Tag: Dynamics365

Python + Dataverse Series – #02 – use Datavese Web API using Python

Hi Folks,

This is in continuation to the previous blog post…if you haven’t gone through the earlier post on connecting to Dataverse using Python, please have a look here

Python + Dataverse Series – #01 – Console Application using Python

Now, we will see how you can retrieve the records in Dataverse using Web API using Python…

  1. Follow the previous blog post for connecting to Dataverse using Python
  2. Once you get the access token via the TDS End point, we can invoke the Dataverse Web API using below code…
import pyodbc
import msal
import requests
import json
# Azure AD details
client_id = 'XXXX'
client_secret = 'XXXX'
tenant_id = 'XXXX'
authority = f'https://login.microsoftonline.com/{tenant_id}'
resource = 'https://XXXX.crm8.dynamics.com'
# SQL endpoint
sql_server = 'XXXX.crm8.dynamics.com'
database = 'XXXX'
# Get token with error handling
try:
print(f"Attempting to authenticate with tenant: {tenant_id}")
print(f"Authority URL: {authority}")
app = msal.ConfidentialClientApplication(client_id, authority=authority, client_credential=client_secret)
print("Acquiring token…")
token_response = app.acquire_token_for_client(scopes=[f'{resource}/.default'])
if 'error' in token_response:
print(f"Token acquisition failed: {token_response['error']}")
print(f"Error description: {token_response.get('error_description', 'No description available')}")
else:
access_token = token_response['access_token']
print("Token acquired successfully and your token is!"+access_token)
print(f"Token length: {len(access_token)} characters")
except ValueError as e:
print(f"Configuration Error: {e}")
print("\nPossible solutions:")
print("1. Verify your tenant ID is correct")
print("2. Check if the tenant exists and is active")
print("3. Ensure you're using the right Azure cloud (commercial, government, etc.)")
except Exception as e:
print(f"Unexpected error: {e}")
#Get 5 contacts from Dataverse using Web API
import requests
import json
try:
print("Making Web API request to get contacts…")
# Dataverse Web API endpoint for contacts
web_api_url = f"{resource}/api/data/v9.2/contacts"
# Set up headers with authorization token
headers = {
'Authorization': f'Bearer {access_token}',
'OData-MaxVersion': '4.0',
'OData-Version': '4.0',
'Accept': 'application/json',
'Content-Type': 'application/json'
}
# Add query parameters to get only 5 contacts with specific fields
params = {
'$top': 5,
'$select': 'contactid,fullname,emailaddress1,telephone1,createdon'
}
# Make the GET request
response = requests.get(web_api_url, headers=headers, params=params)
if response.status_code == 200:
print("Web API request successful!")
contacts_data = response.json()
print(f"\nFound {len(contacts_data['value'])} contacts:")
print("-" * 80)
for i, contact in enumerate(contacts_data['value'], 1):
print(f"Contact {i}:")
print(f" ID: {contact.get('contactid', 'N/A')}")
print(f" Name: {contact.get('fullname', 'N/A')}")
print(f" Email: {contact.get('emailaddress1', 'N/A')}")
print(f" Phone: {contact.get('telephone1', 'N/A')}")
print(f" Created: {contact.get('createdon', 'N/A')}")
print("-" * 40)
else:
print(f"Web API request failed with status code: {response.status_code}")
print(f"Error details: {response.text}")
except requests.exceptions.RequestException as e:
print(f"Request error: {e}")
except KeyError as e:
print(f"Token not available: {e}")
except Exception as e:
print(f"Unexpected error: {e}")
view raw Python – Dataverse – Web API hosted with ❤ by GitHub

You can use the VS Code as IDE, copy the above code in a python file, next click on Run Python File at the top of the VS Code

So, once you get the Access token, you can invoke the Web API using Python similar to how we did it using Javascript…

Please download the Python Jupyter Notebook if you want to work on this in VS Code

https://github.com/pavanmanideep/DataverseSDK_PythonSamples/blob/main/Python-Dataverse-WebAPI-GetData-02.ipynb

If you want to follow along in this series, please see below post

Python + Dataverse Series – Post #03: Create, Update, Delete records via Web API

Hope this helps…

Cheers,

PMDY

Python + Dataverse Series – #01 – Console Application using Python

Hi Folks,

This series is for Pro Code Developers especially those working on Dataverse and want to know how to work with Dataverse and Python. I am starting this series as I see little to no content in this area.

