Converting a Personal Chart into a System Chart

Roshan Mehta, 01 November 2012

As a CRM 2011 administrator, how many times have you built a system chart for your end users only to find out that it’s not exactly what they wanted? Sometimes what is requested and what is built are two totally different things and you just end up looking silly in front of your end users. A nice way to handle this is to let your end users create personal charts which you can then convert into a system chart once everyone is happy with the way it works!

Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 provides the ability to export chart definitions which is normally used to perform complex modifications to the chart which we’ll look at in future blog posts. The export function also works as a mechanism to convert a personal chart into a system chart without much effort at all.

Here I have a personal chart which shows new Accounts by fiscal year (I doubt system administrators will have difficulty creating this one but we’ll use it as an example anyway). Our end users are happy with how it works and have requested that it is made available to the entire organization.

Select the chart and then click on the Export Chart button on the ribbon. Save the XML file somewhere on your machine.

Go to Settings -> Customization -> Customize the System and select the Account entity. Click on Charts and select Import Chart.

Browse to the XML file and click on. Next you need to confirm the name of the chart and include a description if required. Click on Import and then publish all customizations to complete the process.

That’s all there is to it!