Massive Data loss issues in Goldmine 6.70.50123

The following issue has been discovered in 6.70.50123 and can lead to massive or complete CAL table data loss.

It boils down to if a user completes a multi-user activity using the day calendar view or the Activity List for a day that has many calendar items then Goldmine creates a SQL query that is too general and ends up deleting too much calendar data.

Here is the specific issue logged as RM# 30822:

ISSUE_ID .... 30822
PRIORITY .... 1
SEVERITY .... 1-Critical
STATUS ...... 4-Open

SUBJECT ..... Data - Loss: Global Calendar completions
Multiple calendar records are earmarked for completion without regard to USER or RECTYPE
[BUILD]
6.70.50123, 6.70.50808
[OS]
n/a
[STEPS]
1. View Calendar, Day Tab
2. Create a 1hr Appointment for three different contacts
(e.g. Contact1 9-10, Contact2 10-11, etc.)
3. Create a 1hr Appointment for multiple users and a contact record *not* used in step 2
4. From calendar, right-click on appointment created in step 3., select complete option
5. Click OK
6. Click Yes to Alert
7. Right-click on an appointment created in step 2., select complete option
8. Click OK, Click Yes (should be in close succession)
[RESULTS]
All calendar records are completed with values from the multiple user activity.
[DISCUSSION]
Trace shows the following query:

SELECT RECID, RECTYPE, NUMBER1, CREATEBY FROM dbo.CAL (NOLOCK) WHERE RECID LIKE '%' ORDER BY RECID ASC

Same occurs when actions are performed from activity list window.

Observations:
A modal Complete window is launched when 'Complete' is the selected action from an Alarm window popup; this is not the case when 'Complete' is selected from the local menu option of the Pending Tab, Activity list or Calendar.

Development is working on a patch for 6.7 that corrects the issue.

iHEAT/iGoldMine and Windows Update 896424

This notification came through from Frontrange yesterday about the incompatability of iHEAT with Windows Update 896424

Please be advised that Windows Update 896424, released November 8 2005, is incompatible with iHEAT and iGoldMine on: Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, and Windows 2000 SP4 for all supported versions of iHEAT and iGoldMine. We will release compatibility update as soon as possible. This incompatibility only affects the iHEAT and/or iGoldMine Server and does not impact the Client machines.

FrontRange Solutions will release a compatibility update as soon as possible and we will send a second notification when the update is available.

Setting Up Knowledge Management in ITSM 5.04

The setup for Knowledge in Frontrange's ITSM 5.04 has a few tricks and traps here and there.

1. Initially you have to register the module in the Administrator. To do this select the Settings -> Module registration section. The DLL you need to add to register Knowledge is located under C:\Program Files\FrontRange Solutions\Service Management and is called Orion.Module.Knowledge.dll. Once you've added this module you need to exit the Administrator tool and restart IIS to ensure that the setting holds.

2. Once you have Registered the module you need to adjust the settings of the connection. To do this select the Settings -> Module registration section, select the Knowledge Management Module and click Settings. Here you need to fill in the following settings(see also the diagram below):-

Server: [servername] (or localhost)
Port: 2242 (this is the default port)
Connect as User: Administrator (Note: this the default user for knowledge and is not an ITSM user or a Windows System user, This username is CASE-SENSITIVE)
Password: manage (This is the password created for the default knowledge user, again it's not controlled by ITSM or a Windows System account)

3. Finally the service needs to be configured to log on as an administrator account on this server. The Knowledge service will not run if the service is started as a System account.

Everything else from here is pretty straight forward.

Dates from Heat in Crystal

Crystal Report Designer is a great reporting tool, but unfortunately the design of the HEAT database doesn't always make it as simple as possible to create reports. For example, dates in the HEAT database are held in string fields not standard date/time fields of the database you are using. This means that you need to convert the fields before they can be used with all the standard date functions in Crystal. There are two options you have for doing this : -

1. HEAT Crystal Functions
Shipped with installer for HEAT are a set of functions to allow you to do functions in Crystal that are specific to the HEAT system. One of these functions is HFWDateToDate. This function converts a HEAT date field into a Crystal Reports date field. For example if you wished to change the CallLog.RecvdDate the formula would be :

HFWDateToDate({CallLog.RecvdDate})

2. Standard Crystal Functions
Often you want to use crystal reports on machines that may not have the Heat Functions installed. In this case it is necessary to convert the date using standard Crystal Functions. The problem that sometimes occurs with using the standard Crystal is when targeting a date that may not be filled in (for example CallLog.ClosedDate). This will cause a 'Bad Date String format' error. This can be solved by simply checking the field has a valid date format before converting the value. For example if you wished to change the CallLog.RecvdDate the formula would be :

IF ISDATE({CallLog.RecvdDate}) THEN DATE({CallLog.RecvdDate})

Misleading Rights errors in HEAT/ITSM integration

This error occurs when trying to integrate one of the ITSM modules (to at least version 5.03) with an existing HEAT (version 8.36) implementation. When trying to access the module (in this case configuration) the user is presented with the error "You do not have rights to view inventory items". After inspection of their user account in HEAT and ITSM it is clear that the user has enough rights and has been created in ITSM with the correct role to allow access to this Module. The error is actually indicating that the passwords do not match between the HEAT and ITSM systems. For integration to work correctly the Users need to be created in both HEAT and ITSM with the same username and password.

Frontrange ITSM Patch 1023 Details

This is a list of all the issue that were fixed and passed testing in the latest release patch for ITSM 503.

23609 Problem with File Listener - Messaging attachments
23351 Events/Email not showing after 5.0.3 migration - rich text, pain text
23303 Layout and GoTo forms for relationships to a Business
23273 Cannot change Status once a save failed due to a required calculated hidden field being missing
23272 Date Searching intermittently uses UK and US date format Groups and search and link
23185 Triggers only fire when changes made through ITSM/Web Client. Needs to work through messaging
23184 Need to fire Business Rule from standard objects Trigers with Expressions
23181 Email Listener stops after marking 3 emails for deletion
23179 Need to understand how to remove Items from Navigator and Menu
23165 Patch Installer open put in dll in c:\ drive Verify install to D drive
23163 If an existing contact is linked to a new group, the address data of the contact is filled with the address of that group
23146 Mutliple window using search search
22860 Trigger for record state and field in record change for related biz object not working

17392 Cannot edit when in final state with permissions enabled
Proxy Server bypass with exception list
25100 The "Send email" QuickActions eliminates line breaks so that the body of an email is not readable
if you use the QuickActions, for example w replying to an email
25101 For HOPs that start PM and end AM the following error appears in the application when trying to save a ticket:
24663 Validate field with no grid defined
22664 Quick Close Error when using the Quick Close Icon.
25346 Cannot Login to Web App Multiple times
24208 Problem linking OpenText 'Contacts' to 'Groups'
25088 Keystrokes in validation fields does not "dirty' field
25119 Config in attachment is causing read only error with export to excel action
25006 Dashboard/Dashboard part Security is not working as expected
25013 Attachments with Proxy server
25013 Attachments with proxy bypass
25066 Unhandled exe when navigating through app
26318 Edit/add associated item selector

Trap for young players... in ITSM 5.04

Apparently the new 5.04 version of ITSM has no migration tool. This version has been released for implementation only with new customers. There is plan to release a migration tool from 5.03 later in the month, which (I imagine) would be similar to the upgrade from 5.02. At this point it is not clear what aspects of the system fail to work by simply importing a 5.03 FAD into a 5.04 system. On first inspection it appears the system imports without error, however I'll post up anything I find once I complete some more testing.

Known Issues and Fixes for

The following lists are known issues and the issue that have been fixed in the 5.04 release of Frontrange ITSM
Known Issues:

29835 - User may get error message when entering invalid path in “Send or update Task Item” or “Send or update Task Item” Quick Actions

29756 - Outlook Integration: User may get error message in Outlook integration component when testing multiple connections. Users may need to close the Preferences dialog and reopen the dialog before testing the connection.


Fixed issues in 5.04:

17392 - Cannot edit record when in final state with permissions enabled Proxy Server bypass with exception list

22664 - Quick Close Error when using the Quick Close Icon. The data in the resolution details appears to be erased and the Quick Close Error message display a dialogue box with the Resolution details empty.