So, in this post, first we will try to understand how to write a console application using Python Code utilizing(Tabular Data Stream) the TDS end point. Well, there were many posts in the internet for connecting to Dataverse using Python but uses more libraries and requires bit more code

Below posts will have hardcoded configurations as they are meant for initial trial purposes, going further, we will align with the best practices.

import pyodbc
import msal
# Azure AD details
client_id = '0e1c58b1-3d9a-4618-8889-6c6505288d3c'
client_secret = 'qlU8Q~dmhKFfdL1ph2YsLK9URbhIPn~qWmfr1ceL'
tenant_id = '97ae7e35-2f87-418b-9432-6733950f3d5c'
authority = f'https://login.microsoftonline.com/{tenant_id}'
resource = 'https://ecellorsdev.crm8.dynamics.com'
# SQL endpoint
sql_server = 'ecellorsdev.crm8.dynamics.com'
database = 'ecellorsdev'
# Get token with error handling
try:
print(f"Attempting to authenticate with tenant: {tenant_id}")
print(f"Authority URL: {authority}")
app = msal.ConfidentialClientApplication(client_id, authority=authority, client_credential=client_secret)
print("Acquiring token…")
token_response = app.acquire_token_for_client(scopes=[f'{resource}/.default'])
if 'error' in token_response:
print(f"Token acquisition failed: {token_response['error']}")
print(f"Error description: {token_response.get('error_description', 'No description available')}")
else:
access_token = token_response['access_token']
print("Token acquired successfully and your token is!"+access_token)
print(f"Token length: {len(access_token)} characters")
except ValueError as e:
print(f"Configuration Error: {e}")
print("\nPossible solutions:")
print("1. Verify your tenant ID is correct")
print("2. Check if the tenant exists and is active")
print("3. Ensure you're using the right Azure cloud (commercial, government, etc.)")
except Exception as e:
print(f"Unexpected error: {e}")
view raw ConsoleApplicationUsingPython.py hosted with ❤ by GitHub

The logic just uses two libraries in Python

  1. pyodbc
  2. msal

The code efficiently handles all the errors for efficient tracking….

You can easily work with Python using VS Code as below,

Hover over Run option –> Click Start Debugging

You will able to get the Access Token after invoking the Dataverse.

Download the Python Jupyter Notebook if you want to work on this in VS Code.

https://github.com/pavanmanideep/DataverseSDK_PythonSamples/blob/main/Python-Dataverse-ConsoleApp-01.ipynb

Hope this posts helps…

If you want to continue reading this series, please follow along

Python + Dataverse Series – #02 – use Datavese Web API using Python

Cheers,

PMDY

Opening a Custom page to capture entity details for Case Rejection in Model Driven Apps

Hi Folks,

In this blog post, I will talk about implementing a custom page for your implementations.

Here in our use case, customer want to see a pop up dialog box where they can reject the cases from a button and when reject is clicked, there should be a dialog box to capture the reject reason and comments and update them back to the record. So for this we had to implement a custom page and called from a Ribbon button. If you just want to show an alert, you can very easily implement using JavaScript with the help of OOB Alert Dialog…

Xrm.Navigation.openAlertDialog(alertStrings,alertOptions).then(closeCallback,errorCallback);

But in case as user want to update entity details like optionset field, directly from the pop up, you should consider using the approach as we did using a custom page.

.

