CRM and Beyond

Welcome to the updated CRM and Beyond Website - Mai 2024

joergen@schladot.de (Jörgen Schladot) — Wed, 01 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Finally - Relaunch of my personal website and blog

It’s May 2024 and I am really happy to share that not only the relaunch of my personal website and blog has been done, but I also migrated content from 2023 and beginning of 2024 from Wordpress to Hugo.

I had a lot of struggle during the migration, as there had been some major issues with retrieving the images from my old posts. After a lot of trial and error and spending a lot of time investigating, in most cases it had been easier to follow my descriptions in the blog and retake pictures. 🙄 So don’t be surprised, that with closer inspection some pictures might look a bit different than before - interfaces in Dynamics 365 or Dataverse are changing.

In some cases I also used this, to update existing blog posts - adding a new chapter or making a new Updated note to the post.

I am not 100% convinced that the current state of the website is the final one, and there might be some tweaking in the next weeks and months. So please, do not be frustrated, when something is not working as expected. I am working on it.
This is also the reason why I am currently not advertising the blog so much. There is a bunch of greta people informaed about the blog and I will look for feedback. The blog is also not set to private, so you can find it, but I think I will start to announce the blog again in July after finxing some initila bugs. Nevertheless, if you found the blog, and have comments, remarks etc. please reach out to me. Feedback, as always is very welcome.
I hope, that the benefits of the new blog are much bigger than any downsides.

As I don’t want all the additional stuff that comes with wordpress or any other CMS system, like discussions, integratons with google or any other tracking cookies, I am completely focusing on content. And when someone wnts to interact with me - fine. Lez’s use LinkedIn as professional networking tool or write me an email.

Unfortunately you will not be able to directly share or interact with any of my comment from within this website. All external links will open in a new tab and there is no integration with any like or share buttons. So, feel free, to share and like my posts on LinkedIn, where I will announce new posts.

But this is part of being really focused on the content and I do not want to worry in the future about any GDPR / DSGVO topics that may arise due to some used plugins. This site is static without any integrations. So I hope you will find nevertheless the infromation that you are looking for.

Everything related to Dynamics 365, Power Platform, Dataverse and lots of Community related activities.

Keep on Learning 👍 Keep on Sharing your knowledge. Let’s get better together.

Imprint

joergen@schladot.de (Jörgen Schladot) — Thu, 02 Feb 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Service provider | Angaben gemäß §5 TMG:

Jörgen Schladot, Hermann-Rein-Str. 15, 37075 Göttingen, Deutschland

Contact information | Kontakt:

E-Mail-address: joergen(at)schladot(dot)de

Journalistic-editorial offers | Verantwortlich für den Inhalt nach § 55 Abs. 2 RStV:

Jörgen Schladot, Hermann-Rein-Str. 15, 37075 Göttingen

This imprint also applies to the following social media presences and online profiles: https://www.linkedin.com/in/schladot

Created with free Datenschutz-Generator.de by Dr. Thomas Schwenke

Form Fill Assistance on Columns in Dataverse

joergen@schladot.de (Jörgen Schladot) — Mon, 02 Jun 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Do not use Preview Features in Production.

Who has heard this sentence before? Last week I had my session at ECS 2025 BizAppsSummit in Düsseldorf regarding Dataverse Datamodeling and talking about all the functionalities that you have within Dataverse. During the preparation of the session, I have seen that the Form Fill Assistance (Preview) option, when creating new columns is activated by default. As this is still preview, eventhough Production ready preview https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-apps/user/form-filling-assistance I thought let’s deactivate the functionality as some projects are still not ready to use AI in production. By the way, this functionality is by default enabled - either you create the column in Maker Portal or Classic Editor. The only deifference - Classic Editor does not know about this option at all. Deactivation is quite easy - and you can activate or deactivate this feature as you like. Luckily for me, I did not test a lot of other things and directly tried to export the solution from within the classic editor. Don’t ask me why, but there are still situations where you might need to work with the Classic Editor Solution Export. I was quite surprised to see an unexpected error message directly after clicking on the Export button, which told me that I “Attempted to perform an unauthorized operation” without displaying any additional information. As I did just some very specific changes within the solution, I was pretty sure that must have to do with the For Fill Assistance Option. A closer look at the solution showed, that when disabling the option, a new “AI Skill Config” configuration object is added to the solution, which is not shown in the classic editor. Once I activated the preview feature again, this configuration is automatically deleted, the object is gone from the solution and most important the solution export in the Classic Editor works as expected again. Then, to make the test complete, I exported the solution with deactivated Form Fill ASsistance in Maker Portal - which worked as expected. And, surprinsingly importing this exported solution through the Classic Solution import in another environment worked as well without any error and the AI Skill Config has been imported to the new environment as well. The export with Classic Solution Export nevertheless failed again. Let’s have a quick retro:

Dynamics 365 Power Pane - Browser Extension

joergen@schladot.de (Jörgen Schladot) — Sat, 15 Feb 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Attention - This Extension had been part of the Malware attack in 2024 - read more in the Browser Extensions series overview and find links to external blog post or Meetup recording by Jukka Niiranen!

If you are using only edge - chances might be high that you have never seen Dynamics 365 Power Pane, as it is currently only available in Chrome Web Store and not listed in the Edge Extensions. Luckily, it is possible to use Chrome extensions in edge as well - so just search for Chrome Web Store or Chrome Extensions in your edge profile where you want to add this extension to open the Google Chrome Web Store. Search for Power Pane and select Dynamics 365 Power Pane.
On the top of your screen you will see the message Dynamics 365 Power Pane works on Microsoft Edge.

Create your Website - Security

joergen@schladot.de (Jörgen Schladot) — Sun, 30 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000

The easiest way to create a new Power Pages website in your environment is either from the Maker Portal to select Websites in the navigation bar (if Websites is not yet visible, you have to click on More… first) and Create a website now or you can open the Power Pages Design Studio directly by entering https://make.powerpages.microsoft.com/

Select if you want to start from blank or with a template, or you can also start by using Copilot to create website content. We will have a look at the Copilot functionality in another post, as well as the template option. At the moment I just want to start with a blank website and have a first look. Once you have selected Start from blank it will take some minutes to provision the new website to your environment.

Did you know, that you have up to 3 dev websites per development environment? You cannot convert these to a production website, as this is on a development environment, but differently to the trial websites that you can create in other environments, the developer website will not expire after 30 days.

pac pages

joergen@schladot.de (Jörgen Schladot) — Sun, 30 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Ribbon Workbench a tool within XRMToolbox

joergen@schladot.de (Jörgen Schladot) — Thu, 20 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000

The Ribbon Workbench by Scott Durow. One of the most used tools, which is available as standalone solution as well and as plugin for the XRMToolbox. And even with Modern Command options available now for more than a year, the Ribbon Workbench is still a must. Especially as long as it is not possible to customize default commands directly within the Maker portal. To work with the Ribbon Workbench you MUST creat e new, empty solution first and only add THE table that you want to work with. Without any additional artifacts. I normally tend to name the solution e.g., Ribbon and add only the existing table to the solution. Once the solution is loaded, the first time you see the Ribbon Workbench can be quite overwhelming.

pac cli Tools

joergen@schladot.de (Jörgen Schladot) — Sat, 15 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Today we will have a look at the pac tool command. Initially I said, that the experience in vscode is the same in all operating systems, when you are using the power platform tool extension.

For this specific command, it is not true, as the tools that will be used have been developed for and therefore support only windows.

So first, let’s start again with just entering

pac tool

and see, what additional information we will receive.

Copilot for Dataverse - New experience

joergen@schladot.de (Jörgen Schladot) — Sat, 01 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000

The new Copilot Experience - announced as MS Built

When you are opening the Maker Portal (https://make.powerapps.com ), on the home screen you are directly greeted by the Copilot experience - Let’s build an App.

I had already a first look at this functionaliy at the beginning of the year, and while I was not confinced for several reasons, my recommendation was to use it in Dev environments, so the copilot can learn from your prompts.

pac canvas

joergen@schladot.de (Jörgen Schladot) — Thu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000

All previous pac posts have been around handling envionments in your tenant and general governance topics which are most likely more important for admins and not for developers or makers. Todays post is different though.

