How to merge records on custom entities in MS CRM 2011 ?

Question

Hello Friends,

We are looking for a solution to merge Custom Entities in MS Dynamics CRM 2011.  The OOTB delivers Merge in Contacts, Accounts And Leads, Since we are using Dynamics as an XRM, we have custom entities that we need to Merge to clean up the data.

Any help on the solution - either custom code or tools available will be greatly appreciated

Thank you for you response.

Thanks,

Srikanth Reddy

Answer 1

Hi,

You could replicate the out-of-box functionality using a Dialog Process.

I've created a proof of concept, it's quite time consuming to set up, but I'm sure it would be quicker than creating an ASPX or Silverlight screen to perform the same functionality.

Basically the Dialog is run on 1 record, then using a Query you can retrieve all other records (I've also included a search to filter more easily). Once the user selects the matching record, for each field you want merged, display the value from both the primary record, and the matching record.

Allow them to select one of the 2 options using a radio button response for each field.

After capturing all the responses, assign the appropriate value for each field into a variable (defined at the top). - this should be something like: If response value = 0, assign value to primary records value... otherwise If response value = 1, assign value to matching records value.

Once all variables are assigned, you can update the primary record with the new 'merged' values.

Next you want to deactivate the 'merged' record.

If you are merging owners, use an Assign step to select the new owner.

That's it! This will provide a quick and easy merge function, and it will be a lot faster than doing it in ASPX or Silverlight.

I've added some screenshots below of my Dialog:

Hope this helps!

-Paul

Answer 2

Here are some additional resources to help with creating dialogs if you're not already familiar:

http://www.magnetism.co.nz/blog/10-12-29/How_to_use_Dialogs_in_Dynamics_CRM_2011.aspx
http://www.magnetism.co.nz/blog/12-01-10/Dynamics_CRM_2011_Dialog_Process_Conditional_Branches_Paths.aspx
http://www.magnetism.co.nz/blog/12-01-06/Dynamics_CRM_2011_Dialog_Process_Dynamically_Query_CRM_Data.aspx

-Paul