Maximum amount of records in Excel export

I'm very busy at the moment (just like you all probably), so just a small post. The default for the Excel export is a maximum of 10.000 records. If you need to export more, then you'd need to modify a registery setting. Follow the next steps to achieve this:

- Start Regedit
- Navigate to HKLMachine\Software\Microsoft\MSCRM
- Create a new DWORD value named 'maxrecordsforexporttoexcel'
- Give the new value any value (minimum is 500)

Ronald



Clear BizTalk Messagebox

Since the release of the CRM - BizTalk connector, you're all doing integrations right? Did it happen to you that you start a BizTalk application one evening and in the morning your messagebox is filled with more then 100.000 instances? If that is the case, then you can delete these by using the BizTalk Administration console. Unfortunately this will take hours and hours..

Instead, running this code on the BizTalk databases solves the issue for you:


DELETE FROM BizTalkMsgBoxDb.Instances
GO
DELETE FROM BizTalkMsgBoxDb.InstancesSuspended
GO


Keep in mind that you should only do this on development, test and acceptation, NEVER on production.



Reporting services on another machine

The database server doesn't have to be running on the same server as the CRM application itself. If you follow the installation guide, then everything should work fine. But... Avanade has done this for several clients and sometimes it appears that the reporting might not work. The error message will be:

“An error has occurred. For more information, contact your system administrator”
or
"error 401 – Unauthorized access"

If this is the case in your situation as well, then take a look at the following steps.

First you have to enable Kerberos Authentication for IIS on the CRM Server.
- Open a DOS box and browse to c:\inetpub\adminscripts
- Run the command: cscript adsutil.vbs set w3svc/1/NTAuthenticationProviders "Negotiate,NTLM" (If only one website is running you can use 1 in the commandline. Otherwise you have to check the logfile directory to see what number you should use)
- IISRESET

If your services run with the "network service" account you have to open ADSIEDIT and open the propeties of the CRM server. Go to SPN settings and add the next lines:
(Computername is your CRM server and FQDN is your Fully Qualified Domain Name)

HOST/computername
HOST/computername.FQDN
HTTP/computername
HTTP/computername.FQDN

You have to do a similar action on the SQL Server, the default instance uses port 1433
MSSQLSvc/computername:1433
MSSQLSvc/computername.FQDN:1433

Finally, on the client computer check if in Internet Explorer "Integrated Windows Authentication" is activated (under the advanced settings of the internet options)

Hope this helps you to get reporting to work as well!



Microsoft CRM for Enterprise Organizations

Microsoft started putting Microsoft CRM into the market as an application for Small and Medium sized businesses. This didn't stop us from Avanade and also other partners to use this application in larger and even enterprise businesses. With the release of Microsoft CRM 3.0, the application is really Enterprise ready.

Avanade is the trusted advisor that customers depend on to deliver a successful implementation. Our team of experts has deployed Microsoft’s CRM solutions in the enterprise more than anyone else in the industry. Based on the experiences we have gathered, reports and whitepapers are being published on our websites www.avanade.com and www.avanadeadvisor.com. Here are some interesting articles:

Realizing the Vision of CRM with the Avanade® Federated Architecture
A report which shows the Avanade Federated Architecture. Federated architecture allows companies to deploy more than one instance of CRM, while ensuring that critical data remains in-synch and up-to-date across the entire organization. With synchronization across multiple CRM instances, collaboration is possible across regions and divisions, while individual groups can maintain their independence and optimize operations where necessary.

Avanade Enterprise CRM
At Avanade, we believe CRM is a holistic approach to improving customer acquisition, retention, and profitability. Simply put, it’s connecting the Right Customer, with the Right Information, at the Right Time across the Enterprise. This document describes the Avanade's Enterprise CRM offerings.

Scaling Microsoft® Dynamics™ CRM
Avanade has developed a whitepaper as well and it describes the Scalability and Performance Testing and Tuning Results for the enterprise.This white paper summarizes the scaling characteristics of Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0 with a medium to heavy sales force automation transaction load supporting 3,000 concurrent users. Avanade initiated performance testing in 2006 at our technology infrastructure lab in Seattle, Washington.

Our public references include:
- O.C. Tanner
- ABN Amro
- BGE Home
- Sara Lee
- Bouwfonds

If you'd like more information on how Avanade can leverage CRM in Enterprise organizations, feel free to contact me or Anthone Withers, Avanade global CRM Solutions Director, at mbs@avanade.com.



Using the Advanced Find for FetchXML builder

Some time ago I talked about the program "FetchXML builder" to build FetchXML queries: http://ronaldlemmen.blogspot.com/2006/09/fetchxml-builder.html, but take a look at the next solution.

You can just open the Advanced find page and build the query as you like. Then run the query to see if it returns the data as you wish it should. If you are satisfied with the results and you want to know what query was sent into the CRM Framework, then press F11 to get the address bar and enter this script and press enter.


javascript:alert(resultRender.FetchXml.value);

If you get a warning about leaving the page, just press 'ok' and then the query which is sent to the framework opens up in a popup. Unfortunately you cannot select the text to copy and paste. But with Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 you can copy all text on the popup by clicking somewhere on the popup (not on the button "OK" ofcourse) and pressing ctrl+c. Now in notepad you can paste the text of the FetchXML.

Good luck!

Update: Thanks to Piotr in the comment section I have learned the javascript prompt command. Try this instead of the alert:

javascript:prompt("my query:", resultRender.FetchXml.value);