime stamp to Server Time

philipri — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 16:35:23 GMT

In the PublishCustomizations class of the Plugin - the Name of the new version is created with UTC.

Change this to server/local time.

Current Code:
sb.Append(DateTime.UtcNow.ToString());

Suggested Change:
sb.Append(DateTime.Now.ToString());

CREATED ISSUE: Change DateTime stamp to Server Time

philipri — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 16:32:07 GMT

UPDATED WIKI: Home

philipri — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 13:20:30 GMT

CRM 4.0 On-Premise Server. This Add-In makes use of Plugins which are currently not available in CRM Online. For Partner Hosted customers you should contact your hosting company who can configure this add-in on your behalf.
The client which runs the configuration exe must have .NET Framework 3.5 installed. This machine does not need to be the CRM server. It can be any windows client which can connect to the CRM Server using integrated windows authentication.

Components:

Entity Provisioning: Using the Metadata API a new entity (Customization Version) is added to the system.
Icon Provisioning: Adding new icons with the OrganizationUI object.
SiteMap Configuration: Adds the Customization Version to the Settings Area of your SiteMap.
Plugin Registration: A plugin is added to attach the current customization XML to the Customization Version entity (each time one is created).
Configuration App: A small Console Application which runs the above components and remotely configures your CRM system with the Add-In.

Install:

Download the zipped exe and run this on your desktop computer. It is a simple Console Application which will not leave behind any files.
Enter your CRM Server and Organization information when prompted.

How to use:

Create a new Customization Version record.
Hit Save. The plugin will now run and attach the latest customizations.zip file to this Customization Version record.
Additionally the plugin will fire anytime you Publish or Publish All. It will automatically create a new Version and name it appropriately.

UPDATED WIKI: Home

philipri — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 02:27:39 GMT

CRM 4.0 On-Premise Server. This Add-In makes use of Plugins which are currently not available in CRM Online. For Partner Hosted customers you should contact your hosting company who can configure this add-in on your behalf.
The client which runs the configuration exe must have .NET Framework 3.5 installed. This machine does not need to be the CRM server. It can be any windows client which can connect to the CRM Server using integrated windows authentication.

Components:

Entity Provisioning: Using the Metadata API a new entity (Customization Version) is added to the system.
Icon Provisioning: Adding new icons with the OrganizationUI object.
SiteMap Configuration: Adds the Customization Version to the Settings Area of your SiteMap.
Plugin Registration: A plugin is added to attach the current customization XML to the Customization Version entity (each time one is created).
Configuration App: A small Console Application which runs the above components and remotely configures your CRM system with the Add-In.

Install:

Download the zipped exe and run this on your desktop computer. It is a simple Console Application which will not leave behind any files.
Enter your CRM Server and Organization information when prompted.

How to use:

Create a new Customization Version record.
Hit Save. The plugin will now run and attach the latest customizations.zip file to this Customization Version record.
Additionally the plugin will fire anytime you Publish or Publish All. It will automatically create a new Version and name it appropriately.

Old Version:
Information regarding the previous version of this add-in (for CRM 3.0) can be found here. The old version is no longer available for download.

UPDATED WIKI: Home

philipri — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 02:26:57 GMT

CRM 4.0 On-Premise Server. This Add-In makes use of Plugins which are currently not available in CRM Online. For Partner Hosted customers you should contact your hosting company who can configure this add-in on your behalf.
The client which runs the configuration exe must have .NET Framework 3.5 installed. This machine does not need to be the CRM server. It can be any windows client which can connect to the CRM Server using integrated windows authentication.

Components:

Entity Provisioning: Using the Metadata API a new entity (Customization Version) is added to the system.
Icon Provisioning: Adding new icons with the OrganizationUI object.
SiteMap Configuration: Adds the Customization Version to the Settings Area of your SiteMap.
Plugin Registration: A plugin is added to attach the current customization XML to the Customization Version entity (each time one is created).
Configuration App: A small Console Application which runs the above components and remotely configures your CRM system with the Add-In.

Install:

Download the zipped exe and run this on your desktop computer. It is a simple Console Application which will not leave behind any files.
Enter your CRM Server and Organization information when prompted.

How to use:

Create a new Customization Version record.
Hit Save. The plugin will now run and attach the latest customizations.zip file to this Customization Version record.
Additionally the plugin will fire anytime you Publish or Publish All. It will automatically create a new Version and name it appropriately.

Old Version:
Information regarding the previous version of this add-in (for CRM 3.0) can be found here.

UPDATED WIKI: Home

philipri — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 02:22:58 GMT

This small CRM 4.0 Add-In enables developers to easily keep track of customizations on their system.

Support
This Add-In is not officially supported by Microsoft however it is built using supported techniques and it is compliant with the CRM 4.0 ISV Certification Guidelines. The use of this Add-In will not place the user's system in an unsupported state. Questions regarding this Add-In can be posted in the Issue Tracker or you can email philipri@microsoft.com.

Components:

Entity Provisioning: Using the Metadata API a new entity (Customization Version) is added to the system.
Icon Provisioning: Adding new icons with the OrganizationUI object.
SiteMap Configuration: Adds the Customization Version to the Settings Area of your SiteMap.
Plugin Registration: A plugin is added to attach the current customization XML to the Customization Version entity (each time one is created).
Configuration App: A small Console Application which runs the above components and remotely configures your CRM system with the Add-In.

Install:

Download the zipped exe and run this on your desktop computer. It is a simple Console Application which will not leave behind any files.
Enter your CRM Server and Organization information when prompted.

How to use:

Create a new Customization Version record.
Hit Save. The plugin will now run and attach the latest customizations.zip file to this Customization Version record.
Additionally the plugin will fire anytime you Publish or Publish All. It will automatically create a new Version and name it appropriately.

Old Version:
Information regarding the previous version of this add-in (for CRM 3.0) can be found here.

UPDATED WIKI: Home

philipri — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 02:22:18 GMT

This small CRM 4.0 Add-In enables developers to easily keep track of customizations on their system.

Support
This Add-In is not officially supported by Microsoft however it is build using supported techniques and it is compliant with the CRM 4.0 ISV Certification Guidelines. The use of this Add-In will not place the user's system in an unsupported state. Questions regarding this Add-In can be posted in the Issue Tracker or you can email philipri@microsoft.com.

Components:

Entity Provisioning: Using the Metadata API a new entity (Customization Version) is added to the system.
Icon Provisioning: Adding new icons with the OrganizationUI object.
SiteMap Configuration: Adds the Customization Version to the Settings Area of your SiteMap.
Plugin Registration: A plugin is added to attach the current customization XML to the Customization Version entity (each time one is created).
Configuration App: A small Console Application which runs the above components and remotely configures your CRM system with the Add-In.

Install:

Download the zipped exe and run this on your desktop computer. It is a simple Console Application which will not leave behind any files.
Enter your CRM Server and Organization information when prompted.

How to use:

Create a new Customization Version record.
Hit Save. The plugin will now run and attach the latest customizations.zip file to this Customization Version record.
Additionally the plugin will fire anytime you Publish or Publish All. It will automatically create a new Version and name it appropriately.

Old Version:
Information regarding the previous version of this add-in (for CRM 3.0) can be found here.

RELEASED: 2.0.0.1 (Mar 31, 2008)

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 01:27:49 GMT

UPDATED RELEASE: 2.0.0.1 (Mar 31, 2008)

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 01:27:49 GMT

UPDATED RELEASE: 2.0.0.1 (Mar 31, 2008)

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 01:22:18 GMT