Today we will have a look at

pac canvas

To learn more about this command, as always it is helpful to just run pac canvas in the terminal, to get more information about possible command options.

Attribute Bulk Updater a tool within XRMToolbox

joergen@schladot.de (Jörgen Schladot) — Mon, 20 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000

The attribute bulk updater is a tool, which you should understand first before you use it, as it can and will change the attributes of all columns in a table - when used wrong.

Select your environment. You do not have the possibility to select just asolution.
Select a specific table, where you want to update the Attributes.
Decide which column property should be changed. you can change:

Valid for Adv. Find
Valid for Audit
Is Secured
Requirement Lvel (Business Required, Business Recommended, No Constraint)

I strongly recommend to update these options one after another to have better control for these options. Every option that you select will be handled the same for all attributes.

Microsoft Dynamics Meetup Deutschland - Summer Break 2024

joergen@schladot.de (Jörgen Schladot) — Mon, 20 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Hello everyone,

this month in parallel DynamicMinds Conference is in Slovenia and Ludwig, Lone and lots of other people are at this conference. Due to the upcoming summer months we will pause the Microsoft Dynamics Meetup Deutschland for a few month and will come back in autumn.

Looking forward to a lot new topics. Keep on learning and sharing.

pac cli admin

joergen@schladot.de (Jörgen Schladot) — Wed, 15 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000

pac admin create-servce-principal has already been discussed in one of the previous posts.

But you can do a lot of other admin tasks with pac admin as well. Let’s have a look and group the commands.

Environment tasks

To manage your environments, you can combine the pac admin command with following elements:

list lists all environments in your tenant.
create creates a new dataverse environment in your tenant
backup Manual backup of selected environment
set-backup-retention-period Manual backup of selected environment
delete deletes environment from your tenant
reset reset the environment iny our tenant.
list-backups Lists all backups for your environment.
restore restores an environment based ona specific backup.
copy copies a source environment to target environment.
status status of all processes will be shown.

pac admin create help will provide you the list of all required and possible configuration options. During the creation of the environemtn you have to take some decisions. Some of them have a predefined value, so i you do not want to specify something else, you can leave these options blank. But remembetr, once set, you can only change, sometimes if you reset the environment, and seomtimes only when you delete and recreate the envionment with the correct settings.

Mentoring & Coaching

joergen@schladot.de (Jörgen Schladot) — Sun, 05 May 2024 17:11:17 +0000

In den vergangenen Jahren habe ich immer wieder die Möglichkeit wahrgenommen, z.B. an Microsoft Trainings, Community Events, Hackathons etc. oder auch an Mentoring Sessions von Danish Naglekar (PowerMaverick) zum Thema PCF sowie von Victor Dantas (Zero-to-Hero) zum Thema Portals teilzunehmen.

Diese positiven Erfahrungen, die ich als Teil der Community gemacht habe und auch immer noch mache, gebe ich bereits selbst auch an andere weiter.
Entweder durch aktive Community Arbeit oder im Rahmen von Mentoring Sessions für Interessierte, die gerade anfangen sich intensiver mit dem Thema Power Platform oder Dynamics 365 CE zu beschäftigen und sich orientieren möchten, aber auch mit allen, die bereits erfahrener sind und den kontinuierlichen Austausch zu diesen Themen suchen.

pac cli Service Principal

joergen@schladot.de (Jörgen Schladot) — Tue, 30 Apr 2024 00:00:00 +0000

There are several reasons to use a Service Principal for Dataverse e.g., running

a dataverse flow
Pipelines / Microsoft Power PLatform Build Tools for Azure DevOps
…

The service principal is a non-interactive user-account which often runs with higher permissions. In addition, this is not an account which can be used by a user to log-in and it is not a named user-account.

With the pac command you can list and create service principals which are available in your tenant very easily.

Activity Cascade Rules a tool within XRMToolbox

joergen@schladot.de (Jörgen Schladot) — Sat, 20 Apr 2024 00:00:00 +0000

In my Dataverse post regarding relationships, I have mentioned the behavior settings that can and should be maintained for every relationship. This setting defines how related tables / record behave, during actions like delete, or update. Or when an owner is changed.

This behavior is especially important in case of activities. And with the Activity Cascade Rules you have a tool at hand to easily manage and update the behavior for activities and related entities.

Microsoft Dynamics Meetup Deutschland - April 2024

joergen@schladot.de (Jörgen Schladot) — Sat, 20 Apr 2024 00:00:00 +0000

In this MeetUp we have 2 sessions:

Kurt Hatlevik (Kurt Hatlevik | LinkedIn). Kurt is an MVP in Dynamics Commerce and will deep dive into this topic.

Lea Patterson (Lea Patterson | LinkedIn) will share a solution on Costing & Sustainability that he has been a part of developing at Pilbara Group: Overview | LinkedIn

Make sure to join!

We are looking forward to these to exciting topics - and hope to see a lot of you online.

pac cli list environments

joergen@schladot.de (Jörgen Schladot) — Mon, 15 Apr 2024 00:00:00 +0000

In the first posts we have installed pac cli as part of Power Platform Tools in vscode and also installed the downloadable solution. Then we have created an authentication profile. In this one, we will continue with the basics and have a look at the environment management settings in the vscode extension as well as with the pac cli command.

Have a look at the environments

When you do not see an environment, there could be different options:

SharePoint Integration with Power Pages

joergen@schladot.de (Jörgen Schladot) — Mon, 15 Apr 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Prerequisite for activation of SharePoint in Power Pages is that the Standard Dataverse SharePoint Integration is already activated.

Power Platform Admin Center

The next step is to activate the SharePoint Integration for Power pages in the Power Platfrom Admin Center. You can find this option in
PPAC –> Resources –> Power Pages sites –> Services –> SharePoint Integration When you click on the switch to activate the SharePoint Integration, a new pop-up window will open. In this pop-up the following MS Learn Documentation is linked: https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/p/?linkid=2005934 Have a look at the documentation, which is referring to the Standard SharePoint Integration. When you have done all steps, click on Enable. This will take a while and during this period the website is not available.

Demo Monkey

joergen@schladot.de (Jörgen Schladot) — Mon, 01 Apr 2024 00:00:00 +0000

No April Fool’s joke - not at all.

If I remember correctly, I used one of the first versions of the free Demo Monkey already back in 2016/2017, as a Windows Tool which helped to create Demo Data for Dynamics 365. You could create Account names, related contacts, address information and a lot of additional metadata as well. Joris Kalz, the author of the tool, was really helpful and has improved the tool continuosly e.g., by adding the possibility to store a predefined set of information and he even provided a starting point for Dynamics 365 Field Service data. Especially when seting up complex tools like Field Service, Demo Monkey is a great tool, as the set up needs lots of different configuration data and related data first. So you can spend hours, if not days to create meaningful demo data.

As the name already reveals, this tool is for demo data, and not for your productive usage. Nevertheless, the tool is worth more than a look and can be used in different scenatios:

Authenticate pac cli

joergen@schladot.de (Jörgen Schladot) — Sat, 30 Mar 2024 00:00:00 +0000

In the first post we have installed the vscode extension, now we are going to use it for the first time.

Create your first profile

Click on the button “Add Auth Profile”
The Microsoft “Sign-in dialog” will open
Enter your credentials for your tenant, where you want to connect to and approve MFA (if enabled)
Then your profile will be visible in the top area and all environments where your user has access to are visible in the lower area.

Add another profile

pac as well as Power Platform Tools are able to manage multiple Authentication profiles. You can easily add another profile for e.g. a different tenant by clicking on the small + icon in the top right of the Authentication profiles. The same Microsoft dialog as before will be opened, and once you entered your credentials the next profile is available and directly selected (marked by the star next to the profile) and the list of environmens will show the ones related to the selected profile.

Flow Visio Builder tool within XRMToolbox

joergen@schladot.de (Jörgen Schladot) — Wed, 20 Mar 2024 00:00:00 +0000

If you build Power Automate flows, and you want to document them, this tool is what you need.