23163 - If an existing contact is linked to a new group, the address data of the contact is filled with the address of that group

23179 - Need to understand how to remove Items from Navigator and Menu

23181 - Email Listener stops after marking 3 emails for deletion

23184 - Need to fire Business Rule from standard objects Triggers with Expressions

23269 - Layout and GoTo forms for relationships to a Business Object Group does not display correct Group Member Form

23272 - Date Searching intermittently uses UK and US date format Groups and search and link

23273 - Cannot change Status once a save failed due to a required calculated hidden field being missing

23303 - Layout and GoTo forms for relationships not working

23351 - Events/Email not showing after 5.0.3 migration - rich text, plain text

23609 - Problem with File Listener Messaging attachments

24322 - Delete Profile record from front-end application allows tickets to be created in Application with record being deleted

24633 - Could Not Link Item: Enumeration already finished" error message

24663 - Validated field with no grid defined

25013 - Attachments with Proxy server not working

25013 - Attachments with proxy bypass Reports not working

25066 - Unhandled exe when navigating through app LDAP Schedular (command line)

25088 - Keystrokes in validation fields does not "dirty' field

25100 - The "Send email" QuickActions eliminates line breaks so that the body of an email is not readable if you use the QuickActions, for example w replying to an email

25119 - Configuration in attachment is causing read only error with export to Excel action

25301 - User status no longer appears next to name in drop downs

26539 - Deleting an employee.profile record is not deleting the record.

27005 - Notifications and Triggers do not work in self service

28221 - Export/importing data with FUD only works for 8 records Issue with merging fields in Conflict Resolution.

Frontrange ITSM Patch 1021 Details

The following issues are addressed by the 1021 patch for ITSM version 5.03.
29019 Dasboard parts not making it into FUD
29018 Fud Commit with Role
29022 Compare tool error with new perspective
28866 Quickactions, triggers, Bus rule will not import from FUD
29023 New field on existing object won't import with compare
28866 Quickactions, triggers, Bus rule will not import from FUD
Unhandled exception error. Users could continue.
?FRS RM # 25066
25401 Cannot scroll through dropdown lists using arrow keys (Curtis)
25224 Unhandled Exception Error 慟uit? button removed
Grid views/search capability in Bus. Obj. Maint.
F#25241 Dashboard does not remember last position of cursor.
26621 Temporarily displaying wrong record from grid views. The amount of time to display the correct record varies
?? Session timeouts
?? Audit History not updating
25401 SLAs do not refresh when a different service is selected
28223 Non-Relational tab added to layout as last tab does not display after commit


28230 Employees cannot use similar Login IDs
28221 Export/importing data with FUD only works for 8 records 0914
Issue with merging fields in Conflict Resolution.
QuickClose now working in Client install as well as server install
27005 Notifications and Triggers do not work in self service
0908-A
23609 Problem with File Listener Messaging attachments
23351 Events/Email not showing after 5.0.3 migration - rich text, pain text
23303 Layout and GoTo forms for relationships to a Business
23273 Cannot change Status once a save ed due to a required calculated hidden field being missing
23272 Date Searching intermittently uses UK and US date format Groups and search and link
23185 Triggers only fire when changes made through ITSM/Web Client. Needs to work through messaging
23184 Need to fire Business Rule from standard objects
Trigers with Expressions
23181 Email Listener stops after marking 3 emails for deletion
23179 Need to understand how to remove Items from Navigator and Menu
23165 Patch Installer open put in dll in c:\ drive Verify install to D drive
23163 If an existing contact is linked to a new group, the address data of the contact is filled with the address of that group
23146 Mutliple window using search search
22860 Trigger for record state and field in record change for related biz object not working
17392 Cannot edit when in final state with permissions enabled
Proxy Server bypass with exception list
25100 The "Send email" QuickActions eliminates line breaks so that the body of an email is not readable
if you use the QuickActions, for example w replying to an email
25101 For HOPs that start PM and end AM the following error appears in the application when trying to save a ticket:
saving a ticket with a Support Center produces the following error: See comment for error
F9 Drop down display 200+ and list Display column not stored
1. no drop down OTC group
2. combo drop down
a. In list select and populate
b. Beyond drop list populate and add to list
3. Constrained
4. >200 list. If list > 200 do not cache only last record show whole list
Presence Mgmt
Dashboard Grid color based on expression
Search Prompt for text and dates
System must prevent that a file/attachment is overwritten, when a new file/attachment with same name is uploaded. System must resolve name conflicts.
It must be possible to choose the destination where a user wants to save a download to. Currently system saves automatically to some location and it is not immediately transparent where to.
System must support concurrent working on tickets by a more flexible and intelligent locking mechanism. Current scheme not useful
Dasboard Grid column memory
Quick Action Execute Sort order
Search Result sort order -- configurable in Admin
Licensing issues surrounding 'Open New Window' button
Service Save -- should not prompt for invalid state
proxy Authentication
_valid -- modify validated field an
export/import to empty db
SS NT auth
Ad Hoc - overwrite
Validate saved def set
ITSM/HEAT view
From address in notification
Specified cast not invalid
Company name in New contact FNTS
24663 Validate field with no grid defined -- Exception used to occur should handle better now
22664 Quick Close Error when using the Quick Close Icon. The data in the resolution
details appears to be erased and the Quick Close Error message display a
dialogue box with the Resoltion details empty.
25346 Cannot Login to Web App Multiple times
24208 Problem linking OpenText 'Contacts' to 'Groups'
In the OpenText system, select a 'Group' record.
Click on the 'Contact' Tab.
Click to link a contact to this group.
Select a contact from the search list.
The contact is shown in the grid against the group.
Save the Group.
Refresh the Group.
The contact has disappeard from the grid.
commit with large data
Login time with large amount of users in db -
25088 Keystrokes in validation fields does not "dirty' field
25119 Config in attachment is causing read only error with export to excel action
25006 Dashboard/Dashboard part Security is not working as expected
60 Prompt to save with no changes made
Clear Associated item selector - quick action
Grid view and search in bus ob maintenance
25013 Attachments with Proxy server
25013 Attachments with proxy bypass
Reports
25066 Unhandled exe when navigating through app
LDAP Schedular (command line)

Frontrange ITSM Patch 0914 Details

The following list is all issues that were addressed as part of the ITSM Patch 503 0914

27005
Issue with merging fields in Conflict Resolution.
QuickClose now working in Client install as well as server install
Notifications and Triggers do not work in self service

23609
Problem with File Listener
Messaging attachments

23351
Events/Email not showing after 5.0.3 migration - rich text, pain text

23303
Layout and GoTo forms for relationships to a Business

23273
Cannot change Status once a save failed due to a required calculated hidden field being missing

23272
Date Searching intermittently uses UK and US date format Groups and search and link

23185
Triggers only fire when changes made through ITSM/Web Client. Needs to work through messaging

23184
Need to fire Business Rule from standard objects
Trigers with Expressions

23181
Email Listener stops after marking 3 emails for deletion

23179
Need to understand how to remove Items from Navigator and Menu

23165
Patch Installer open put in dll in c:\ drive Verify install to D drive

23163
If an existing contact is linked to a new group, the address data of the contact is filled with the address of that group

23146
Mutliple window using search search

22860
Trigger for record state and field in record change for related biz object not working

17392
Cannot edit when in final state with permissions enabled
Proxy Server bypass with exception list

25100
The "Send email" QuickActions eliminates line breaks so that the body of an email is not readable if you use the QuickActions, for example w replying to an email

25101
For HOPs that start PM and end AM the following error appears in the application when trying to save a ticket:
saving a ticket with a Support Center produces the following error: See comment for error
F9 Drop down display 200+ and list Display column not stored
1. no drop down OTC group
2. combo drop down
a. In list select and populate
b. Beyond drop list populate and add to list
3. Constrained
4. >200 list. If list > 200 do not cache only last record show whole list
Presence Mgmt
Dashboard Grid color based on expression
Search Prompt for text and dates
System must prevent that a file/attachment is overwritten, when a new file/attachment with same name is uploaded. System must resolve name conflicts.
It must be possible to choose the destination where a user wants to save a download to. Currently system saves automatically to some location and it is not immediately transparent where to.
System must support concurrent working on tickets by a more flexible and intelligent locking mechanism. Current scheme not useful
Dasboard Grid column memory
Quick Action Execute Sort order
Search Result sort order -- configurable in Admin
Licensing issues surrounding 'Open New Window' button
Service Save -- should not prompt for invalid state proxy Authentication
_valid -- modify validated field an export/import to empty db
SS NT auth
Ad Hoc - overwrite
Validate saved def set
ITSM/HEAT view
From address in notification
Specified cast not invalid
Company name in New contact FNTS

24663
Validate field with no grid defined -- Exception used to occur should handle better now

22664
Quick Close Error when using the Quick Close Icon. The data in the resolution details appears to be erased and the Quick Close Error message display a dialogue box with the Resoltion details empty.