All we have used is JavaScript, Ribbon Workbench and Custom Page…First is to design the custom page in https://make.powerapps.com/

The optionset for Reject Reason is bound to the Reject Reason combo box using the below property.

On the App start, we will set the parameter with what we have supplied from the ribbon on-click function.

On the OnSelect property of the Save button, we can use the below function

Function:

If(IsBlank(RejectReasondrp.Selected) Or IsBlank(txtRemarks.Value),Set(varmsg,"Fill both the values")&&Set(varmsgpopup, true),
Patch(Cases,LookUp(Cases,Case=GUID(CaseId.Text)),{Comments:txtRemarks.Value,'Rejection Reason':RejectReasondrp.Selected.Value}));
If(!IsBlank(RejectReasondrp.Selected) && !IsBlank(txtRemarks.Value),Set(varShowpopup,true),"");
view raw OnSavePowerFx hosted with ❤ by GitHub

Here’s the js code for the button OnClick Event…

//On Click of Reject button
onClickOfRejectRibbonButton: function (executionContext) {
"use strict";
var formContext = executionContext;
var recordId = formContext.data.entity.getId();
recordId = recordId.replace("{", "");
recordId = recordId.replace("}", "");
var contactId = formContext.getAttribute("customerid").getValue()[0].id;
contactId = contactId.replace("{", "");
contactId = contactId.replace("}", "");
var pageInput = {
pageType: "custom",
name: "new_custompage_7e429",
entityName: "incident",
recordId: recordId
};
var navigationOptions = {
target: 2,
position: 1,
height: 400,
width: 700,
title: "Case Resolution Confirmation" // Enter Title Of Your Choice
};
//Using navigateTo Client API.
Xrm.Navigation.navigateTo(pageInput, navigationOptions).then(
function success() {
// Run code on success
//formContext.data.refresh();
},
function error() {
// Handle errors
formContext.data.refresh();
}
);
}
view raw RejectButtonOnClick.js hosted with ❤ by GitHub

Here the ribbon workbench customization added…

Finally publish the customizations and add the custom page to the model driven app…don’t forget to add this to your app as this mandatory to get the authorization to your page as below, else you see below error in developer tools of your browser as below…and no custom page opens up…

That’s it…when a Reject is clicked, you should a see a page as below..

Upon entering the details as above, you will be shown a confirmation screen as below..

Once you click on Close, the selected details will be updated back in the record.

Hope this helps someone implementing custom page for a similar requirement….

Cheers,

PMDY

Deploy dependent assemblies easily using PAC CLI

Hi Folks,

This is another post related to Plugins in Dynamics 365 CE.

Considering medium to large scale implementations, there isn’t a single Power Platform Project which don’t require merging of external assemblies.

We relied on ILMerge to merge those assemblies into a single DLL. We used to search for ILMerge assemblies in Nuget and installed them for use.

Then the plugins are signed in for several reasons, primarily related to security, assembly integrity, and versioning of the sandbox worker process.

But either of the above are no longer needed with the help of Dependent Assembly feature…with few simple steps, you can build the Plugin…Interesting, isn’t it, read on…

Pre requisites:

  • Download Visual Studio 2022 Community Edition here
  • Download VS Code from here
  • Download Plugin registration tool from here
  • Download PAC CLI from here
  • Download and install NuGet Package Explorer from this link NuGet Package Explorer open the NuGet Package Explorer

Avoid Direct Plugin Project Creation in Visual Studio

  • Never create a Plugin project directly from Visual Studio or any other IDE here after.
Use Microsoft PowerApps CLI instead
  • Always use Power Apps CLI as it easy and only requires a single command to create the entire Plugin project scaffolding
  • This ensures a standardized and reliable development environment.
  • It automatically creates a Nuget Package file that will be used to avoid ‘Could not load assemblies or its dependencies‘.

Ok, let’s begin.

Once you have downloaded all the prerequisites mentioned, make sure you have installed them in your local machine. Others are straight forward to download, for NuGet Package explorer, you need to search in Windows store to install.

