Barclays Bank choosed MS CRM 3.0

Barclays Bank UAE in Dubai choosed Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0 version for their complaint management system. I am the project manager and leading developer of this project. Rollout plan is the end of this year.

Update Rollup 2 is Released

Today, Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0 Update Rollup2 is released and it can be downloaded from the link below.

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=81674da5-ffef-492a-a7b1-7e1f1951b05f

Release plans for Microsoft Dynamics CRM v3.0 Update Rollup 2

Some news about release plans for MSCRM 3.0 Update Rollup 2 from Greg Nichols

Microsoft CRM Sustained Engineering plans to release Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0 Update Rollup 2 Monday, June 25th. Update Rollup 2 is a well tested, cumulative set of updates for Microsoft Dynamics CRM Server 3.0 and Microsoft Dynamics CRM client for Outlook 3.0, including performance enhancements, which are packaged together for easy deployment. Sincere thanks to the many customers, partners, and ISVs who have helped us test this Rollup during our pre-release testing program.

Comprehensive information about this release will be available via the Microsoft Knowledge Base article 927751, which will be simultaneously published with the Rollup packages on the Microsoft Download Center. When published, the Update Rollup 2 packages will be available via http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=81674DA5-FFEF-492A-A7B1-7E1F1951B05F

This update rollup includes packages for Microsoft Dynamics CRM Server and Microsoft Dynamics CRM client for Outlook 3.0 to maintain parity between the client and server components of Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0.

Questions & Answers

Question: Does Update Rollup 2 contain all fixes that were included in Update Rollup 1 for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0?
Answer: Yes, absolutely. Microsoft Knowledge Base article 927751 will list all fixes “new to Update Rollup 2”, and will provide a reference to Microsoft Knowledge Base article 922815, which lists all fixes shipped via Update Rollup 1.

Question: Can Update Rollup 2 be uninstalled?
Answer: No, it can’t. Please note that Update Rollup 2 cannot be uninstalled, and that you should back up your OrganizationName_MSCRM and OrganizationName_Metabase databases prior to installation of Update Rollup 2.

Question: Is there anything special about Update Rollup 2 regarding hotfixes released after Update Rollup 2?
Answer: Yes, there is. Update Rollup 2 is a prerequisite for future Microsoft Dynamics CRM hotfixes. It establishes a new baseline, so your clients and servers must have Update Rollup 2 installed prior to installation of post-Update Rollup 2 hotfixes. Post-Update Rollup 2 hotfixes will be uninstallable.

Question: What about “Daylight Saving Time?”
Answer: Update Rollup 2 contains the Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0 Daylight Saving Time tools described in Microsoft Knowledge Base articles 925874: An update for the 2007 daylight saving time changes is available for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0 and for the Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0 client for Outlook and 932984: How to make the 2007 daylight saving time changes by using the Update Time Zones Wizard for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0.
If you are unfamiliar with the Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0 Daylight Saving Time tools, we encourage you to familiarize yourself with the above-mentioned Microsoft Knowledge Base articles. And if you haven't already run the Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0 Update Time Zones Wizard, we encourage you to do so to make sure that Microsoft Dynamics CRM entities with date/time stamps that fall in the period when daylight saving time is ending have their times adjusted appropriately.

Question: Are there any Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0 Online Help Updates available?
Answer: Absolutely yes, and we encourage you to update your help files! Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0 Online Help Updates for Microsoft Dynamics CRM Server and Microsoft Dynamics CRM client for Outlook 3.0, including the Service Provider Edition, are also available for download. Please refer to the Microsoft CRM 3.0 Online Help Update.

Question: Does Microsoft Dynamics CRM Update Rollup 2 provide Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0 Sales for Outlook compatibility with Windows Vista and Office 2007?
Answer: No, it doesn’t. For Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0 client for Outlook compatibility with Office 2007 and Windows Vista, refer to the Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0 client for Microsoft Office Outlook Compatibility Updates for the On premise and Service Provider Edition versions of Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0. Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0 Update Rollup client packages do include fixes for the Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0 clients for Microsoft Office Outlook Compatibility Update, but only if the Compatibility Client is already installed.

