{No Code Approach} Generic framework to delete all child records when a parent record is deleted in Dynamics 365 using Microsoft Flows


Interesting implementation using Microsoft Flow

Debajit's avatarDebajit's Dynamic CRM Blog

Here comes another requirement and here comes Microsoft flows again to bail me out. So let’s see what the requirement was and let’s see how can we implement Microsoft flows to achieve these easily which otherwise would have required extensive coding to achieve.

So it goes like this. Basically, there are lot of custom entities in the environment and there are many parent-child relationships in between those entities and they are referential in nature. Ideally parental would have suited for some, however due to the number of parental relationship limitation in Dynamics, they would set it up as referential.

Now whenever a parent record is deleted, the associated child records would be deleted as well. Since this is referential relationship, whenever we delete a parent record, the child records are left orphaned in the system.

Microsoft flows offers you an easy way to delete records in bulk. You could easily…

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Literal Improvement in C# 7.0


C# 7.0 now allows using underscore _ to be used a digit separator.

This adds more readability.

Similarly, we now have Binary Literals, so instead of specifying hexadecimal pattern we can specify bit patterns.

Hope it helps..

Using Out Variables (C# 7.0) instead of Out Parameters


Out Parameters must need to declared before they are used in the method which doesn’t seem intuitive.

Now with C# 7.0 we can now make use of Out variable.

Here in our second call to the method we have used out variable named outVariableString which we didn’t have to declare like output parameter.

Hope it helps..

Tuple Types and Tuple Literals in C# 7.0


Tuple are used when we need to get more than one value returned from the method.

C# 7.0 introduces Tuple Types and Tuple Literals to Tuples

We need to add System.ValueType Nuget Package to add the required assemblies to Visual Studio.

Below sample code shows usage of Tuple type and literal. In our second method, we have named the part of the tuple i.e. name and number.

Now to access the first method we use Item1 and Item2 field, however for our second method as we have named the part we can use those names to access them i.e. name and number.

Output in both the case

Hope it helps..

New Feature – Local Functions in C# 7.0


C# 7.0 adds a new feature called local functions.

Local functions allow us to define function within a function. It can be used to write helper methods that we need to use inside that function’s scope.

Here in the below sample code we have defined one main function (MainFunction) that has one local function(MultiplyBy10LocalFunction) defined inside it. And that local function has one more local function(Add10LocalFunction) defined inside it.

Hope it helps..

Integrating Bot with Dynamics CRM (OAuth 2.0 Authentication)


Let us continue with our previous posts on understanding and implementing a simple bot that interact with Dynamics CRM using Microsoft Bot Framework

Till now we had hard coded our connection to CRM inside the bot application which was used to create lead records in CRM.

In this post, we will use OAuth2 authentication to connect to CRM Service (Web API).

We’d update our bot to use Sign-In Card. It will launch a web browser (web site which redirects user to authenticate to office 365) where user will enter the credentials and on successful authentication it will get the authentication token which it would then use to interact with CRM.

Here we would be using Web Site deployed in Azure that takes care of all the plumbing part.

We will be using Bot State Service here for saving Bot State. User can save bot state in this bot state service and can retrieve it. So, we would be passing the user id to the web site hosted to the azure and after we get the authentication token on successful authorization, we save this information in the bot in the bot state using SetUserData method. Back in our Bot app we will retrieve this authentication token saved in session state using GetUserData method and use it for interacting with CRM Web API.

Let us first create a ASP.NET Web Application which would be use for redirecting the user to authentication and saves the authentication token to the Bot State Service.

This creates our Web Application.

Add the following Microsoft.Bot.Builder Nuget Package in the project.


Also add a View named Authorize, which we will use are redirect URI for our Dynamics 365 App that will be registered to Azure Active Directory.


Before we start writing the code in our controller, we need to register dynamics 365 app with Azure Active Directory.

Follow the below post for that.

https://nishantrana.me/2016/11/13/register-a-dynamics-365-app-with-azure-active-directory/

Now we have our required values i.e. client id, client key and end point URL

Add the following keys in web.config.


Here Client Id, Client Secret and EndPoint Url are the one we got when we registered our Dynamics 365 App. Here Microsoft App Id and Password are for our Bot Application.

https://dev.botframework.com

Update the HomeController.cs and add below action methods Login and Authorize.

