This blog article outlines how to merge a document with Adobe Sign by e-mail. In this example, we use a template which contains two signees. The document will be sent via e-mail to the two signees be signed.

The result can look like in the figure below:

Figure 1: DCP document with two Adobe Sign signatures

Therefore follow the steps below: 

Step 1: Create document via DCP Dialog
First, open your Dynamics 365 and search the entity you want to create a document for – in this example Work Order. Next, please hit the [CREATE DOCUMENT]-button which opens the DocumentsCorePack Dialog as you can see below. 

Figure 2: DCP Dialog - select your template

Here, please select the template you want to execute – in this case we want a document with two signees to be signed, so please select the WorkOrder_Template_2signees.docx. 

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Step 2: Define how your document should be executed
In this example, we want the document to be attached, so please check the Attach document checkbox and select as Adobe Sign email from the drop-down menu (see figure below). Select your recipients and their e-mail addresses from the drop-down menus – in this case two, because we have two signees.

Please note: The first recipient will get the document first and after signing it, the document will be sent to the second recipient. Click on the [Next]-button to continue. 

Figure 3: DCP Dialog - define how your document should be executed

Step 3: Check your document before you forward it to Adobe Sign
Therefore, please click on the attachment, highlighted in yellow. 

Figure 4: DCP Dialog - preview document

This opens a preview of your document. As you can see, there are two different Adobe Sign text tags: one for the initials and one at the bottom of your document for the signatures of the two signees (highlighted in yellow).

Figure 5: Preview of your document

If your document is fine, please click[Finish] to attach the document as Adobe Sign mail. 

Step 4: Review and sign document
Now the first recipient you have selected receives an e-mail with the Adobe Sign document as you can see below. 

Figure 6: E-mail with a link to Adobe Sign document

With a click on the blue text “Click here to review and sign”, the document opens in a browser where the first recipient must enter his initials and sign the document. As you can see in the figure below, the fields, that must be completed by the first recipient, are highlighted in yellow and marked with Start. 

Figure 7: Sign the document

A click on the [Click to Sign]-button at the bottom will finish the process and will send the document to the second recipient (selected before) to be signed. Also, a copy can be downloaded here. 

Figure 8: Document successfully signed - message

Step 5: Signed document ready for download 
After the second recipient signs the document, all parties of the agreement will automatically receive a copy of the signed document (see figure below).

Figure 9: E-mail signed document with two signees

Hit the blue text “the document” to open the signed document. 

In the so opened window in your browser, you can see ❶ all details, ❷ the steps of the process and the document, which now contains ❸ both signatures. Click on ❹ PDF to download your signed document. 

Figure 10: The signed document ready for download

Congratulations! You have your first document signed with Adobe Sign. 

That’s it! We appreciate your feedback! Please share your thoughts by sending an email to support@mscrm-addons.com.

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We are happy to announce that we offer the possibility to use Adobe Sign within DocumentsCorePack. Benefit from this combination and take the usability of Microsoft Dynamics 365 to a whole new level. Adobe Sign is another tool that simplifies the world of e-signatures. It empowers you to electronically sign documents. More information can be found in the corresponding documentation on our website. 

This blog article outlines how to get started with Adobe Sign as an additional feature of DocumentsCorePack. If you decided to use Adobe Sign as an additional feature, please follow the steps in this blog article: 

Step 1: Obtain the AdobeSign package
For Microsoft Dynamics 365 Online: on AppSource
For Microsoft OnPremises: from the Adobe Sign Integration page

Step 2: Install the Adobe Sign package
The installation of Adobe Sign is very easy, please follow the Installation Guide written by Adobe.

Step 3: Adobe Sign Users and Security Roles
For using the Adobe Sign application, it is necessary that users have their security role configured to the Dynamics environment. The available security roles are:

• Adobe Sign Reader
  Users have read-only access to Agreement records.

• ADOBE SIGN USER
  Users are able to see only their own records and have User level access to built-in Dynamics records such as Contacts, Accounts, Leads, Opportunities, Orders etc. 

• ADOBE SIGN ADMINISTRATOR
  This role includes additional privileges in addition to the Adobe Sign User role such as adjusting Global Settings, Data Migration and allowing visibility over all Agreements throughout the application.