If you are connected to an environment already, the tool will open and show you a list of all available flows in your environment. Otherwise you need to connect to an environment first.
You can specify some additional options that should be used during the creation of the visio
Select the flow that you want to document and click on Create Visio. A dialog to choose location and specify the filename willl appear. Click save
Open the generated visio
Maybe format the visio a bit by adjusting the size of boxes etc.

If you have to many flows in the list and you want to reduce the amount, you can as well search for a specific flow, or filter for a flow in a specific solution. Once you start typing in the search, the list of flows will be automatically filtered.

Microsoft Dynamics Meetup Deutschland - March 2024

joergen@schladot.de (Jörgen Schladot) — Wed, 20 Mar 2024 00:00:00 +0000

In this MeetUp we have 2 sessions: Anders Girke (Anders Girke | LinkedIn) will show us the new Dynamics 365 Demand Planning app: Revolutionizing Demand Planning: Unleashing Cutting-Edge Features in Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management’s January Update - Microsoft Dynamics 365 Blog Mette Ohmsen (Mette Ohmsen | LinkedIn) will talk about Digital Transformation from her experience in different companies – amongst others as the leader of the “OneERP” Project at Norlys in Denmark.

Introduction to pac cli

joergen@schladot.de (Jörgen Schladot) — Fri, 15 Mar 2024 00:00:00 +0000

The Power Apps CLI, also known as pac, is the tool provided by Microsoft for developers to build and manage their Power Apps projects from the command line and offering several helpful commands. It is particularly useful for tasks such as creating and managing Power App projects, working with solution files, and interacting with Dataverse - and so much more. And of course, even though it is meant to be for Developers, and it is a command line tool - it surely offers a lot of functionalities that non developers, low code or citizen developers will also benefit from. Therefore, I decided to start a new series and document over the next weeks some functionalities, while having a look myslef at all the different functionalities as I juest realized that there are so many functionalities I have not worked with yet.

Easy Translator a tool within XRMToolbox

joergen@schladot.de (Jörgen Schladot) — Tue, 20 Feb 2024 00:00:00 +0000

I have written already a post about activating additional translations in Dataverse and usng the OotB Translation functionality, which is not very user friendly at all. A very helpful tool is available - as in many cases - within the XRMToolbox:

Decide if you want to load all entities or only the ones from a selected solution. If you select from a solution, you will have to specify the solution in a pop-up window and confirm with OK
Next you have to select the tables that you want to include in the export. You can select all tables at once, or have just small exports.
Next to the entities options you can define how to handle some additional data e.g.,

Global choice (Optionset) Labels
Sitemap custom labels
Dashboard custom labels

As well as how to handle Entity / Table related translation options:
Entities
Attributes
Picklist Option Labels
Boolean Option Labels
Views
Charts
Forms
Form tabs
Form sections
Form fields
Relationships with custom labels

And you can decide if Name and Description of Labels should be exported, only names or only description.

And the last option on the right of the screen is to define, if you want to export all languages or only a selected one. I prefer the option to select all.
When everything is etup completely, click on Export Translation. Now a dialog pops-up where you have to specify the path and filename to an Excel xlsx file. Once the export is started, a yellow status will show you, which options are getting exported. You can select to open the generated document,once finalized.

Open in Excel

Differently to the OotB translations, the exported Easy Translator file is directly formatted as Excel file. Each option that you have selected is represented as excel tab. Now work in the excel file, but be careful, just to make changes in the columns with the respective language code. Once finished with translations, open Easy translator again.

Microsoft Dynamics Meetup Deutschland - Februar 2024

joergen@schladot.de (Jörgen Schladot) — Tue, 20 Feb 2024 00:00:00 +0000

In February we have 2 amazing and very different Sessions.

Stephan Wendt da Cruz (Finance Director, Microsoft Germany) will give us his take on Modern Finance at Microsoft.

Pranav Khurana (Probably World’s Youngest Microsoft Power Platform, Azure AI and App Maker Certified | Speaker | Power Community Ambassador) will give us a Child’s Guide to Overcoming Challenges for Citizen Developers

Make sure to join!

We are looking forward to these to exciting topics - and hope to see a lot of you online.

Metadata Browser for D365 - Browser Extension

joergen@schladot.de (Jörgen Schladot) — Thu, 15 Feb 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Once you have installed the Metadata Browser for Dataverse (or also Metadata Browser for Dynamics 365 & Power Apps) you need to activate the extension like all others in the extension bar in your edge profile.

Is this an extension that I will install in all my profiles?

No, unlike Level Up for me there is just one specific use case, when I am installing the Metedata Brwoser - when I need fast access to the table and column metadata and also need the option to download a csv with all information.

Then this tool is very fast and helpful and much faster than e.g., going to the XRMToolbox to open a tool there. But also in this case it depends on the use case and which information and in which format I want to see the information.
Nevertheless,

Metadata Document Generator a tool within XRMToolbox

joergen@schladot.de (Jörgen Schladot) — Sat, 20 Jan 2024 00:00:00 +0000

One powerful tool to document your solutions is the Metadata Document Generator plugin by Tanguy (MsCrm).

Click on Load Entities. Based on your environment this may take seom time. Once finished, all available tables will be displayed. Alternatively, you can click on the small arrow and select Load entities from solution. Then a solution picker will be displayed first and you can reduce the number of tables to the one in the selected solution. When the tables are loaded, you can find the at the left in the Entity Area.
Before you continue, you have to define, the outpu format for your document. You can either generate a word or Excel file. You also need to specify the output path and fielname on your local machine.
If you have multiple languages installed in your environment, you can also define, which language should be used for the documentation.
In the attributes Selection area, you can specify, which attributes should be documented:

All attributes
You only need to select the entities
All attributes contained in forms With this option, you have to specify the forms for each entity that will be used for documentation
All attrributes NOT contained in forms Same as with the attributes on for option, you have to specify forms that will be excluded.
Option Sets, Boolean, State and Status attributes No additional specification needed
Selected attributes You have to manually define every single attribute that will be documented.
Unmanaged attributes

Once you have specifid the tables and attributes, belo the entity and attribute list you can find additional options, that you can decide to include in the documentation:

Include Audit information
Include Field Level Security Information
Include Requirement level information
Include Valid for Advanced Find information
Include attribute location in Forms
Exclude virtual attributes

Save your Generation Settings, so you can reapply or change them easily later on.
Click on Generate document Proceeding will take some time, based on the number of selected entities. Once finished, a dialog will ask you if you want to open the finished document

I recommend to test Excel and Word document by your own and decide what will be the best solution for you. Personally, I use Excel most of the times as this provides better options to work with the generated information.

Microsoft Dynamics Meetup Deutschland - Januar 2024

joergen@schladot.de (Jörgen Schladot) — Sat, 20 Jan 2024 00:00:00 +0000

In January we have 2 amazing Sessions and they will both be in English.

Namrata Agrawal (Developer, WomenHackAI winner, Won 5X Tech Hackathons) : Vision to Diagnosis: Detecting Diabetic Retinopathy with Power App.

Rachel Profitt (Principal Program Manager, Microsoft): A Look Inside the Business Process Catalog Description: Business processes are critical in every organization—no matter the technology. Join Rachel Profitt, Principal Program Manager at Microsoft while she explains the latest and greatest on the business process catalog and guidance. She’ll show where we are and what you can expect for the initiative in the coming months.

Copy an existing Model Driven App

joergen@schladot.de (Jörgen Schladot) — Mon, 15 Jan 2024 00:00:00 +0000

How do you copy a Model Driven App?

That’s a question I heard from some Canavas App developers. And yes, they are right - if you are changing from Canvas App development to Model Driven Apps - the behavior is quite different.

First recap Canvas App copy

For all MDA (ModelDriven Apps) Devlopers, let’s list how you can create a copy of an existing CA (Canvas App) first:

In Maker Portal, when you are editing your CA, you will find the save symbol in the top right of your menu
Next to the save icon, you can click on the don arrow and you will find the option to Save as or Download a copy
Give the copy a new name and confirm.
Done! Once you are back in the Maker Portal and select Apps from the menu, the original and copy will be available in the list and you can now start to debelop both apps individually.

Model Driven App save as?