25346
Cannot Login to Web App Multiple times

24208
Problem linking OpenText 'Contacts' to 'Groups'
In the OpenText system, select a 'Group' record.
Click on the 'Contact' Tab.
Click to link a contact to this group.
Select a contact from the search list.
The contact is shown in the grid against the group.
Save the Group.
Refresh the Group.
The contact has disappeard from the grid.
commit with large data
Login time with large amount of users in db

25088
Keystrokes in validation fields does not "dirty' field

25119
Config in attachment is causing read only error with export to excel action

25006
Dashboard/Dashboard part Security is not working as expected Prompt to save with no changes made
Clear Associated item selector - quick action
Grid view and search in bus ob maintenance

25013
Attachments with Proxy server

25013
Attachments with proxy bypass Reports

25066
Unhandled exe when navigating through app pass LDAP Schedular (command line)
1. Initial import
2. Scheduled run new account
3. Scheduled run update account
Audit History no adding records
Create child record in change BP engine

26318
Edit/add associated item selector

Missing DLLs and the HATScanner

With HAT 8.03 I've discovered that some machines have trouble running the scanner. The errors reported are related to missing DLLs. The DLLs seem to be part of a standard windows build but are missing from particular machines. To solve the issue you can simply copy the DLLs from the HAT server installations system32 directory into the \ldlogon share. The DLLs found so far are :-

mfc71.dll

msvcp71.dll

msvcr71.dll

 

If I find any more I'll post the up for reference.

How to FUD Fast

Today was spent with lots of frustration on creating a Fusion Upgrade Definition (FUD), which is basically a file that transfers all definitions from one ITSM system to another without changing crucial data elements like Incident Records. The type I was trying to create was a comparison file. A brilliant feature really, it looks at an existing production database and compares it to another database and will present you with an list off all the differing objects that you can then store in a file.

The issue with the system is in the processing and more importantly memory required to run this operation. The AdminLoader.exe (basically the administration module) will consume up to 700Mb of RAM during the process. If it has to start running into Virtual memory during the process the whole system will grind to a halt. Typically I do development on a VMWare session with 512Mb ram (holding both the application server and the SQL database server) however this configuration will require over 12 hours to finish the process.

To get the comparison process down to under an hour I moved the SQL Databases onto a separate physical box, ran a VMware session of 512Mb for the Application Server (and licensing server) and finally ran the Administration Console on another machine with 1Gb of RAM. The process was still slow and the box is pretty much useless for anything until the comparision is completed.

I've also been told that it will still take over 20 Mins when the Application Server (running the Administration Console) is a Dual Xeon with 4Gb Ram and the SQL Server is of similar spec.

Self Service in ITSM and Security

Those of you that have seen the ITSM incident module in action would have noticed the "Show in Self Service View" check box.

You may not be aware however that this functionality does not work out of the box. To enable this functionality you need to edit the Security Group for SelfService and restrict access to the Journal.Notes Business object.

If you edit the Advanced functions for that object you can add a simple expression to select only those records where the 'Publish to Web' equals "TRUE". This will then limit all of the records that a SelfService user can see.

System Functions and ITSM

I came across this issue when using some of the System Functions of the Frontrange ITSM system. Not all of the System Functions are fully defined in the base template. An example of this is the CurrentUserTeam function. If you use this function inside the system by default it returns NULL. All the functions in ITSM work on Annotations against fields within the Business Objects. For example the CurrentUserName function works by referencing an annotation of CURRENTUSERNAME, this applied to the Login ID of the Profile.Employee Business Object.
For what ever reason annotations for every function aren't applied to fields in the system. To get the CurrentUserTeam to operate:-

• Create a Definition Set
• Edit the Profile.Employee Business Object
• Edit the Team Field
• Select Annotations Tab
• In Name enter "CURRENTUSERTEAM"
• Press Tab
• Leave value blank
• Apply changes
• Commit the Definition Set

This same process can be used for any of the other functions that don't operate out of the box.

ITSM and .NET Framework Install

You may have noticed that the ITSM installation will continually ask to install the .NET framework.
This happens on every install even if it's a reinstallation and you've already checked the 'Yes' option in the previous installation.

This issue with prompts is to do with the installer not recognising a version of the framework. To solve the problem it's simply a matter of installing the Hotfix for .Net KB867460. You can find the download here.

Updating an ITSM (version 5) License File

Instructions for those updating the previous license file:
Your current license file will not work once you upgrade versions, the following steps are to upgrade to the newer license file:

• Stop the Windows service 'FrontRange License Authentication Server'
• Rename C:\Program Files\FrontRange Solutions\Authentication Server\SystemWork to C:\Program Files\FrontRange Solutions\Authentication Server\1_SystemWork
• Restart the Windows service
• Import the attached license file
• Register all the application server's MAC address for each server based module. All the MACs from the same server would take only a single license.

Heat and ITSM LDAP Search Size Errors

This issue use to raise it's head quite often with the introduction of the HEAT to LDAP connector however it's starting to become more applicable to the ITSM link as well.
LDAP search size limit exceeded errors

LDAP search size limit exceeded errors can appear in the HLL log file, usually due to this reason: the total number of records you say you want to import (as determined by the Base DN you selected) exceeds the number of records the LDAP server can permit you to read. The default limit for Windows 2000 is 1000 users, while for iPlanet Directory Server is 2000 users. For example, if you were importing from Windows 2000 and selected a Base DN that contained 1500 users, then only the first 1000 will be imported, and an LDAP search size limit exceeded error will appear in the log right after the Starting Profile Updates message.

To resolve the issue the fix must be done via an Active Directory admin.
Active Directory properties, including those of its LDAP Server component, are controlled using the Ntdsutil.exe. Documentation can be found here: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;EN-US;q315071

The changes below are to allow the downloading of at least 15,000 records. New values are in parenthesis; the rest are defaults.
Policy Current(New)
MaxPoolThreads 4
MaxDatagramRecv 1024
MaxReceiveBuffer 10485760
InitRecvTimeout 120
MaxConnections 5000
MaxConnIdleTime 900
MaxActiveQueries 20
MaxPageSize 1000(15000)
MaxQueryDuration 120
MaxTempTableSize 10000
MaxResultSetSize 262144(6000000)
MaxNotificationPerConn 5
The two settings that appear to be an issue are:
MaxPageSize - Maximum page size that is supported for LDAP responses (default: 1,000 records).
MaxResultSetSize - Maximum size in bytes of the LDAP Result Set (default: 262144 bytes).

Heat Self Service (HSS) and IIS 6

I had an issue with HSS under IIS today that is easily rectified but not necessarily identified.

After resolving a regular issue of 'Error 8002802b Element not found: Global.asa line 16'

• Stopping the WWW Service
• Delete the .HFW file from the C:\Program Files\HEAT
• Delete LD, SC, WD from HKEY_Local_Machine\Software\Frontrange Solutions\HEAT Self Service
• Start WWW Service

I received an issue of ASP 115. This is basically caused by the reliance of the HSS system on the IIS 5 frame work. Below are the steps on how to adjust IIS 6.0

• Open Internet Information Services Manager.
• Browse to Web Server Extensions.
• Highlight Active Server Pages, then click Allow.
• Browse to Web Site.
• Right-Click on Web Site, then click Properties
• Select the Service tab
• Check the Run WWW service in IIS 5.0 isolation mode option under the Isolation Mode section.
• Browse to the HSS virtual directory
• Right-click, then select Properties
• In the Application Settings section of the Virtual Directory tab, Click Configuration.
• Select the Options tab
• Check Enable Parent Paths option.
• Click OK.

Goldmine to rise from the ashes of BDE

Yes it finally looks like it will happen, Goldmine will rid itself of the BDE and Dbase restraints that have been tying it to the database technologies of the 80s...

Frontrange have made the move to migrate all versions of it's CRM software to Relational SQL databases in the next version.

The standard architecture that relied heavily on easily corruptable Dbase tables has been replaced by ADO connections. For those systems that used to rely completely on Dbase to run, they have decided on using the OpenSource Firebird SQL as the Database Solution.

Firebird is a relational database offering many ANSI SQL-99 features that runs on Linux, Windows, and a variety of Unix platforms. Firebird offers excellent concurrency, high performance, and powerful language support for stored procedures and triggers. It has been used in production systems, under a variety of names since 1981.
Firebird is a commercially independent project of C and C++ programmers, technical advisors and supporters developing and enhancing a multi-platform relational database management system based on the source code released by Inprise Corp (now known as Borland Software Corp) on 25 July, 2000 under the InterBase Public License v.1.0.

Although they haven't moved completely away from Borland family opting for a SQL database based on Borland source, it's a long awaited step to a reliable and administerable database solution.

New Scenery, New Direction

After a long stint (about 6 years) with my last employer I've made a move in a slightly different direction. Unfortunately this means there will be a little less emphasis on Microsoft CRM than there was previously.

