Search icon CANCEL
Subscription
0
Cart icon
Your Cart (0 item)
Close icon
You have no products in your basket yet
Arrow left icon
Explore Products
Best Sellers
New Releases
Books
Videos
Audiobooks
Learning Hub
Conferences
Free Learning
Arrow right icon
Dynamics 365 Application Development
Dynamics 365 Application Development

Dynamics 365 Application Development: Master professional-level CRM application development for Microsoft Dynamics 365

Arrow left icon
Profile Icon Deepesh Somani Profile Icon Rana
Arrow right icon
Free Trial
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Half star icon Empty star icon 3.7 (3 Ratings)
Paperback Jan 2018 418 pages 1st Edition
eBook
NZ$44.99 NZ$64.99
Paperback
NZ$80.99
Subscription
Free Trial
Arrow left icon
Profile Icon Deepesh Somani Profile Icon Rana
Arrow right icon
Free Trial
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Half star icon Empty star icon 3.7 (3 Ratings)
Paperback Jan 2018 418 pages 1st Edition
eBook
NZ$44.99 NZ$64.99
Paperback
NZ$80.99
Subscription
Free Trial
eBook
NZ$44.99 NZ$64.99
Paperback
NZ$80.99
Subscription
Free Trial

What do you get with a Packt Subscription?

Free for first 7 days. $19.99 p/m after that. Cancel any time!
Product feature icon Unlimited ad-free access to the largest independent learning library in tech. Access this title and thousands more!
Product feature icon 50+ new titles added per month, including many first-to-market concepts and exclusive early access to books as they are being written.
Product feature icon Innovative learning tools, including AI book assistants, code context explainers, and text-to-speech.
Product feature icon Thousands of reference materials covering every tech concept you need to stay up to date.
Subscribe now
View plans & pricing
Table of content icon View table of contents Preview book icon Preview Book

Dynamics 365 Application Development

Design Apps Using App Module Designer

Apps are a new feature introduced in Dynamics 365 or Dynamics CRM version 9.x. Prior to the following versions of Dynamics CRM, it was not possible to create custom apps catering to any module in Dynamics CRM implementations. There used to exist one single layer of the site map which provided links to various entities, dashboards, and more, for the entire organization. However, with Microsoft Dynamics 365, Microsoft has introduced the concepts of apps which can cater to specific business areas or modules. Also, we have the built-in App Designer in the product itself. This designer allows the administrator, customizers, or users with appropriate privileges, to easily design an app by simply adding, dragging, and dropping the components, within the App Designer canvas.

In this chapter, we will be covering the following points:

  • Overview...

Overview of apps in Dynamics 365

Apps are a new feature introduced in Dynamics 365 to provide quick navigation for the users to quickly access the most relevant entities, and so on. Apps are convenient and each app has its own site map. The details of designing a site map in Dynamics 365 will be discussed in Chapter 1, Customize Application Navigation. Briefly, a site map is a component which stores navigation links and is internally stored in XML format in Dynamics 365. Apps can contain components such as:

  • Entities
  • Dashboards
  • Forms
  • Views
  • Charts
  • Business process flows

Privileges required for configuring apps

Before we start discussing the steps required to configure apps in Dynamics 365, it is important to understand the prerequisite security privileges which are required for a particular user, before they are able to have access to configuring apps. This is particularly important if you wish to give a power user or end-user the ability to design and use their own apps. The following table summarizes the minimum privileges required to configure apps in Dynamics 365:

Sr. No.

Entity name

Read

Write

Create

1.

App

Yes

Yes

Yes

2.

Solution

Yes

-

-

3.

Customization

Yes

Yes

-

 

A detailed look at the security roles area via CRM screens is given here:

  1. Under the Customization tab in Dynamics 365, Security Role: Read, Write, and Create privileges for App should be configured. Please refer...

Configuring Dynamics 365 apps

In this section, we will understand the various steps required to configure Dynamics 365 apps. The following diagram outlines the steps required to configure Dynamics 365 apps:

Here are descriptions of each step:

  1. Configure app properties: App properties such as name, Unique Name, icon, and more, need to be configured as the starting point to configure the app. A detailed description is given in the next section.
  2. Configure App Navigation with Sitemap designer: Every app can have its own site map. A detailed description is given in Chapter 1Customize Application Navigation.
  3. Include Required App components: App components can consist of artifacts or Entity Assets which need to be included in the app.
  4. Check App for any missing required components: The app needs to be checked for any missing required components. This can be done by hitting...

