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Don’t Delete Your Configuration Data! Use Real-time Workflows Instead

Post Author: Joe D365 |

Picture this scenario. After weighing the pros and cons between filtered lookups vs. dependent option sets for States/Provinces and Country entities, your organization decides to go with filtered lookups. You've entered in your configuration data for both State/Province and Country entities and used the Configuration Migration Tool to make the data (and their GUIDs) match between your environments. Great!

Real-time Workflows

But, as a CRM System Administrator, you still have the ability to delete that configuration data, which breaks all of the workflows, business rules, views, dashboards, and other items that depend on that data. Yikes!

Real-time Workflows

Fortunately, there is a quick out-of-the-box way to help stop yourself from accidentally making life harder while maintaining the ability to delete when you truly need to do so, and in today's blog, we will show you how! Let's begin!

1. First, create a real-time workflow that is triggered ONLY before delete.
Real-time Workflows

2. In the workflow designer, click Add Step and then select Stop Workflow.

3. In the stop workflow clause, change the status to Canceled and then click Set Properties.
Real-time Workflows

4. In the window that opens, you can write yourself a note, including steps on how to actually delete the data when it's got to go.

5. Save, Activate, then test it out!

Bonus: If you have cascading delete on a Parent entity, this workflow will stop both the Parent and the Child entities' records from being deleted!
Real-time Workflows

That's it! You've now stopped the deletion of configuration data and have prevented yourself from having to "start over" with your GUID-reliant configurations. That's a win in our book!

That's all for the blog today! Got a little more time for CRM? Go ahead and check out our entire library of Webinars on Demand. It's CRM anywhere, anytime!

Happy CRM'ing!

Joe CRM
By Joe D365
Joe D365 is a Microsoft Dynamics 365 superhero who runs on pure Dynamics adrenaline. As the face of PowerObjects, Joe D365’s mission is to reveal innovative ways to use Dynamics 365 and bring the application to more businesses and organizations around the world.

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