SharePoint 2010: CamlQuery on External List

When running a CamlQuery on an External List, we got an error "The given key was not present in the dictionary.".

Apparently you have to specify the <ViewFields> tag in the CamlQuery.ViewXml property. So you have to specify the <ViewFields></ViewFields> tag with the right fields in the ViewXml property.

For example, this will NOT work:

camlQuery.ViewXml = @"
<Method Name='ReadList'/>
<Query>
<Where>
<Contains>
<FieldRef Name='Name'/>
<Value Type='Text'>AAS</Value>
</Contains>
</Where>
<OrderBy>
<FieldRef Name='Name'/>
</OrderBy>
</Query>
</View>";

... but this will work:

camlQuery.ViewXml = @"
<Method Name='ReadList'/>
<Query>
<Where>
<Contains>
<FieldRef Name='Name'/>
<Value Type='Text'>AAS</Value>
</Contains>
</Where>
<OrderBy>
<FieldRef Name='Name'/>
</OrderBy>
</Query>
<ViewFields>
<FieldRef Name='AccountID' ListItemMenu='TRUE' LinkToItem='TRUE'/>
<FieldRef Name='Name'/>
</ViewFields>

</View>";

To find out the XML you have to use for the <ViewFields> tag, you can add a ListView webpart of your External List to a page and grab the <ViewFields> XML by opening the page in SharePoint Designer:


I read this solution here: http://blog.trivadis.com/blogs/stefanfrutiger/archive/2010/03/15/sharepoint-2010-bcs-zugriff-auf-externe-daten-aus-einer-silverlight-4-applikation.aspx. Luckely, I understand a little bit German ;-)

Validate url to be used for a SharePoint site (replace illegal characters)

I made a function to check if a string contains illegal characters to be used as an URL for a new SharePoint site. This is useful to use when calling the Webs.Add function to programmatically create a new site in SharePoint where a user has provided the desired site url.

I took a look at the Create Site page in SharePoint. SharePoint calls a JavaScript function "IndexOfIllegalCharInUrlLeafName", which can be found in the "commonvalidation.js" on your SharePoint server. After the function call, SharePoint will check for a '+' character separately.

This is the function i've created. Illegal characters are replaced with a '-' character.

(you can download the code in a text file here)

MS CRM 4.0 - Call RetrieveMultiple webservice in JavaScript helper function

I've developed a function to call the CRM RetrieveMultiple webservice in JavaScript without having to write the XML yourselve: "CallRetrieveMultipleWebService".

The function generates the XML for you. You just have to pass the entity to query, an array of columns to get, the filter operator and the array of conditions.

Here's the function with an example how to call the webservice to find contacts with a first- and lastname as conditions.

function CallRetrieveMultipleWebService(queryEntityName, queryColumnSetAttributes, queryFilterOperator, conditionArray) {
if (queryEntityName != null && queryColumnSetAttributes != null) {
var columnSetAttributesString = "";
for (var i = 0; i < queryColumnSetAttributes.length; i++) {
columnSetAttributesString += "" + queryColumnSetAttributes[i] + "";
}
var conditionsString = "";
if (conditionArray != null) {
conditionsString = "";
for (var i = 0; i < conditionArray.length; i++) {
conditionsString += "";
conditionsString += "" + conditionArray[i][0] + "";
conditionsString += "" + conditionArray[i][1] + "";
conditionsString += "";
var valuesArray = conditionArray[i][2];
for (var j = 0; j < valuesArray.length; j++) {
conditionsString += "" + valuesArray[j] + "";
}
conditionsString += "";
conditionsString += "";
}
conditionsString += "";
}

var xml = "" +
"" +
"" +
GenerateAuthenticationHeader() +
" " +
" " +
" " +
" " + queryEntityName + "" +
" " +
" " +
columnSetAttributesString +
" " +
" " +
"" +
"" + queryFilterOperator + "" +
conditionsString +
"" +
" " +
" " +
" " +
"" +
"";

var xmlHttpRequest = new ActiveXObject("Msxml2.XMLHTTP");
xmlHttpRequest.Open("POST", "/mscrmservices/2007/CrmService.asmx", false);
xmlHttpRequest.setRequestHeader("SOAPAction", "http://schemas.microsoft.com/crm/2007/WebServices/RetrieveMultiple");
xmlHttpRequest.setRequestHeader("Content-Type", "text/xml; charset=utf-8");
xmlHttpRequest.setRequestHeader("Content-Length", xml.length);
xmlHttpRequest.send(xml);
var resultXml = xmlHttpRequest.responseXML;
// Check for errors.
var errorCount = resultXml.selectNodes('//error').length;
if (errorCount != 0) {
var msg = resultXml.selectSingleNode('//description').nodeTypedValue;
alert(msg);
}
// return results
else {
return resultXml;
}
}
}