If we open the Model Driven App editor, you might have seen Save a copy in some menus there as well, but unfortunately not directly on app level. You will find this e.g., when you are editing a form But this is not helping us to create a copy of an existing Model Driven App. Just to be sure, that this is not a functionality only available in Classic Editor, lets switch to the Classic App Designer

Editing Command Bar in Model Driven Appswith Power FX 2

joergen@schladot.de (Jörgen Schladot) — Mon, 15 Jan 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Component library

In the last Command Bar post we have added a new Power FX Button to the command bar on the Main menu. Now, let’s have a look what we can do in addition.

Open the Solution, in which you have created the new command.
Some new artificats have been added to the solution - we will focus on the Component libraries.
Inside the Component Libraries you will find your new created Modern Command.

Custom Pages in Model Driven Apps

joergen@schladot.de (Jörgen Schladot) — Wed, 10 Jan 2024 00:00:00 +0000

In my last posts on Custom Pages in Model Driven apps I have shown how to embed them either in the menu or open them by Javascript. But I have only shown you a single screen custom page.

In the standard, the Custom Page still offers only one screen, but over Settings an option can be switched on which will allow several several screens.

You can find out exactly how this works now:

Contact

joergen@schladot.de (Jörgen Schladot) — Mon, 01 Jan 2024 00:00:00 +0000

I am always looking forward to interact with the Dynamics 365 and Power Platform community. Therefore, if you have any questions or if you are interested in speaking at the Microsoft Dynamics Deutschland Meetup or cospeak at any other Dynamics or Power Platform related event, just reach out to me.

The best way to contact me is probably on Linkedin and sending me a contact request there. Just follow the Linkedin link:

Editing Command Bar in Model Driven Appswith Power FX

joergen@schladot.de (Jörgen Schladot) — Mon, 01 Jan 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Editing Command Bar in Model Driven Apps with Power FX – CRM and Beyond

Excerpt

Another XRMToolBox Plugin that I have been using for the past years very regularly is the Ribbon Workbench by Scott Durow. The Plugin or the standalone Version of the ribbon Workbench are great tools and offer lots of functionality to improve the user experience by adding buttons to the command bars in the Model Driven App – either in Dynamics 365 CE applications or in custom Power Platform Model Driven apps.

Day 24: Singing-Off and A Big Thank you

joergen@schladot.de (Jörgen Schladot) — Sun, 24 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Follow the link to see the video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tT96vT46a9A&list=PLHPzARJI0QOMyD1O-zHSCSDeyN4vXjoGZ

Are you ready to unleash the power of Power Platform? Join us for a festive and fun video series that will show you how to create amazing apps, govern your tenant, introduce Copilot in Power Platform and learn something about Azure Communication Services. Each day, you will get a new tip from our experts that will help you learn something new, solve a problem, or improve your skills. Whether you are a beginner or a pro, you will find something useful and interesting in this advents calender. Don’t miss this opportunity to power up your productivity and creativity with Power Platform!

Day 23: Security myths around Copilot

joergen@schladot.de (Jörgen Schladot) — Sat, 23 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Follow the link to see the video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tT96vT46a9A&list=PLHPzARJI0QOMyD1O-zHSCSDeyN4vXjoGZ

Day 22: Community Tools

joergen@schladot.de (Jörgen Schladot) — Fri, 22 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Follow the link to see the video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tT96vT46a9A&list=PLHPzARJI0QOMyD1O-zHSCSDeyN4vXjoGZ

Day 21: Power Platform Community Hub

joergen@schladot.de (Jörgen Schladot) — Thu, 21 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Follow the link to see the video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tT96vT46a9A&list=PLHPzARJI0QOMyD1O-zHSCSDeyN4vXjoGZ

Day 20: Modern Controls in Power Apps

joergen@schladot.de (Jörgen Schladot) — Wed, 20 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Follow the link to see the video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tT96vT46a9A&list=PLHPzARJI0QOMyD1O-zHSCSDeyN4vXjoGZ

Microsoft Dynamics Meetup Deutschland - December 2023

joergen@schladot.de (Jörgen Schladot) — Wed, 20 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0000

For the meetup in December, we have come up with some surprises. In addition to surprise guests from home and abroad, there is also something to win.

However, more is not yet revealed. Just drop by.

Make sure to join - there will NOT be a recording this time!

We are looking forward to these to exciting topics - and hope to see a lot of you online.

If you’d like to participate - just register on our Meetup page for free:
Link: https://www.meetup.com/de-DE/microsoft-dynamics-meetup-of-berlin/events/297769103/

Day 19: MS Copilot vs MS copilot for M365 vs Copilot Studio

joergen@schladot.de (Jörgen Schladot) — Tue, 19 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Follow the link to see the video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tT96vT46a9A&list=PLHPzARJI0QOMyD1O-zHSCSDeyN4vXjoGZ

Dataverse Teams Integration - External Content

joergen@schladot.de (Jörgen Schladot) — Mon, 18 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0000

I had planned to continue my Dataverse Series now with another Integration topic - the MS Teams Integration which is available as basic and enhanced integration with Dynamics 365 Sales. If you want to use the integration you should definitely have a look at the license requirements.

Why MS Teams Integration

Over the last year MS Teams has become more and more important for all kind of businesses. Either using messages instead of emails in inernal or external communication, using Teams calls instead of phone calls or having virtual meetings instead of meetin in-person. Especially the #Corona Years made a massive push for lots of organizations to implement a Teams and Online strategy.
Dynamics 365 CE (Sales, Customer Insights, Customer & Field Service) are focusing on interactions and collaboration. Same applies to Teams, so therefore the integration is literaturally a must. And Microsoft offers these Out of the Box.

Day 18: Filtered Lists in Power Pages

joergen@schladot.de (Jörgen Schladot) — Mon, 18 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Follow the link to see the video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tT96vT46a9A&list=PLHPzARJI0QOMyD1O-zHSCSDeyN4vXjoGZ

Day 17: How to Customize DLP Error Messages?

joergen@schladot.de (Jörgen Schladot) — Sun, 17 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Follow the link to see the video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tT96vT46a9A&list=PLHPzARJI0QOMyD1O-zHSCSDeyN4vXjoGZ

Day 16: Payment Integration with Power Pages

joergen@schladot.de (Jörgen Schladot) — Sat, 16 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Follow the link to see the video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tT96vT46a9A&list=PLHPzARJI0QOMyD1O-zHSCSDeyN4vXjoGZ

Day 15: Disable Survey Feedbacks

joergen@schladot.de (Jörgen Schladot) — Fri, 15 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Follow the link to see the video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tT96vT46a9A&list=PLHPzARJI0QOMyD1O-zHSCSDeyN4vXjoGZ

Day 14: Power Pages Prefilling Forms

joergen@schladot.de (Jörgen Schladot) — Thu, 14 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Follow the link to see the video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tT96vT46a9A&list=PLHPzARJI0QOMyD1O-zHSCSDeyN4vXjoGZ

Day 13: Dataverse Accelerator

joergen@schladot.de (Jörgen Schladot) — Wed, 13 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Follow the link to see the video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tT96vT46a9A&list=PLHPzARJI0QOMyD1O-zHSCSDeyN4vXjoGZ

Day 12: Copilot in Power Pages

joergen@schladot.de (Jörgen Schladot) — Tue, 12 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Follow the link to see the video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tT96vT46a9A&list=PLHPzARJI0QOMyD1O-zHSCSDeyN4vXjoGZ

Day 11: Configuration Migration Tool

joergen@schladot.de (Jörgen Schladot) — Mon, 11 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Follow the link to see the video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tT96vT46a9A&list=PLHPzARJI0QOMyD1O-zHSCSDeyN4vXjoGZ

Day 10: Power Shell Self-Service Purchase in Power Platform

joergen@schladot.de (Jörgen Schladot) — Sun, 10 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Follow the link to see the video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tT96vT46a9A&list=PLHPzARJI0QOMyD1O-zHSCSDeyN4vXjoGZ

Day 9: Power Pages Anonymous Case

joergen@schladot.de (Jörgen Schladot) — Sat, 09 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Day 9

Follow the link to see the video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tT96vT46a9A&list=PLHPzARJI0QOMyD1O-zHSCSDeyN4vXjoGZ

