What is Plugin in Dynamics 365?

Plugin is custom business logic (code) which is added to dynamics 365 to extend the standard behavior.

Plugin code is written in C# or VB language in .Net Framework. The framework selected based on which Dynamics is used like Dynamics CRM 2013 version, Dynamics CRM 2015, Dynamics CRM 365 etc.

Simply if we try to create plugin for latest CRM like D365 on old framework like .Net3.5 etc then plugin solution will not compiled. So before we start plugin solution, will identify which framework is compatible.

Plugin can be executed Synchronous and Asynchronous.

Dynamics has events to work with data. Events like to create the record of particular entity/table then will use Create event. To update the record with some data then we use Update event. Similar to these there are several events in Dynamics. These are called as Messages in Plugin. On these Message/Event plugins are registered. Some of the most use plugin events/message are below, there are more events which can be utilized to custom development.

Message Name

Create

Update

Assign

Delete

merge

Retrieve

RetrieveMultiple

Qualify

SetState

SetStateDynamicEntity

etc.

When plugin is executed on particular event, then entire plugin process is divided into stages. These stages are called pipeline stage. Each stage has number which are used in plugin to validate or add the logic based on stage.

When CRM perform its operation like create, update, delete etc then plugin can be in Pre-Event and Post-Event.

In Pre-Event, there are two pipeline stage as below.

• Pre-Validation - Stage: 10
• Pre-Operation - Stage: 20

When CRM performs logic operation then itself is a step but we can not use that stage since it is used by CRM itself for operation.

• CRM Core Operation - Stage: 30

When CRM has performed it action then it has Post-Event. On Post-Event there is only one Stage as below.

• Post-Operation - Stage: 40

Plugin vs Workflow, which will execute first?

Execution of plugin and workflow depend on whether it is registered as Per or Post events.

Below table can help you to understand which will execute first.

As per the above result, for the same event, same execution mode then plugin gets executed first then workflow. 

Please watch this video to understand it completely.

What is difference between Plugin and Workflow?

Plugin vs Workflow

A Plug-in is custom business logic (code) that we integrate with Dynamics 365 where as Workflow in CRM allow us to automate simple and complex business processes.

Below are the some of the difference:

1. When we are using Plugin we have a number of triggers available (called as Steps/Message) to trigger the plugin execution,
2. Where Custom workflows are triggered by standard workflows available in CRM, that make the custom workflow triggers limited(Create, Update, Status Change, Delete and On assign).
3. Workflows and by extension, custom workflow activities, execute totally asynchronously.  Plugins can execute both asynchronously and synchronously.
4. Plugin overall execution time is lesser then workflows and if validations are required to be performed then plugins should be preferred.
5. Workflows can be manually executed, or automatically triggered by selected events.  Workflows can be limited to automatically execute within specific organizational scopes (ie. Org, BU, Parent and Child BUs, or for the Owner only).  Plugins are always triggered by the messages to which they’re subscribed, though some Messages allow limiting execution based on whether certain attributes have been passed into the Message.
6. Workflows can be turned off (by unpublishing).  Plugins are always on.  Custom workflow activities can be used in many Workflows.  Workflows can be developed through the Workflow design interface.  Plugins must be developed in Visual Studio.  Workflows do not require compiling (though custom workflow activities do).  Plugins and custom workflow activities must be compiled and deployed through processes external to CRM.

What is Assign and Share Privilege in Microsoft Dynamics CRM?

Ans: Basically two type of entities are created:

        a. Organization

        b. User and Team Owned

        When entity is created as Organization type then it does not have field 'Owner' on the form. Basically which means the record of this entity type can not be owned by any user. It is kind of master record in Dynamics.

        When entity is created as User and Team owned then will have 'Owner' field on the form. Any record created in Dynamics of these entities should be owned by any user or team in Dynamics.

    Assign or Share works only for User and Team owned type entity. It will not have option for organization type entity.

    Assign: When we have assign privileges given then we can assign the record to another user or teams. When we do this then the ownership of that record is transferred to another user or teams. It will have all accessibility as per the user or teams has security role. 

    Share: When we have share priviledge then we can share the particular records to another user or teams. When we share the record then ownership of the record is not change but the accessibility of the record is share to new user/team. When record is share, its mapping is created in POA (Principle Object Access) table. which define what about its accessibility. 

When we share lot of record then the size of POA table increased and it may decrease the performance of system.