Understanding the app properties and designer interface

Apps have some specific properties which we need to go through before configuring an app. The following properties need to be provided before configuring an app. The following table summarizes the properties:

S. No.

Property name

Property description

1.

Name

This property needs to be provided to give a Unique Name for the app.

2.

Unique Name

Unique Name is auto-populated based on the Name property. It contains a prefix which is picked from the publisher prefix. The only part of the Unique Name can be changed (not the prefix as it is picked from the publisher of the solution).

A Unique Name can only contain English characters or numbers.

3.

Description

This property contains a short description of what the app is designed to achieve.

Note: It is recommended you use this property to provide meaningful...

Understanding the App Designer interface and adding components to the app

Now that we understand the app properties from the last section, it is time to configure our first Dynamics 365 app using the Dynamics 365 App Designer, and also understand the interface. The following steps can be taken to create a Dynamics 365 app:

  1. Navigate to Settings | My Apps as shown in the following screenshot:
  1. On the My Apps screen, you will be able to see a list of already configured apps out of the box, or any other custom apps already configured in your organization:
  1. On the My Apps screen, select the Create New App button, available at the top right of the screen, as shown in the following screenshot:

Alternatively, you can also select the Create New App tile, available at the bottom of the My Apps screen, under the Apps Being Edited option on the screen:

  1. The next...

Using the custom app

In the last section, we published a new custom app called Lead Generation. In this section, we will try to use our newly created custom app. Follow these steps to use your newly created custom app:

  1. Expand the area under Dynamics 365 and you should be able to locate the newly published Dynamics 365 app for Lead Generation:
Note: Security considerations will be looked at in the following section of this chapter. Currently, the user has access to the app since it is a system administrator role.

Alternatively, the user can also navigate to Settings | MyApps and see the app on the list of Published Apps:

  1. Notice that the new app is now launched, and the navigation options in the site map show the site map we had configured earlier:
  1. Also, as selected in the Entity Assets configuration, only two Views are available in the Leads for usage:
...

Securing an app

In real-world scenarios, it is often a requirement to give specific app access to a certain set of users only. For this requirement, we can secure apps to be accessible via certain security roles only.

We now wish to edit the Lead Generation app security permissions so that they are only available to sales manager and salesperson security roles. We can do this by enabling app access for certain Security Roles only. Follow these steps to enable app access for certain security roles only:

  1. Navigate to Settings MyApps and select More options under the Lead Generation app:
  1. Select the Manage Roles option. This will launch the Manage Roles window on the right side of the screen, where various Security Roles can be selected. Select the appropriate roles and click Save:

Note: The system administrator and system...

Overview of apps in Dynamics 365


Apps are a new feature introduced in Dynamics 365 to provide quick navigation for the users to quickly access the most relevant entities, and so on. Apps are convenient and each app has its own site map. The details of designing a site map in Dynamics 365 will be discussed in Chapter 1, Customize Application Navigation. Briefly, a site map is a component which stores navigation links and is internally stored in XML format in Dynamics 365. Apps can contain components such as:

  • Entities
  • Dashboards
  • Forms
  • Views
  • Charts
  • Business process flows

Privileges required for configuring apps


Before we start discussing the steps required to configure apps in Dynamics 365, it is important to understand the prerequisite security privileges which are required for a particular user, before they are able to have access to configuring apps. This is particularly important if you wish to give a power user or end-user the ability to design and use their own apps. The following table summarizes the minimum privileges required to configure apps in Dynamics 365:

Sr. No.

Entity name

Read

Write

Create

1.

App

Yes

Yes

Yes

2.

Solution

Yes

-

-

3.

Customization

Yes

Yes

-

 

A detailed look at the security roles area via CRM screens is given here:

  1. Under the Customization tab in Dynamics 365, Security Role: Read, Write, and Create privileges for App should be configured. Please refer to the following screenshot:
  1. Under the Customization tab in Dynamics 365, Security Role: Read and Write privileges for Customizations should be configured. Please refer to the following screenshot:
  1. Under...