Question: What about availability of Update Rollups for Chinese (Simplified) and Japanese versions of Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0?
Answer: We plan on distributing a beta version of Update Rollup 1 for Chinese and Japanese versions of Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0 approximately June 29th, 2007 to external pre-release testers. The estimated public release date is August 1st, 2007. This rollup will contain the most impactful fixes provided by Update Rollups 1 and 2 for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0 On premise version. If you are interested in participating in the pre-release testing program, please send requests or nominations to crmsepm@microsoft.com.

Question: What about availability of Update Rollups for the Service Provider Edition of Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0?
Answer: We plan on distributing a beta version of Update Rollup 1 for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0 Service Provider Edition approximately July 23rd, 2007 to external pre-release testers. The estimated public release date is September 1st, 2007. This rollup will contain the most impactful fixes provided by Update Rollups 1 and 2 for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0 On premise version. If you are interested in participating in the pre-release testing program, please send requests or nominations to crmsepm@microsoft.com.

Question: Is there anything special I need to know about export and import of customizations?
Answer: Yes, there is. When customizations were exported from a Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0 server running a Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0 Update Rollup, importing the customizations to a Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0 server that does not have the same version of the Update Rollup installed is not supported. Such an attempt will produce an error message such as “The selected schema file does not conform with the requested format. There has been an error with the schema validation in line 37977, position 16.” When attempting to import customizations to your Microsoft Dynamics CRM server that were exported from a Microsoft Dynamics CRM server running an Update Rollup 2, make sure the Microsoft Dynamics CRM server to which you are importing the customizations also has the same Update Rollup installed.Question: What about Hotfixes and updates that you have to manually enable or configure?Answer: Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0 Update Rollups generally contain hotfixes and updates that you have to manually enable or configure. To enable or configure these hotfixes on the server that is running Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0, see the "Hotfixes and updates that you have to manually enable or configure" section of the Microsoft Knowledge Base article associated with the Update Rollup in question.

Greg Nichols

Renaming a navbar item

In Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0, there are some default navbar items such as "Information", "More Addresses", "Activities", "History" on CRM Contact and Account Entities. These names can not be changed through customization methods.

Below scripts show how you can do this in the onLoad events.


if (document.getElementById("navAddresses") != null)
{
document.getElementById("navAddresses").innerHTML = "<img class='icon' src='/_imgs/ico_18_1071.gif' align='absmiddle'/> <nobr class='lbText' title='View More Addresses' style='width:105px'>Other Addresses</nobr></div>";
}

if (document.getElementById("navActivities") != null)
{
document.getElementById("navActivities").innerHTML = "<img class='icon' src='/_imgs/ico_18_act.gif' align='absmiddle'/> <nobr class='lbText' title='View Open Activities' style='width:105px'>Open Activities</nobr></div>";
}


Enjoy!

Adding Tab Items more than 8

After the event in Bahrain, a friend from one MS partner located in Bahrain asked me, how can he add more than 8 tabs in a form on Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0. As you know there is a limit and normally we can not add 9th tab.

Event was finished then we went to Dubai and I wanted to write a blog about this question.The picture below as can be seen, has 11 tabs. Yes it can be done! But you must do some unsupported customizations.

There is a javascript file that has AddTab() function. The file path is: /root/Tools/FormEditor/Scripts/tabs.js
Also there is a aspx file that has maximum tabnumber property “_iMaxTabs” and its default value is 8. The file path is: /Tools/FormEditor/formeditor.aspx
If you want to add such as 12 tabs, change the _iMaxTabs property from 8 to 12.

/Tools/FormEditor/formeditor.aspx
...
var _bSaving = false;
var _oActive;
var _iMaxTabs = 12;
...

Enjoy!