Find more information about how to configure the security roles in the Adobe Installation Guide in chapter Post Install Configuration (Required) and scroll down to Deploy Adobe Sign to Users by Assigning Security Roles. 

Step 4: DocumentsCorePack templates for Adobe Sign 
After you have configured the security roles for Adobe Sign users in Microsoft Dynamics 365, and you have made sure that they have all the rights they need, you can create a DocumentsCorePack template for AdobeSign. 

Please find all the information about how to use the Template Designer in the Template Designer User Guide on our website. 

To use Adobe Sign in DocumentsCorePack you have to enter Adobe Sign text tags. These are formatted text that can be placed anywhere within the content of your template. Text tags are converted into Adobe Sign form fields when the document is sent for signature or uploaded.

Please find all possible Adobe Sign text tags in the Adobe Sign Text Tag Guide. 

The figure below shows a template with Adobe text tags for initials and signatures for two signees.

Figure: DCP template with Adobe Sign signatures

 Still curious? More information about "How to ..." can be found in the articles below: 

• How to merge a document with Adobe Sign by e-mail
• How to merge a document and start an In-person signing process

That’s it! We appreciate your feedback! Please share your thoughts by sending an email to support@mscrm-addons.com.

This blog article outlines how the Cloud service structure for AttachmentExtractor works. AttachmentExtractor will retrieve documents from Dynamics 365 instance, move it to an alternative storage location and deliver it back to Dynamics 365 upon user request.

As you can see the figure below shows the Data Flow of AttachmentExtractor in the Cloud: 

Figure: Data flow of AttachmentExtractor in the Cloud

 

Setup:
The AttachmentExtractor Service is hosted in our Azure account and placed in the same datacenter the Dynamics 365 environment is hosted to ensure high performance. 

Data flow: 

• Document Extraction: Based on configuration, the AttachmentExtractor-service checks for new documents in notes or e-mail attachments every X seconds and moves them to the alternative storage (SharePoint or Azure Blob Storage). At the same time, a 2nd query starts working towards historic entries. 
• If an attachment is found, the service moves the file to the corresponding storage location and replaces the reference inside Dynamics 365.
  Please note: For users access inside Dynamics  365 is unchanged.
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Data flow on Retrieval:
Please have a look at the corresponding blog article. 

Security:
All communication between the Dynamics 365 organization and the AttachmentExtractor service is done using the Dynamics 365 web-services and thus is secured communication using https and authenticated likewise to Dynamics 365 itself supporting Server2Server authentification (which prevents you from providing user credentials to us) or access via Office 365 credentials. Documents never get stored on the Service engine. 

IMPORTANT: 
Customers with security concerns regarding our document generation services are eligible to install AE either on their own Azure VM or on local hardware. Please note that for performance reasons an installation in the VM is recommended. 

For Dynamics 365 Online customers the document generation service will be hosted in our Azure account. To ensure high performance it will be located in the same datacenter the Dynamics 365-instance itself is located. The installation can be done directly from our website http://www.mscrm-addons.com. 

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​That’s it! We appreciate your feedback! Please share your thoughts by sending an email to support@mscrm-addons.com.

Last week we had the pleasure to welcome our US team at our headquarter in Graz/Austria. For the 20th anniversary of PTM EDV-Systeme GmbH (read more about in this blog article) we invited our colleagues from Atlanta to spend the pre-Christmas period in Graz.

The intention was to get to know each other in person in order to strengthen the team spirit. For the first time, we had the possibility to work together side by side as a WEteam and so we used the last working week intensively. Everyday meetings helped us brainstorm and develop new and innovative product goals for 2019.  

But we also had a lot of fun together. Christmas is one of the most magical times in Graz and nothing can get you more into the Christmas spirit like a beautiful Christmas Market, thousands upon thousands of twinkling lights and far too much of Glühwein (mulled wine) to stay warm 😉. The city center turns into a large Christmas village with markets spread out throughout the city center making the already stunning city a winter dream.

