Friday, August 28, 2009

Update Rollup 6 for MS CRM 4.0 Released

Microsoft Dynamics CRM Development team continues to release regular rollups. Microsoft has released Update Rollup 6 for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0. The update includes bug fixes and performance enhancements packaged together for easy deployment. Update Rollup 6 is available for all languages that are supported by Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0.

For more information about this release, see Microsoft Knowledge Base article 970148: Update Rollup 6 is available for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0.

Download here: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=79f90982-c039-41c2-af8e-3119ecf27790&displaylang=en

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Did you know: Sort records by multiple columns in MS CRM

Just hold down the SHIFT key and click the column heading and you can sort on multiple columns.

Click here for more details.

Did you know: Easy way to troubleshoot Asynchronous failures using [Advanced Find]

MSCRM 4.0 uses a lot of System Jobs to drive many features such as Workflows, Import Data,Duplicate Detections, Campaign Activities distribution, Send Bulk E-Mail and more... These jobs are processed by the Asynchronous Service and it can happen that the service fails to process these jobs. Jobs can fail or get stuck in waiting state.

Quick step: Add Error Code and Message Column in Advanced find and Filter the System Jobs which are showing error Code.

Detailed steps:
Here are a few steps you can try to get more information about the System Jobs failures reasons:
• Log into Microsoft Dynamics CRM.
• Go to Settings \ System Jobs, click Advanced Find button, click Save As to save your custom query, name it “Problematic System Jobs” for instance and click OK.
• Click Edit Columns, Add Columns and select Error Code and Message. Click OK. These two columns will be helpful for troubleshooting.
• Get back to Advanced Find screen. Click on Show Details. Select the Error Code field and select Contains Data criteria. [Filter on the System Jobs which are showing errors]
• Click on Save Button.

Now when you select this view in Settings \ System Jobs, you can see the Error Code and Error stack in Message Column which states the reason of the failure.

The failure is likely to be that the Asynchronous Service cannot contact the CRM Web Services because of a bad configuration. Error Code : -2,147,204,346

Isn't it easy !!! Happy Troubleshooting.

Please refer the following articles for more information:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;947423

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;950416

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;950542

Monday, August 24, 2009

Did you know: MSCRM and Outlook Keyboard Shortcuts

Shortcuts are documented in the CRM help file but here is a quick list of MSCRM, Outlook and general shortcuts.

Top keyboard shortcuts
Select all text in the current field or current list CTRL+A
Close an active form ALT+F4
Move forward through a form's fields TAB
Move backward through a form's fields SHIFT+TAB
Save a form CTRL+S or SHIFT+F12
Save and close a form ALT + S
Expand/collapse Form Assistant CTRL+SHIFT+F
Cancel edits and close a form ESCAPE
Delete a record CTRL+D
Save and then open a new form CTRL+SHIFT+S
Outlook keyboard shortcuts
Switch to Mail CTRL+1
Switch to Inbox CTRL+SHIFT+I
Switch to Outlook Calendar CTRL+2
Switch to Outlook Contacts CTRL+3
Switch to Outlook Tasks CTRL+4
Display the Address Book CTRL+SHIFT+B
Create a new Appointment CTRL+SHIFT+A
Create a new Contact CTRL+SHIFT+C
Create a new Task CTRL+SHIFT+K
Check Spelling F7
Other Keyboard shortcuts
Copy text CTRL+C
Paste text CTRL+V
Undo previous text change CTRL+Z
Cut text CTRL+X
Delete text DELETE
Move the insertion point to the start of the next word CTRL+RIGHT ARROW
Move the insertion point to the start of the previous word CTRL+LEFT ARROW
Select all text in the current field CTRL+A
Cancel the current task or command, or close a selected list or dialog box ESC
Move up through a list of records UP ARROW
Move down through a list of records DOWN ARROW
Expand or collapse the preview in a list view SPACEBAR
Open the selected record ENTER
Select all records on the current page CTRL+A


Utilize MSCRM and Outlook Keyboard Shortcuts and get things done faster :)

Introducing “Did you know” Series….

Discover the fascinating facts and amazing stories about the Dynamics world. Loaded with useful trivia facts about Microsoft xRM.
In this series, I intend to keep my posts short and easy to understand. With that being said, I welcome you all to my blog! I intend to update it frequently.