Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Instance Adapter – Part 7 – Sample Data Integration – Part 4

Colin Maitland, 28 May 2013

In this blog I will discuss some scenarios with respect to synchronizing related Accounts and Contacts from one Microsoft Dynamics CRM Organisation to another using the Microsoft Dynamics Connector. 

In the sample data provided with Microsoft Dynamics CRM, Nancy Anderson is the Primary Contact for Adventure Works and Adventure Works is the Parent Customer for Nancy Anderson. 

• Example 1: Adventure Works is synchronised to the Destination Organisation prior to Nancy Anderson. The result is that Nancy Anderson is not set as the Primary Contact for Adventure Works in the Destination Organisation.

 

STEP	SOURCE ORGANISATION	DESTINATION ORGANISATION	COMMENTS/RESULT
1.1	Account: Adventure Works Primary Contact: Nancy Anderson	Account: Adventure Works Primary Contact: None	NOT OK Initial synchronisation completed
1.2	Contact: Nancy Anderson Parent Customer: Adventure Works	Contact: Nancy Anderson Parent Customer: Adventure Works	OK Initial synchronisation completed

 

• Example 2: Nancy Anderson is synchronised to the Destination Organisation prior to Adventure Works. The result is that Adventure Works is not set as the Parent Customer for Nancy Anderson in the Destination Organisation.

 

STEP	SOURCE ORGANISATION	DESTINATION ORGANISATION	COMMENTS/RESULT
2.1	Contact: Nancy Anderson Parent Customer: Adventure Works	Contact: Nancy Anderson Parent Customer: None	NOT OK Initial synchronisation completed
2.2	Account: Adventure Works Primary Contact: Nancy Anderson	Account: Adventure Works Primary Contact: Nancy Anderson	OK Initial synchronisation completed

 

• Example 3: Following on from example 1, if Adventure Works is subsequently updated in the Source Organisation and as a result is resynchronised to the Destination Organisation the result is that the Primary Contact for Adventure Works in the Destination Organisation is now correctly set to Nancy Anderson. It does not matter which Account field was updated in the Source Organisation. All mapped fields including the Primary Contact field, whether or not they were updated, will be resynchronised to the Destination Organisation.

 

STEP	SOURCE ORGANISATION	DESTINATION ORGANISATION	COMMENTS/RESULT
1.3	Account: Adventure Works Primary Contact: Nancy Anderson	Account: Adventure Works Primary Contact: Nancy Anderson	OK Subsequent synchronisation completed.

 

• Example 4: Following on from example 2, if Nancy Anderson is subsequently updated in the Source Organisation and as a result is resynchronised to the Destination Organisation the result is that the Parent Customer for Nancy Anderson in the Destination Organisation is now correctly set to Adventure Works. It does not matter which Contact field was updated in the Source Organisation. All mapped fields including the Parent Customer field, whether or not they were updated, will be resynchronised to the Destination Organisation.

 

STEP	SOURCE ORGANISATION	DESTINATION ORGANISATION	COMMENTS
2.3	Contact: Nancy Anderson Parent Customer: Adventure Works	Contact: Nancy Anderson Parent Customer: Adventure Works	OK Subsequent synchronisation completed.

 

• Example 5: If neither Adventure Works nor Nancy Anderson are initially associated with each other in the Source Organisation prior to their initial synchronisation to the Destination Organisation, and they are then subsequently associated with each other in the Source Organisation, as a result they will be subsequently resynchronised to the Destination Organisation and the following results will be obtained. The order in which Adventure Works and Nancy Anderson are synchronised or resynchronised with respect to each other to the Destination Organisation has not impact.

 

STEP	SOURCE ORGANISATION	DESTINATION ORGANISATION	COMMENTS
5.1	Account: Adventure Works Primary Contact: None	Account: Adventure Works Primary Contact: None	OK Initial synchronisation completed
5.2	Contact: Nancy Anderson Parent Customer: None	Contact: Nancy Anderson Parent Customer: None	OK Initial synchronisation completed
-	Account: Adventure Works Primary Contact: Nancy Anderson	Account: Adventure Works Primary Contact: None	Updated in Source Organisation and pending resynchronisation to Destination Organisation.
5.3	Account: Adventure Works Primary Contact: Nancy Anderson	Account: Adventure Works Primary Contact: Nancy Anderson	OK Subsequent synchronisation completed
-	Contact: Nancy Anderson Parent Customer: Adventure Works	Contact: Nancy Anderson Parent Customer: None	Updated in Source Organisation and pending resynchronisation to Destination Organisation.
5.4	Contact: Nancy Anderson Parent Customer: Adventure Works	Contact: Nancy Anderson Parent Customer: Adventure Works	OK Subsequent synchronisation completed

 

Final Note: In those cases where the Requirement Level on a relationship between two entities is set to No Constraint, Business Recommended or Business Required the child records if synchronised prior to the parent records will still be created in the Destination Organisation, however their links to the corresponding parent records will be blank. If the Requirement Level is System Required, as it is the case with some system relationships, then the child record will not be created in the Destination Organisation unless the parent record has been previously synchronised to the Destination Organisation.