To make their stay unforgettable we showed our US friends the Austrian lifestyle - the best spots in Graz whether at the Christmas Markets drinking Glühwein or on our Schlossberg tour, a forested mountain in the town center with its landmark, a bell tower as a reminder of the now demolished castle.  From Schlossberg, you have the best view over Graz and also a very nice Christmas Market. 

Another highlight was also our Christmas Party with traditional Austrian cuisine, which we celebrated all together for the first time. Besides to the excellent food, we had great conversations and enjoyed good laughs. We created great memories together before we end 2018 and start a busy life in 2019: 

US team in Austria - photo gallery

All in all, the visit was a complete success for our team. Being and working together was a great and really very special experience! We had a great time together, whether drinking Glühwein, at the Christmas Party, on our Schlossberg tour and of course at work.  

This article outlines how to add a hyperlink to a insert "Picture-Link-Field”. The result after the merge will be a clickable image in your generated document.
How to insert a Picture-Link-Field is described in here “Insert”-button. 

Figure 1: Example of a clickable link in Word

​1. Open the properties of an inserted picture link field
Select any picture-link field (1) and hit the "Field properties" button in the ribbon (2). A new window with and additional option so setup a link will be opened (3)

Figure 2; Inserted picture link field​ and new edit option

2. Define a link 
Based on the DocumentsCorePack Property Syntax you can setup a link (1)  and apply your changes with a click on OK (2)
Figure 3: Example of setup link pattern

That’s it! We appreciate your feedback! Please share your thoughts by sending an email to support@mscrm-addons.com.

This blog article outlines how you can claim yourself a DocumentsCorePack Template Designer (per User) License.

If you are using the DocumetnsCorePack Template Designer for DocumentsCorePack ServerBased or when you are using the DocumentsCorePack Client with a per user license you might come across the following message. With version 9.19 or higher of the client you have an additional option to get rid of this message. 

​Figure 1:"Access Denied" License Message

The access denied message ❶ indicates that your user does not have a license applied. As long as the per User license count is higher than the system value number 
you can claim a license to yourself you can use the "Claim License" button ❷ at the bottom right corner. This option is only visible if you actually have a per User lincense. For any other license type this option will not be available. 

 ​Figure 2: License screen with access denied 

If the claiming process is successfull you will see a message like below.  ❶ 
In case the claim attempt fails you will receive an error message. The message will contain details of what failed. 

Figure 3: Confirmation message after sucessfull claim process

After that you will see an update license screen with the latest numbers update. ❶
To proceed simply click "Close" to end this dialog. ​❷

​ ​Figure 4: Updated license screen

PLEASE NOTE: If you do not have this option or if you are not sure if you should claim yourself a license please get in touch with your CRM Administrator.​

 That’s it! We appreciate your feedback! Please share your thoughts by sending an email to support@mscrm-addons.com.

This blog article outlines how to react if your template gets corrupted after you have added an image to the header. If you face this problem, please try to restore it and set the following setting for the picture in the header:

With a right click on the picture, select the ❶ Size and Position Settings. In the so opened Layout settings, please navigate to the ❷ Text Wrapping-tab and select ❸ "In line with text". 

Figure 1: Image Layout Settings

That’s it! We appreciate your feedback! Please share your thoughts by sending an email to support@mscrm-addons.com.

Should you face problems with the template lookup from the Insert Static Document functionality, please do the following to load an alternative version of the dialog that does not use a web interface.

Please create the following settingskey in your Dynamics 365 for the product DocumentsCorePack. More information about how to create a settingskey, can be found here. Enter the name of your settingskey in the Name-field and the value in the KeyValue-field like you can see below: 

Name: AlternativeLookupDlg
KeyValue: true

Please ensure that you are using vesrion 9.20 or higher, otherwise you also have to perfrom an upgrade to the latest version of the client application. The latest version can be found in our Download-Center.  More information of how to find the current version number can be found in the Version Number Guide. 

​That’s it! We appreciate your feedback! Please share your thoughts by sending an email to support@mscrm-addons.com.

This blog article outlines how to execute an additional "Attach document"-operation by checking the Run workflow checkbox in the DocumentsCorePack Dialog (highlighted in yellow below). Therefore you have to create a workflow, which will then be displayed in the Run workflow drop-down menu. 