  1. Create a local folder for the Plugins

Navigate to that folder from VS Code

Now open terminal, run the pac command as below

Execute the following command to create plugin project 

  • Browse to the directory where you want to create the plugin project
  • Execute the command on CMD to create plugin project “pac plugin init“

A plugin project will be created at your desired location as follows

Plugin project in local folder will be created as below

That’s it, you can close the VS Code for now.

Click on the CS Proj file and open it in Visual Studio

By default, 2 files are automatically created when you create a plugin project as shown above.

Now will install Bouncy Castle which is an external library, right click on the Plugin Solution –> Manage Nuge Packages

I have added Bouncy Castle NuGet Package to my plugin project for Encryption and Decryption. You can have your own required NuGet Package as per your need.

Build your project

After a successful build, you will get the output result as follows

Browse the directory of your project

Open the file Plugin_Project.1.0.0.nupkg in Nuget Package Explorer by double clicking it

Now you can see that this nuget package file contains the information related to the added nuget package of Bouncy Castle that we want to include in our plugin project package as follows. In your case, you can have the required nuget package that you want to add 

Now open up plugin registration tool

Click to create new connection

Provide login details and login

Click to Register New Package

Browse to the directory where your nuget package file was created automatically when you build the project and import this file 

Select the Command Data Service Default Solution and import it

Click on view and Display by package

Now your Plugin Project is successfully registered with all dependent assemblies and ready to use.

While this post gives you a structure on how you can do build a plugin assembly, you can add the business logic as per your need.

Conclusion:

In conclusion, navigating the intricacies of Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM plugins demands a nuanced approach, especially when dealing with NuGet Packages and dependent assemblies. This article has delved into the critical process of resolving the persistent ‘Could not load assemblies or its dependencies‘ issue, offering a comprehensive, step-by-step demonstration.

By following the recommended best practices, such as avoiding direct plugin project creation in Visual Studio and harnessing the power of Microsoft PowerApps CLI, developers can establish a standardized and reliable development environment. The CLI’s automatic creation of a NuGet Package file not only streamlines the process but also reduces the errors.

To further facilitate your journey, prerequisites such as downloading and installing essential tools like the Plugin Registration tool, Microsoft PowerApps CLI, and NuGet Package Explorer are highlighted. The guide emphasizes the significance of these tools in ensuring a smooth plugin development experience.

By adopting these practices and incorporating the suggested steps into your workflow, you not only troubleshoot existing issues but also fortify your understanding of the entire process. Take charge of your Dynamics 365 CRM plugin development, elevate your skills, and sidestep common pitfalls by mastering the art of handling NuGet Packages and dependencies seamlessly.

References:

Build and package plug-in code

Cheers,

PMDY 

Creating In-App Notifications in Model Driven Apps in an easier way – Quick Review

Hi Folks,

In App notifications are trending these days where many customers are showing interest in implementing these for their businesses.

So, in this blog post, I am going to show you the easiest way to generate In App notification using XrmToolBox in few clicks. Use the below tool to generate one.

So, let me walk you through step by step

Step 1: Open In App Notification Builder in XrmToolBox

Step 2: In App notification is a setting that should be enabled at App level, so meaning if you have developed few Model Driven Apps, you will be able to enable the In App notification individually for each one of them.

Step 3: In the above snapshot, we should be able to select the respective App for which we want to enable the In App Notification. Red bubble besides indicate that the In App notification is not enabled for this App.

So, we need to enable it by clicking on the red icon itself, you should then be able to get this prompt as below.

Step 5: Upon confirming the confirmation dialog box, the In App notification will be enabled for that App and you the red button turns to green as below saying that In App Notification is enabled.

Now that the In App notification is enabled in the App, we will proceed with the remaining setup.

Step 6: You can proceed to give a meaningful title, body for you In App Notification. Also mention the required toast type and specify the expiry duration, Icon. Also Click on Add icon and choose the action required to be performed when In App notification is clicked.

