Dynamics CRM Record Locking

Hi all:

Another little project I have been hacking at, the ability to have a record "lock" when it is opened to avoid save collisions. So...

User A opens a record

User B opens the same record, it is "locked"...fields are read-only, buttons and action menu removed. Note that we could still create activities and all the functions on the Nav Bar, but hey this is a POC! :)

User A closes the record

User B can now edit

As long as user A has the record open, it will stay locked.

Outlook Utilities

Hi all:

I've also been working on some utilities for Outlook and CRM to enable enhanced usability of CRM functions from within Outlook.

The first screen shows a panel displaying CRM contacts when creating a new Outlook message, and mail recipients can be added to the "To" box by simply clicking a name.



The next screen shows the user receiving an email, and they can right-click and choose "Show CRM Contact" and the contact screen from CRM will load. This saves leaving the email, going to Sales, Clicking contacts, etc.

Dynamics CRM Dashboards

Hi all:

I've been working on creating some easily deployable dashbaords for Dynamics CRM, and here are some of the early WIPs...

Please feel free to contact me if you would like information on including my dashboards in your CRM deployment. john@straumanngroup.com

Dynamics CRM on the MAC

Since my wife INSISTS on using Macintosh computers, I have been developing an interface to Dynamics CRM that works on OS X.

It has been coming along so if you need to access Dynamics CRM from Apple machines please feel free to contact me! mailto:john@straumanngroup.%3Cremove%3E.com Please ntoe I am getting a lot of responses so I will get back to you ASAP.

Also note that I am also in progress for a version that works on the iPhone.

CRM on Windows 7

Hi all:


Of course I *had* to install Windows 7 Beta, and then I *had* to try to install CRM on it:

The install was very smooth...

***DISCLAIMER*** This post does NOT mean that CRM on Windows 7 is supported by Microsoft!!! Windows 7 is in Beta! Test this at your own risk.

Live Earth Views = a Forest of Billboards

Hi all:
The other day I was playing with Live Earth and it occurred to me that all those building tops are potential billboards. I thought it would be cool to start a company offering services to create rooftop advertising displays, but the logistics could be quite challenging.

So then I thought what about just using code to insert advertising images on the building tops in the images.

For example, this view shows the Microsoft Canada Head Office in Mississauga.



The next View shows the building, but with the Microsoft logo superimposed on the rooftop…

Hmmmm.

I am a PC

To MAC lovers everywhere I have asked "If they wanted to do a commerical to show Mac users are cool, then why did they not pick a cool guy to be in the commerical??" IMO the MAC guy is a geek and doesn't make me think of Macs as cool machines.

My wife has a MAC G5 and a PowerBook, and I can tell you from firsthand experience that her machines are also no more reliable, no faster, no more resistant to crashes, etc., than an average PC.

Now the Windows team is calling on you to join the "I am a PC" campaign...

http://imapc.lifewithoutwalls.com/

IAMAPC...

Setting up a “mirror” of a production environment for dev/testing

I recently needed to set up a “mirror” of a production system for use in development and testing. I had worked with the Redeployment tool in CRM v3 and I was interested to see how v4 worked. I was very happy when the v4 tool was *very* easy to use, and here are the steps I followed.

1. Used SQL 2005 to do a backup of the CRM v4 production databases
2. Using the VPC image distributed by Microsoft, I copied the .bak file to the VPC. I then did a restore of the database files to the VPC SQL instance. For some reason the SQL GUI did not work, so I used the following command (Names changed):
restore database OrgName_MSCRM from disk='C:\Temp\OrgName_MSCRM.bak' WITH MOVE 'OrgName_MSCRM' TO 'C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL.1\MSSQL\Data\ OrgName _MSCRM.mdf', MOVE ' OrgName _MSCRM_log' TO 'C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL.1\MSSQL\Data\ OrgName _MSCRM_log.LDF'

3. Once the DB was successfully restored on the VPC image, I fired up the CRM Deployment Manager, right-clicked on the “Organizations” item, and selected “Import Organization”
4. The next step asked me to specify the SQL server, and as soon as I did that the deployment manager found the organization I wanted to import
5. The next screen asked me for a name and a display name
6. Next input was the report server URL
7. The next steps involved the mapping of users. There are several options for this tep, I chose to simply “Manually Map Users”, and the only user I mapped was the Administrator which was mapped to the Litwareinc Administrator on the VPC. I got a warning that “All users are not mapped. Do you wish to continue?” and just clicked “Yes”
8. The next screen was simply the tasks verification screen, so I clicked “Next” and then on the next screen “Import”
9. And that was it! It took a bit of time and at the end I am able to access the org via http://moss:5555/orgname/loader.aspx

You can see the screens here but please note names are hidden:

http://www.mscrmguy.com/redeploy/redeploy.html

GM OnStar

Continuing the OnStar story, my wife got set up with GM and received this report via email. Click here for a full size shot!

This service rocks.