Day 8: Power Pages Core Capabilities

joergen@schladot.de (Jörgen Schladot) — Fri, 08 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Follow the link to see the video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tT96vT46a9A&list=PLHPzARJI0QOMyD1O-zHSCSDeyN4vXjoGZ

Day 7: ACS Teams and External User

joergen@schladot.de (Jörgen Schladot) — Thu, 07 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Follow the link to see the video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tT96vT46a9A&list=PLHPzARJI0QOMyD1O-zHSCSDeyN4vXjoGZ

Day 6: AI Builder Credits and Tenant Isolation

joergen@schladot.de (Jörgen Schladot) — Wed, 06 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Follow the link to see the video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tT96vT46a9A&list=PLHPzARJI0QOMyD1O-zHSCSDeyN4vXjoGZ

Day 5: ACS Direct Routing

joergen@schladot.de (Jörgen Schladot) — Tue, 05 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Follow the link to see the video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tT96vT46a9A&list=PLHPzARJI0QOMyD1O-zHSCSDeyN4vXjoGZ

Day 4: Preferred Solution in Dataverse

joergen@schladot.de (Jörgen Schladot) — Mon, 04 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Follow the link to see the video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tT96vT46a9A&list=PLHPzARJI0QOMyD1O-zHSCSDeyN4vXjoGZ

Day 3: Azure Communication Services Overview

joergen@schladot.de (Jörgen Schladot) — Sun, 03 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Follow the link to see the video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tT96vT46a9A&list=PLHPzARJI0QOMyD1O-zHSCSDeyN4vXjoGZ

Day 2 - How to get the Developer environment

joergen@schladot.de (Jörgen Schladot) — Sat, 02 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Follow the link to see the video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skf0CxTY_nk&list=PLHPzARJI0QOMyD1O-zHSCSDeyN4vXjoGZ&index=2&pp=iAQB

Day 1: Power Platform Advent Calendar 2023 Kick-Off

joergen@schladot.de (Jörgen Schladot) — Fri, 01 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Follow the link to see the video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tT96vT46a9A&list=PLHPzARJI0QOMyD1O-zHSCSDeyN4vXjoGZ

Dataverse Email Integration

joergen@schladot.de (Jörgen Schladot) — Mon, 20 Nov 2023 00:00:00 +0000

What can we expect from the Email Integration

Dataverse Common Data Model contains Contacts, Emails, Tasks and Appointments tables. Another Microsoft Application that is working as well with the same kind of information are MS Exchange and Outlook. Luckily, there is a built-in integration between Exchange and Dataverse similar to the SharePoint Integration that we had a look at earlier. Let’s invest some time and activate the Server-Side Email Integration with MS Exchange.

Microsoft Dynamics Meetup Deutschland - November 2023

joergen@schladot.de (Jörgen Schladot) — Mon, 20 Nov 2023 00:00:00 +0000

In November we have 2 amazing Sessions and they will both be in English.

Jonas Feddersen Melgaard: Let’s bake! - How to connect a bakery to the cloud using Dataverse and Power Automate Desktop. Struggling with slow processes and increasing difficulties doing integrations? Let me show you how you can do it while having fun simultaneously! Hint: There (might) be bakery equipment and cake involved! Automating old processes and integrations can be a chore and expensive, especially in an organization that has grown through acquisitions with many different applications.

Polymorphic Lookup Creator a tool within XRMToolbox

joergen@schladot.de (Jörgen Schladot) — Mon, 20 Nov 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Polymorphic Lookups or Multi-Table Lookups have been introduced as a custom option some time ago, but up until now, there is no possibility in classic editor or maker portal to create these types of lookup in the frontend.

Therefore, the Polymorphic Lookup Manager, developed by Tanguy, is really helpful.

Make sure, you have a solution to work in and you now your requirements. To select the solution in a new window, you have to click on the 3 dots on the right side of the window and then you can select the solution you want.
Select the table on which you want to create the Lookup to the other tables - in my example I want to create a Responsible Staff Lookup on the session table, which can reference to Contact, User or AAD User table. In addition I need a new polymorphic relationship and I do not want to eit an exitsing one.
Once all infromation are provided and the referenced tables are selected, click on Create Polymorphic Lookup Now you can go to your solution and update the necessary forms.

When you select an existing Poymorphic Lookup, you can apply changes like e.g., add or remove tables and then you have to click on Apply Changes. You only need to select the exitsing one instead of selecting Create new Polymorphic looup. In addition, you have the possibility to delete an exising polymorphic lookup as well.

Manage Polymorphic Lookups in Dataverse with XRM Toolbox

joergen@schladot.de (Jörgen Schladot) — Wed, 15 Nov 2023 00:00:00 +0000

In my post last week , I initially only dealt with the availability of the multi-table lookups and very superficially mentioned that I was happy about the fast availability of the XrmToolBox plugin. However, I did not go into the functions of the plugin in detail and how I currently use it. I’ll go into that in more detail below.

To be able to use the Polymorphic Lookup Creator Plugin you first must use the XrmToolBox. Both the plug-in and the toolbox were developed by the multi-year Dynamics 365 MVP Tanguy Touzard. You can find the official page of the XrmToolBox here . If you are already using the XrmToolBox, make sure that you have already installed the current version, as this is required for the plugin. (Status of the XrmToolBox when the blog post was published: v1.2021.6.51)

Custom SharePoint Integration with Dataverse

joergen@schladot.de (Jörgen Schladot) — Wed, 01 Nov 2023 00:00:00 +0000

The custom approach

So you may have read the last posts regarding the Dataverse SharePoint Integration and these available out of the box options may not suite your process. Either you do not like the limited hierarchy options, or e.g. the automatic renaming based on the GUID is not what you are looking for.

Thanks to the Power Platform with Power Automate and lots of Connectors there is now a quite easy approach to create your custom SharePoint Integration. Nevertheless, we will still leverage the OOTB Server-Based SharePoint Integration. So if you have not done part 1 yet - this is also the starting point for the custom integration and you need to specify the SharePoint site and enable the integration.
Read more: Enable SharePoint Default Integration

Mapping columns in related Many-to-Many tables

joergen@schladot.de (Jörgen Schladot) — Wed, 01 Nov 2023 00:00:00 +0000

In my previous article about Mapping I have shown how to create a mapping in general, for “normal” fields like string, number, choice or also Lookuls. You can have a look at this post, if you need to get a basic understanding about mapping and where to create it.

In addition, there is a specific type of relationship, where mapping is not possible. Therefore, today we are talking about taking over information from source to target, that are related to both entities with a Many-to-Many relationship, and the values which are selected on the source entity should also be selected on the new record in the target entity.

FetchXMLBuilder in XRMToolbox

joergen@schladot.de (Jörgen Schladot) — Fri, 20 Oct 2023 00:00:00 +0000

The first tool that we will have a look at, is FetchXMLBuilder by Jonas Rapp. It’s not only the tool that I personally use a lot, but also the plugin with the highest amount of total downloads. And it is definitely correct, to be at the top.

But I have to admit, that the usage of FetchXMLBuilder has changed for me personally. Since Jonas added the functionality to create Power Automate filter criteria based on your FetchXML, THIS is definitely the most used function for me 😉

Microsoft Dynamics Meetup Deutschland - Oktober 2023

joergen@schladot.de (Jörgen Schladot) — Fri, 20 Oct 2023 00:00:00 +0000

In October we have 2 amazing Sessions and it will be a combination of English and German.

Jivtesh Singh and Kimiya Ataiyan will talk about Generative AI with Microsoft Business Applications. (English)

Harald Nagel will talk about D365FO and CE-Apps Connections (German).

It is possible to join onsite in Microsoft Frankfurt (Messeturm – Friedrich-Ebert-Anlage 49), where Jivtesh and Kimiya will be joining - if you want to join onsite in Frankfurt, please send an Email to jivtesh.singh@microsoft.com

Mapping Lookup Columns

joergen@schladot.de (Jörgen Schladot) — Sun, 15 Oct 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Mapping is one of the functionalities in Dataverse Model Driven Apps that can still only be configured using the Classic Editor.

