It is possible to create reoccuring appointments in MS CRM 4.0 without using workflow.
I have done one implementation for creating reoccuring service activity. I have added two new fields in the Service Activity entity.
Please read the detailed implementation below:
Entity Name: serviceappointment
Add two new Fields
New Field 1
-----------
Field Label: Recurring Frequency
Field Name: new_recurringactivity
Requirement Level: No Constraint
Field TYpe: picklist
Field Values:
1 - Daily
2 - Weekly
3 - Fortnightly
4 - Monthly
5 - Bi-Monthly
6 - Quarterly
7 - Half Yearly
8 - Yearly
New Field 2
-----------
Field Label: Recurring End Date
Field Name: new_recurringenddate
Field Type: datetime
Field Format: Date Only
Requirement Level: No Constraint
Purpose of the new fields
-------------------------
Field Name: new_recurringactivity
Purpose: This field will accept recurring frequency from the user.
Field Name: new_recurringenddate
Purpose: This field will accept the date from the user. It will not create any activity beyond the date. Otherwise it will go in a endless loop.
CODE SNIPPET 1
--------------
// Add this code snippet to the OnLoad event of the Service Activity Form
// Lock the recurring Service Activiy fields once activities have been created
if (crmForm.all.new_recurringactivity.DataValue)
{
crmForm.all.new_recurringactivity.disabled = true;
crmForm.all.new_recurringenddate.disabled = true;
}
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CODE SNIPPET 2
--------------
// Add this code snippet to the OnSave event of the Service Activity
// Function to format a date to the UTC format required by web services
function DateToUTCFormat(inputDate)
{
var date = inputDate.getDate();
var month = inputDate.getMonth()+1;
var year = inputDate.getYear();
var hours = inputDate.getHours();
var minutes = inputDate.getMinutes();
var ampm = " AM";
if (hours > 11)
{
ampm = " PM";
hours = hours - 12;
}
if (hours == 0)
{hours = 12;}
if (minutes < 10)
{var time = hours.toString() + ":0" + minutes.toString() + ":00" + ampm;}
else
{var time = hours.toString() + ":" + minutes.toString() + ":00" + ampm;}
var UTCDate = month.toString() + "/" + date.toString() + "/" + year.toString() + " " + time;
return UTCDate;
}
if (crmForm.all.new_recurringactivity.disabled == false && crmForm.all.new_recurringactivity.DataValue && crmForm.all.new_recurringactivity.DataValue)
{
var interval = 0;
switch (parseInt(crmForm.all.new_recurringactivity.DataValue))
{
case 1: // Daily (Please check the value you are getting from the CRM Form)
interval = 1;
break;
case 2: // weekly
interval = 7;
break;
case 3: // Fortnightly
interval = 14;
break;
case 4: // Monthly
interval = 30;
break;
case 5: // Bi-Monthly
interval = 60;
break;
case 6: // Quarterly
interval = 90;
break;
case 7: // Half Yearly
interval = 180;
break;
case 8: // Yearly
interval = 365;
break;
}
var recurringEnd = crmForm.all.new_recurringenddate.DataValue;
recurringEnd.setDate(recurringEnd.getDate()+1);
var activityStart = crmForm.all.scheduledstart.DataValue;
var activityEnd = crmForm.all.scheduledend.DataValue;
// Set the first reccuring appointment as per the recurring frequency opted by the user
activityStart.setDate(activityStart.getDate()+interval);
activityEnd.setDate(activityEnd.getDate()+interval);
// Prepare values for the new Service Activity
var subject = crmForm.all.subject.DataValue;
var regardingId = crmForm.all.regardingobjectid.DataValue[0].id;
var customerId = crmForm.all.customers.DataValue[0].id;
var serviceid = crmForm.all.serviceid.DataValue[0].id;
var resourceId = crmForm.all.resources.DataValue[0].id;
var ownerId = crmForm.all.ownerid.DataValue[0].id;
var new_recurringactivity = crmForm.all.new_recurringactivity.DataValue;
// Loop for the number of recurring Service Activities
while (activityStart < recurringEnd)
{
// Prepare the SOAP message.
