Is there are more efficient way of publishing/debugging Dynamics CRM 365 Plugins?

Question

I have been tasked with bringing our 2008 CRM server into the modern age of Microsoft Dynamics 365 on-premises. I have got a plugin working and java script which is my first task and debugging/remote debug is working too. I can also make changes to the DLL and the changes work. However I am really concerned with how long winded the process to publish the DLL to the server is and wondered if am missing something. Watched quite a few videos, googled a lot but everyone seems to cover getting it working and that's it.

I note during Registration there is an option to select 'Disk' for the location of the DLL but this just crashes when i select it? so I am having to select 'Database'

Initial setup:

Build the plugin that adds a note 'A'
Copy the DLLs from bin\Debug onto server bin\assembly folder.
register plugin as Sandbox/Database
test and it works.

Currently my development workflow is:

modify the plugin code slightly to show 'B' instead of 'A'
rebuild the DLLs.
Copy the DLLs from bin\Debug to server bin\assembly folder.
test and it still shows 'A'

The ONLY way I have been able to get this working and it seems there must be an easier way:

rebuild the DLL's
Copy the DLLs from bin\Debug to server bin\assembly folder.
Open the registration
locate the DLL again
Tick the plugin selection boxes
click update selected plugins
test and it shows 'B'

This seems a real PIA if you need to rapidly change rebuild test which I suspect I will need to.

Is there an easier way?

Aron Aron · Accepted Answer · 2020-04-24T12:24:57

Plugin publishing and debugging can be a challenge for sure.

As far as publishing goes, I use the commercial 3rd Party Visual Studio extension XrmToolkit (no affiliation), which is not to be confused with the wildly popular community-supported XrmToolbox app.

XrmToolkit enables you to configure, build, and publish a plugin directly from Visual Studio. This greatly streamlines the process of publishing updates.

Microsoft used to have a Developer Extensions tool, and Jason Lattimer had one too, but I'm not sure if either of those are in active development anymore.

Another technique that I generally employ is to put the plugin code into a Visual Studio Shared Project, which I reference from both the plugin project and a Console App. I use the Console App to develop and debug before publishing the plugin. After the plugin goes live, I'll continue using the Console App to troubleshoot or build enhancements.

For Example:

///Shared Project
public class MyPluginApp
{
    private IOrganizationService svc;
    public MyPluginApp(IOrganizationService svc)
    {
        this.svc = svc;
    }

    public void Run(Account target)
    {
        //do stuff with the Target
    }
}

////Plugin
public void Execute()
{
    var app = new MyPluginApp(context.Service);
    app.Run(context.Target);
}

///Console App
public static void Main()
{
    var svc = new CrmServiceClient(connectionString);
    var target = getLastTouchedAccount(svc);
    var app = new MyPluginApp(svc); 
    app.Run(target);
}

Please also see this answer.

Is there are more efficient way of publishing/debugging Dynamics CRM 365 Plugins?

3 Answers