Improving Performance of CRM Forms with IFrames

Posted by Aiden Kaskela on Jan 16, 2015 3:02:43 PM

Microsoft Dynamics CRM has long supported Iframes on forms but the way they’re implemented usually has a negative impact on form load times. While I was researching the form load process in CRM, I came across a great topic on MSDN which describes how Iframes should be loaded for best performance. The article at ‘Write code for Microsoft Dynamics CRM forms’ (http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/gg328261.aspx) suggests using collapsed tabs to defer loading web resources, which means we can eliminate the load times for Iframes completely if you’re not going to use it. The idea is, instead of setting the Iframe URL in OnLoad you use the TabStateChange event, which fires when the Tab is expanded and collapsed.

To implement this we need to add a Javascript web resource for setting the URL, the form customizations with the tab and Iframe, and update the tab event to call the Javascript. In this scenario we’re going to set up an Iframe to show an Account’s website.

Setting up the Web Resource

Go to your default (or named) solution and add a new Web Resource of type Script (Jscript). The name of my script is cobalt_DeferredFormLoad. After saving the resource, click on the Text Editor button to enter your script.

This is the script I’m using to set the URL. It’s quasi-generic, and will work for any entity where there is a website field on the form. The function takes in the name of the tab, the frame, and the attribute of the website.

function LoadIFrame(tabName, iframeName, websiteAttribute) {

    if (tabName != null && iframeName != null && websiteAttribute!= null ) {

        var isTabExpanded = (Xrm.Page.ui.tabs.get(tabName).getDisplayState() == "expanded");

        var websiteUrl = Xrm.Page.getAttribute("websiteurl").getValue();

        if (isTabExpanded == true && websiteUrl) {

            var IFrame = Xrm.Page.ui.controls.get(iframeName);

            if (IFrame != null) {

                IFrame.setSrc(websiteUrl);

            }

        }

    }

}

Adding the Form Customizations

From the Account form, insert a new Tab and leave the default values. Click in the Section area of the new tab and insert a new Iframe from the Ribbon Bar. Give the frame an appropriate name (IFRAME_CompanyWebsite) and any default URL. I unchecked ‘Display label on the Form’ because the tab label looks good on its own.

Now that the Iframe is setup you need to configure the Tab properties to load the Iframe. Under the Display tab, give an appropriate name and label, and uncheck ‘Expand this tab by default’.

Configuring the Event

With the Tab properties open, go to the Events tab, Add your new web resource, then Add a new Event Handler

In the Event Handler screen, fill in the name of the Function from the Javascript (LoadIFrame), and in the parameters section, list the parameters that need to be passed in the to function. The parameters are the name of the Tab, the name of the Iframe, and the name of the field that contains the URL to set. Remember that you’re specifying a string value and each parameter should be enclosed with a single quote mark.

Once you save and publish the customizations you can verify the results on your entity. Open the account form and find your new Tab, expand it, and verify everything opens correctly.

Calling a Workflow from Ribbon Button - MS CRM

Dynamics CRM Development: Tips and Tricks – Calling a Workflow from Ribbon Button

There are a lot of quick ways of doing things in Dynamics CRM but developers struggle in finding how. Today I am going to explain how to call a workflow on a custom ribbon button.

Let’s say you have a situation, where you want to perform some operation on custom ribbon button on “click event”. Let us take an example. I have a button on OPPORTUNITY form called ‘ConfirmRequest’. On the click event of this button I have to generate an ORDER and also want to send an email. The best way to achieve this is by creating a workflow. But the issue is, how to call workflow on the button click.

There are many solutions posted on the web, that involve using JavaScript, web resources etc. however there is a much easier way that requires no coding. Download Ribbon Workbench and go through below steps.

Here are the steps to follow:

• Create a workflow, for example – I created a workflow called Generate Order from Opportunity.
• Extract the GUID of this workflow with the help of advanced find. Here is how you do it:
• Open advanced find window
• Look for processes and search for your workflow name
• Export to Excel and extract the GUID of the proceed from the column A called (Do Not Modify) Process.
• Load the new solution into the Ribbon Workbench with OPPORTUNITY entity.
• Expand the commands, “Solution Elements” tab.
• Right-click on the Command of the custom button that you want to use. Example ‘CCSDP.opportunity.GenerateOrder.Command’ and select ‘Edit Actions’.
• Add a JavaScript Command and set the following properties:
  

  Function Name	Mscrm.FormAction.launchOnDemandWorkflowForm
  Library	/_static/_forms/form.js
  Parameters	1: Type = Crm Parameter, Value = PrimaryEntityTypeCode 2: Type = String, Value = Workflow ID which is extracted from advance find

  
• Click on OK. And publish it.The workflow will start getting called from the click of the custom button.

Congratulations!!! Now you know how to call workflow from a Custom Ribbon button on Dynamics CRM.

How to copy Microsoft CRM 2011 organization on the same server

There are many reasons to copy organizations, one of the most common - for testing purpose.

You can do as following:

1. Select a database in SQL Server Management Studio which will be copied (TEST_MSCRM). Right click on the target database -> Tasks -> Backup.

2. Select Full for Backup type and press OK.

3. Right Click on Databases -> Restore Database.

4. Put the name of new database (TEST2_MSCRM) and select file from local disc a copy of TEST_MSCRM.bak.

5. Open CRM Deployment Manager -> Import Organization Wizard.

6. Select SQL server and database (TEST2_MSCRM) and Next.

7. Enter a Display name TEST2 and press Next.

8. Enter Report Server URL and press Next.

9. Select Automatically Map Users as recommended and press Next.

8. Press Import.

9. Press Finish.

10. Congratulations. New organization is created.

11. Go to Internet Explorer and enter address http://your_server _name/TEST2 and you will see a new fresh copy of your organization.