</p>
using Microsoft.Bot.Connector;
using Microsoft.IdentityModel.Clients.ActiveDirectory;
using System;
using System.Configuration;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
using System.Web.Mvc;

namespace AzureAuthWebApplication.Controllers
{
public class HomeController : Controller
{
public ActionResult Index()
{
return View();
}
public ActionResult Login(string userid)
{
// string userid in session
Session["botuserid"] = userid;
// CRM Url
string Resource = "https://nishutrial.crm.dynamics.com";

AuthenticationContext authContext = new AuthenticationContext(ConfigurationManager.AppSettings["Authority"]);
var authUri = authContext.GetAuthorizationRequestUrlAsync(Resource, ConfigurationManager.AppSettings["ClientId"],
new Uri(ConfigurationManager.AppSettings["RedirectUri"]), UserIdentifier.AnyUser, null);
return Redirect(authUri.Result.ToString());
}

public async Task<ActionResult> Authorize(string code)
{
AuthenticationContext authContext = new AuthenticationContext(ConfigurationManager.AppSettings["Authority"]);
var authResult = await authContext.AcquireTokenByAuthorizationCodeAsync(
code, new Uri(ConfigurationManager.AppSettings["RedirectUri"]),
new ClientCredential(ConfigurationManager.AppSettings["ClientId"],
ConfigurationManager.AppSettings["ClientSecret"]));

// Saving token in Bot State
var botCredentials = new MicrosoftAppCredentials(ConfigurationManager.AppSettings["MicrosoftAppId"],
ConfigurationManager.AppSettings["MicrosoftAppPassword"]);
var stateClient = new StateClient(botCredentials);
BotState botState = new BotState(stateClient);
BotData botData = new BotData(eTag: "*");
botData.SetProperty<string>("AccessToken", authResult.AccessToken);

// webchat is the channel id. Make sure it is same in the bot application when we get the user data
await stateClient.BotState.SetUserDataAsync("webchat", Session["botuserid"].ToString(), botData);
ViewBag.Message = "Your Token -" + authResult.AccessToken + " User Id - " + Session["botuserid"].ToString();
return View();
}

public ActionResult About()
{
ViewBag.Message = "Your application description page.";

return View();
}

public ActionResult Contact()
{
ViewBag.Message = "Your contact page.";

return View();
}
}
}
<p style="text-align: justify;">

Publish the Web Application to Azure.

Now let us go back to our Bot Application and update the messagecontroller.cs class.

</p>
using System.Net;
using System.Net.Http;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
using System.Web.Http;
using Microsoft.Bot.Builder.Dialogs;
using Microsoft.Bot.Connector;
using Microsoft.Bot.Builder.FormFlow;
using Bot_Application1.Models;
using System;
using Bot_Application1.Dialogs;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Web;
using System.Net.Http.Headers;
using Newtonsoft.Json;
using Newtonsoft.Json.Linq;

namespace Bot_Application1
{
[BotAuthentication]
public class MessagesController : ApiController
{
/// <summary>
/// POST: api/Messages
/// Receive a message from a user and reply to it
/// </summary>
public async Task<HttpResponseMessage> Post([FromBody]Activity activity)
{
if (activity.Type == ActivityTypes.Message)
{
if (activity.Text.ToUpper() == "LOGIN")
{
ConnectorClient connector = new ConnectorClient(new Uri(activity.ServiceUrl));
Activity replyToConversation = activity.CreateReply();
replyToConversation.Recipient = activity.From;
replyToConversation.Type = "message";
replyToConversation.Attachments = new List<Attachment>();

List<CardAction> cardButtons = new List<CardAction>();
CardAction plButton = new CardAction()
{
// ASP.NET Web Application Hosted in Azure
// Pass the user id
Value = "http://azureauthwebapplication20170421122618.azurewebsites.net/Home/Login?userid=" + HttpUtility.UrlEncode(activity.From.Id),
Type = "signin",
Title = "Connect"
};

cardButtons.Add(plButton);

