Tag: CRM

Unable to Delete Work Order Due to “The Time To Promised Must Be Later Than The Time From Promised” exception – Dynamics 365 Field Service


While attempting to delete a historical Dynamics 365 Field Service Work Order, we encountered the following error:

Exception Message: The time to promised must be later than the time from promised.

ErrorCode: -2147220891

HexErrorCode: 0x80040265

Error Details: {“errorCode”:2147746405,”message”:”The time to promised must be later than the time from promised.”,”code”:2147746405,”raw”:”{\”_errorCode\”:2147746405,\”_errorFault\”:{\”_responseXml\”:null,\”_errorCode\”:2147746405,\”_innerFault\”:{\”_responseXml\”:null,\”_errorCode\”:0,\”_innerFault\”:null,\”_callStack\”:null,\”_responseText\”:null,\”_annotations\”:null,\”_hasCustomerInfo\”:false,\”_messages\”:[\”The time to promised must be later than the time from promised.\”]},\”_callStack\”:null,\”_responseText\”:\”{\\\”error\\\”:{\\\”code\\\”:\\\”0x80040265\\\”,\\\”message\\\”:\\\”The time to promised must be later than the time from promised.\\\”,\\\”@Microsoft.PowerApps.CDS.ErrorDetails.ApiExceptionSourceKey\\\”:\\\”Plugin/Microsoft.Dynamics.FieldService.FieldServicePlugin\\\”,\\\”@Microsoft.PowerApps.CDS.ErrorDetails.ApiStepKey\\\”:\\\”919f17c2-2931-4b27-b6b2-daaf91aaaaf8\\\”,\\\”@Microsoft.PowerApps.CDS.ErrorDetails.ApiDepthKey\\\”:\\\”1\\\”,\\\”@Microsoft.PowerApps.CDS.ErrorDetails.ApiActivityIdKey\\\”:\\\”1642f2af-356e-45c3-b971-42b11e9e91d9\\\”,\\\”@Microsoft.PowerApps.CDS.ErrorDetails.ApiPluginSolutionNameKey\\\”:\\\”

At first, the error suggested that the Work Order contained invalid promise dates. We reviewed the values stored on the record and found that Time To Promised was already later than Time From Promised.

Since the values appeared valid, we attempted to clear both fields using SQL 4 CDS:

The update completed successfully and both fields were set to NULL.

However, deleting the Work Order still resulted in the same error.

Changing the Work Order Status to Cancelled also didn’t help.

After further testing, we changed the Record Status from Active to Inactive. Once the record was inactive, the Work Order could be deleted successfully.

Based on the plugin trace, deleting the Work Order triggered an internal update before the delete operation was executed. It appears that when the Work Order was Active, additional Field Service validations were performed, resulting in the promised date error even after the fields were cleared.

After changing the record to Inactive, the delete operation likely followed a different validation path, allowing the Work Order to be deleted successfully.

Hope it helps..

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Testing the New RunJobForSandbox Option in Bulk Delete Jobs (Preview) – Dataverse / Dynamics 365


Microsoft recently introduced a preview feature for Dataverse Bulk Delete Jobs that provides additional control over bulk delete processing. One of the new options available when creating a bulk delete job through the API is RunJobForSandbox.

According to the documentation, this option is intended to control sandbox processing during bulk delete operations, which could be particularly useful in environments where delete plugins or custom workflows impact large-scale data cleanup activities.

For our testing, we created a Bulk Delete Job using Postman and included the following option in the request payload:

{
  "QuerySet": [
    {
      "EntityName": "contact",
      "Criteria": {
        "FilterOperator": "And",
        "Conditions": [
                   {
            "AttributeName": "createdon",
            "Operator": "OnOrBefore",
            "Values": [
              {
                "Value": "2026-09-07T23:59:59Z",
                "Type": "System.DateTime"
              }              
            ]
          }
        ]
      }
    }
  ],
  "JobName": "Sample Bulk Delete Job with Run Job For Sandbox True",
  "SendEmailNotification": false,
  "RecurrencePattern": "",
  "StartDateTime": "2026-05-18T00:00:00Z",
  "ToRecipients": [],
  "CCRecipients": [],
  "Options": {
    "CanRecoverDeletedRecords": false,
    "RunJobForSandbox": true
  }
}

The complete job targeted Contact records based on their Created On date and was created successfully.

