Programmatically read the isv.config.xml file

I recently had a need to read settings from the isv.config.xml file at runtime and spent more time than I should have trying to find an elegant way to do this.  In the end I took a rather simple approach, but it has proven quite effective.

The first requirement I had was to utilize the same physical configuration file Microsoft CRM uses, to ensure synchronicity.  To do this I was able to query the physical path to the CRM web site from the system registry and (assuming) the location of the isv.config.xml file is constant we get this:

string fileName = Registry.GetValue(RegistryHive.LocalMachine,
    @"SOFTWARE\Microsoft\MSCRM", "WebSitePath").ToString() +
    "\\_resources\\isv.config.xml";

Next, I wanted to cache the file so it would only need to be reread when the contents had changed.  For this, I used the built-in ASP.NET cache object:

HttpContext.Current.Cache.Add("isv.config.xml", result,
    new CacheDependency(fileName), Cache.NoAbsoluteExpiration,
    Cache.NoSlidingExpiration, CacheItemPriority.Default,
    null);

Now all was left was to read the file from the cache and parse the XML:

public static XmlDocument Document
{
    get
    {
        // First, look in the web cache
        XmlDocument result = (XmlDocument)
            HttpContext.Current.Cache["isv.config.xml"];

        if (result == null)
        {
            // Load the XML configuration
            string fileName = <see code above> ;

            // Import the values
            result = new XmlDocument();
            result.Load(fileName);

            // Cache the result
            HttpContext.Current.Cache.Add( <see code above> );
        }

        return result;
    }
}

The rest is straight XML:

public static XmlNode Configuration
{
    get
    {
        XmlDocument parent = IsvConfig.Document;

        return (parent == null) ? null :
            parent.SelectSingleNode("/configuration");
    }
}

public static XmlNode Entities
{
    get
    {
        XmlNode parent = IsvConfig.Configuration;

        return (parent == null) ? null :
            parent.SelectSingleNode("Entities");
    }
}

public static XmlNode GetEntity(string entityName)
{
    XmlNode parent = IsvConfig.Entities;

    return (parent == null) ? null :
        parent.SelectSingleNode("Entity[@name='" +
        entityName + "']");
}

The rest is up to you... :-)

tags: Microsoft CRM, Customizations, XML

We're golden!

We are proud to announce AdvantageWorks has achieved the status of Microsoft Gold Certified Partner.  AdvantageWorks has demonstrated a unique expertise in Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0 with the certification earlier this month of our first vertical solution, Real Estate Advantage.  More importantly, though, our commitment to our customers and ability to meet their needs are what drive us to provide industry leading solutions for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0.

We are very excited by this news and the opportunity it provides us to deliver our customers with enhanced solutions to turn their Business Information into Revenue. 

tags: Microsoft, Dynamics, CRM, Microsoft Gold Certified Partner

XRM?

I had an interesting conversation with our Microsoft channel management folks on Monday and the whole topic of the appropriateness of the term "CRM" came up. They had their own interesting take on the topic.

"Instead of CRM", they said, "we like the idea of 'XRM', where you just replace "X" with whatever relationship management the client needs."

Pretty interesting. I like it.