Mapping allows you to create a new record and use already available information from the origin record in the new record without the need of writing any code. But there are some limitations:

Mapping data will only be synchronized during the creation of the new record. Future updates will not be synchronized
Only data from one record can be synchronized to the new record
Field types and metadata must be a 100% match between source and target
Choice should be of type global
Mapping is only available fro 1:N

Setup Document Management Settings

joergen@schladot.de (Jörgen Schladot) — Sun, 15 Oct 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Document Management Settings

In the previous post we have activated the Out of the box Server-Based SharePoint Online Integration. As mentioned, there are some decisions that you should take, before continuing to decide if the default behavior is suitable for your process or if you need a custom setup.

In this post we will cover the default behavior by using the Document Management Settings to configure the Sharepoint Integration
In the first page of the dialog, some tables (entities) are already predefined for SharePoint Integration, but you can deactivate and activate the tables in the list, just by adding or removing the checkmark next to the entity. Before you move on, make sure, that your SharePoint site that you have enabled is entered at the bottom of the page. Otherwise re-enter the SharePoint Site URL that you have activated in the first post.
When activating the Document Management in the Dataverse Backend, you have limited options to decide how the SharePoint folders will be created. There are basically three choices for the folder structure available in the next screen:

Empty (Default): In this case, for each table that is activated for SharePoint, a document library will be created in your default SharePoint Site, with the name of the table - by default e.g., Account would be enabled and you will find an Account library on your SharePoint and if you activete Contacts you will have a Contact Document library on the same level as the Account. For the next two options, you have to activate based on entity (table) and choose one of the options
Account If you choose Account, you will find a basic folder hierarchy on SharePoint. The Account folder will be on the 1st level and e.g., for Contacts a Contact folder would be created in the respective Account folder. Then all related contacts would be inside this Contact folder. If you acrivate other tables that are related to the contact, these folders would be on the same level as Contact and all related records in the level below. For tables that does not have a relationship to Account, these Document libraries would be still created on the same level Account.

SharePoint Root

Best Practices when working with Dataverse

joergen@schladot.de (Jörgen Schladot) — Sun, 01 Oct 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Create within a solution

Defintely one of the first things I am recommending everyone starting with Dataverse. At least create your own publisher and solution, and start working with the solution. You will benefit not only from the naming, as the prefix will be based on your publisher, you can also start thinking about ALM processes. Have a look at the post regarding Publishers and Solutions

Create tables in the base language

Don’t mix languages to overcome tranlations.
I always recommend to install Dataverse with English as base language, even though your current app language may only be German or any other language. Nevertheless, tha base language is the fallback langhuage if something is not yet translated.
Maybe your current scope has only one language but in the future additonal languages shoul be installed. Or you are changing the developers. If you have used a different language as base language, you might get some complications later.
And to make it even worse - lets assume you have setuo dataverse with english as base language and have installed the necessary language pack. Instead of creating your cuustom tables now in English (your bas language) you think you are smart and directly create the tables in your custom language to overcome translation effort.
This is by far the worst decision that you can make. You may save minutes, but by creating these kind of mixed up solutions, all translations, coding, even working with Power Automate or Canvas Apps will be frustrating because you never know, what will be the correct term to select something.
And even if your current scope of the project might be a good reason for you to take such a decision, you never know if you have to integrate the solution later on with other systems or the data should be part of some Reporting. And you cannot change schema names later on.
So once you have created sometihing like this, the effort to clean up such a solution will be definitely a multiple of the original effort and translation together.
Before you could clean up something like this, even without data in the system, you have to remove all dependencies first - from all artifacts. And then you have to rebuild everything. And if you have data in your system already - you have additional data migration effort as well.

Create your own M365 Dev Tenant

joergen@schladot.de (Jörgen Schladot) — Sun, 01 Oct 2023 00:00:00 +0000

UPDATE 2024

There seem to be some changes to the M365 Developer Program. It is still available, but you have to check, if you are eligible to use the M365 Developer Program. You can find additional information here:

Microsoft 365 Developer Program Homepage

Once you have signed in to the M365 Developer Program, you must be active. There is a built-in Countdown of 90 days. Within these 90 days you have to be active in the tenant, otherwise the tenant will be deactivated.

Enable Default SharePoint Integration in Dynamics 365 CE

joergen@schladot.de (Jörgen Schladot) — Sun, 01 Oct 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Additional Dataverse functionalities

As mentioned before, Microsoft is not just another Database. Instead Dataverse offers a lot of additional functionality that can be configured sometimes very easy and will bring you a direct benefit in your projects. Nevertheless, you should always evaluate, if you need a specific feature and if the out of the box functionality that is provided by Microsoft as part of the Platform fits your requirements.

One of these examples is the Integration with Microsoft Sharepoint. And in this case, we are talking about SharePoint as a Document Management System and not as some kind of Data Source which is (unfortunately) often used in a lot of Canvas App projects as SharePoint is often included in the existing M365 licensing. But this is another topic that I cover in another post.

Microsoft Dynamics Meetup Deutschland - September 2023

joergen@schladot.de (Jörgen Schladot) — Wed, 20 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0000

In September we have 3 amazing Sessions in English.

Michael Roth: Become the best Power Platform Admin

Ludwig Reinhard: RPA & Machine automation with LEGO and Scratch.

Jörgen Schladot: Release Wave 2 from the CE side.

We are looking forward to these to exciting topics - and hope to see a lot of you.

If you’d like to participate - just register on our Meetup page for free:
Link: https://www.meetup.com/de-DE/microsoft-dynamics-meetup-of-berlin/events/295922673/

Setting up XRMToolbox

joergen@schladot.de (Jörgen Schladot) — Wed, 20 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0000

XRMToolbox is a community tool that is available since 20212 already. The Tool itself has been developed by MVP Tanguy TOUZARD, who has also created a lot of the available tools within the Toolbox (MSCRM). And that is the really valuable and beautiful part of the XRMToolbox. Over the years, the toolbox has really evolved to a commmunity tool, where lots of other developers contribute by adding new tools and functionalities. Sometimes, you will have multiple tools for the same task, but with a slightly different approach, and you can seelct out of all the available tools, which one is the best for you.

Activate additional languages in Dataverse

joergen@schladot.de (Jörgen Schladot) — Fri, 15 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Dataverse languages

When seeting up your environment in the Power Platform Admin Center, one of the first decisions that must be taken is the Base language. This base language cannot be changed afterwards without a reset of the environment. The base language is the fallback language for all tables, columns and other items in Dataverse, where another language is missing.

As Dynamics is developed in English by Microsoft and most learn articles or community tutorials are created in English as well, I strongly recommend to always use English as base language and activate any other language afterwards as translation.
In addition, all changes in the Backend, e.g. creation of new tables and columns, etc. can only be done in the base language.

Microsoft Dynamics Meetup Deutschland - August 2023

joergen@schladot.de (Jörgen Schladot) — Sun, 20 Aug 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Im August haben wir 2 Sessions und es wird ein Kombi mit englisch und deutsch.

Marie Frederikke Johannsen will show us, what is possible with the Bluestar PLM Solution. (English)

Und Annika wird uns Financial Tags in D365 Finance zeigen. (Deutsch)

Es wird bestimmt wieder ein spannender Abend mit tollen Themen.

Wir freuen uns auf Euch.

Ludwig, Jörgen and Lone

If you’d like to participate - just register on our Meetup page for free:
Link: https://www.meetup.com/de-DE/microsoft-dynamics-meetup-of-berlin/events/294920156/

Level up for Dynamics 365 / Power Apps

joergen@schladot.de (Jörgen Schladot) — Tue, 01 Aug 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Click on the Rocket icon

This is one of the sentences I heard and used by myself quite some time over the past years. The small Rocket icon of Level up for Dynamics 365 and Power Apps has its place in every Edge or Chrome profile that I am using to work with Dynamics 365 or Model Driven Apps. It’s really helpful in different situations and even though I am not using all the functionalities all the time, many of them are a regular part of working with any kind of Model Driven App.

Publishers and Solutions

joergen@schladot.de (Jörgen Schladot) — Tue, 01 Aug 2023 00:00:00 +0000

If you want to make a change in an environment for the first time, you should not do this directly in the data model, but create a new solution in the Solutions area, in which you can save all the adjustments that you want to make in the system.

