Working With a Target

In this section:

How to:

To browse the available entities of a Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 server, you must create a target for that server. The target is the means by which you connect to the server and contains the required logon properties.

Using the target, you must establish a connection to a Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 server every time you want to browse the entities using iWay Explorer.


Top of page

x
Procedure: How to Create a Target

To create a target:

  1. Right-click the Adapters node, and click Connect from the menu.

  2. Once you are connected, expand the Adapters node.
  3. Right-click MSCRM2011, and click Add Target from the menu.

    The CRM Target Properties dialog box opens, as shown in the following image.

  4. Supply the values for the fields on the dialog box as follows.
    1. In the Name field, type a descriptive name for the target.
    2. In the Description field, type a brief description of the target (optional).
    3. From the Type drop-down list, select CRM (default).
  5. Select the Connect to target upon wizard completion check box if you want iWay Explorer to automatically connect to this target after you have created it. If you deselect this option, iWay Explorer will not automatically connect to the target. From the tree, you can connect to an individual target when you want to access the associated application system.
  6. Click Next.

    The connection properties for the Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 server target are displayed, as shown in the following image.

    The following tabs are available:

    • Connection tab. Contains general parameters that are required to connect to a target Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 server and authenticate a user.
    • Routing tab. Contains parameters that are required to establish a connection to the WCF Routing Service (WCF Router), which can also require certificates for security purposes.
    • Administration Access tab. Contains account information for a user with administrator privileges. This should be an account that has credentials to access metadata.

      Note: It is recommended to set the administrator credentials in this tab only for testing purposes. If these administrator credentials are required, then set them through the iWay WCF Routing Service (WCF Router). For more information, see Storing Administrator Credentials in the WCF Router.

    • Advanced tab. Contains additional parameters that are required to filter entities, configure design time operations, configure caching and connection pooling, set validation levels, and set the user interface.

    The following table lists and describes the parameters in each tab.

    Parameter

    Description

    Required

    Connection tab

    Domain

    Specify the Active Directory domain.

    For example, PROJECTS.

    Yes

    User

    The user name used to connect to the Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 server.

    Yes

    Password

    The password that is associated with the user name.

    Yes

    Host

    Specify the name or IP address of the Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 server.

    For example, localhost.

    Yes

    Organization

    Specify the organization name to access the Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 server.

    Yes

    Http compression

    Select this check box if you require HTTP traffic to be compressed.

    Routing tab

    WCF Routing Service host

    Specify the URL of the WCF Router Service.

    For example, localhost.

    Yes

    WCF Routing Service port

    Specify the port of the WCF Router Service.

    For example, 8080.

    Yes

    Protocol

    Specify what protocol to use for communication with the WCF Router Service.

    For example, HTTPS.

    Trusted keystore location

    Specify the path to the keystore file containing the trusted certificate.

    For example, c:\keystores\trustStore.jks.

    No

    Client keystore location

    Specify the path to the keystore file containing the client certificate.

    For example, c:\keystores\clientStore.jks.

    No

    Client keystore password

    Specify the password that protects the keystore containing the client certificate.

    No

    Administration Access tab

    Domain

    Specify the domain of the user with administrative access. This should be an account that has credentials to access metadata

    For example, PROJECTS.

    No

    User

    Specify the user name that has administrative access.

    No

    Password

    Specify the password of the user that has administrative access.

    No

    Advanced tab

    Path to file with filters

    Specify the location of a file with custom filters.

    For example, c:\crm\filter.xml.

    No

    Connection pool size

    Specify the number of connections that can be stored in the connection pool. If the number of requests exceeds this value, then the pending requests will be queued and wait for released connections.

    For example, 10.

    Yes

    Cache max objects

    Specify the number of objects that can be stored in cache. If this limit is reached, then the oldest accessed objects will be removed from cache before any new objects are placed in the cache.

    For example, 200.

    Yes

    Validation level

    Specify what required level of entity attribute in Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 should be treated as mandatory by the adapter.

    For example, System required.

    User interface language

    Specify what language to be used for localized labels (entity names, attribute names, attribute descriptions, and complex properties) during design time.

    For example, Japanese(Japan).

    For more information, see Understanding Localization.

  7. Provide the connection information and associated parameters for the target Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 server according to your requirements.
  8. Click Finish when you are done.

    The new target is added under the MSCRM2011 adapter node of iWay Explorer, as shown in the following image.


