Form Scripting

Form scripting allows a developer to perform a variety of actions within the Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online client application running in Microsoft Internet Explorer on the user's computer, including Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online for Outlook. When data is available in the client, performing actions there provides better peformance than using methods that require the user to save the record so that the actions are performed on the Web server.

Form scripting includes the following tasks:

• Associating Scripts with Events
• Adding Scripts
• Developing Scripts

Associating Scripts with Events

Scripts are written using JScript and are associated with events on the Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online form or fields within the form.

There are two form events:

• onLoad occurs when the form is first displayed to the user. The onLoad event is frequently used to initialize the form for use. For example, the script might connect to a Web service to reference changing data and perform calculations using data in the record to display the latest information to the user. The onLoad event cannot prevent the form from loading.
• onSave occurs when the user clicks the Save or Save and Close buttons. The onSave event is frequently used to peform data validation. For example, certain field values in a record might mean that an additional field must also contain data. The onSave event can be used to cancel the save action and display a message to the user so they can add the necessary data. Scripts associated with the onSave event can cancel the save before it is sent back to the server. To cancel the save, the script should return false as shown in the following code:

  event.returnValue=false;

Each enabled field in Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online provides access to an onChange event. This event occurs whenever a user changes data in the field and the user clicks a different form element. Clicking another form element indicates that the user has finished making the changes in the field. Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online processes the onChange event first, and then the data in the field is validated again following the execution of the onChange event code.

Adding Scripts

Each event provides an Event Detail Properties dialog where scripts can be pasted and enabled. After the entity form is saved and published, the scripts become part of the metadata for the entity. This means that they can be exported and imported with other customizations.

Scripts can be tested using the Form Preview to confirm they work as expected before the form is published.

Always set dependancies on any form fields referenced in your scripts. The removal of a field that is referenced in a script will cause an error in the script. Setting the field as dependant will help prevent the accidential removal of a field that is being referenced in a script.

Developing Scripts

Scripts can perform a wide range of actions, such as:

• Calculating values with in a form.
• Using Web services to retrieve data from or update external data sources.
• Interacting with an HTML page or Web application on the same domain within an IFrame.
• Peforming actions on Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online data using the Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online Web services.
• Performing additional data validation.

When developing scripts that interact with Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online forms, be sure to only use supported objects, properties, and methods, which are documented in the Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online Client Programming Guide. Using supported objects, properties, and methods will help ensure that your form scripting customizations can be upgraded to the next version of Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online.

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