Step 9: You can even choose the type of action to be performed…

For example, let’s use to open as dialog and show list view

Your screen should look something like below

Step 10: Once done, you can click on create and that’s it you have now created In App Notification. Now let’s test this for the user who have priveleges to access this App.

If not, you will face this error..

Log in with user account for which the In App Notification is triggered.

Hurray!!!! That’s it, how easy it was to create In App Notification in Low Code manner.

You can even get the code behind this as well…

However, there were other ways to trigger the In App Notification from a Pro Code angle, let’s discuss those as well.

In this case you need to manually turn the In App Notification feature on by going to settings for the Model Driven App as below first.

Notifications can be sent using the SendAppNotification message using SDK.

You can either trigger from and can choose based on your convenience to trigger a similar notification.

Client Scripting

var systemuserid = '<user-guid>';
var data = {
"actions": [
{
"data": {
"url": "?pagetype=entitylist&etn=account&viewid=00000000-0000-0000-00aa-000010001002",
"navigationTarget": "dialog"
},
"title": "Link to list of notifications"
}
]
};
var notificationRecord =
{
'title': 'Learning In App Notificaiton',
'body': `In-App Notifications in Model-Driven Apps are messages or alerts designed to notify users of important events or actions within the app. These notifications appear directly inside the application, providing a seamless way to deliver information without relying on external methods such as emails.`,
'ownerid@odata.bind': '/systemusers(' + systemuserid + ')',
'icontype': 100000003, // Warning
'toasttype': 200000000, // Timed
'ttlinseconds': 1209600,
'data': JSON.stringify(data)
}
Xrm.WebApi.createRecord('appnotification', notificationRecord).
then(
function success(result) {
console.log('notification created with single action: ' + result.id);
},
function (error) {
console.log(error.message);
// handle error conditions
}
);
view raw JS hosted with ❤ by GitHub

Plugin/SDK

var notification = new Entity("appnotification")
{
["title"] = @"Learning In App Notificaiton",
["body"] = @"In-App Notifications in Model-Driven Apps are messages or alerts designed to notify users of important events or actions within the app. These notifications appear directly inside the application, providing a seamless way to deliver information without relying on external methods such as emails.",
["ownerid"] = new EntityReference("systemuser", new Guid("00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000")),
["icontype"] = new OptionSetValue(100000003), // Warning
["toasttype"] = new OptionSetValue(200000000), // Timed
["ttlinseconds"] = 1209600,
["data"] = @"{
""actions"": [
{
""data"": {
""url"": ""?pagetype=entitylist&etn=account&viewid=00000000-0000-0000-00aa-000010001002"",
""navigationTarget"": ""dialog""
},
""title"": ""Link to list of notifications""
}
]
}"
};
service.Create(notification);
view raw gistfile1.txt hosted with ❤ by GitHub

Power Automate:

You should design your Power Automate something like below to trigger a similar notification.

Note: Currently In App Notification will be triggered for only Model Driven Apps.

Reference:

In App Notification Documentation

Hope this saves some of your time…

Cheers,

PMDY

Global AI Bootcamp 2025 – Singapore

🚀 You’re Invited to the Global AI Bootcamp 2025 – Singapore Edition!

Are you passionate about AI, Power Platform, and Microsoft technologies? Want to learn how AI is transforming businesses and industries? Then this event is for you!

🎯 What to Expect?
✅ Expert-led sessions on AI, Copilot, Power Platform, and more
✅ Hands-on workshops to apply AI in real-world scenarios
✅ Networking opportunities with industry leaders and AI enthusiasts
✅ Absolutely FREE to attend!


Event Date: Saturday, 8 March 2025

10:00 am – 4:00 pm (GMT+8)

Meeting Link

This is your chance to upgrade your AI skills, connect with like-minded professionals, and explore the latest AI innovations.