var startUTC = DateToUTCFormat(activityStart);
var endUTC = DateToUTCFormat(activityEnd);
// alert("startUTC: "+startUTC);
var recurringEndUTC = DateToUTCFormat(recurringEnd);
var authenticationHeader = GenerateAuthenticationHeader();
var xml = "<?xml version='1.0' encoding='utf-8'?>" +
"<soap:Envelope xmlns:soap='http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/envelope/'"+
" xmlns:xsi='http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance'"+
" xmlns:xsd='http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema'>"+
authenticationHeader+
"<soap:Body>"+
"<Create xmlns='http://schemas.microsoft.com/crm/2007/WebServices'>"+
"<entity xsi:type='serviceappointment'>"+
"<subject>"+subject+"</subject>"+
"<serviceid>"+serviceid+"</serviceid>"+
"<ownerid>"+ownerId+"</ownerid>"+
"<customers>"+
"<activityparty>"+
"<partyobjecttypecode>account</partyobjecttypecode>"+
"<partyid>"+customerId+"</partyid>"+
"<participationtypemask>11</participationtypemask>"+
"</activityparty>"+
"</customers>"+
"<resources>"+
"<activityparty>"+
"<partyobjecttypecode>systemuser</partyobjecttypecode>"+
"<partyid>"+resourceId+"</partyid>"+
"<participationtypemask>1</participationtypemask>"+
"</activityparty>"+
"</resources>"+
"<scheduledstart>"+startUTC+"</scheduledstart>"+
"<scheduledend>"+endUTC+"</scheduledend>"+
"<new_recurringenddate>"+recurringEndUTC+"</new_recurringenddate>"+
"<new_recurringactivity>"+new_recurringactivity+"</new_recurringactivity>"+
"</entity>"+
"</Create>"+
"</soap:Body>"+
"</soap:Envelope>";
// Prepare the xmlHttpObject and send the request.
var xHReq = new ActiveXObject("Msxml2.XMLHTTP");
xHReq.Open("POST", "/mscrmservices/2007/CrmService.asmx", false);
xHReq.setRequestHeader("SOAPAction","http://schemas.microsoft.com/crm/2007/WebServices/Create");
xHReq.setRequestHeader("Content-Type", "text/xml; charset=utf-8");
xHReq.setRequestHeader("Content-Length", xml.length);
xHReq.send(xml);
// Capture the result
var resultXml = xHReq.responseXML;
// Check for errors.
var errorCount = resultXml.selectNodes('//error').length;
if (errorCount != 0)
{
var msg = resultXml.selectSingleNode('//description').nodeTypedValue;
alert(msg);
}
// Notify user of Service Activity creation
else
{
// alert("Service Activity created on " + activityStart);
}
// Increment the next Service Actvity to be created by as per the recurring frequency opted by the user
activityStart.setDate(activityStart.getDate()+interval);
activityEnd.setDate(activityEnd.getDate()+interval);
}
} // Code block Ends
Some More Explanation
---------------------
Please note in the above code snippet I am taking resources as user. So for that I have used in the code snippet
"<resources>"+
"<activityparty>"+
"<partyobjecttypecode>systemuser</partyobjecttypecode>"+
"<partyid>"+resourceId+"</partyid>"+
"<participationtypemask>1</participationtypemask>"+
"</activityparty>"+
"</resources>"+
If you are considering equipments as your resources then use
"<partyobjecttypecode>systemuser</partyobjecttypecode>"+
Also note that if you want to accept multiple resources then you need to change the value in the "participationtypemask" node.
Since I am expecting 1 resource so I have kept the value as 1.
Let me know if this helps.
Regards,
Sarbashish Bhattacharjee
