Dataverse – Page 2 – Nishant Rana's Weblog

What are Partial Merges in Business Process Flow (BPF), and what can we do about it – Dataverse / Dynamics 365

Let’s take an example.

Suppose we have the following Business Process Flow (BPF) for Leads:

If the Lead Type = Grade A, we want the Grade A Details stage to appear. For other grades (B, C, D), we skip that stage and continue. So far, this is simple.

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Now, say we have a new business requirement :

For Grade D, the process should only have the Initial Review and its own Closed stage. For Grades B and C, the process should follow Other Details + Closed.

To handle this, we added a condition:

If Lead Type = B or C → go to Other Details

Else (Grade D) → go directly to Grade D (Closed)

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However, when we try to connect the B/C path to Other Details, the D path (Closed) also gets merged into it.

This is because of the way branching works in BPF.

Dataverse does not support “partial merges.” That means we can’t end one branch early and merge another branch later. If we merge one branch, Dataverse forces all branches to merge into the same stage.

One Branch Ends, One Branch Merges (Not Supported) – If we try to design a BPF where one branch terminates in its own last stage while the other continues and merges into a later stage, the platform will not allow it.

There are two ways to solve this:

Option 1: Repeat the stages : Instead of trying to merge one path and end another, duplicate the stages where needed.

For example, create a separate Other Details and Closed stage for Grades B and C.

Option 2: Simplify with fields / scripts

If we don’t want to repeat too many stages, we can:

Move the Lead Type field and Grade A Details fields into the Initial Review stage. Use business rules or form logic to show/hide those fields based on Lead Type. Delete the extra Grade A Details stage.

Update the condition so that the flow only needs one condition (A/B/C vs D).

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Key Takeaway –

In Dataverse BPF:

One branch ending while another merges is not supported.

Either all branches merge or each branch must have its own end stage.

The solution is to repeat stages where needed, or simplify the design using fields and conditions.

Hope it helps..

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Boolean Fields in Business Process Flows: Required Field Behavior Explained (Dataverse / Dynamics 365)

When designing Business Process Flows (BPF) in Dataverse, we often want to make certain fields mandatory before users can move to the next stage. A common scenario is using a Boolean (Two-Option) field — for example, Approved? with values Yes and No.

At first glance, it seems natural to mark this field as required in the BPF stage. But here’s the catch:

If the user selects Yes, the BPF allows stage progression.

If the user selects No, the BPF still blocks progression.

This can be confusing, because technically a Boolean field is never empty — it always holds a value. So why is “No” being treated as invalid?

This happens because Dataverse handles Boolean fields differently inside BPF compared to regular forms. In a BPF, when a Boolean field is set as Required, the platform interprets only Yes (true) as a valid value. A No selection is treated as if the field is still unset. This is a limitation in how BPF validations work.

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Below we have 2 approved fields, one is of type Boolean and the other of type Choice. We can see that on clicking on the Next button, although we have provided the value No to both these fields, it is still expecting a value for the boolean field.

Here we can solve it 2 ways, as shown above, we can create and use a Choice field instead of a Boolean field.

Or instead of making the Boolean field as required in the BPF, we enforce the rule using JavaScript (addOnPreStageChange).

Boolean fields in BPF don’t behave the same way as in forms. When set to required, only Yes is treated as valid, while No is ignored. The simplest and most reliable solution is to replace Boolean fields with a two-value Choice field when they need to be required in a BPF. This ensures both Yes and No are considered valid, and users won’t be blocked unnecessarily.

Hope it helps..

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Fixed –Lookup value plugintypeexportkey [Guid] is not resolvable – Solution Import error (Dynamics 365 / Dataverse)

Recently, we faced an interesting import failure while moving a solution containing a Custom API.

Solution “Temp Plugin Step Custom API Transfer” failed to import: Lookup value 8f3269b7-a24d-43e4-9319-0c5e7ddf2b53 is not resolvable.

This clearly pointed to a lookup resolution issue — the solution import process was trying to bind the Custom API to a Plugin Type (class), but couldn’t find the referenced plugin in the target environment.

Each Custom API will have its own folder inside the Solution.

Looking into the solution files (specifically the customapi.xml) of that particular Custom API, we found this section:

Notice the <plugintypeexportkey> tag. This is where the Custom API references the Plugin Type (the actual C# class implementing the logic).

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When a Plugin class is created in Dynamics 365, it gets assigned a unique Plugin Type Id (GUID).

In the source environment, the Custom API was tied to a plugin with ID 420c7261-7461-4b37-87f0-1afcec427a46. However, in the destination environment, which was another development environment, a different plugin class was already created for that custom api. So during solution import, Dataverse tried to match the GUID 420c7261… but couldn’t find it in the target environment. Hence, the lookup resolution failed, and the solution import was blocked.

To resolve this, we manually updated the GUID in the customapi.xml to match the Plugin Type Id of the destination environment. Below, we are getting the ID from the Plugin Registration tool. The other option to fix would have been to remove the Plugin reference from the source, export, and then import.

After making this change, we re-imported the solution, and it worked successfully.

Also check – https://technicalcoe.com/2024/07/04/troubleshooting-power-platform-solution-import-errors/

Hope it helps..

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Using addNotification to Simulate Dynamic Tooltips (Dataverse / Dynamics 365)

When working with forms in Dynamics 365 / Power Apps model-driven apps, we often customize field labels based on context, using the setLabel method. At times, we would also like to change the tool tip to go with the changed label of the field. The tooltip is defined as a Description of the field.