#GlobalAIBootcamp #AI #MicrosoftAI #PowerPlatform #SingaporeTech #FreeEvent

Call Custom Actions in Dataverse using Web API – Quick Recap

Hi Folks,

Here is how you can quickly call action using Web API, with this method you can execute a single action, function, or CRUD operation. In the below example, let’s see how you can call an action. Here is function…to achieve this..

var formContext = executionContext.getFormContext();
var message = "Please enter a valid NRIC Number";
var uniqueId = "nric_valid";
var NRIC = formContext.getAttribute("new_nric").getValue();
if(NRIC !== null)
{
var execute_ValidateNRIC = {
NRIC: NRIC, // Call this function only when NRIC value which is non-null
getMetadata: function () {
return {
boundParameter: null,
parameterTypes: {
NRIC: { typeName: "Edm.String", structuralProperty: 1 }
},
operationType: 0,
operationName: "new_ValidateNRIC",
outputParameterTypes: {
IsValid: { typeName: "Edm.Boolean" }
}
};
}
};
Xrm.WebApi.execute(execute_new_ValidateNRIC).then(
function success(response) {
if (response.ok) {
response.json().then(function (data) {
if (!data.IsValid) {
formContext.getControl("new_nric").setNotification(message, uniqueId);
} else {
formContext.getControl("new_nric").clearNotification(uniqueId);
}
}).catch(function (error) {
Xrm.Navigation.openAlertDialog("Error occured from Validate NRIC "+error);
});
}
}
).catch(function (error) {
Xrm.Navigation.openAlertDialog(error.message);
}).catch(function (error) {
Xrm.Navigation.openAlertDialog(error.message);
});
}
}
view raw Js to Call Custom Action using Web API hosted with ❤ by GitHub

This example details with Unbound action, which is not tagged to any entity, however if in case on Bound action, you will specify the entity name for bound parameter instead of null. You need to specify the Metadata accordingly for your Action. Let’s understand it’s syntax first…

Xrm.WebApi.online.execute(request).then(successCallback, errorCallback);

Parameters

Dataverse – Git Integration – Preview – Quick Review

Hi Folks,

This post is about Dataverse and Git Integration which is the most sought after feature in the todays automation Era. This is a preview feature, you would need to create a new environment with Early Access enabled to test this feature or you can use an existing US Preview environment for testing this out.

While every MDA(Model Driven Application) and it’s components can be safely and moved across the environments using Solutions with the help of Azure DevOps Pipelines. However when coming to integrating Power Platform Solutions to Azure DevOps, we had to manually export the solution and download them each and every time when we would like to commit the Solution Artifacts to Azure DevOps Repo.

With this new Preview feature we can directly integrate the Power Platform Solutions to Azure DevOps.

Let’s see this action…wait a moment, there were some prerequisites to be considered…

  1. Environment should be a Managed Environment to start using this and you need to be an Admin for the environment
  2. Azure DevOps subscription and license should be available to set this up, also permission to read source files and commits(should be a member of contributor group in Azure DevOps) from a Repo
  3. Your email address used for Azure DevOps and Power Platform Solutions should be the same

Setup:

Connecting Dataverse with Azure DevOps is easy but requires a bit of understanding of the Binding options available.

Well, there were two types of Binding options

  1. Environment Binding – Single root folder binds to all the unmanaged solutions in the environment
  2. Solution Binding – Different solutions uses a different root folder in Azure DevOps for binding

Note: Once the binding is setup, there isn’t away to change, so set this up carefully, else you may need to delete the folder and create a new one in Azure DevOps.

Let’s see one by one…for demoing purpose, I have created two projects in Azure DevOps Instance

  1. Solution Binding: When we use this, all the components will be available as pending changes
  2. Environment Binding: When we use this, all the unmanaged solution components will be mapped to one Azure DevOps root folder. Let’s set this up.

We are currently able to use only Solution binding, as Environment Binding doesn’t show up any changes to be committed, but there is a catch here.