There are some simple reasons for this recommendation:

If you create anything outside of a solution, it will use the prefix and context of the default publisher. In the maker portal it is e.g. cr00b_, in the classic editor new_.
The artificats that you have created are outside of a solution, and therefore outside of any ALM process. You cannot export something you have created, unles it is part of an unmanaged solution.
Changing Prefix / Publisher afterwards is not possible. Even if you are adding the created artifact to a solution, the original publisher will remain, unless you delete and recreate this item. And deleting something can be a real stuggle, based on existing dependencies.

Create new solution

If you create a new solution using the “New solution” button, you have to select a publisher in addition to the display name and name of the solution. And if you have not yet created your own publisher in this environment, you should start with this point and click on “New publisher”.

Microsoft Dynamics Meetup Deutschland - Juli 2023

joergen@schladot.de (Jörgen Schladot) — Thu, 20 Jul 2023 00:00:00 +0000

In the meetup in July, we have:

Liz Hallen who will share some information on Dynamics User Groups.

For the 2 sessions we have:

Docentric that will do a demo of Electronic Reporting and show the solution they build on top of the D365 standard.

Followed by Diana Birkelbach, Microsoft MVP, who will tell us about Power Apps Grid customizer control.

We look forward to seeing you all to an inspiring evening as always.

Tables and Columns

joergen@schladot.de (Jörgen Schladot) — Sat, 15 Jul 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Tables

If you want to build an app based on Dataverse, you will need some kind of tables that are representing your different data objects. Based on the requirements and type of these objects, you have as well 4 different types of tables available in dataverse as well.

The most common one that is most likely used for lots of tables in your app as well ist the standard table. But let’s have a look at all the table types and additional options that you can set for a table:

Datamodelling in Dataverse

joergen@schladot.de (Jörgen Schladot) — Sat, 01 Jul 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Recap

Let’s start with a short recap of the past posts: You have already learned that

Dataverse is more than just another database,
every Dataverse Environment has a basic set of tables and columns as part of the Common Data Model,
every custom table will also contain a basic set of columns, necessary for e.g., security, auditing or reporting,
working with solutions is strongly recommended and will help you with your ALM process,
you can easily set up a preferred solution and new publisher
some basics about tables and columns

Entity Relationship Diagram aka ERD

There are now different ways how to start working with Dataverse. And there is nothing wrong if you are e.g., curious and excited to start building something to just open the maker portal, have a look at everything and just experiment and try something in your trial or dev environment. Try everything out, play around, and get used to everything. But chances are high, that you might miss somenthing, get stuck or you are frustrated when something is not working as expected.

As we just learned about the different table and column types, just invest a few minutes more to decide what you want to build to have a great first experience and also have a plan what steps you have to take.
And to visualize your plan, there’s something called Entity Relationship Diagram. And just a little coincidence - tables have been named Entity before and if you are using the Classic Editor, there tables are still named Entities.

Unfortunately there is no build in functionality in Dataverse to build an ERD out of the box, and use it as starting point. Therefore, you have to use different tools to scribble down your thoughts and requirements. For this initial visualization of requirements you can use

Data Privacy

joergen@schladot.de (Jörgen Schladot) — Fri, 30 Jun 2023 00:15:00 +0000

Vorabinformation:

Die vorliegende Webseite ist ein privater, nicht kommerzieller Blog, der ausschließlich der persönlichen Wissensspeicherung dient. Der hier vorliegende Blog nutzt als Technologie statische Webseiten, die mit dem CMS HUGO erstellt wurden.

Auf sämtliche Interaktive Blogfunktionen, wie sie von anderen Blogsystemen bekannt sind, z.B. Kommentarfunktionenen, Login- und Communitybereich wird auf dieser Webseite komplett verzichtet. Ebenfalls werden keine Marketinganalysen und Newsletterfunktionalitäten angeboten und somit keine personenbezogenen Daten, über die technisch notwendigen Daten hinaus, die z.B. für die korrekte Darstellung der Texte notwendig sind, erfasst.

Ebenfalls werden keine externen Feeds oder extern gehosteten Videos direkt auf dieser Webseite eingebunden. Falls auf Videos verwiesen wird, sind diese immer extern gehostet und der Nutzer der Webseite muss aktiv einem externen Link zu der Plattform folgen, um Zugriff auf die dort gespeicherten Medien zu erhalten.

Alle Schriftarten und Frameworks, die auf dieser Webseite verwendet werden, um die Funktionalität und Darstellung zu verbessern, sind lokal eingebunden.

Microsoft Dynamics Meetup Deutschland - Juni 2023

joergen@schladot.de (Jörgen Schladot) — Tue, 20 Jun 2023 00:00:00 +0000

In the meetup in June, we have:

Murray Fife, Dynamics 365 Global Black Belt at Microsoft who will entertain us with some of the amazing scenarios he did with AI and CoPilot in Dynamics F&O.

After that we have Luca Pellegrini, Senior Program Manager at Microsoft with the session: Great, you’re live! Now what?

He willl do a deep dive into the post live experience for F&O customers on how to approach updates, testing, performance improvements and support.

Introduction to Dataverse

joergen@schladot.de (Jörgen Schladot) — Thu, 15 Jun 2023 00:00:00 +0000

One of my favorite topics to talk about on conferences is Microsoft Dataverse. Working with Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM / CE since 2011 it is great to see how the Backend of Dynamics has evolved over time and is now the backend of the Power Platform.

Especially, when talking to Power Apps developers that may not been working with Dataverse already, or that are only using parts of the Platform, it is great to show the full potential.

This is also the trigger for the Dataverse series on my blog that will start today with this post.

Besides some background information and an overview of Dataverse and the Common Data Model, I will try to cover different parts that are related with this topic. One part will be around Data modelling in Dataverse as well as working with tables, columns and relationshipa. Besides or better combined with Data Modelling is Security. And at the end we will have a look at all the out of the box integrations that Dataverse is offering.

Microsoft Dynamics Meetup Deutschland - Mai 2023

joergen@schladot.de (Jörgen Schladot) — Sat, 20 May 2023 00:00:00 +0000

The meetup in May is an English language only event!

In the meetup in May, we have Teodora Ivanova from MS, who will tell us a little about how the Fast Track Team works and do a presentation of the Process Advisor (Process Advisor—Process Mining | Microsoft Power Automate).

Thereafter, we have Jonathan Müller from MS who will give us an introduction to Microsoft Syntex - a new document handling tool (Microsoft Syntex, Content AI | Microsoft 365)

Microsoft Dynamics Meetup Deutschland - Mai 2023 Extra

joergen@schladot.de (Jörgen Schladot) — Mon, 01 May 2023 00:00:00 +0000

The meetup is an English language event - and it will be during working hours (CET)!

In this first ever Special Edition of our Meetups, Sven Mahn and Sören Weber will show us their solution to End-To-End testing with thousands of preconfigured test scenarios in Dynamics. Again we will see the Hololens in use. Talk about test - how do we test? Why do we test? And what do we need to test?

Microsoft Dynamics Meetup Deutschland - April 2023

joergen@schladot.de (Jörgen Schladot) — Mon, 20 Mar 2023 00:00:00 +0000

UPDATE: Aufgrund des Bahnstreiks machen wir das Event hybrid!!! Den link findet ihr unten.

Am 21. April treffen wir uns um 16:00 Uhr bei Sven Mahn (Arwinger GmbH & Co. KG) in der Essener Straße 4 Valvo Park, Halle C20 22419 Hamburg zum ersten on-site Event.

Bitte nur dann die Teilnahme bestaetigen, wenn ihr auch vor Ort kommt!

Sven setzt den gesamten Microsoft Business Application Stack bei sich selbst in der Firma ein und zeigt uns live die Power der Business Application Platform. Eine Video-Aufzeichnung des Events wird es diesmal nicht geben.

Microsoft Dynamics Meetup Deutschland - Maerz 2023

joergen@schladot.de (Jörgen Schladot) — Mon, 20 Mar 2023 00:00:00 +0000

The meetup in March is an English language only event!

