I spent last week or so discovering things on CRM 2013 tablet application and to be honest, it is pretty good. There are limitations but it is a good start for Dynamics CRM in tab and mobile market with having an out of box app.

Here are the series of blogs which pretty much sum all I could find on CRM 2013 Tablet application configuration, what can be done what cannot be done etc. For installation it is available in Google store for Android tabs, Windows store for Windows tabs and Apple store for IPAD tabs.

· Want to know how to configure multi entity search for CRM 2013 App. Here you go: Click here

· Want to know how to reconfigure IPAD app and options: Reconfigure vs Sign out for CRM 2013 App. Here you go: Click here

· Want to know Security Privileges required to access CRM 2013 App. Here you go: Click here

· Want to know how to configure an Entity to be available in CRM 2013 App. Here you go: Click here

· Want to understand Navigation options, commands and handle form scripts for CRM 2013 App. Here you go: Click here

Hope it helps!

I wanted to have a final blog on my discoveries with CRM for tablets for CRM 2013. This blog will sum up understanding Navigation options, commands and how to handle form scripts for CRM for tablets.

Some References below from MSDN site

Changing Navigation Options for CRM for tablets:

It uses the same sitemap data as CRM web application.

If an entity is enabled for CRM for tablets and appears in the navigation bar for the web application, it will also appear on the navigation bar in CRM for tablets.

A grouping within an Area on the web client will be ignored. The CRM for tablets app will show the entities as a flat list.

The order of the items in the Nav bar is determined by the order in the site map. If there is a duplicate, the first instance will be the only one shown.

Custom entities will use a fixed custom entity icon.

Command bar for CRM for tablets:

It uses same information as on Ribbon for CRM web application.

Handling form Scripts for CRM for tablets:

Scripts written for forms used in the web application in should also work with CRM for tablets but there are some differences. As a rule, methods that are not valid within CRM for tablets will not throw errors, but they will also not return any values. Developers can use the following conditional statement to separate code that will not work correctly using CRM for tablets.

JavaScript

if (Xrm.Page.context.client.getClient() != “Mobile”)

{

//Code that should not run in CRM for tablets can be included here

}

The following list should help you understand what to expect:

· Using  window.alert, window.confirm, window.prompt or any other code that blocks code execution will not work for CRM for tablets.

· Because web resources and IFRAMES in forms are not displayed in CRM for tablets any of the methods provided to interact with them will not work.

· Because CRM for tablets does not provide the ability for a user to switch to different forms, those methods that enable this in the web application will not work.

· Any methods that allow for showing or navigating to related entities in the web application will not work.

· Methods that would refresh the command bar, get dimensions of the view port, or close a form window will not work.

Hope it helps!

This blog is meant to understand how to configure an entity to be available in CRM for tablets. Say I have a custom entity and want it to be available in CRM for Tablets. You need to go to Entity customization and work on the options mentioned in below screen. It will be the last option in Entity customization:

Detailed description below (Reference from MSDN)

CRM for phones

This entity will be available within the Microsoft Dynamics CRM for phones application.

CRM for Tablets

This entity will be available using Microsoft Dynamics CRM for tablets. You also have the option to make this entity Read-only in CRM for tablets.

If the forms for an entity require an extension that isn’t supported by CRM for tablets, such as IFRAME or web resource controls, use this setting to ensure that the data for these entities is not editable by people using CRM for tablets.

Now, this is the part when you need to configure it for custom entity, what about if you want to do it for system entity. There are loads of things to know here. Let us have a look at that as well:

(Reference from MSDN)

Only certain system entities are visible or can be used with CRM for tablets. The following table shows the entities displayed in CRM for tablets.

· Account

· Appointment

· Competitor

· Connection

· Contact

· Lead

· Note

· Opportunity

· Opportunity Product

· Phone Call

· Task

Note: The Connection entity is only available as part of the Stakeholders and Sales team on the Opportunity form.

Now, which system entities can be set as read only?

Except for the Activity, Connection, and Note entities, each of these entities can also be disabled so they won’t appear in CRM for tablets or they could be set as read-only.

Records for the following entities are only available in read-only forms:

· Case

· Email

· Email Attachment

· Product

· Team

· User

Case, Email and Product entities can be set so they aren’t visible in CRM for tablets.

Hope it helps!