Rajeev Pentyala – Microsoft Power Platform

Custom Actions provide the ability to write reusable modules of logic that can be triggered through client-side or server-side code.

Custom actions run synchronously and can take in parameters as well as return values.

In this article I will walk you through creation of a Custom Action with Input Parameters and execute the same using SDK call.

My Custom Action created on ‘Account’ entity and will do below actions

• Takes a Input Parameter of type ‘Entity Reference’ to User, to set Owner of the Task to Accounts Owner
• Create a new Task

Custom Action

• Sets Owner of Task to Account’s Owner

Custom Action – Create Task

• Make sure you publish the ‘Custom Action’

Execute Custom Action :

• We can execute Custom Action using Early or Late binding approach
• For early binding we need to generate wrapper using exe tool by including ‘generateActions’ tag in console command.

CrmSvcUtil.exe /url:http://<serverName>/<organizationName>/XRMServices/2011/Organization.svc /out:<outputFilename>.cs /username:<username> /password:<password> /domain:<domainName> /namespace:<outputNamespace> /serviceContextName:<serviceContextName> /generateActions

• Below is the code to execute using Late Bound technique

OrganizationRequest executeCreateTaskOnAccount = new OrganizationRequest(“new_CreateTaskOnAccount”);
// Set Account Owner EntityReference Input Parameter
Guid accountOwnerId={Account Owner GUID};
var accountOwner = new EntityReference(“systemuser”, accountOwnerId);
executeCreateTaskOnAccount.Parameters.Add(new KeyValuePair<string, object>(“AccountOwner”, accountOwner));
organizationService.Execute(executeCreateTaskOnAccount);

Few points :

• Custom actions can be triggered using JScript and SDK calls
• We cannot execute Custom Actions from a workflow
• However you can create a Custom Workflow with ‘Custom Action’ execution logic and call from a Workflow
• A security privilege named Activate Real-time Processes (prvActivateSynchronousWorkflow) is required to activate an action’s real-time workflow so that it can be executed

🙂