To understand how this option behaves, we registered a simple plugin on the Delete message of the Contact table. The plugin was intentionally designed to throw an InvalidPluginExecutionException whenever a record deletion was attempted.

Our expectation was that enabling RunJobForSandbox would prevent the sandbox plugin from executing during the bulk delete process, allowing the records to be deleted successfully.

However, the results were different from what we anticipated.

When the bulk delete job was executed, the delete plugin was still triggered. Because the plugin threw an exception, all targeted records failed to delete. The Bulk Delete Job completed with failures and reported errors indicating that the deletion operation had been aborted by a plugin or custom workflow.

Since this capability is currently in Preview, it is possible that the feature is still evolving, has limitations that are not yet documented, or requires additional configuration. To better understand the observed behavior, we have raised a Microsoft Support ticket and are awaiting clarification from the team.

Even though our initial test did not produce the expected result, this is still a very promising feature. Once fully implemented and generally available, the ability to control sandbox processing during bulk delete operations could make large-scale data cleanup significantly easier, especially in environments where plugins and custom workflows frequently interfere with bulk deletion activities.

We’d update this post once we receive additional information from Microsoft regarding the current behavior and intended functionality of RunJobForSandbox.

The feature is documented here:

Control Bulk Delete Processing (Preview)

Hope it helps..

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Hidden Required Fields Causing “Please ensure all required fields are filled out” Error While Disqualifying a Lead in Dynamics 365 / Dataverse


While working on a Lead Disqualification scenario in Dynamics 365, we ran into a strange issue.

When trying to Disqualify a Lead, Dynamics 365 was showing the generic error message:

“Please ensure all required fields are filled out and have valid info.”

Even more confusing, the form itself was not showing any missing required fields.

This is one of those classic “ghost validation” problems in Dynamics 365 where fields are being marked as required dynamically through JavaScript or Business Rules, even though they are not visible on the form. The message was generic and did not indicate which field was causing the validation failure.

Since the form was not highlighting any required fields, we suspected that some fields were being set as required dynamically in the background. To identify them, we executed the following JavaScript in the browser console.

(function () {
    var missingFields = [];
    var attributes = Xrm.Page.data.entity.attributes.get();
    attributes.forEach(function (attribute) {
        var requiredLevel = attribute.getRequiredLevel();
        var value = attribute.getValue();
        var isEmpty =
            value === null ||
            value === "" ||
            (Array.isArray(value) && value.length === 0);
        if (requiredLevel === "required" && isEmpty) {
            missingFields.push(attribute.getName());
        }
    });
    if (missingFields.length) {
        alert("Missing required fields: " + missingFields.join(", "));
    } else {
        alert("No missing required fields found.");
    }

})();

The script immediately showed the fields that were marked as required internally:

Even though these fields were not visible on the form, they were still configured as required dynamically somewhere in the background.

To fix it – we found and updated the JavaScript method that was setting those fields as required. This is the cleaner and recommended approach.

The other quick fix though not recommended is to reset the fields to non-required on OnLoad/ OnSave/ OnChange. 

formContext.getAttribute("custom_enquirytype")
    .setRequiredLevel("none");
formContext.getAttribute("custom_decisionmaker")
    .setRequiredLevel("none");

Sometimes these generic validation popups in Dynamics 365 can be a bit tricky because the actual field causing the issue is not even visible on the form.

Running a quick console script like the one above helped us immediately identify which hidden fields were still marked as required and blocking the Disqualify action

Hope it helps..

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Reset / Restore the standard (OOTB) button in Dynamics 365 / Dataverse


We recently worked on a requirement where we customized an out-of-the-box ribbon button in Dynamics 365 — specifically, the Reactivate Lead button. We had renamed it to ‘Reactivate’ as part of an earlier customization.

Below is how the button appeared on the form after customization:

Later, we had a new requirement to hide this button completely and replace it with a custom ribbon button that implemented our own reactivation logic. However, when we tried to hide the button using Ribbon Workbench, we noticed that the Hide option was not available.

When we opened Ribbon Workbench and inspected the button, we observed that since the button was already customized, the standard options like Hide were no longer available.

While working within the same Ribbon Workbench session, we could see the ‘Uncustomize Button’ option.

However, an interesting behavior we observed is that once we closed or reopened the solution inside the Ribbon Workbench, the ‘Uncustomise Button’ option was no longer available. In that case, only the Delete option was visible.