I'm now largely working with in the realm of IT service management. The new product I'm working with is Frontrange's ITSM based on the ITIL Model.

The IT Infrastructure Library, ITIL (®), is a series of documents that are
used to aid the implementation of a framework for IT Service Management (ITSM).
This framework defines how Service Management is applied within specific
organisations. Being a framework, it is completely customisable for application
within any type of business or organisation that has a reliance on IT
infrastructure.

It's a step into an area I used to deal with a few years ago now with a much more powerful and flexible tool.

I'll still keep posting any useful CRM stuff as I find it but it will largely be dedicated to ITSM.

Sony puts HEAT into service

An extract from a story in the The Age newspaper.

Sony Computer Entertainment has redesigned its service systems and invested in new management software to boost support for more technical next-generation gaming platforms.

Sony anticipates new support demands from customers buying its PlayStation Portable in September and the PlayStation 3 next year.

Gamers who use stand-alone consoles, for instance, will go online with networked consoles able to share multimedia files and other applications as well as play games.

Anticipating increased and more technical inquiries, Sony split its service and repair functions, previously handled by NCSS, which continues to manage repair service, with Stellar Call Centres handling customer contacts.

A database was built to contain technical knowledge about the combined operations, including details of customers, who can also do their own troubleshooting online through a web browser.

Sony began analysing its service processes and technologies in April 2003, before defining its requirements and going to tender in February last year. Four consortiums contested the tender.

The software selected was HEAT, from US-based FrontRange Solutions, an off-the-shelf modular customer service and support system. This was customised and integrated by Australian company Veridian Solutions between March and September last year.

Microsoft CRM 1.2 Logical Database Diagram

This Microsoft Visio diagram shows the logical database structure for Microsoft CRM 1.2. The diagram is set up to print on 11-by-17 inch paper. However, for greater readability you can print this on larger paper.

The Visio Diagram is available here for download free from Microsoft.

Microsoft Business Solutions CRM Database Profile Wizard

The Microsoft CRM Database Profile Wizard collects and sends descriptive data from your Microsoft CRM database to Microsoft for analysis. This data will help us better understand how our customers are using Microsoft CRM.

The Microsoft CRM Database Profile Wizard collects descriptive data from Microsoft CRM 1.0 and 1.2 databases and sends the collected data to Microsoft. This data will be used to improve the next version of Microsoft CRM. When you run this wizard, you can sign up to receive additional information about upgrading your current Microsoft CRM system.

The wizard asks for two types of information:

• Profile information about your organization
• Data about your Microsoft CRM database and system

The data that is collected includes object counts, object associations, customizations, object sharing, workflow processes, and Microsoft CRM system information. The wizard does not collect any business data, such as data from your account or contact records.

The collected data is sent securely over the Internet to Microsoft where only the Microsoft CRM team will use it. You can choose not to send any data you do not feel comfortable sharing with us.

The tool is available here free from Microsoft.

Microsoft Re-releases CRM "Needs Assessment Wizard"

After the Issues with the CRM Assessment tool Microsoft has released a working version of the tool which is available for download and evaluation here.

Running SQL and CRM on the same Server

I haven't seen this problem for a while (mainly because Version 1.2 is out), but I came across it again, so here is the solution.
If you have installed Microsoft CRM on the same server as Microsoft SQL Server, it's possible that the Microsoft CRM Security Service will fail when the service is started. The service will start without issue when it is started manually. (This shouldn't be an issue in Microsoft CRM 1.2 because in version 1.2, the server setup will detect this problem and correct it for you.)
The fix for this issues is to make the Microsoft CRM Security Service dependant on the service for SQL Server. This will wait for the SQL Service to start before the service attempts to start itself.
This is how your can register the Microsoft CRM Security Service and make it dependent on the SQL Server Service (MSSQLSERVER).

• Log on to your Microsoft CRM server as a domain administrator.
• Click Start, and then click Run. In the Open box, type cmd. Then press ENTER.
• Type cd Program Files\Microsoft CRM\server\bin, and then press ENTER.
• Type CrmSecurityService –r –s, and then press ENTER. After completing the previous steps, follow these steps to restart the Microsoft CRM Security Service: Click Start, point to Control Panel, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Services.
• Under Services, right-click Microsoft CRM Security Service, and then click Start

You should now be able to restart the Server and the CRM Service will start after the SQL Service has finished starting.

How to add SFO missing Folders

If you find one of your folders (eg. Accounts) in the CRM folders section of Outlook (with SFO) goes missing (or is deleted), you can re-add it by creating a new folder.
1. Right-click on the Microsoft CRM folder and then click 'New Folder...'
2. Type the name of the folder Accounts and click OK.
The Accounts folder will now be listed under the Microsoft CRM folder.
3. Right-click on this new Accounts folder and select Properties.
4. In the Properties window click the Home Page tab.
5. Check the box that says 'Show home page by default for this folder'.
6. In address section type 'http://localhost:2525/stage.as­px?page=SFA&area=nav_accts'
7. Click OK
This should restore the folder to the CRM folder list.

Microsoft Previews Beta Version of CRM "Needs Assessment Wizard"

I downloaded this new tool from Microsoft which sounded like it would make the transition from design to implementation for Microsoft CRM a breeze.

Microsoft released a beta version (preview) of a Microsoft CRM Assessement Wizard / Tool. This interview-style tool helps guide you through the planning and envisioning phases of Microsoft CRM system deployment. Upon completion of this interview, you will be provided a CRM Strategy Assessment document for your organization and a Microsoft CRM configuration file that can be used to import customizations into your CRM server. >> Learn more and see screenshots of the CRM Needs Assessment tool...

However, as I've come to expect from most things in MS CRM, it wasn't smooth sailing. I'm still yet to get the product to start.

I was confrunted with the error :-
"Strong name validatoin failed for assembly 'C:\Program Files\Microsoft CRM Assessment Survey\Microsoft CRM Assessment Survey Wizard.exe'. The file may have been tampered with or it was paritially signed but not fully signed with the correct private key."

Looks like it's back to the drawing board.

CRM Emails Duplicating for Queues

The issue we were having was that the exchange router was not deleting emails from the message queue in exchange once it has been delevered to a CRM queue. The user for the queue has be set in Exchange with an CRMEmailEnabled mailbox. When a message come in the queue, this message will duplicate itself in the CRM queue every 4 minutes and every 27 minutes (or there abouts). There was only one Exchange server and only one Connector so the issue wasn't with multiple instances.

By setting the "SELF" to be the Associated External Account, a Master SID is set on the mailbox and the problem of the mail attempting to redeliver. E-mail sent to a queue will then duplicate itself many times.

To correct this issue, an attribute must be added to every queue user in the Active Directory. However, I would suggest that you backup your data as detailed in KB872408 as a precaution.
(Document ID: B872408) “How to plan for disaster recovery with Microsoft CRM”

To generate a msExchMasterAccountSide attribute:

From the View menu in the Active Directory Users and Computers snap-in, click Advanced Features. On the Exchange Advanced properties tab of the disabled user object that owns the mailbox, click Mailbox Rights, and then search the list of accounts for one that has the Associated External Account permission.

Note: By default, no account will have this permission; however, depending on how the account was created, it may already have this set. If another account currently has Associated External Account permissions, remove the Associated External Account permissions from that account because only one account at a time can have the Associated External Account permission. Therefore, to reset the permission, you must first remove this permission. If no account has this permission then grant the SELF Account the Associated External Account and Full Mailbox Access permissions.

Note: By default, the SELF account will already have Full Mailbox Access permissions if this is a disabled account. The SELF account is available in all Microsoft Windows 2000 domains. All SELF accounts share a well-known SID that is the same across all domains. If the SELF account is not already listed in the Permissions dialog box, you can add it by typing SELF as the account name.

Exit all properties dialog boxes for the user object by clicking OK at each level (do not click Cancel). Changes to permissions are not applied until you completely exit all properties dialog boxes.

After the DsAccess cache is refreshed (which may take some time), the new configurations take effect and e-mail messages that are sent to the disabled account will no longer generate errors.

FrontRange Solutions Honored with VARBusiness Magazine Mid-Market 100 Award

Taken from http://home.businesswire.com/

FrontRange Solutions Honored with VARBusiness Magazine Mid-Market 100 Award; CMP Publication Names Software Leader's GoldMine 6.7 a `Product of the Year'

PLEASANTON, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 3, 2005--GoldMine(R) 6.7, the award-winning solution for business relationship management, team-based contact management and sales forces automation from FrontRange Solutions, today was named a Midmarket "Product of the Year" 2005 by CMP Media's VARBusiness magazine.