We can set up for Environment binding and verify if the Solution components are getting marked as pending changes or not. Do note that Setting up the Binding is a one time activity for environment, once setup, it can’t be changed from one type to another.

Open https://make.powerapps.com and navigate to solutions and click on ellipses as below

Once clicked on Connect to Git

Since we were currently using Environment binding, let’s select the Connection Type as Environment

Then click on Connect, once connected, you should a alert message in power apps maker portal at the top.

Now create a new solution as below named ecellors Solution

Verify the integration by clicking on Git Integration as below

It should show as below

Now let’s add few components to the solution we created

Once added, let’s publish the unmanaged solution and verify it..

Do look closely, you should see a Source Control icon highlighted in yellow color for illustration.

Also, you should see a commit option available at the top

You should now be able to commit the solution components as if you are committing the code changes.

It also specifies the branch to which we were commiting…

While it takes few minutes unlike pushing the code to Azure DevOps to push the changes, however this would depend based on the number of solution components you were pushing..once it is done, it will show a commit message like below…

Now let’s verify our Azure DevOps Repo..for this you can go back to the main solutions page, click on Git Connection at the top..

After clicking on Git Connection, click on the link to Microsoft Azure DevOps as below

Then you should be navigated to Azure DevOps folder as below where all the solution files will be tracked component wise.

Now we will move back to Power Apps maker portal and make some changes to any of the components inside the solution…

Let’s say, I just edited the flow name and created a new connection reference, saved and published the customizations.

If you did some changes at the Azure DevOps repo level, you can come back and click on Check for updates, if there were any conflicts between changes done in Azure DevOps and component in solution, it will be shown as conflict.

We now have 3 component changes and all were listed here…you can click on Commit.

As soon as the changes are committed, you should see a message saying Commit Successful and 0 Changes, 0 Updates, 0 Conflicts.

Now you successfully integrated Dataverse Solution components with Azure DevOps without any manual intervention required while deploying solutions using Azure DevOps Pipelines.

Hope you learned something new today…while feature is still in Preview and only available for early release, while couple of issues still need to fixed by Microsoft.

I have tested this feature by creating an environment in US Preview region and this feature will be a good value to projects using Automation and this solution repository can be further deployed to other environments using Azure DevOps Pipelines.

This will be rolled out soon next year, hope you learned something new today…

Cheers,

PMDY

Microsoft Power Platform Center of Excellence (CoE) Starter Kit – Basics – Learn COE #01

Hi Folks,

This is an introductory post, but it’s worth going through where I will be sharing basics about using Centre of Excellence(COE) in Power Platform. Let’s get started.

So, what’s Center of Excellence? COE plays a key role in deriving strategy and move forward in this fast-paced world to keep up with the innovation. Firstly, we may need to ask ourselves few questions…Do your organization have lot of flows, apps and copilots aka power virtual agents? Do you want to effective manage them? Then how you want to move forward…using COE Starter kit is a great choice. It is absolutely free to download, the starter kit is a collection of components and tools which will help to oversee and adopt Power Platform Solutions. The assets part of the CoE Starter Kit should be seen as a template from which you inherit your individual solution or can serve as inspiration for implementing your own apps and flows.

There were some prerequisites before you can install your COE Starter Kit. Many of the medium to large scale enterprise Power Platform implementations should be possessing in their tenant.

  1. Microsoft Power Platform Service Admin, global tenant admin, or Dynamics 365 service admin role.
  2. Dataverse is the foundation for the kit.
  3. Power Apps Per User license (non-trial) and Microsoft 365 license.
  4. Power Automate Per User license, or Per Flow licenses (non-trial).
  5. The identity must have access to an Office 365 mailbox that has the REST API enabled meeting the requirements of Outlook connector.
  6. Make sure you enable the Power Apps Code Components in Power Platform Admin Center
  7. If you want to track unique users and app launches, you need to have Azure App Registration having access to Microsoft 365 audit log.
  8. If you would like to share the reports in Power BI, minimally you require a Power BI pro license.
  9. Setting up communication groups to talk between Admins, Makers and Users.
  10. Create 2 environments, 1 for test and 1 for production use of Starter Kit
  11. Install Creator Kit in your environment by downloading the components from here

The following connectors should be allowed to effectively use data loss prevention policies(DLP)

Once you were done checking the requirements, you can download from the starter kit here.