This is expected behavior. Once an OOTB button is customized, it becomes part of the solution layer, and certain default actions like Hide are no longer directly available.

To fix this and restore the original behavior, we followed a simple approach.

We selected the customized button in Ribbon Workbench and chose the Uncustomize Button or Delete option. We then published the solution and reloaded it. Once the solution was reloaded, the button was restored to its original out-of-the-box state. And now, the Hide option was available again as expected.

This allowed us to properly hide the OOTB button and proceed with implementing our custom ribbon button.

We referred to the blog below, which helped confirm the approach: https://innovativeaj.wordpress.com/2020/09/29/bring-me-back-to-life-restoring-the-d365-ootb-button-to-default-version/

Hope it helps..

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The Attribute with id does not exist — and Staged Metadata is still being processed (Dataverse / Dynamics 365 Issue)


Last week, we came across a strange issue while working with Dataverse metadata.

We had created a new attribute as part of our solution changes. Everything looked fine initially, and the attribute was created successfully without any errors. However, when we tried to delete that same attribute, we started getting an error saying that the attribute does not exist.

This was confusing for us because the attribute clearly existed and was visible in the system.

“The Attribute with ID doesnt not exist”

To validate further, we tried adding the same attribute to another solution. This time, we received a different error stating that the staged metadata for the attribute is still being processed.

The staged metadata for Attribute is still being processed, please wait before you can do any update/delete/retrieve operations.

At this point, it was clear that this was not a normal behavior. It felt like the attribute was stuck in an intermediate state where it was created but not fully available for operations.

We checked the Known Issues list in the Power Platform Admin Center and found a matching issue: https://admin.powerplatform.microsoft.com/knownissues/6269936

We applied the suggested fix mentioned there, but it did not work immediately for us. Instead of trying multiple workarounds, we decided to wait for some time and raised a support ticket.

After a couple of hours, we retried the same operations. This time, both deleting the attribute and adding it to another solution worked without any issues.

The key takeaway from this experience is simple.

If we encounter errors like: – Attribute does not exist (even though it does) – Staged metadata is still being processed

It is worth giving the system some time before trying again and/or raising a support ticket in parallel instead of wasting time trying different options to fix it.

Hope it helps..

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“Transaction not started. There is no active transaction” error (Dynamics 365 / Dataverse)


We recently ran into an interesting and slightly frustrating issue while trying to mark an activity (Appointment/Phone Call/ Task) as Completed in Dynamics 365.

Whenever we tried to mark the activity as completed, we were getting the following error. We were only getting the exception when the activity was owned by a Team instead of a User.

Error Code: 0x80040251 Message: “There is no active transaction. This error is usually caused by custom plug-ins that ignore errors from service calls and continue processing.”

At this point, we were quite confident that this was related to some custom logic interfering with the transaction pipeline. The error message itself clearly hinted towards plug-ins swallowing exceptions and continuing execution.

So, we started with the usual debugging checklist:

Checked all synchronous plug-ins on Activity, Appointment, and related entities. Disabled custom plug-ins one by one. Looked into ownership/team-related logic. Assigned System Admin role to the Team, etc.

Surprisingly, even after disabling all plug-ins, the issue was still occurring. That was our first big clue that something else was at play.

After wasting good enough time, we shifted our attention towards workflows and custom workflow activities. And that’s where things got interesting.

We found a custom workflow activity that had a try-catch block implemented like this:

The exception was being caught… but not thrown again. Essentially, the workflow activity was swallowing the exception silently and allowing execution to continue.

This behavior breaks the transaction pipeline. Dynamics expects failures to bubble up properly so that the transaction can be rolled back. When exceptions are consumed like this, the platform ends up in an inconsistent state, which is why we see errors like ‘There is no active transaction’.

We started first by updating the code to rethrow the exception, that’s where we realized the actual error – which was a SystemUser record does not exist. Basically in our code we were assigning Team Guid’s to a lookup of type System User causing this issue.

After getting to know the exact issue, we updated our logic accordingly to fix the issue.

Key takeaway from this experience:

We should never suppress exceptions in plug-ins or custom workflow activities without proper handling. If something fails in the pipeline, it is better to let it fail cleanly rather than leaving the system in a broken transactional state.

Hope it helps..

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