How to Synchronise a CRM 4.0 Entity to a SharePoint List

This article describes how to synchronise CRM 4.0 to a SharePoint list with Data Synchronisation Studio.

Requirements

This example requires the additional CRM 4.0 Connector for Data Synchronisation Studio.

Overview

In this example we will synchronise the Account entity from CRM instance to a list in SharePoint.

Step 1 - Connect to the CRM 4 Organization

Choose the Connect Data Source link in the Datasource A window to open the Data Source Connection Dialog.
Select Microsoft CRM 4.0 from the list of data sources.
  • Connect to CRM 4.0 Data Source
    Connect Data Source
 

Step 2 - Configure Connection Details

Deployment Type Setting

Choose your Deployment type from:
  • On-premise
  • Internet-facing deployment
  • Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online

On-premise

Enter the Server URL, here are some examples:
  • http://Myserver
  • http://MyServer:5555
The connection to CRM will be made with the current users context. If you need to connect using different credentials then enter the user name, password and domain.

Internet-facing deployment

Enter the Server URL, here are some examples:
  • http://MyCrmOrgansationName.MyCompanyServer.com
  • http://MyCrmOrgansationName.MyCompanyServer.local:5555
Enter the user name and password to connect to the server.

Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online

This connection type should work but should be considered as untested.

Organization Setting

From the Organization drop down list select your organisation name. Clicking the drop down will open a connection to CRM and retrieve a list of available organisations from the server. If you receive an error you should check your connection details and try again.
Use the SharePoint List Wizard to Create a SharePoint List from the Schema loaded by Data Synchronisation Studio.

Step 3 - Configure CRM Sync Details

Entity Name Setting

Select the account Entity Name from the drop down list. Ensure you have CRM read permissions on the entity.

Where Filter Setting

Optionally you my wish to filter the accounts that synchronised to SharePoint, to do this you put a FetchXml filter into the Where Filter field. For example, the following Where Filter could be used to only get names that start with a, b or c.
<filter type='or'>
    <condition attribute = 'name' operator='like' value='a%'/>
    <condition attribute = 'name' operator='like' value='b%'/>
    <condition attribute = 'name' operator='like' value='c%'/>
</filter>
More examples here: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms936573.aspx

Max Connections Setting

Max Connections is only applicable for changing data in the CRM and therefore not relevant for this example. Max Connections is used to set the amount of connections used to update the CRM server.

Show Read-Only Fields Setting

The Show Read-Only Fields options allow you to bring back the descriptive read-only fields. By default only updatable fields are provided by the CRM provider, when CRM is the source of data you may also want to use descriptive read-only fields such as pick list names, retaliated records name fields.
If you try and update a read-only field the CRM provider will ignore it logging a message into the log.

Add, Update and Delete Setting

Add, Update and Delete allows you to control what the provider is allowed to do. Every DataSync provider has these as properties; they are configurable here for convenience only.

Step 4 - Schema Map

The schema map defines which fields we wish to use from the entity. Remove any fields not required.
  • Entity open in Data Sync
    Entity open in Data Sync
  • Data Sync Schema Map
    Data Sync Schema Map
 
It is recommended that you only use the fields that are actually required; each field in the schema map does have an impact on the speed of the synchronisation.

Step 5 - Create SharePoint List

Use the SharePoint List Wizard to Create a SharePoint List from the Schema loaded by Data Synchronisation Studio.

Start the Wizard

Start the SharePoint List Wizard
Step through the Wizard
  • Select SharePoint Server
    Select SharePoint Server
  • Select SharePoint Site
    Select SharePoint Site
  • Select List Name
    Select List Name
 

Step 6 - Compare A->B and Synchronise

Use the SharePoint List Wizard to Create a SharePoint List from the Schema loaded by Data Synchronisation Studio.

Start the Wizard

Start the SharePoint List Wizard

Synchronisation

  • Compare Results
    Compare Results
  • Start a Synchronisation
    Start a Synchronisation
  • Synchronisation Complete
    Synchronisation Complete