SigninCard plCard = new SigninCard("Please login to Office 365", new List<CardAction>() { plButton });
Attachment plAttachment = plCard.ToAttachment();
replyToConversation.Attachments.Add(plAttachment);
var reply = await connector.Conversations.SendToConversationAsync(replyToConversation);
}
else if (activity.Text.ToUpper() == "GETUSERS")
{
// Get access token from bot state
ConnectorClient connector = new ConnectorClient(new Uri(activity.ServiceUrl));
StateClient stateClient = activity.GetStateClient();
BotState botState = new BotState(stateClient);
BotData botData = await botState.GetUserDataAsync(activity.ChannelId, activity.From.Id);
string token = botData.GetProperty<string>("AccessToken");

var httpClient = new HttpClient();
httpClient.DefaultRequestHeaders.Add("OData-MaxVersion", "4.0");
httpClient.DefaultRequestHeaders.Add("OData-Version", "4.0");
httpClient.DefaultRequestHeaders.Accept.Add(new MediaTypeWithQualityHeaderValue("application/json"));
httpClient.DefaultRequestHeaders.Authorization = new AuthenticationHeaderValue("Bearer", token);

var retrieveResponse =
await httpClient.GetAsync("https://nishutrial.crm.dynamics.com/api/data/v8.1/systemusers?$select=fullname");
if (retrieveResponse.IsSuccessStatusCode)
{
var jRetrieveResponse =
JObject.Parse(retrieveResponse.Content.ReadAsStringAsync().Result);

dynamic systemUserObject = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject(jRetrieveResponse.ToString());

foreach (var data in systemUserObject.value)
{
Activity jsonReply = activity.CreateReply($"System User = {data.fullname.Value}");
await connector.Conversations.ReplyToActivityAsync(jsonReply);
}
}
else
{
Activity reply = activity.CreateReply("Failed to get users.\n\nPlease type \"login\" before you get users.");
await connector.Conversations.ReplyToActivityAsync(reply);
}
}
else
{
ConnectorClient connector = new ConnectorClient(new Uri(activity.ServiceUrl));
Activity reply = activity.CreateReply("# CRM BOT Instructions \n\nlogin --> Login to Office 365\n\ngetusers --> Get all System Users in CRM");
await connector.Conversations.ReplyToActivityAsync(reply);
}
}
else
{
HandleSystemMessage(activity);
}

var response = Request.CreateResponse(HttpStatusCode.OK);
return response;
}

private IDialog<LeadModel> MakeLuisDialog()
{
return Chain.From(() => new LUISDialog(LeadModel.BuildForm));
}

internal static IDialog<LeadModel> MakeRootDialog()
{
return Chain.From(() => FormDialog.FromForm(LeadModel.BuildForm));
}

private Activity HandleSystemMessage(Activity message)
{
if (message.Type == ActivityTypes.DeleteUserData)
{
// Implement user deletion here
// If we handle user deletion, return a real message
}
else if (message.Type == ActivityTypes.ConversationUpdate)
{
// Handle conversation state changes, like members being added and removed
// Use Activity.MembersAdded and Activity.MembersRemoved and Activity.Action for info
// Not available in all channels
}
else if (message.Type == ActivityTypes.ContactRelationUpdate)
{
// Handle add/remove from contact lists
// Activity.From + Activity.Action represent what happened
}
else if (message.Type == ActivityTypes.Typing)
{
// Handle knowing tha the user is typing
}
else if (message.Type == ActivityTypes.Ping)
{
}

return null;
}
}
}
<p style="text-align: justify;">

Publish the Bot to Azure.

Now let us test the Bot.

Go to – https://dev.botframework.com/bots

Open the Bot and click on Test.

Let us start the Chat.

On typing login the bot presents User with the Sign In Card. Click on Connect.

Sign in with your credentials.

Give permission to the app.

On successful sign-in –

Now type in getusers

It brings us all the System Users full name from our CRM Organization.

The extremely informative posts from which I learned about it

https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/tsmatsuz/2016/09/06/microsoft-bot-framework-bot-with-authentication-and-signin-login/

https://debajmecrm.com/2016/02/29/knowhow-how-to-execute-web-api-calls-to-microsoft-dynamics-crm-from-an-external-asp-net-web-application/

and following pluralsight training that helped in understanding OAuth and JWT concept.

https://www.pluralsight.com/courses/oauth2-json-web-tokens-openid-connect-introduction

Hope it helps..

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