Configuring Dynamics 365 apps


In this section, we will understand the various steps required to configure Dynamics 365 apps. The following diagram outlines the steps required to configure Dynamics 365 apps:

Here are descriptions of each step:

  1. Configure app properties: App properties such as name, Unique Name, icon, and more, need to be configured as the starting point to configure the app. A detailed description is given in the next section.
  2. Configure App Navigation with Sitemap designer: Every app can have its own site map. A detailed description is given in Chapter 1Customize Application Navigation.
  3. Include Required App components: App components can consist of artifacts or Entity Assets which need to be included in the app.
  4. Check App for any missing required components: The app needs to be checked for any missing required components. This can be done by hitting Validate before publishing the app.
  5. Make App available for use by Publish: For users to be able to access the app, it needs to be...

Understanding the app properties and designer interface


Apps have some specific properties which we need to go through before configuring an app. The following properties need to be provided before configuring an app. The following table summarizes the properties:

S. No.

Property name

Property description

1.

Name

This property needs to be provided to give a Unique Name for the app.

2.

Unique Name

Unique Name is auto-populated based on the Name property. It contains a prefix which is picked from the publisher prefix. The only part of the Unique Name can be changed (not the prefix as it is picked from the publisher of the solution).

A Unique Name can only contain English characters or numbers.

3.

Description

This property contains a short description of what the app is designed to achieve.

Note: It is recommended you use this property to provide meaningful descriptions for the app, as it will be useful information for ongoing CRM customization and maintenance.

4.

Icon

The default setting for this property...

Understanding the App Designer interface and adding components to the app


Now that we understand the app properties from the last section, it is time to configure our first Dynamics 365 app using the Dynamics 365 App Designer, and also understand the interface. The following steps can be taken to create a Dynamics 365 app:

  1. Navigate to Settings | My Apps as shown in the following screenshot:
  1. On the My Apps screen, you will be able to see a list of already configured apps out of the box, or any other custom apps already configured in your organization:
  1. On the My Apps screen, select the Create New App button, available at the top right of the screen, as shown in the following screenshot:

Alternatively, you can also select the Create New App tile, available at the bottom of the My Apps screen, under the AppsBeing Edited option on the screen:

  1. The next screen will show the App Designer screen with all the app properties that we described in the last section:

This image shows the App designer screen

  1. Choose...
Left arrow icon Right arrow icon
Download code icon Download Code

Key benefits

  • Implement business logic using processes, plugins, and client-side scripts with MS Dynamics 365
  • Develop custom CRM solutions to improve your business applications
  • A comprehensive guide that covers the new features of Microsoft Dynamics 365 and increasingly advanced topics.

Description

Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM is the most trusted name in enterprise-level customer relationship management. The latest version of Dynamics CRM comes with the important addition of exciting features guaranteed to make your life easier. It comes straight off the shelf with a whole new frontier of updated business rules, process enhancements, SDK methods, and other enhancements. This book will introduce you to the components of the new designer tools, such as SiteMap, App Module, and Visual Designer for Business Processes. Going deeper, this book teaches you how to develop custom SaaS applications leveraging the features of PowerApps available in Dynamics 365. Further, you will learn how to automate business processes using Microsoft Flow, and then we explore Web API, the most important platform update in Dynamics 365 CRM. Here, you'll also learn how to implement Web API in custom applications. You will learn how to write an Azure-aware plugin to design and integrate cloud-aware solutions. The book concludes with configuring services using newly released features such as Editable grids, Data Export Service, LinkedIn Integration, Relationship Insights, and Live Assist

Who is this book for?

This book targets skilled developers who are looking to build business-solution software and are new to application development in Microsoft Dynamics 365, especially for CRM.

What you will learn

  • • Discover new designers tools included in Dynamics 365 CRM
  • • Develop apps using the platform-agnostic Web API
  • • Leverage Azure Extensions to design cloud-aware applications
  • • Learn how to implement CRUD operation
  • • Create integrated real-world apps using Microsoft PowerApps and Flow by combining services such as Twitter, Facebook, and SharePoint
  • • Configure and use Artificial Intelligence Azure Cognitive Services for Recommendation and Text Analytic services

Product Details

Country selected
Publication date, Length, Edition, Language, ISBN-13
Publication date : Jan 30, 2018
Length: 418 pages
Edition : 1st
Language : English
ISBN-13 : 9781788399784
Vendor :
Microsoft

What do you get with a Packt Subscription?