The biweekly magazine that provides strategic insight to technology integrators solicited input from information-technology (IT) vendors and solution providers to determine which products and services were best for midmarket customers -- companies with between 100 and 999 employees. Editors narrowed the field to those that best meet midmarket needs and represent a broad spectrum of technology areas from security solutions to servers to business applications. Entries were carefully considered and reviewed by VARBusiness editors who selected only 100 of the more than 400 nominated products.

GoldMine is featured and profiled in the special May 2 VARBusiness "State of the Midmarket" issue.

"Our readers tell us that the middle market is one of the fastest-growing IT categories today," says VARBusiness Publisher Robert C. DeMarzo. "GoldMine is one that best meets that segment's needs."

"This recognition by VARBusiness magazine is particularly gratifying because it validates over 15 years of expertise in CRM and service management solutions for the midmarket," said Michael McCloskey, CEO of FrontRange Solutions. "It also supports our ongoing commitment to offering best-practice, out-of-the-box solutions to meet our customers' unique and changing requirements in businesses of all sizes."

ERROR:Unknown//Exception has been thrown by the target of an invocation

I had this problem on a fairly straight forward migration. The data migration tool seemed to load all entities are loaded without problems.
However, during the migration of the activity entity I receive the error following error:

"ERROR:Unknown//Exception has been thrown by the target of an invocation"

You receive this error prior to importing any records for the Activity Object. Checking all entries in the Activity table doesn't show any irregularities in the formating or data.

Below is an output from the Log file.

-----
". Migration phase completed

Processing entity: Activity
Entering Correlate
Starting migration phase
ERROR:Unknown//Exception
has been thrown by the target of
an invocation.

Processing entity:
SystemUser
Starting update phase
Update phase completed

Processing entity: Account
Starting update phase
.................................................. Update phase
completed

Processing entity: Contact
Starting update phase
Update phase completed"

After looking into the processing of the Stored Procs I discovered that the error is due to the Migration tool trying to create a table 'cdf_ActivityPartyTemp'. The migration may have failed (or been stopped during processing) that has resulted in a temp table being left behind.

Remove this table and run the migration process. With the table removed it will allow the 'p_dm_GetActivityParty' to execute and will stop this error from occuring.

There may be other causes for this issue but in my case the 'cdf_ActivityPartyTemp' was the issue.

Problems with Security Roles

When you create a new role in Microsoft Business Solutions CRM 1.2.
On the Role: New Web page, you click the lookup button next to Business Unit. You type a filter in the Find box. You expect that only the business units that match that filter will appear under Available Records. Instead, all business units appear.
By default, the lookup list next to Business Unit lists the first 100 business units. This feature cannot filter the business units by the first letter, or letters, of the business unit name.

Work Around: Because of other problems with Microsoft CRM Security roles, we do not recommend that you create, copy, or make privilege changes to Microsoft CRM roles at the child business unit level. Instead, create new roles and change existing roles at the root level. Any roles that you create, copy, or change at the root level are propagated to every child business unit. These roles will be available to assign to Microsoft CRM users.

New CRM Web Resource

Management Technology Consulting have setup a new resource for prospects and customers of Microsoft CRM mtccrm.com.
The site is a collection point of partner developed tools for the application. This makes it a powerful resourse for the small to medium business who have taken on an implementation of Microsoft CRM.

Goldmine and Windows NT

This is a bit of a hairy situation. The current versions of Goldmine (ie. 6.0, 6.6 and 6.7) are not supported under the Windows NT operating system. This holds for both Client and Server Installations. The latest version that will still install under the NT OS is 5.7. The latest release version for this is 5.70.30503, which was release in May 2003. However this appears to have some bugs under NT.

• Selecting a value from a Lookup dropdown in any activity screen will not fill the value into the corresponding field. You can work around this problem by selecting the Lookup Window... from the bottom of the menu and selecting the value. Typing in the field is also a work around.
• The Right click menu (on the history tab etc.) is limited only options of Zoom, Options and 1011011. The normal menu is not accessible or displayed. This is an issue if you want to edit the entry in the tab.

A previous version 5.70.20222 (or Goldmine Sales and Marketing 2002 MR2) does not have these Issues under NT4.0 but you do miss out on the following fixes and ehancements.

• Changed: Security access for GoldMine e-mail and scheduled activities now matches behavior in 5.50.10424 release.
• Fixed: Word97 problem where the Link (add-in) would stop responding when merging GoldMine data.
• Fixed: History tab sort order issue where the entries were displayed in reverse order when a filter was applied. (Applies to Microsoft SQL Server based systems only.)
• Fixed: Issue where applying the Optimize Org Chart Access option would cause queries on Detail records to no longer utilize shadow fields. (Applies to Microsoft SQL Server based systems only.)

However at this stage 5.70.20222 is the only version which will allow users to normally function under Windows NT4.0

Goldmine 6.7 Decimal Issues

There is an issue with the latest version of Goldmine when displaying decimals. Any Decimal Fields that contain zeros are truncated, i.e. 1000 would be viewed as 1. At this stage is mainly with Versions that are on DBase but any system that has been upgraded from a DBase version to SQL will also experience the problem. There is soon to be a patch released but at this stage it looks like it's best to stick with Goldmine 6.6.

Forcing an SFO Client Online

This is actually easier than it looks... It's simply done by changing a registry value on the client. The key RCOffline controls the client’s state. Changing this value to 0 will cause the system to change to online.

I've had quite a few requests for this over the last week so I thought I should put it up.

Microsoft CRM SFO updated patch released

There has been a new patch released for the Sales for Outlook client which addresses about 55 of the previous issues with the Outlook client (which I’ve listed below). The patch is available here. Considering all the issues that can occur with the outlook client it would be worth applying this patch before going through any troubleshooting.