More information about how to create a workflow can be found here. 

Figure 1: DocumentsCorePack Dialog - Run workflow

  

Within this tutorial, we will create such a workflow step-by-step. The result will be a document which will be ❶ attached to an e-mail and also ❷ attached as a note as you can see in the figure below.

Figure 2: The result

Please open your Microsoft Dynamics 365 and navigate to Settings > Processes. In the My Processes - area, click on the [New]-button in order to create a new workflow.  A dialog pops up. Type in ❶ the name of your workflow, determine ❷ an entity - MSCRM-ADDONS.com AutoMergeWorkingItems in this case and select ❸ Workflow as the process category. Afterward, hit the [OK]-button. 

The window below pops up, where you can configure your workflow in detail. Please check the ❶ As an on-demand checkbox in the Available to Run-area and as Scope select ❷ Organization. Next, please add a new step by hitting on the [Add Step]-drop-down menu and select ❸ Create Record. 

As soon as the step has been added to your workflow, please enter ❶ a name that remains you of what it contains, e.g. Attach note. Then open the drop-down menu, select ❷ MSCRM-ADDONS.com AutoMergeWorkingItems and hit the ❸ [Set Properties]-button. 

The dialog below opens. It allows you to configure your workflow. Again, give it a ❶ name - Attach a note in this case and select ❷ AttachToEntity in the AutoMergeAction-field. Next, set the cursor in the ❸ PrimaryRecordUrl-field and select ❹ PrimaryRecordUrl in the drop-down menu in the Form Assistant, click on the [Add]-button and hit the [OK]-button below (highlighted in yellow). The PrimaryRecordUrl-field is filled now. Do the same for the ❺ EntityToAttach (RecordURL(Dynamic)). Then, set the cursor in the ❻ DocumentGUID-field, select CreatedDocument in the Form Assistant and proceed like before. To finish the workflow, please do not forget to click on the ❼ [Save and Close]-button. 

After finishing the configuration, do not forget to activate your so created workflow by hitting the [Activate]-button located at the top. 

To see the result, please open the DocumentsCorePack Dialog by hitting the [Create Document]-button in your Dynamics 365. As shown in the first figure, the dialog ❶ attaches the document as an email attachment and by checking the ❷ Run workflow checkbox you can start the so created workflow and also attach it as a note. 

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That’s it! We appreciate your feedback! Please share your thoughts by sending an email to support@mscrm-addons.com.

This blog article outlines how to handle the CRM Sandbox Plugin errors.

Long loading time of add-ons
ActivityTools, PowerSearch, and SmartBar use a CRM sandbox plugin in the background. It is a known CRM problem that the first plugin execution could take very long. Unfortunately, it is beyond our control. More information can be found here. 

If you have not used the add-on for a long time or the handler opens a new worker process this can happen. But if you use the add-on frequently (like in a production environment), the plugin will stay cached and this initiation should not happen very often. 

If you load the add-on a few times after each other (independent if it is for the same record or not), at least from the 7th execute on it should be normal fast. Based on our information CRM starts 6 worker process maximum. The 7th execute will use one of the existing. 

But that it can take longer to load than a default CRM field is normal because add-ons get started on page load. At this time CRM internal components are almost finished. 

 
Communication object error
If ActivityTools, SmartBar, PowerSearch or the license information request the configuration page fails, a red error message will be displayed. If it contains the following message, it indicates that anything is not correct with the CRM Sandbox service. 

Mesasge: System.ServiceModel.Security.SecurityNegotiationException: Microsoft Dynamics CRM has experienced an error.

How to solve for NOT CRM online organizations: 
Go to the CRM Server (in case of multiple servers to the backend server) -> Services Look for "Microsoft Dynamics CRM Sandbox Processing Services" and restart it. 

Figure 1: Look for “Microsoft Dynamics CRM Sandbox Processing Services”

If this should still not work, please check the Sandbox service configuration as shown in this article. In many cases, a wrong or not set SPN is the reason for the issue. 

That’s it! We appreciate your feedback! Please share your thoughts by sending an email to office@mscrm-addons.com.   

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