You can optionally install from App Source here or using Power Platform CLI here.

The kit provides some automation and tooling to help teams build monitoring and automation necessary to support a CoE.

While we saw what advantages are of having COE in your organization and other prerequisites. In the upcoming blog post, we will see how you can install COE starter kit in your Power Platform tenant and set it up to effectively plan your organization resources for highest advantage.

Cheers,

PMDY

When to use NO-LOCK in SQL – Quick Review

Hi Folks,

Well this post is not related to Power Platform, but I want to bring it on here to specify the significance of using NOLOCK in Power Platform Implementations using SQL Server.

Recently during our Deployment activity, we had a SSIS job which is writing a lot of data into SQL Server, at the same time, we were trying to read the data from the same table. I received never ending Executing query … message. It is when I had arguments on this, hence I would like to share the significance of NOLOCK.

The default behaviour in SQL Server is for every query to acquire its own shared lock prior to reading data from a given table. This behaviour ensures that you are only reading committed data. However, the NOLOCK table hint allows you to instruct the query optimizer to read a given table without obtaining an exclusive or shared lock. The benefits of querying data using the NOLOCK table hint is that it requires less memory and prevents deadlocks from occurring with any other queries that may be reading similar data. 

In SQL Server, the NOLOCK hint, also known as the READUNCOMMITTED isolation level, allows a SELECT statement to read data from a table without acquiring shared locks on the data. This means it can potentially read uncommitted changes made by other transactions, which can lead to what’s called dirty reads.

Here’s an example:

Let’s say you have a table named Employee with columns EmployeeID and EmployeeName.

CREATE TABLE Employee (
    EmployeeID INT,
    EmployeeName VARCHAR(100)
);

INSERT INTO Employee (EmployeeID, EmployeeName)
VALUES (1, 'Alice'), (2, 'Bob'), (3, 'Charlie');

Now, if two transactions are happening concurrently:

Transaction 1:

BEGIN TRANSACTION
UPDATE Employee
SET EmployeeName = 'David'
WHERE EmployeeID = 1;

Transaction 2:

SELECT EmployeeName
FROM Employee WITH (NOLOCK)
WHERE EmployeeID = 1;

If Transaction 2 uses WITH (NOLOCK) when reading the Employee table, it might read the uncommitted change made by Transaction 1 and retrieve 'David' as the EmployeeName for EmployeeID 1. However, if Transaction 1 rolled back the update, Transaction 2 would have obtained inaccurate or non-existent data, resulting in a dirty read.

Key takeaways about NOLOCK:

  • ✅ Pros: Reduces memory use, avoids blocking, speeds up reads.
  • ❌ Cons: May read uncommitted or inconsistent data.

Using NOLOCK can be helpful in scenarios where you prioritize reading data speed over strict consistency. So, in my case as I want to just view the data, using NOLOCK is good without locking the query. However, it’s essential to be cautious since it can lead to inconsistent or inaccurate results, especially in critical transactional systems.

Other considerations like potential data inconsistencies, increased chance of reading uncommitted data, and potential performance implications should be weighed before using NOLOCK.

Conclusion:

There are benefits and drawbacks to specifying NOLOCK table hint as a result they should not just be included in every T-SQL script without a clear understanding of what they do. Nevertheless, should a decision be made to use NOLOCK table hint, it is recommended that you include the WITH keyword. Using NOLOCK without WITH Statement is deprecated. Always use a COMMIT keyword at the end of the transaction.

Hope this helps…

Cheers,

PMDY