Perform operations in plug-ins by using the Organization service

Performing operations in plug-ins is an essential aspect of Microsoft Power Platform Developer exam preparation. Plug-ins allow developers to extend and customize the functionality of the Power Platform by running code in response to specified events. The Organization service, a key component of the Power Platform, provides a rich set of APIs that enable developers to interact with data and perform various operations within plug-ins.

Retrieving Records

To retrieve records using the Organization service in plug-ins, developers can use the Retrieve method. This method allows you to specify the entity logical name and the GUID of the record you wish to retrieve. Additionally, you can define the set of attributes you want to retrieve using the ColumnSet class.

For example, to retrieve the name and email address of a contact record with a specific GUID, you can use the following code snippet:

Entity contact = service.Retrieve("contact", new Guid("contactGUID"), new ColumnSet("fullname", "emailaddress1"));

Creating Records

Creating records using the Organization service involves constructing an instance of the Entity class and setting the attribute values. Once the entity is populated, you can use the Create method to store the record in the CRM database.

Entity account = new Entity("account");
account["name"] = "Sample Account";
Guid accountId = service.Create(account);

Updating Records

Updating records is a common requirement in plug-in development. The Organization service provides the Update method to modify attribute values of an existing record. When updating records, developers need to retrieve the record using the Retrieve method, make the necessary changes, and then call the Update method.

Entity retrievedAccount = service.Retrieve("account", accountId, new ColumnSet("name"));
retrievedAccount["name"] = "Updated Account Name";
service.Update(retrievedAccount);

Deleting Records

The Organization service also allows you to delete records using the Delete method. Similar to updating records, you need to retrieve the record using the Retrieve method before executing the Delete operation.

service.Delete("account", accountId);

Executing Operations on Related Entities

In addition to basic CRUD operations, the Organization service enables developers to perform advanced operations on related entities. For example, you can associate or disassociate records using the Associate and Disassociate methods respectively. These methods are useful when dealing with many-to-many or one-to-many relationships between entities.

service.Associate("account", accountId, new Relationship("account_primary_contact"), new EntityReferenceCollection() { new EntityReference("contact", contactId) });
service.Disassociate("account", accountId, new Relationship("account_primary_contact"), new EntityReferenceCollection() { new EntityReference("contact", contactId) });

Executing Custom Actions

Custom Actions are executable processes defined in the Power Platform, which can be called using the Organization service from plug-ins. To execute a custom action, developers need to create an instance of the organization service and call the Execute method, passing the name of the action and any required input parameters.

OrganizationRequest request = new OrganizationRequest
{
    RequestName = "new_customaction",
    Parameters =
    {
        { "ParameterName", parameterValue }
    }
};
OrganizationResponse response = service.Execute(request);

Conclusion

In summary, the Organization service is a powerful API that allows developers to perform various operations in plug-ins for the Microsoft Power Platform. Whether you need to retrieve, create, update, or delete records, or perform operations on related entities, the Organization service provides the necessary methods to accomplish these tasks. Additionally, it supports executing custom actions to leverage custom processes defined within the Power Platform. By understanding and mastering the use of the Organization service, aspiring Power Platform Developers can confidently tackle the related exam objectives and enhance their development capabilities.