The following key updates and hotfixes are included in the update rollup:
833621 Microsoft Business Solutions CRM Sales for Outlook 1.2 Enhancements
834640 Attachments to e-mail may not be sent in Microsoft CRM 1.2 Sales for Outlook
835582 Certain sales orders and quotes fail to open and an error message occurs in Microsoft CRM 1.0
837059 Update to Microsoft Business Solutions CRM 1.2: Add Coordinated Universal Time +12:00 to the list of selectable time zones
840058 An Internet Explorer message appears when you promote an e-mail to a Microsoft CRM activity in Microsoft CRM Sales for Outlook 1.2
870635 An update is available to correct problems of Microsoft Business Solutions CRM working on Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 2
873261 Microsoft Business Solutions CRM Sales for Outlook 1.2 Performance Enhancement Update
888006 Microsoft CRM toolbar occasionally cannot be loaded in Microsoft CRM Sales for Outlook 1.2
892352 When you are offline in Microsoft CRM 1.2 Sales for Outlook, you cannot open records that you own or you cannot see records that you own
830360 Default picklist value in an Opportunity, Contact, or Account is not set if the record is created from Lead conversion in Microsoft Business Solutions CRM
832869 After daylight-saving time starts, Advanced Find may not return records that were created before that date in Microsoft CRM and in Microsoft CRM Sales for Outlook
833621 Microsoft Business Solutions CRM Sales for Outlook 1.2 Enhancements
834640 Attachments to e-mail may not be sent in Microsoft CRM 1.2 Sales for Outlook
835296 E-mail templates are not sorted in alphabetical order in Microsoft Business Solutions CRM 1.2
835306 When the last stage in the Workflow sales process rule is "Change the State to Won," the Actual Close Date field is not populated in Microsoft CRM 1.2
835307 The Created On Last 7 Days column in the Advanced Find dialog box returns all records instead of the records that were created during the last seven days in Microsoft CRM
835314 Column headings disappear when you scroll right and then click the Preview icon to view a record in a custom view in Microsoft CRM 1.2
835316 The URL field is no longer an active Web link on the product, unless you are logged on as the Integration user in Microsoft CRM 1.0 and 1.2
835582 Certain sales orders and quotes fail to open and an error message occurs in Microsoft CRM 1.0
837059 Update to Microsoft Business Solutions CRM 1.2: Add Coordinated Universal Time +12:00 to the list of selectable time zones
839156 Unable to close an opportunity if "User Provided" is selected for the estimated revenue and no revenue amount is specified in Microsoft Business Solutions CRM version 1.2
839160 You can select deactivated entities in the Regarding field of an Appointment activity in Microsoft CRM
839163 Microsoft CRM 1.2 Post URL action fails when calling a Web service or Web application that performs a long running operation
840058 An Internet Explorer message appears when you promote an e-mail to a Microsoft CRM activity in Microsoft CRM Sales for Outlook 1.2
840306 Using the Find field to search for text does not display the results unless you are on the first page of the results list in Microsoft CRM version 1.2
841411 Unhandled exception occurs when working with existing E-mail Activities in Microsoft CRM 1.2
841648 A message appears in the Check Names dialog box when an Appointment record is updated in Microsoft CRM Sales for Outlook 1.2
842539 Modified On and Est. Revenue values on the opportunity form are not updated in Microsoft Business Solutions CRM 1.2
842540 An Internet Explorer script error occurs when you try to refresh the Filter Criteria page in Microsoft Business Solutions CRM 1.2
843172 The custom picklist field is set to NULL by default on Quote records created from the Opportunity form in Microsoft CRM 1.2
870575 Carriage returns in the quote's description are removed on mail merge from Microsoft CRM Sales for Outlook 1.2
870578 Microsoft CRM 1.2 hotfix rollup for the problems that are documented in Knowledge Base articles 832869 and 835307
870635 An update is available to correct problems of Microsoft Business Solutions CRM working on Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 2
873261 Microsoft Business Solutions CRM Sales for Outlook 1.2 Performance Enhancement Update
885368 You cannot create a contact in Microsoft Business Solutions CRM 1.2
885754 The Microsoft CRM 1.2 Sales for Outlook client or Web client may become unresponsive during Advanced Find searches
886283 An error occurs after you configure Microsoft CRM 1.2 to use a non-U.S. currency number grouping format
886355 Microsoft CRM 1.2 Hotfix Rollup for 840058, 841648, 843172, 870575, 888004, 888005, and 888006
887842 You receive an “Error: This is an unexpected token. The expected token is 'SEMICOLON'. Line 1 position 1780” message when you click the Sales Process tab in Microsoft CRM 1.2
888004 Cannot create orders that have 0.00 price per unit for the order product in Microsoft CRM 1.2
888005 Closing a Microsoft CRM task through Microsoft Outlook does not set the Actual End field on the task in Microsoft CRM Sales for Outlook 1.2
888006 Microsoft CRM toolbar occasionally cannot be loaded in Microsoft CRM Sales for Outlook 1.2
889705 You receive an error message when you go offline in the Microsoft CRM 1.2 Sales for Outlook-based client
890081 The same date appears two times in the Microsoft CRM 1.2 calendar
890485 You receive an error message when you try to accept an activity from a Microsoft CRM queue
890594 When you create mail merge activities in the Microsoft CRM Sales for Outlook client, the actual end date for these activities is not set
890596 You cannot read e-mail messages in Microsoft CRM Sales for Outlook when the messages are encoded in the KOI8-R, KOI8-U, or ISO 8859-5 character sets
890597 A Microsoft CRM workflow that is based on an Opportunity Change Status event does not work correctly after you install Hotfix KB833621
890598 After you install hotfix 870578 in Microsoft CRM 1.2, Advanced Find searches that use the On operator return records for the day before the date that you specify
891715 After you apply hotfix 870578 to Microsoft Business Solutions CRM 1.2 Server, the picklist fields in all the list views do not display their selected values
870578 Microsoft CRM 1.2 hotfix rollup for the problems that are documented in Knowledge Base articles 832869 and 835307
891963 When you open an opportunity that contains associated products, Microsoft CRM times out
891966 A corresponding activity is not created when you reply to an e-mail message in Microsoft CRM
892305 Microsoft Business Solutions CRM version 1.2 may stop responding when you create several Notes
892352 When you are offline in Microsoft CRM 1.2 Sales for Outlook, you cannot open records that you own or you cannot see records that you own

Error Number:0x80040216 when Sending Emails (in CRM)

This is the error that some people have been receiving after upgrading their Exchange 2003 Server to SP1 and using CRM 1.2

Microsoft CRM Platform Error Report:
Error Description:
An unexpected error occurred.

Error Details:
An error occurred attempting to dispatch the email : HTTP
status: 404 Not Found. URL may be invalid

Error Number:
0x80040216

Source File:
D:\mscrm\Build\3017\src\platform\include\proxy\proxyutil.h

Line Number:
47

To rectify the issue go into the properties of the "MSCRMCONNECTOR" virtual directory in IIS6 and manually create a mapping for .srf files to the CRM ISAPI extension. The CRM ISAPI extension is by default located at "C:\Program Files\Microsoft CRM\MSCRMConnector\CrmExIsapi.dll”

Something else you may want to check is to make sure the MSCRMCONNECTOR directory is not set to require SSL. There should be an event log error being written in the CRM server when e-mail submissions fail. This may also provide clues to the problem.

Finally ensure that the website is started.

Microsoft to combine MBS applications in one code base

This article was posted on Computer World. It outlines plans for "Project Green" where it is to combine its major business applications -- Axapta, Great Plains, Solomon, Navision and Microsoft CRM. The plan is to ship the applications in two waves with the first wave shipping this year.

The task of aligning Microsoft's collection of business applications around a common technology stack will happen in two distinct stages, Microsoft Senior Vice President Doug Burgum said Monday in a keynote address opening the company's Convergence conference, in San Diego.

A "first wave" of applications will begin shipping this year, while a "second wave" is scheduled to commence in 2008, leading to a converged code base, Burgum said.

Burgum heads Microsoft Business Solutions, the unit Microsoft created several years ago by combining its own back-office application development projects with two acquired companies, Great Plains and Navision. The move gave Microsoft a substantial portfolio of midmarket ERP (enterprise resource planning) and CRM (customer relationship management) products, but also left it with overlapping software suites built around different architectures.

Microsoft announced plans to combine its major business applications -- Axapta, Great Plains, Solomon, Navision and Microsoft CRM -- on one code base, dubbed "Project Green." The company initially put Project Green on an ambitious development path and forecast deliverables as early as 2004, but in the past year Microsoft has extended its development window and scaled back expectations.

The full article is available here.

Report Manager Left navigation pane starts then errors (in Microsoft CRM)

After installing Report Manager for CRM 1.2 the Report Manager opens and asks you to login to the Crystal APS. Once this is sucessful the system redirects you to the Report Manager Page but once the page has finished loading the Left navigation bar (almost immediately) changes to "Page can't be Displayed".

This is often caused by the Report Manager virtual directory being created under the default website not the CRM website.

Details on Microsoft CRM 2005

JonWhite has posted some details on the upcoming release of Microsoft CRM. JonWhite is a "CRM ISV Evangelist" with Microsoft. He's included some details on the reasons for the delay with the new version.

Why are we pushing back the release date of Microsoft CRM?
With the release of the v1 and v1.2 solution we have learned and confirmed several things about the CRM market and our customers and partners: a high global market demand requires that releases of Microsoft CRM be available in all languages within a quarter of US availability. Microsoft CRM serves a broader market than originally targeted, meaning that we are expanding our performance capabilities to ensure that customers with the simplest needs have a solution that can be installed with few clicks AND that our most sophisticated customers can have the extensibility, performance, and multiple client capabilities they require. Finally, our customers are demanding that Microsoft sets a new bar for what a CRM solution needs to be across the market.

The full details can be found here. He also has a post on the Next Version Focus Areas which gives some insight into the new direction.

Removing a License from a user no longer in AD (in Microsoft CRM)

This issue comes up quite often in implementations where the Administration of Users and the CRM system is segregated. The associated AD user account was deleted prior to the CRM administrator removing the license, leaving the License still associated to a non-existent AD Account.

First of all you will need your CRM license key. Also it is recommended that you do not delete CRM Users out of Active Directory before reassigning their records and taking their CRM License away. Adding the User back into AD creates a new Security ID (SID) for the user, which does not match the SID associated with the existing CRM User (even though they might have the same login information). The system is looking for the old SID in AD when attempting to remove the license.

To re-assign the license

You will need to be able to log into the domain and into Microsoft CRM as a user with System Administrator privileges.

1. Exit all users from Microsoft CRM - probably best doing this after hours.

2. Remove the license from your deployment. This is done on the CRM Server.
a. In Deployment Manager (Start, Programs, Microsoft CRM, Deployment Manager), expand the License Manager node on the left side of the window.
b. Highlight the organization name. The right side of the window should display your License Type, the number of users and your License Key. Print this e-mail so you can type the License Key in a later step.
c. Right-click the entry that has this information and choose Delete License from the context menu.

3. Add the license back in the same window.
a. Right-click the blank area in the window and choose New, License.
b. Type your license key in the License Key field, then finish the wizard by clicking Next and Finish.

4. In Microsoft CRM, add the license back to the existng users.
a. Launch Microsoft CRM as a user with System Administrator privileges.
b. Click the Settings side tab on the Home Page, then click Business Unit Settings, then click Users.
c. For every user (one at a time), open the User record, click the Licenses side tab, then click Manage Licenses, and add the Sales Standard license to each user.

Unable to send an email as another user (in Microsoft CRM)

I had this problem a while ago which I'd posted on a couple of CRM Newsgroups, I never got a response and I'd all but forgotten about i. However I had another user post on the question today which prompted me to submit it to Microsoft to see if I could get it sorted out.