Top of page

x
Understanding Localization

iWay Application Adapter for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 On-Premises can automatically resolve the current user interface language that is being used in MS CRM. This language will be used for localized labels (entity display names, attribute display names, attribute descriptions, complex properties, and other elements) during design time.

Language packs are specific to an organization within MS CRM. When additional language packs are installed on an organization in MS CRM, the options menu in the MS CRM GUI is used to specify a default language. The adapter will attempt to find the default language based on the user ID specified in the target parameters. If the specified user ID has never logged on to the MS CRM GUI before, no value will be specified for the User interface language parameter by default, and the user must select a language option from the drop-down list. The adapter shows all possible languages for MS CRM, but only the ones installed on the system for the active organization can be selected. If a language option is selected that is not installed and available for an organization in MS CRM, then an error message is displayed. The user should check with the MS CRM administrator to determine the available languages that are supported for their organization before proceeding.

When the user opens XML schemas, the current language is retrieved from MS CRM using only one request. To use this operation, the user must be granted with the prvReadUserSettings privilege. If this privilege is unavailable for the user, then an error message is displayed and the current operation is aborted.

If UI language code was retrieved, it will be inserted to a target context and will be retrieved from it every time it is needed.

Users without the prvReadUserSettings privilege can click on the Advanced tab of the CRM Connection Properties pane and select a language from the User interface language drop-down list, as shown in the following image.

A list of locales contains all locales specified in the following website:

http://www.microsoft.com/resources/msdn/goglobal/default.aspx

If the user selects any language from the drop-down menu, no current UI language will be retrieved from MS CRM even if it is granted with appropriate privileges. If the selected language is unavailable on MS CRM, then an error will be generated. The Error description will contain the list of installed languages so the user can edit target configurations and set the UI language to one listed in the description.

If the selected language exists, then the entity tree items and localized labels in schemas and in complex properties view will be shown in it.

Note: If a newly created user connects to a target, the user may fail to retrieve the current UI language even with appropriate privileges. There are two ways to resolve the issue when creating a user in MS CRM:


Top of page

x
Understanding Administrative Credentials

For dynamic introspection of metadata, a user requires the following privileges set with read authority:

If a user does not have these privileges, and administrative credentials are specified, then the privileges of the admin user are used to obtain the metadata.

During runtime, the role privileges of the given user are used to execute any specified request.


Top of page

x
Procedure: How to Connect to a Target

To connect to a target:

  1. Expand the MSCRM2011 node to locate the name of the target to which you want to connect.
  2. Right-click the target, and click Connect from the menu.

    The CRM Target Properties dialog box opens.

  3. Enter the password that is used to connect to the Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 server.
  4. Click Finish.

    The MSCRM2011 node icon changes to green, and is expanded to show the available entities on the Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 server to which you have connected.


Top of page

x
Procedure: How to Disconnect From a Target

Although you can maintain multiple open connections to different application systems, it is a good practice to close a connection that is not in use.

To disconnect from a target:

  1. In the tree, expand the MSCRM2011 node to locate the name of the target from which you want to disconnect.
  2. Right-click the target, and click Disconnect from Target from the menu.

    The connection to the target Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 server is closed.


Top of page

x
Procedure: How to Edit a Target

After you create a target, you can edit the information that you provided during the creation procedure.

To edit a target:

  1. In the tree, expand the MSCRM2011 node to locate the name of the target that you want to edit.
  2. Right-click the target, and click Edit Target from the menu.

    The CRM Target Properties dialog opens and displays the current Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 server target properties.

  3. Modify the connection properties as required.
  4. Optionally, select the Reconnect to target upon wizard completion check box if you want iWay Explorer to automatically connect to this target after you have edited it. iWay Explorer will use the modified properties to connect.
  5. Click Finish when you have made your edits.

Top of page

x
Procedure: How to Delete a Target

You can delete a target that is no longer needed. You can delete it whether or not it is closed. If open, the target automatically closes before it is deleted.

To delete a target:

  1. In the tree, expand the MSCRM2011 node to locate the name of the target that you want to delete.
  2. Right-click the target, and click Delete Target from the menu.

    iWay Explorer displays a prompt, asking you to confirm the deletion of the selected target. An example is shown below in the following image.

  3. Click OK to proceed with the deletion.

iWay Software