PowerObjects' time-saving add-on, PowerGrid, gives you the ability to search within a CRM view and then edit the records in-line, view details and create activities on-the-fly for records populated by the PowerGrid search. PowerGrid for CRM 2013 and 2015 has been enhanced to allow for the same handy in-line editing of records on sub-grids!

A sub-grid is a view that displays related child records on the form of a specific record. The sub-grid lives directly in the record so that you don't have to navigate away from it to edit the child record in-line. In today's blog, we'll show you exactly how to use the new web-resource based in-line editing functionality for Sub-grids. So let's get started!

Imagine the Following Scenario

You have a COURSE entity and a related STUDENT entity. The relationship is a 1:N (which is the only type of relationship the PowerGrid add-on works with at this time). We have one COURSE that has many STUDENTS enrolled. Using this example, we'll show the capabilities of PowerGrid.

Without the add-on, the COURSE form would look like the image below, with the Enrolled Students listed in the sub-grid.

If you wanted to update the Exam Score fields for each student, you would need to open each record individually and change the field values accordingly. For a few records, this isn't a problem, but if you need to update 300 student records, the task quickly becomes overwhelming. This is where in-line editing within a sub-grid comes in handy!

Adding the New PowerGrid Web-Resource

1. If you don't already have it, you can download a free 30-day trial from the PowerObjects website.

2. To set up both entities on PowerGrid, simply follow the instructions found in the PowerGrid User Guide. Here's an example of PowerGrid setup for the STUDENT entity in our scenario:

The new in-line editing web resource requires that you set the entity as a base entity or a related entity. In this case, we left both checked for STUDENTS. As with the original PowerGrid, you specify the fields on the reading pane. In our scenario we specified the DOB field as read-only for the purpose of in-line editing.

3. To add the in-line editing capability to the form, you add a web resource (rather than a sub-grid object.) It's a few more steps, but the payoff is immense. For the step by step directions, see the PowerGrid User Guide. Here's what the basic configuration for the web resource looks like:

4. The web resource will look like this to your users on the published form:

The PowerGrid web resource is embedded into the COURSE form and you are able to edit the Exam 1 Score field for Mark Mitchell's STUDENT record in-line. Don't forget to save your changes!

Other Great benefits

You'll also notice the drop-down menus that affect the behavior of the sub-grid web resource:

The first drop-down displays the various relationships that the COURSE entity may have. For example, if the COURSE entity had an INSTRUCTOR relationship (1:N – one course has many INSTRUCTORS) then the web resource would display those records. Pretty cool, huh?

The second drop-down box has the same functionality as the original PowerGrid– it allows you to select the view for the web resource. These are the views for the STUDENT entity – another feature that makes this add-on extremely versatile

Lastly, you can use the + Insert button to create a new record directly in the sub-grid:

Don't forget! If you designated a field as read-only (as we did for the DOB field in our scenario) you'll need to add the values of that field from the form.

We hope you enjoy this new time-saving new feature of PowerGrid! Until next time, happy CRM'ing!