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Emailing CRM Reports as attachments through Outlook

Question
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I have been trying many different approaches to this task, but have yet to find a solution. Basically, I want to allow a user to run a report (i.e. Quote summary), then through a workflow or any other means allow the user the send the Quote to another user as a PDF. However, I want this to be an attachment in Outlook, not within CRM email. I have tried many solutions posted online but none that can accomplish this.Wednesday, April 14, 2010 2:57 PM
Answers
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I don't have a code sample, but maybe a Web page would work better than a workflow. My reasoning is that it is standard behavior for a Web page to trigger an e-mail event using the local user's e-mail client. Bascially, you could have a button on the CRM application that triggers the Web page, opens the user's Outlook e-mail and attachs the file.
There are several examples on the web of adding buttons to CRM that open Web pages.
Regards, Donna
        Windows Live Blog
- Proposed as answer by Donna EdwardsMVP Tuesday, April 20, 2010 12:15 PM
- Marked as answer by Jim Glass Jr Tuesday, April 20, 2010 5:24 PM
Tuesday, April 20, 2010 12:15 PM
All replies
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It would take quite a significant amount (5 to 10 days) of custom development to achieve this solution. But there are quite a few add-ons already available that offer this feature:
Here are a couple of suggestions for you to investigate depending upon your requirements:
MyCRMGroup - Quote2PDF
Draycir - Spindle Professional
MSCRM-Addons - AutoMergeRegards, Neil
Neil Benson, CRM Addict at Customery Ltd.You can reach me on LinkedIn or Twitter, and you're welcome to sign up to Customery, an online community for UK-based Dynamics CRM people.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010 3:31 PMModerator -
Time really isn't much of a factor, as I have the time right now before a few client agreements kick in, and this functionality is part of what will be needed for one of them. Would it be possible to create a plugin to run the report and store it into a file in a temp folder, then call on Outlook to add that as an attachment? I have seen code that has done similar things in the past. Also, if possible, I could do this within SSRS as well. Or perhaps a way to change the saving functionality on an export to include attaching it to an Outlook message?Wednesday, April 14, 2010 3:43 PM
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check following article for the same..
http://a33ik.blogspot.com/2009/08/custom-workflow-action-which-renders.html
Wednesday, April 14, 2010 3:56 PMAnswerer -
I have read through that article, however the users need to be able to send the attachment via Outlook, not a CRM activity. This is due to the fact that not everyone with the client will be users within CRM.Wednesday, April 14, 2010 3:58 PM
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Even trying the method used in a33ik's blog, I can't figure out what should be the provider and report name for the properties of the dataflow. I have tried several combinations. The local URL of the report is http://george/Reports/Pages/Report.aspx?ItemPath=%2fSandbox_MSCRM%2fQuote .Wednesday, April 14, 2010 4:41 PM
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I don't have a code sample, but maybe a Web page would work better than a workflow. My reasoning is that it is standard behavior for a Web page to trigger an e-mail event using the local user's e-mail client. Bascially, you could have a button on the CRM application that triggers the Web page, opens the user's Outlook e-mail and attachs the file.
There are several examples on the web of adding buttons to CRM that open Web pages.
Regards, Donna
        Windows Live Blog
- Proposed as answer by Donna EdwardsMVP Tuesday, April 20, 2010 12:15 PM
- Marked as answer by Jim Glass Jr Tuesday, April 20, 2010 5:24 PM
Tuesday, April 20, 2010 12:15 PM