Free for first 7 days. $19.99 p/m after that. Cancel any time!
Product feature icon Unlimited ad-free access to the largest independent learning library in tech. Access this title and thousands more!
Product feature icon 50+ new titles added per month, including many first-to-market concepts and exclusive early access to books as they are being written.
Product feature icon Innovative learning tools, including AI book assistants, code context explainers, and text-to-speech.
Product feature icon Thousands of reference materials covering every tech concept you need to stay up to date.
Subscribe now
View plans & pricing

Product Details

Publication date : Jan 30, 2018
Length: 418 pages
Edition : 1st
Language : English
ISBN-13 : 9781788399784
Vendor :
Microsoft

Packt Subscriptions

See our plans and pricing
Modal Close icon
$19.99 billed monthly
Feature tick icon Unlimited access to Packt's library of 7,000+ practical books and videos
Feature tick icon Constantly refreshed with 50+ new titles a month
Feature tick icon Exclusive Early access to books as they're written
Feature tick icon Solve problems while you work with advanced search and reference features
Feature tick icon Offline reading on the mobile app
Feature tick icon Simple pricing, no contract
$199.99 billed annually
Feature tick icon Unlimited access to Packt's library of 7,000+ practical books and videos
Feature tick icon Constantly refreshed with 50+ new titles a month
Feature tick icon Exclusive Early access to books as they're written
Feature tick icon Solve problems while you work with advanced search and reference features
Feature tick icon Offline reading on the mobile app
Feature tick icon Choose a DRM-free eBook or Video every month to keep
Feature tick icon PLUS own as many other DRM-free eBooks or Videos as you like for just NZ$7 each
Feature tick icon Exclusive print discounts
$279.99 billed in 18 months
Feature tick icon Unlimited access to Packt's library of 7,000+ practical books and videos
Feature tick icon Constantly refreshed with 50+ new titles a month
Feature tick icon Exclusive Early access to books as they're written
Feature tick icon Solve problems while you work with advanced search and reference features
Feature tick icon Offline reading on the mobile app
Feature tick icon Choose a DRM-free eBook or Video every month to keep
Feature tick icon PLUS own as many other DRM-free eBooks or Videos as you like for just NZ$7 each
Feature tick icon Exclusive print discounts

Frequently bought together


Stars icon
Total NZ$ 260.97
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Extensions Cookbook
NZ$89.99
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Enterprise Edition - Financial Management
NZ$89.99
Dynamics 365 Application Development
NZ$80.99
Total NZ$ 260.97 Stars icon

Table of Contents

13 Chapters
Customize Application Navigation Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Design Apps Using App Module Designer Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Define Processes Using Visual Process Designer Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Define Business Rules Using Business Rule Designer Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Creating Custom Business Apps Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Automate Business Processes Using Microsoft Flow Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Develop Apps using Web API Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Leverage Azure Extensions in Dynamics 365 Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Using Editable Grids in Apps Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Configure Microsoft Cognitive services Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Train the Users through Learning Path Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Other New Features in Dynamics 365 Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Other Books You May Enjoy Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Customer reviews

Rating distribution
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Half star icon Empty star icon 3.7
(3 Ratings)
5 star 66.7%
4 star 0%
3 star 0%
2 star 0%
1 star 33.3%
RICHA JAIN Apr 01, 2018
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
This is a very thorough book especially for developers. I also found this book good for people who are Solution Architects and can get an in-depth information on some of the latest topics like App Designer etc. I like the thoroughness along with code snippets shared by these very competent authors. A great start by the duo!
Amazon Verified review Amazon
dna Apr 25, 2018
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
When I first obtained this book, knowing the level of skill and passion the authors have for the product and development, I thought this book would primary apply to developers. I was happy to learn that assumption was incorrect. This book has something for everyone to include those new to the application, consultants, solution architects, practice level directors, project managers, developers, and more. If you want to learn about working with some of the newer Microsoft Dynamics 365 features and applications then you will appreciate this book.Some of the things I enjoyed about the book: written in easy to understand terms, but with enough detail to perform the activities in the application while reading along; goes through areas of the application that people really want to learn about like the site map, app module designer, business rule designer, configure cognitive services, using learning path, using editable grids in applications, PowerApps, Azure extensions, using the Web AP, and also provides sample code. If these areas of the application are important to you, then this book will be a great companion to help you along your learning journey.Nice Work Deepesh and Nishant! Cheers
Amazon Verified review Amazon
Antonio Silva Sep 06, 2018
Full star icon Empty star icon Empty star icon Empty star icon Empty star icon 1
Most of the examples are very poor and don't match ones with the others
Amazon Verified review Amazon
Get free access to Packt library with over 7500+ books and video courses for 7 days!
Start Free Trial