Here's the Issue :-

I am trying to send a direct email template as another user and I am having issues. There issue is to do with assigning as another user. Here is the process that I am following.

1. I select the records (contacts or accounts) that I wish to send the email to.
2. I select Actions -> Send Direct E-Mail
3. I select the appropriate template that I wish to send
4. I select the Option to Send Direct e-mail to: Selected Items on this page
5. I select the magnifing glass at the right of User/Queue: to select the Send direct e-mail from: field
6. In the Look Up Records Window I select the Go button and I see only my own Username.

No matter of searching (ie entering correct user names or wild characters) will result in another User Name being displayed.I have tried adding Users to Teams/Territories they are all in the same Business Unit. I have tried from a System Administrator account however none of these have resulted in another user being displayed.

This is the response on the problem :-

This functionality is actually by design the way it is working. As a logged-in user, you can only make the “From” field be populated by the user himself or any queue that the user has access to. Therefore, the lookup button is for the user to choose whether he wants to send the email using his own account or if he wants to use a queue that he has access to. The most logical explanation that I can think of is because of security reasons (e.g. you do not want other people to use your name to send their emails). Currently, there is no way to change the user from which the email is sent. Only the user which you are logged into CRM can be the sending user.

Unfortunately the option is to use a Queue as an alternative.

SQL 2000 SP4 Beta

About Databases recently posted.

SQL Server 2000 SP4 Beta Test
Microsoft is seeking users willing to beta-test SQL Server 2000 SP4, SQL Server 2005 Express and Reporting Services SP2. If you're interested in participating, visit the Microsoft Beta Test site.

However, I've recently started on the Microsoft CRM v2.0 TAP(Technology Adoption Program) and a requirement of the new product is a SQL Server on SP4 so it looks like MS will be getting quite a few more testers for SQL Server 2000 SP4 by default.

More Hotfixes and Workarounds for CRM

893391 Frequently asked questions about the Cassini Web server in Microsoft CRM 1.2 Sales for Outlook

What is the Cassini Web server?
The Cassini Web server is a simple, fully managed Web server that hosts ASP.NET. The Cassini Web server is a combination of the following:

• A simple HTTP listener that was built by using System.Net.Sockets.
• A hosting sample of ASP.NET that was built by using System.Web.Hosting APIs.

This lets you host ASP.NET from any managed application.

What are some known functionality limitations of the Cassini Web server?
• It can host only one ASP.NET application per port.
• It does not support HTTPS.
• It does not support authentication.
• It responds only to localhost requests.

Does the Outlook client use Internet Information Server (IIS)?
Microsoft Internet Information Server (IIS) is a Web server that includes configuration, logging, authentication, authorization, HTTPS support, multiple-site support, and performance and reliability tuning. It would require significantly more resources and would put an additional burden on the client computer if the Outlook client used IIS. Additionally, IIS requires local administrator privileges to be configured and adequately maintained. The Cassini Web server does not depend on IIS. However, it can run side-by-side with IIS depending on the configuration settings.

How does the Outlook client use the Cassini Web server?
The Cassini Web server is installed during the installation of the Outlook client and is preconfigured to listen to port 2525. The CassiniPort registry setting must be set to 2525 so that the Outlook client can communicate with the Cassini Web server.

The Cassini Web server starts only when the Microsoft CRM Outlook toolbar is loaded in Microsoft Outlook. Therefore, the Cassini Web server runs within the Outlook process on the client computer. After Outlook closes, or after the CRMAddin.dll file is unloaded, the Cassini Web server unloads from the Outlook process.

The Outlook client uses the Cassini Web server to render the Microsoft CRM pages in Outlook. The .aspx pages are stored in the \Microsoft CRM\Client\res\web folder. Additionally, the .aspx pages are similar to the pages that are used by the Microsoft CRM Web site, except for certain code that is specific to the Outlook client.
The Outlook client pages are rendered by the Cassini Web server when the Outlook
client is online or offline. The location of the data that is retrieved by the .aspx pages depends on the state of the Outlook client. If the Outlook client is online, TCP/IP is used to retrieve the data through SOAP calls to the Microsoft CRM server. If the Outlook client is offline, the data is retrieved through named pipes from the Microsoft SQL Server Desktop Engine (MSDE) database.

Can you replace the Cassini Web server with another Web server?
You cannot currently replace the Cassini Web server with another Web server, such as IIS.

Can you bypass the Cassini Web server while you are online and then request pages directly from the Microsoft CRM server?
All components of the Outlook client are dependant on one another. The CRMAddin.dll file calls the Cassini Web server and loads it into the Outlook process. The ability to replace or bypass this Cassini component is currently not supported.

Is the Cassini Web server open-source software?
Although the source code for the public version of the Cassini Web server is available for download, the instance of the Cassini Web server that is installed with the Outlook client is not an open-source product.

Does Microsoft Business Solutions support the Cassini Web server?
The instance of the Cassini Web server that is installed with the Outlook client is part of of Microsoft CRM. Therefore, it is supported by our support team like any other Microsoft CRM component.

Is the Cassini Web server subject to Trustworthy Computing?
We are dedicated to Trustworthy Computing. Therefore, we monitor security threats to the components of Microsoft CRM. This includes the instance of the Cassini Web server that is installed with the Outlook client. For additional information about the Microsoft Trustworthy Computing initiative, visit the following Microsoft Web site: http://www.microsoft.com/mscorp/twc/default.mspx

890594 When you use mail merge to create a new activity on a Microsoft CRM Sales for Outlook client, the Actual End date for the activity is not set

You use mail merge to create a new activity on a Microsoft Business Solutions CRM Sales for Outlook client. The Actual End date for this activity is not set and shows the default value of NULL.

A supported hotfix is now available from Microsoft, but it is only intended to
correct the problem that is described in this article.
Only apply it to systems that are experiencing this specific problem. This
hotfix may receive additional testing. Therefore, if you are not severely
affected by this problem, we recommend that you wait for the next version of
Microsoft Business Solutions CRM that contains this hotfix.

To resolve this problem immediately, contact Microsoft Product Support Services
to obtain the hotfix. For a complete list of Microsoft Product Support Services
phone numbers and information about support costs, visit the following
Microsoft Web site:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=fh;[LN];CNTACTMS

Microsoft CRM Delay Irks Users

This article from eWEEK tends to indicate that not all is happy in the user camp with the Microsoft Delay.

Customer dissatisfaction is growing with Microsoft Corp.'s delayed CRM release
cycle, even as the Redmond, Wash., company has hired a veteran CRM executive to
help get the product out the door.

Brad Wilson, a former marketing
executive with PeopleSoft Inc. and Epiphany Inc., joined Microsoft in early
February, at the same time the company announced another delay for its
long-awaited Microsoft CRM 2.0, originally due to ship early last year.

Read the full article here.

Host of Hotfixes for Microsoft CRM are released

I know I'm a little behind the eight ball on these hotfixes but I was away last week and didn't get around to much updating. It is good to see that Microsoft have continued to update and support the current version of MSCRM prior to the release of CRM 2005.
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835294 A hotfix is available for Microsoft CRM Integration for Great Plains that corrects the problems that are described in articles 834386 and 835468

892550 You receive an error message when you try to remove a Microsoft CRM license from a user

870576 You receive a "Page cannot be displayed" or an "Unexpected error has occurred" error message when you try to send an e-mail by using Microsoft CRM 1.2 Sales for Outlook

887842 You receive an "Error: This is an unexpected token. The expected token is; Line 1 position 1780" message when you click the Sales Process tab in Microsoft CRM 1.2

886283 An error occurs after you configure Microsoft CRM 1.2 to use a non-U.S. currency number grouping format

890598 After you install hotfix 870578 in Microsoft CRM 1.2, Advanced Find searches that use the On operator return records for the day before the date that you specify.

Frontrange Foundation Dashboard

I had the chance to play around with the new IT Service Management offering which is built on the new Foundation Technology.

Part of the new foundation is the Dashboard. The biggest thing that caught my eye was the flexible ad hoc reporting functionality it provided.

Basically you can design a "Search" (a nice user friendly window around building a query) and then attach a graph/chart to it and place it in the dashboard.

Clicking on the graph allows you to drill down into a grid format of the current data for that search.

The really cool thing is you can then drag one (or more) of the colomn headings into the title bar and the grid will now be grouped (not sorted, but yes grouped) by that field. If you want more grouping just drag more coloumns up. It's a really simple but extremely powerful concept.

You can check out an IT Service Management Flash demo of the software.

Heat Self Service and the Global.asa

This is an issue that I used to get a lot with the implementation of Heat Self Service but I haven't seen it for a while.