In the meetup in March, we have Allan Rocha from FellowMind who does a presentation on Project Operations.

Thereafter, we have Lane Swenka from MS who will give us some insights into Dynamics 365, PowerPlatform.

It will certainly be an exciting evening again and we are looking forward to everyone who has the time and desire to be there.

Regards Ludwig, Jörgen and Lone

Microsoft Dynamics Meetup Deutschland - Februar 2023

joergen@schladot.de (Jörgen Schladot) — Mon, 20 Feb 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Im Februar haben wir Jan Timphaus zu Gast, der uns Neues rund um Asset Management und IOT berichtet.

Daneben wir Joergen Schladot uns Neuigkeiten zur D365 Roadmap erklaeren.

Es wird bestimmt wieder ein spannender Abend mit tollen Themen.

Wir freuen uns auf Euch.

Ludwig, Jörgen and Lone

Die Anmeldung für das Event findet wie immer über unsere Meetup Seite statt. Meldet euch einfach kostenfrei an: Link: https://www.meetup.com/de-DE/microsoft-dynamics-meetup-of-berlin/events/291377849/

Ludwig, Jörgen und Lone

Community

joergen@schladot.de (Jörgen Schladot) — Thu, 02 Feb 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Meetups

Microsoft Dynamics Meetup Deutschland (monatlich):
https://www.meetup.com/de-DE/microsoft-dynamics-meetup-of-berlin/
Das #CloudCouchRocks #PowerAtelier (wöchentlich):
https://www.meetup.com/de-DE/power-apps-power-automate-usergroup-hannover/
Power Platform user Group Hannover (monatlich):
https://www.meetup.com/de-DE/power-apps-power-automate-usergroup-hannover/
PPHHUG | Power Platform Hamburg User Group:
https://www.meetup.com/de-DE/pphhug/
Power Platform User Group Cologne:
https://www.meetup.com/de-DE/power-platform-ug-cologne/
Dynamics 365 & Power Platform UK User Groups:
https://www.meetup.com/de-DE/d365ppug
Washington DC Power Platform User Group:
https://www.meetup.com/de-DE/washington-dc-power-platform-dynamics-365-user-group/
Portland Power Platform user Group:
https://www.meetup.com/de-DE/portland-power-power-platform-user-group/
Oslo Power Platform User Group:
https://www.meetup.com/de-DE/oslo-microsoft-dynamics-crm-meetup/
Singapore Power Platform User Group:
https://www.meetup.com/de-DE/singapore-power-platform-user-group/
NYC Power Platform User Group:
https://www.meetup.com/de-DE/nyc-power-platform-user-group/
Microsoft Reactor Sydney:
https://www.meetup.com/de-DE/microsoft-reactor-sydney/

Events:

DACH Powerthon:
https://powerthon.info/
Power Community:
https://www.powercommunity.com/
D365CX Summit 2023:
https://d365cxsummit.powercommunity.com/
D365 Summit 2024:
https://d365summit.powercommunity.com/
Power Summmit 2024:
https://powersummit.powercommunity.com/
M365 Summit 2024:
https://m365summit.powercommunity.com/
ColorCloud 2024:
https://colorcloud.rocks/
ColorCloud 2025:
https://colorcloud.rocks/
Nordic Summit:
https://nordicsummit.info/
Scottish Summit:
https://www.scottishsummit.com/2024/

Microsoft Resources

joergen@schladot.de (Jörgen Schladot) — Thu, 02 Feb 2023 00:00:00 +0000

In Progress

XRMToolbox

joergen@schladot.de (Jörgen Schladot) — Thu, 02 Feb 2023 00:00:00 +0000

XRMToolbox:
https://www.xrmtoolbox.com/

2023-01-20T16:48:51.000Z

joergen@schladot.de (Jörgen Schladot) — Fri, 20 Jan 2023 00:00:00 +0000

!!! Wegen krankheitsbedingten Ausfaellen muessen wir den Termin leider um 2 Wochen auf den 02. Februar schieben !!!

Das meetup im Januar ist ein rein deutschsprachiges Event fuer das wir zwei tolle Referenten finden konnten. Zum einen Fortunato di Donato, der uns etwas zu “PowerPages” vortraegt. Zum anderen Christof Lerchner, der uns einen Vortrag zu “Moderne Lagerführung mit D365, mächtig integrativ!” gibt.

Es wird bestimmt wieder ein spannender Abend mit tollen Gaesten und Themen.

joergen@schladot.de (Jörgen Schladot) — Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

About me

joergen@schladot.de (Jörgen Schladot) — Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Jörgen Schladot

I have been working in the IT for the past 23 years, starting in 2001.
My working life started with a part-time position during my years at university in technical support and training. Later changing to marketing and sales before working as a product manager.

Little did I know that these experiences in the different departments will help me with my later role as functional consultant and solution architect.

Meetups, User Groups, AIAD, etc.

joergen@schladot.de (Jörgen Schladot) — Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

In progress

CRM and Beyond

Welcome to the updated CRM and Beyond Website - Mai 2024

Finally - Relaunch of my personal website and blog

Imprint

Service provider | Angaben gemäß §5 TMG:

Contact information | Kontakt:

Journalistic-editorial offers | Verantwortlich für den Inhalt nach § 55 Abs. 2 RStV:

Social Media and other online profiles

Form Fill Assistance on Columns in Dataverse

Do not use Preview Features in Production.

Dynamics 365 Power Pane - Browser Extension

Attention - This Extension had been part of the Malware attack in 2024 - read more in the Browser Extensions series overview and find links to external blog post or Meetup recording by Jukka Niiranen!

Create your Website - Security

pac pages

Ribbon Workbench a tool within XRMToolbox

pac cli Tools

Copilot for Dataverse - New experience

The new Copilot Experience - announced as MS Built

pac canvas

Attribute Bulk Updater a tool within XRMToolbox

Microsoft Dynamics Meetup Deutschland - Summer Break 2024

pac cli admin

Environment tasks

Mentoring & Coaching

pac cli Service Principal

Activity Cascade Rules a tool within XRMToolbox

Microsoft Dynamics Meetup Deutschland - April 2024

pac cli list environments

Have a look at the environments

SharePoint Integration with Power Pages

Power Platform Admin Center

Demo Monkey

Authenticate pac cli

Create your first profile

Add another profile

Flow Visio Builder tool within XRMToolbox

Microsoft Dynamics Meetup Deutschland - March 2024

Introduction to pac cli

Easy Translator a tool within XRMToolbox

Open in Excel

Microsoft Dynamics Meetup Deutschland - Februar 2024

Metadata Browser for D365 - Browser Extension

Is this an extension that I will install in all my profiles?

Metadata Document Generator a tool within XRMToolbox

Microsoft Dynamics Meetup Deutschland - Januar 2024

Copy an existing Model Driven App

How do you copy a Model Driven App?

First recap Canvas App copy

Model Driven App save as?

Editing Command Bar in Model Driven Appswith Power FX 2

Component library

Custom Pages in Model Driven Apps

Contact

Editing Command Bar in Model Driven Appswith Power FX

Editing Command Bar in Model Driven Apps with Power FX – CRM and Beyond

Excerpt

Day 24: Singing-Off and A Big Thank you

Day 23: Security myths around Copilot

Day 22: Community Tools

Day 21: Power Platform Community Hub

Day 20: Modern Controls in Power Apps

Microsoft Dynamics Meetup Deutschland - December 2023

Day 19: MS Copilot vs MS copilot for M365 vs Copilot Studio

Dataverse Teams Integration - External Content

Why MS Teams Integration

Day 18: Filtered Lists in Power Pages

Day 17: How to Customize DLP Error Messages?

Day 16: Payment Integration with Power Pages

Day 15: Disable Survey Feedbacks

Day 14: Power Pages Prefilling Forms

Day 13: Dataverse Accelerator

Day 12: Copilot in Power Pages

Day 11: Configuration Migration Tool

Day 10: Power Shell Self-Service Purchase in Power Platform

Day 9: Power Pages Anonymous Case

Day 9

Day 8: Power Pages Core Capabilities

Day 7: ACS Teams and External User

Day 6: AI Builder Credits and Tenant Isolation

Day 5: ACS Direct Routing