FAQs

What is included in a Packt subscription? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

A subscription provides you with full access to view all Packt and licnesed content online, this includes exclusive access to Early Access titles. Depending on the tier chosen you can also earn credits and discounts to use for owning content

How can I cancel my subscription? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

To cancel your subscription with us simply go to the account page - found in the top right of the page or at https://subscription.packtpub.com/my-account/subscription - From here you will see the ‘cancel subscription’ button in the grey box with your subscription information in.

What are credits? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Credits can be earned from reading 40 section of any title within the payment cycle - a month starting from the day of subscription payment. You also earn a Credit every month if you subscribe to our annual or 18 month plans. Credits can be used to buy books DRM free, the same way that you would pay for a book. Your credits can be found in the subscription homepage - subscription.packtpub.com - clicking on ‘the my’ library dropdown and selecting ‘credits’.

What happens if an Early Access Course is cancelled? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Projects are rarely cancelled, but sometimes it's unavoidable. If an Early Access course is cancelled or excessively delayed, you can exchange your purchase for another course. For further details, please contact us here.

Where can I send feedback about an Early Access title? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

If you have any feedback about the product you're reading, or Early Access in general, then please fill out a contact form here and we'll make sure the feedback gets to the right team. 

Can I download the code files for Early Access titles? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

We try to ensure that all books in Early Access have code available to use, download, and fork on GitHub. This helps us be more agile in the development of the book, and helps keep the often changing code base of new versions and new technologies as up to date as possible. Unfortunately, however, there will be rare cases when it is not possible for us to have downloadable code samples available until publication.

When we publish the book, the code files will also be available to download from the Packt website.

How accurate is the publication date? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

The publication date is as accurate as we can be at any point in the project. Unfortunately, delays can happen. Often those delays are out of our control, such as changes to the technology code base or delays in the tech release. We do our best to give you an accurate estimate of the publication date at any given time, and as more chapters are delivered, the more accurate the delivery date will become.

How will I know when new chapters are ready? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

We'll let you know every time there has been an update to a course that you've bought in Early Access. You'll get an email to let you know there has been a new chapter, or a change to a previous chapter. The new chapters are automatically added to your account, so you can also check back there any time you're ready and download or read them online.

I am a Packt subscriber, do I get Early Access? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Yes, all Early Access content is fully available through your subscription. You will need to have a paid for or active trial subscription in order to access all titles.

How is Early Access delivered? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Early Access is currently only available as a PDF or through our online reader. As we make changes or add new chapters, the files in your Packt account will be updated so you can download them again or view them online immediately.

How do I buy Early Access content? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Early Access is a way of us getting our content to you quicker, but the method of buying the Early Access course is still the same. Just find the course you want to buy, go through the check-out steps, and you’ll get a confirmation email from us with information and a link to the relevant Early Access courses.

What is Early Access? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Keeping up to date with the latest technology is difficult; new versions, new frameworks, new techniques. This feature gives you a head-start to our content, as it's being created. With Early Access you'll receive each chapter as it's written, and get regular updates throughout the product's development, as well as the final course as soon as it's ready.We created Early Access as a means of giving you the information you need, as soon as it's available. As we go through the process of developing a course, 99% of it can be ready but we can't publish until that last 1% falls in to place. Early Access helps to unlock the potential of our content early, to help you start your learning when you need it most. You not only get access to every chapter as it's delivered, edited, and updated, but you'll also get the finalized, DRM-free product to download in any format you want when it's published. As a member of Packt, you'll also be eligible for our exclusive offers, including a free course every day, and discounts on new and popular titles.