Now available for download are the Microsoft Office Visio database diagrams for CRM 4.0. You will need Microsoft Office Visio installed in order to open these.

Overview (From Microsoft Website)
These Microsoft Office Visio diagrams show the logical database structure for Microsoft CRM 4.0.
These diagrams were generated using the Metadata Diagram sample code included in the Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 SDK download.

Download
Size: 1.4MB
File: Crm4DatabaseDiagrams.exe
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=B73912E8-861E-43AE-97B4-72B3E809F287&displaylang=en

These will help you understand the underlying database and structure for CRM 4.0.

Greg Olsen
Yellow Duck Guy

The CRM 4.0 Software Development Kit (SDK) has been out for awhile now. I'm Posting the link below to the download from Microsoft.  This SDK is a must for any developers working with CRM 4.0, which includes myself.  The SDK also is a great resource to help code the new plug-ins which have superceded CRM 3.0 Callouts. The SDK also explains how to deploy the plug-ins to CRM.

Overview from Microsoft
The Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 Software Development Kit (SDK) is for developers, system customizers, and report writers.

It contains all new information about creating plug-ins, working with custom workflow activities, using the new Web services, using new data management features, and much more.

This SDK contains information for developers writing server side code, custom business logic, integration modules, workflow assemblies, and more. It provides an architectural overview of Microsoft Dynamics CRM, the entity model, security model, and Web services.

Sample code and walkthroughs guide you through the new features.

The SDK also contains information for developers customizing the Web client or Microsoft Dynamics CRM for Microsoft Office Outlook, including scripting, integration of custom Web pages, sample code, and a detailed user interface style guide.
Look for regular updates to this SDK. Future releases will include the ISV Guide and Report Writers Guide.
(2008, http://207.46.19.190/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=82E632A7-FAF9-41E0-8EC1-A2662AAE9DFB&displaylang=en)

Microsoft Download:
File: CrmSdk4.exe  (self extracting)
Size: 14.7MB
Version: 4.0.2
Download: http://207.46.19.190/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=82E632A7-FAF9-41E0-8EC1-A2662AAE9DFB&displaylang=en

Greg Olsen
Yellow Duck Guy

I spotted this in the CRM 4.0 SDK and thought I would post it up as a reference. As the code states, this sample code "outputs a report on the context on which this plug-in is attached.  You can attach this plug-in to any entity or event and it will output a report on the event." This could be quite a handy reference if you wish to obtain this type of information on your custom Plugin for logging or custom auditing purposes.

   1: using System;

   2: using System.IO;

   3: using Microsoft.Crm.Sdk;

   4: using Microsoft.Crm.SdkTypeProxy;

   5:  

   6: namespace Microsoft.Crm.Sdk.Reference.Plugins

   7: {

   8:     /// <summary>

   9:     /// This sample outputs a report on the context on which this plug-in is attached.  You can attach this

  10:     /// plug-in to any entity or event and it will output a report on the event.

  11:     /// </summary>

  12:     public class PluginRef: IPlugin

  13:     {

  14:         public void Execute(IPluginExecutionContext context)

  15:         {

  16:              using (TextWriter log = TextWriter.Synchronized(File.AppendText(@"C:\Crm_Sdk_Samples\PluginReport.txt")))

  17:              {

  18:                 log.WriteLine("Plugin Fired: {0}", System.DateTime.Now.ToString("MM/dd/yyyy hh:mm tt"));

  19:                 log.WriteLine("=====================================================================");

  20:                 

  21:                 // Entity Context Related

  22:                 log.WriteLine("Primary Entity Name:\t\t\t{0}", context.PrimaryEntityName);

  23:                 log.WriteLine("Secondary Entity Name:\t\t\t{0}", context.SecondaryEntityName);

  24:                 log.WriteLine("Message Name:\t\t\t{0}", context.MessageName);

  25:                 log.WriteLine("Caller Origin:\t\t\t{0}", context.CallerOrigin.ToString());

  26:                 log.WriteLine("Is Executing In Offline Mode:\t{0}", context.IsExecutingInOfflineMode.ToString());

  27:                 

  28:                 // Security Related            

  29:                 log.WriteLine("Business Unit Id:\t\t{0}", context.BusinessUnitId.ToString("b"));

  30:                 log.WriteLine("Organization Id:\t\t{0}", context.OrganizationId.ToString("b"));

  31:                 log.WriteLine("User Id:\t\t\t{0}", context.UserId.ToString("b"));

  32:                 

  33:                 // Space this entry and close the log

  34:                 log.WriteLine();

  35:                 log.WriteLine();

  36:             }

  37:         }

  38:     }

  39: }

Moving towards the new version of Internet Information Services (IIS) on Windows Server 2008 will show a new user interface look and feel. Most options you see are the same but just displayed slightly different.  I have got use to the new layout pretty quickly.

The new actions section on the right is quite helpful and removes the need for all those right-click options! 

I'm sure if you have worked with IIS before you will find the new layout easy to use.

Here is a quick image look at the new user interface:
(I have removed the machine name in the black areas for privacy)

Greg Olsen
Yellow Duck Guy

I have just completed a Windows 2008 Server Standard install and configuring various areas of the server. One configuration that I always turn off is IE ESC, or Internet Explorer Enhanced Security Configuration.  This is an easy step so I thought I would post this up to the blog for future reference.

To do this with Windows 2008 Server:

• Open Server Manager
• Locate the area of Security Information as shown below:

• Click the option Configure IE ESC

You will be shown the configuration window as shown below:

I have selected to turn OFF the IE ESC just for administrators on this server install. To complete simply click OK.

Greg Olsen
Yellow Duck Guy

If you would like a simple memory gadget to place on your Vista OS desktop to monitor all that memory usage then you can get a hold of this cool little gadget called iStat Memory 1.0.

You can download a copy of this from here:
Vista Memory Usage Gadget Download

Enjoy!

Greg Olsen
Yellow Duck Guy

• Windows Server 2008 - Standard
• Windows Server 2008 - Enterprise
• Windows Server 2008 - Datacenter
• Windows Web Server 2008
• Windows Server 2008 - For Itanium-based Systems
• Windows Server 2008 - Standard without Hyper-V
• Windows Server 2008 - Enterprise without Hyper-V
• Windows Server 2008 - Datacenter without Hyper-V

Great link explaining the versions in more detail can be found here:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2008/editions/overview.mspx

The Windows Server 2008 product overview is explained well here:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2008/evaluation/overview.mspx

The new Server Core and Virtualization (or Hyper-V) are 2 areas i'm quite excited about.  Head over to MSDN and grab your copy of it.

Greg Olsen
Yellow Duck Guy