How To Develop A Plug-in For Outlook In Offline Working Mode Through Microsoft Dynamics Development?

By Author: Dharmesh Aegis
Total Articles: 105
Comment this article

This particular article focuses on how Microsoft Dynamics development team can create a plug-in for both online as well as offline execution on a Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 server. Once a simple plug-in is created, it has to be modified accordingly to add offline capability. The Plug-in registration tool is used to register the plug-in with the Microsoft Dynamics CRM server and the plug-in has to be tested in both online and offline modes.
In order to achieve the different objectives mentioned above, it is important to focus on the prerequisites that need to be there and these include:
Visual Studio 2005, Visual Studio 2008 or Visual C# Express
A pre-built version of the plug-in registration tool
Possessing complete access to the SDK samples/bin folder
A simple plug-in has to be created in order to modify and achieve its functioning in the offline mode
Microsoft Office Outlook should also be installed along with Microsoft Dynamics CRM server
It is important to also install Microsoft Dynamics CRM for Microsoft Office Outlook with Offline Access
There has to be network access to ...
... a Microsoft Dynamics development CRM 4.0 server
CRM development team would also need a Microsoft Dynamics CRM account with security role of a System Administrator or System Customizer, which is also a member of the Deployment Administrators group in the deployment manager.
1. In order to add offline support to the already created plug-in project, the following steps have to be followed:
Create a copy of the SDK\Walkthroughs\AccountCreatePlugin folder. This copy can be modified to add its execution in the offline mode
Double-click on the AccountCreatePlugin.sin file to open the solution in Visual Studio
Next, the CRM development team has to modify the plugin(dot)cs file as per the code changes.
Finally, the project has to be compiled by clicking Build and then Build Solution.
2. The second step is to register the plug-in with a specific event in Microsoft Dynamics CRM through the plug-in registration tool:
In Visual Studio, first click on Tools and then click on CRM Plug-In registration tool
In the Connections panel add a descriptive label for the connection and click on Connect
Once the connection to the server is established, a list of assemblies, steps and plug-ins will be displayed.
Select Register New Assembly followed by opening the Register New Plug-in and selecting the assembly
Once the assembly has been created then the Step has to be registered for the plug-in
Select Plug-in followed by clicking on Register New Step under Register
Enter the information under Register New Step
A synchronous post-event plug-in has been registered, which will run when a new account is created either in online or offline mode.
3. The third step is to add an additional layer of security that requires a register key named after the public key token of the plug-in assembly has to be included in the system registry. The first step is to find out the value in the Public Key Token that can be found out through clicking on the assembly in the tree view through the Plugin Registration tool. Then a sub-key has to be created under the Allow List registry tool:
Select Start and then click on Run on the host computer that runs Microsoft Dynamics CRM for Outlook
In the text field enter ‘regedit’ and then click on OK to initiate the registry editor
The tree view folders have to be expanded and one needs to navigate to the registry key: MyComputer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\MSCRMClient\AllowList
Right click on the AllowList key and then select New followed by Key
Finally type in the offline plug-in assembly’s public key token value as the new key
This is how CRM development team will create a plugin through Microsoft Dynamics development and which will work in the offline mode of Outlook.
For More Info:- Microsoft Dynamics CRM || CRM Development