Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online 2015's Update 1 includes a new enhancement for Business Rules! With this new enhancement, the action "Set field value" now allows users to clear existing values. Previously, clearing the value of a field required custom JavaScript, but now it is out-of-the-box! In today's blog we will delve into this latest enhancement in more detail. Let's get started!

Business Rules provide a great way to achieve the most common and simple validations without requiring custom development. For additional information about Business Rules, you can check out our blog titled Become a Pseudo-Developer with Business Rules in CRM 2013. 

The screen shot below illustrates where to find the "Clear values" functionality. From within Business Rules in CRM, first select "Set field value".

For example, given a set of Conditions, the Action will be to clear the value of the Opportunity Discount (%) field. The Business Rule conditions are as follows:

If the field "Purchase Timeframe" does not contain data or equals either "This Year" or "Unknown" or the Budget field equals "No Committed Budget", the action will clear the value of the Opportunity Discount (%).

The screen shot below illustrates the Business Rule as described above. You will notice that in the Action box, "Set field value" has been selected. The field has been set to "Opportunity Discount (%)" and the "Type" presents you with a drop-down menu that now includes a "Clear" option.

Remember to Save and Activate in order to test the Business Rule. And that's all it takes. It really is that simple! Please note that this enhancement will work for all data types.

If you would like to learn about other exciting out-of-the-box user interface changes introduced by the Carina update, check out our Top 10 Features blog. 

Happy CRM'ing!