//function to find a contact, using the CallRetrieveMultipleWebService function:
function FindContact(firstnameToSearch, lastnameToSearch)
{
//define the entity name to query
var queryEntityName = "contact";
//set up the array of columns to get
var queryColumnSetAttributes = new Array();
queryColumnSetAttributes[0] = "contactid";
queryColumnSetAttributes[1] = "telephone1";
//define the filter operator
var queryFilterOperator = "And";
//set up the array of confitions in the query
var queryConditions = new Array();
//define 2 conditions: add 2 items to the array:
queryConditions[0] = new Array("firstname", "Equal", new Array(firstnameToSearch));
queryConditions[1] = new Array("lastname", "Equal", new Array(lastnameToSearch));
//Call function CallRetrieveMultipleWebService
var resultXml = CallRetrieveMultipleWebService(queryEntityName, queryColumnSetAttributes, queryFilterOperator, queryConditions);
var teleponeValueToSet = null;
var results = resultXml.getElementsByTagName('BusinessEntity');
if (results.length > 0) {
//do something with the found contacts
//example: show an alert with the telephone number of the first found contact
var telephone = results[0].selectSingleNode('./q1:telephone1') == null ? null : results[0].selectSingleNode('./q1:telephone1').nodeTypedValue;
if (telephone != null) {
alert(telephone);
}
}
else {
alert('No contact ' + firstnameToSearch + ' ' + lastnameToSearch + ' found.');
}
}

MS CRM 4.0: Publish workflow not working after updating to Rollup 7

After updating my CRM 4.0 software to Rollup 7, the publishing of workflows failed.

Apparently, this is a known issue. Found the solution in this forum: https://community.dynamics.com/forums/t/18135.aspx

MS CRM: Insufficient permissions Assign Case

When you get a "Insufficient permissions" message when you assign a case, check that your current user's permission roles has Read permissions on Queue.

When you get a message about user permissions, you can find out what permissions are needed for the action you want to do by doing the steps described on http://support.microsoft.com/kb/953962

MS CRM 4.0 development: useful links

Here are some links that helped me with developing MS CRM 4.0 solutions the last couple of weeks.

Checkbox style Multi-Select Picklist
http://blogs.msdn.com/crm/archive/2009/03/31/crm-4-0-checkbox-style-multi-select-picklist.aspx

Using the Advanced Find for FetchXML builder
http://ronaldlemmen.blogspot.com/2006/11/using-advanced-find-for-fetchxml.html

ReadOnly and Disabled Fields
http://customerfx.com/pages/crmdeveloper/2006/03/06/17312.aspx

Hiding the left navigation panel on a CRM entity
http://marcoamoedo.com/blog/hiding-the-left-navigation-panel-on-a-crm-entity/

Creating Master Detail views in Dynamics CRM
http://marcoamoedo.com/blog/creating-master-detail-views-in-dynamics-crm/

Collapsable Form Sections – a bit of the future in CRM 4
http://marcoamoedo.com/blog/collapsable-form-sections-ndash-a-bit-of-the-future-in-crm-4/

Minimum Dynamics CRM Permissions
http://www.orbitone.com/en/blog/archive/2009/10/06/minimum-dynamics-crm-permissions.aspx

Problem with Sharepoint Datasheet View after installing an Office 2007 component when Office 2003 is already installed

When we installed Project 2007 on a machine with Office 2003 already installed, the Datasheet view didn't work anymore: "The list cannot be displayed in Datasheet view for one or more of the following reasons: A datasheet component compatible with Windows SharePoint Services is not installed, your browser does not support ActiveX controls, or support for ActiveX controls is disabled".

Apparently, the Datasheet view component does not work when Office 2003 and Office 2007 components both are installed on the client machine.

This is the solution:

1. Install Office 2003, include the Windows SharePoint Services Support

2. Install the Office 2007 component(s) (in my case, this was Project 2007), without Windows SharePoint Services Support!

3. Now re-run the Office 2003 installation. Choose Repair and then select the Reinstall option.