Error '8002802b' Element not found. /HEATSelfService/global.asa, line 16
This is basically due to the system having difficulty accessing the catalog (HFW) file for the Heat System
1. Stop the WWW Service
2. Delete the .HFW file from the C:\Program Files\HEAT
3. Delete LD, SC, WD from HKEY_Local_Machine\Software\Frontrange Solutions\HEAT Self Service
4. Start WWW Service

Modifying the Activity Associated View

It is possible to access the Activity Associated View from within the standard customisation tools of CRM.

Use the URL below to edit the view. Replace GUID with the ID of the specific view you wish to edit.Unfortunately, the regarding field is not available for all activity views, and some of the views can't be customized (i.e. homepage, workplace) without major unsupported mods.

You can find the GUID for the Activity Associated View in the SavedQueryBase table.

http://localhost/tools/viewEditor/viewManager.aspx?id={GUID}

Customers And Partners Support Microsoft's CRM Delay

Information Week published an article this week on customers and partners supporting the descision for Microsoft to delay the CRM 2005 release.

Brad Wilson, general manager of Microsoft CRM, says the delay of CRM 2.0 is
because of feedback from customers and partners who prefer to see new
capabilities added now rather than wait for a subsequent release.

Which is good news for the CRM product as there is a lot of press on the delay. Hopefully they will continue to release fixes for some of the major functional issues/bugs in the current version of the system prior to the 2005 release.

Read the full article here.

Great Article on Backing up CRM Databases

There are quite a few Databases to back up for CRM, David McGuire from MSCRM Experts has posted this article on scripting the backup of the Databases.

Every Found yourself at alphanova.co.uk?

Have you ever tried going to your CRM implementation by typing in crm into an iexplore address bar and found yourself being redirected to http://www.alphanova.co.uk/?

It turns out you've discovered a feature of Internet Explorer you may not have known about. You'll probably find that you have a Pop-up Blocker enabled on your browser so you're holding down the Ctrl key whilst you hit Enter to browse to the CRM page.

The Ctrl-Enter combination is a feature that adds a www. and .com to the address you've typed in the browser. For example if you type google into the address bar and then hit Ctrl-Enter it will populate the address bar with www.google.com and navigate to that page.

As a result the same thing happens when you type in CRM and hit Ctrl-Enter, you are then taken to www.crm.com which is registered to http://www.alphanova.co.uk/.

Unable to return to the Microsoft CRM home page via the bottom navigation bar

Using the web version of CRM, when it first opens, it goes to the Home page
just fine, and then allows me to click the big navigation button on the
bottom to go to say, the Sales area. The problem is, when you click the Home
button on the bottom to get back to my home page, it doesn't go, and there is
an error notification that appears on the bottom left of the IE status bar.

Line: 69
Char: 4
Error: Permission denied
Code: 0
URL: http://forfp/bar_bottom.aspx?startPage=Home

The symptoms are related to Windows XP SP2. You need to install the latest hotfix for Microsoft CRM v1.2.http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=95ed89d0-8b99-4458-b798-90ad5400923e&DisplayLang=en

Details about the service pack can be found here

Heat Asset Tracker (HAT) and Dashes in the Unique Identifier

This is a bit of a strange one...
Heat Asset Tracker is a HEAT (as evidenced by the name) module for tracking IT assets. The system works by identifying each PC via a GUID. This GUID is generated when the first scan is run on the PC and stored (usually in the root of C:) in a LDISCAN.CFG file.

In some cases instead of using a GUID generated by the system (which is every time the Machine is rebuilt) the can be generated when the PC is rebuilt (or when a user logs on) with something like the Machine Name.

It turns out that if the value that you are using for your Unique Identifier in the file contains the curly brackets ({} for example {ABC-S-012345}) and the data inside the file it is not a GUID the engine will be unable to match the Unique Identifier correctly with other the data in the database. The result is assets will be overwritten with data from other assets being scanned.

Simply change the value in the file to a value without the brackets (ie change {ABC-S-012345} to ABC-S-012345) and you assets will all start appearing in the database.

Migrating Records from one GM Database to another

If have more than one goldmine databases that you would like to merge in to one (or simply just copy a couple of records) it is possible to use the Copy/Move Records function.

First of all, backup everything.

Secondly, get into the database where the contacts will be moving FROM (this can be done with a FileOpen Database) and goto FileSyncCopy/Move Records and select to copy the records to a target database. This will copy the entire contact record (history, pending activities etc) into the Target Database.

Beyond Gold

While looking for a fix for a Goldmine Issue I stumbled across this great looking utility - Beyond Gold. It comes from DJ Hunt, a long standing Goldmine 'Hacker' and author of The Hacker's Guide to GoldMine.

This freeware utility gives you the ability to :-

• Copy one users Manual E-mail Address book to one or more other GoldMine users Manual E-mail Address book either additively or completely overwriting it
• Copy one users Macros to one or more other GoldMine users either additively or completely overwriting theirs.
• Copy one users Toolbars to one or more other GoldMine users either additively or completely overwriting theirs.
• Provide a graphical interface for maintaining any GoldMine User Variables.
• Give you a graphical interface to copy the entire Lookup List, including the lookup list settings, from one Contact1/Contact2 field to as many other Contact1/Contact2 fields as you desire.

Plus many more the full list can be found here.

Microsoft CRM Delay is Big News

Microsoft CRM tends not to get too much press, however it's big news at the moment. It hasn't hit the limelight because of a new feature set or cementing it's place in the Small to Medium CRM space. It's shot into the news with the announcement that the software is to be delayed (see Microsoft again delays CRM update).

In the last two days alone I've received 15 news updates on the matter, more than I normally get in a month on MS CRM. Just goes to show maybe no news is good news.

Replies to Microsoft CRM-originated e-mail messages are seen as unsolicited e-mail

There has also been a hotfix released to address the issue with special characters (The following are examples of special characters that cause this behavior: å, æ, é, ñ, ö, á, and å) in the subject line causing e-mail messages to be seen as unsolicited e-mail.

This is in relation to knowledge base article 890486.

The hotfix is now available by contacting microsoft.

Can't (advanced) find your records after you start daylight savings?

Microsoft have just released a new hotfix to address some date/time based knowledgebase issues.

832869 After daylight-saving time starts, Advanced Find may not return records that were created before that date in Microsoft CRM and in Microsoft CRM Sales for Outlook
835307 The Created On Last 7 Days column in the Advanced Find dialog box returns all records instead of the records that were created during the last seven days in Microsoft CRM

The hotfix is available by contacting microsoft.

Hazards of Multiple CRM Servers

Having recently implemented a CRM system where the enviroment has Multiple CRM servers pointing at the same database there are quite a few things to be aware of.

1. The CRM Exchange Router will only support the receiving of Email to one environment. The service allows you to add an unlimited number of servers at install however it will only support the routing of incoming emails to the first server in the list. Other servers in the list will be supported for out going emails. This is only poses an issue if your CRM servers point to more than one database. In the case of multiple CRM servers on one production SQL implementation the primary CRM server should be added to the list for incoming emails and the remaining servers added for outbound. There will be no impact of functionality for end users but this will allow email to function on all CRM instances.

2. The Crystal Reporting service returns errors "Unable to find file ... in file repository". When reports are published to the Crystal Enterprise system that is installed with Microsoft CRM, two things happen, first an entry is made in the APS database on the SQL Server that you chose during setup. Secondly the actual .rpt file is placed in a location on the server so that services can access and run the report for delivery to the client. By default, report files are located at C:\Program Files\Microsoft CRM\Crystal Decisions\Enterprise 9\FileStore.

When you install a secondary Microsoft CRM server is installed, reports are not republished. As a result, when the folder on the second Microsoft CRM server at C:\Program Files\Microsoft CRM\Crystal Decisions\Enterprise 9\FileStore is created, it is empty. At this point, if you tried to run any reports on the second Microsoft CRM server, you would see a list of reports, but you would not be able to open any of the reports.

There are two methods that will ensure that reports accessed from both Microsoft CRM servers are available, contain the same data, and carry forward any customizations that you may have applied to the reports that are shipped out of the box with Microsoft CRM.

1.Manually copy the files from server A to server B.The easiest and quickest way to make reports available from both Microsoft CRM servers is to copy the file location C:\Program Files\Microsoft CRM\Crystal Decisions\Enterprise 9\FileStore from server A to server B.
2. Use File Replication. Deploy a third-party file replication service to maintain synchronization for both server's file directories. The limitation of this method is that changes to reports will be synchronized between servers based on the intervals that you set for the replication service. You may need to tweak this setting to find out which interval is right for you.

I'm sure I will discover more but at the moment they are some of the big ones.