Create a new entity

Can I do this task?

This procedure guides you through the process of creating an entity. It also guides you through the additional tasks required to make the custom entity useful and accessible to users.

1. In the Navigation Pane, click Settings.
2. Under Customization, click Customizations.
3. In the Customization area, click Customize the System.
4. Click Entities. On the Actions toolbar, click the New button.
5. Define the Display Name and Plural Name that will be used for this entity throughout Microsoft Dynamics CRM.
6. In the Ownership list, select either:
   • User or Team

     Records for this entity can be owned by individual users or by teams. Security can be defined according to the business unit with which the current owner is associated. For example, contact records are set to User or Team.

     - OR -

   • Organization

     Records for this entity are used for reference by all Microsoft Dynamics CRM users. Individual users or teams cannot own these records. For example, product records are set to Organization.

7. In the Name box, view the name that Microsoft Dynamics CRM will use for this entity. The default entry is created from your entry in Display Name. You can modify this before saving the entity.
8. In the Areas that display this entity area, select the Navigation Pane areas where you want the entity to appear in the Microsoft Dynamics CRM user interface. All new entities are displayed in Advanced Find.
9. In the Options for Entity area, you can select the options listed in this table.

   Option	Comments
   Note (includes attachments)	Select this to create a relationship with the Note entity, and add a note control to the entity form. This allows users to make annotations for each record.
   Activities	Select this to create a relationship with the activity entities, and add an associated view to the entity. This allows you to track activities such as phone calls, e-mails, and tasks. More information: Understanding Activity Entities
   Connections	Select this to permit ad hoc connections between a record in this entity and records in other entities. More information: Using Connections to Define How Records Relate
   Sending e-mail (if an e-mail field does not exist, one will be created)	Select to add the Send Direct E-mail button to the main ribbon tab for the entity.
   Mail merge	Select this to allow this entity to be used in a mail merge. More information: Mail Merge Documents
   Document management	This allows you to track documents on SharePoint that are associated with a record in Microsoft Dynamics CRM. More information: About managing documents in Microsoft Dynamics CRM
   Queues	Select this to use this entity in queues. More information: Work with Queues
   Duplicate detection	Select this to detect duplicates for this entity. This feature notifies you of identical records in Microsoft Dynamics CRM, and allows you to resolve them. More information: Avoiding Duplicate Records
   Auditing	Select this to track changes made to your business data. More information: Auditing data in Microsoft Dynamics CRM
   Mobile Express	Select this to display and use this entity in Mobile Express.
   Reading pane in CRM for Outlook	Select this to display records in the reading pane in Microsoft Dynamics CRM for Microsoft Office Outlook.
   Offline capability for CRM for Outlook	Select this to let users create, read, update, or delete records while offline.

10. Click the Primary Field tab. The primary field is displayed when relationships to this entity are created or displayed, such as in the Look Up Records dialog box. To make sure an easily recognizable name is used when referencing this entity, enter a descriptive Display Name, and leave Requirement Level set to Business Required.

    Note

    Steps 11 and 12 are optional. You can do them now, or at any time after you have saved and published this new entity.

11. Click Save.

    When a new entity is created, the following items are created also:

    • A default public view A view that all Microsoft Dynamics CRM users can view. Public views are displayed in the View list for each entity. showing active records and a view showing inactive records.
    • An Advanced Find View The view used to display results of searches created with Advanced Find., a Quick Find View The view used to display results of searches done using the Search box., an associated view The view of an entity that is displayed in the forms of other entities. The associated view is different from the views that are visible for the entity in its own area of the user interface. For example, in an account record under Information, click Contacts to view and open a contact form. That is the Contacts associated view. There can be only one associated view of each entity., and a lookup view The view used when a user clicks a lookup field..
    • The primary attribute you defined and the standard attributes. To see a list of them, navigate to the new entity you created, and under it, click Fields. They are displayed in the main pane.
    • For entities that have Ownership set to User or Team, the creation of the Owner and Owning Business Unit attributes. For entities that have Ownership set to Organization, the creation of the Organization ID attribute.
    • A filtered view A data view to which a set of conditions have been applied to reduce the amount of data shown. Filtering can be changed to increase or decrease the amount shown. When viewing a filtered report or file, you only see the data that you have permission to view. is created in the Microsoft Dynamics CRM database for the entity. This filtered view can be used to write reports using data from this entity.

      Note

    Relationships are created with the User entity to resolve user names for the Created By and Modified By attributes.

12. Change the icon for the new entity.

    More information: Update Icons

13. Set entity privileges for security roles. By default, when an entity is created, only the System Administrator and System Customizer security roles have any privileges to read or change data in the custom entity. You must add privileges explicitly to all security roles that need to use the new entity. For any security roles that need to use the new entity, add the needed privileges:
    1. On the Navigation Pane, click Settings, click Administration, click Security Roles, open a security role, and then click the Custom Entities tab.
    2. When adding privileges, you can follow the pattern for the privileges that are used on the Marketing, Sales, or Service tabs for the security role to provide users the same level of access to the custom entity that they have to other entities. More information: Customization Permissions
14. Publish your customizations:
    • To publish customizations for only the component that you are currently editing, on the Home tab, in the Save group, click Publish.
    • To publish customizations for all unpublished components at one time, click Publish All Customizations.

Important

Any time you change user interface elements or implement form scripts for an entity, you must publish changes to apply them. Any customizations that change the data schema of Microsoft Dynamics CRM such as custom entities, relationships, or fields are applied immediately.