Below is the Topic (subject) field of the lead.

However, we cannot set the tool tip (description) of the field dynamically in the form using the Client API. So, what do we do when the meaning of a field changes depending on another value on the form? That’s where addNotification comes in as a handy workaround.

Let us take a simple example to see how we can use it. On the Lead form, the Topic(subject) field means different things depending on the Lead Source. So here we will be changing the label of the Topic (subject) field, along with setting a different notification message.

For e.g., if Lead Source – Advertisement, we are changing the label to Campaign Name. We can also notice the bulb icon next to the field.

Clicking on it, we can see our message –

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Similarly, on changing the Lead Source to Web, we are changing the label to Landing Page, and clicking on the icon, we can see a different message.

Sample Code –

function updateSubjectField(executionContext) {
	
    var formContext = executionContext.getFormContext();
    var leadSourceAttr = formContext.getAttribute("leadsourcecode");
    var subjectControl = formContext.getControl("subject");
   
    subjectControl.clearNotification("subjectTooltip");

    var leadSource = leadSourceAttr ? leadSourceAttr.getValue() : null;

    if (leadSource === 1) { 
        // 1 = Advertisement
        subjectControl.setLabel("Campaign Name");
        subjectControl.addNotification({
            messages: ["Enter the name of the ad campaign"],
            notificationLevel: "RECOMMENDATION",
            uniqueId: "subjectTooltip"
        });
    }
    else if (leadSource === 2) { 
        // 2 = Referral
        subjectControl.setLabel("Referrer Notes");
        subjectControl.addNotification({
            messages: ["Mention details about the referrer"],
            notificationLevel: "RECOMMENDATION",
            uniqueId: "subjectTooltip"
        });
    }
    else if (leadSource === 8) { 
        // 3 = Web
        subjectControl.setLabel("Landing Page");
        subjectControl.addNotification({
            messages: ["Provide the landing page URL"],
            notificationLevel: "RECOMMENDATION",
            uniqueId: "subjectTooltip"
        });
    }
    else {
        // Default
        subjectControl.setLabel("Subject");
    }
}

While addNotification isn’t a perfect replacement for a native tooltip, it’s a practical workaround when we need dynamic, context-aware user guidance.

Hope it helps..

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Resolved – Environment Operation Error, while trying to copy environment (Dataverse / Power Platform)

Recently we created a new environment, and when we tried copying our production environment to it, it gave the below error.

“Environment Operation Error -Sorry, something went wrong while requesting the details of an ongoing operation”

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On trying to open the newly created environment, we got the below error.

“Environment Not Found -The environment was not found. This can happen if you recently performed an operation or switched accounts”

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Shortly after that, we noticed the environment disappeared from the list of environments in the Power Platform Admin Center. To investigate what might have gone wrong, we raised a support ticket. However, after about an hour, the Admin Center began displaying the newly created environment we were copying to, and upon opening it, we saw the message – “The environment was successfully copied.”

We got the below explanation from Microsoft Support which clarified the behaviour – “If a copy operation begins but does not complete, particularly when using the “Copy over everything” option, the target environment may enter a missing or soft-deleted state. This is a known behavior in Power Platform, where environments can temporarily disappear from the environment list during long-running or interrupted operations.”

Hope it helps..

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Clearing Dirty Fields in Forms to Avoid Unnecessary Save Prompts (Dynamics 365 / Dataverse)

In Dynamics 365 forms, we often run into situations where a record looks unsaved even though the user hasn’t made any manual changes. This usually happens when fields are updated in the background by scripts. When that happens, those attributes are flagged as dirty and the form behaves as if the user made edits. The result is that whenever users try to navigate away, they are interrupted by the familiar “You have unsaved changes” popup.

Also Check – https://nishantrana.me/2025/09/09/finding-dirty-unsaved-fields-on-the-form-using-javascript-browser-console-dynamics-365-dataverse/

In our case, we were getting this issue for fields which were already hidden from the form. Also here as the record was on a particular stage, where we were setting all the fields in the form read-only, and also cancelling the save event. Because of which user was also not able to save the form.

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The way we fixed this issue was to scan all the attributes on the form in onload, detect which ones are dirty and reset their submit behaviours. By setting their submit mode to “never“, these fields were not included in the save operation, and the form was now showing the saved state, thus no unsaved changes prompts.

clearAllDirtyFields: function (executionContext) {
    var formContext = executionContext.getFormContext();

    // Delay to allow system updates (rollups/calculated fields) to complete
    setTimeout(function () {
        formContext.data.entity.attributes.forEach(function (attr) {
            if (attr.getIsDirty()) {
                attr.setSubmitMode("never");
                console.log("Dirty flag cleared for: " + attr.getName());
            }
        });
        console.log("All dirty fields cleared from the form.");
    }, 3000); // adjust delay as needed
}

This approach should still be used with some caution. The best practice is to first understand why certain fields are showing as dirty and, if possible, fix the underlying cause. The script should only be used in specific situations where we are confident that the dirty fields are not needed for saving the record. It’s also important to add the right checks or conditions so that it doesn’t run everywhere unnecessarily.

For example, in our case we only applied it when the form was in a particular status where it was expected to be read-only for the user. The fields were already hidden, so letting them stay dirty served no purpose.

Hope it helps..

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