Even though Microsoft Dynamics CRM is packed with functionalities and features, there are a few gaps, which if overcome, could increase your CRM productivity and double the fun of working with it. One of such limitations is, repetition of work due to missing record-copying or cloning functionality !
A record clone or record copy allows you to replicate any record (Lead, Account, Contact, Opportunity, Product, Quote, Order, and Invoice) in Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011. You can just select the record you want to copy, and hit ‘clone’ to clone or copy such entity along with its related entities and avoid reworking on a similar Quotation (along with its product lines), Order or Invoice record.
Following is how you can Clone or Copy a custom record along with its related entities : :
Copying of Custom and their related entities:
In-order to copy Custom and their related entities, we need to make certain configuration settings. Let’s take an example as below:
Here “Equipment” is the Parent entity and has “N” number of related “Installed Accessories”. So when we copy an “Equipment” record, we would also like to clone its related “Installed Accessories”.
Navigate to: Settings --> Clone Related and create a new record as shown below:
Apart from this, we need to register the Clone plugin and also modify the XML file to show the Clone button in the ribbon. This has been explained very well in the user-guide. If you need any help with deployment & configuration then our team is always there to help you!!
Following is how you can exclude fields that you do not want to copy :
Functionality to exclude fields that should not be cloned:
In order to exclude certain fields from cloning:
1. Navigate to Settings --> Clone Exclude
2. Enter the entity name and comma separated list of field names that need to be excluded from cloning as shown below:
In this example, when an Accounts record is cloned, then the “accountnumber” and “emailaddress1” fields will not be cloned.
Record Clone / Record Copy works both in Dynamics CRM 2011 on-premise and online versions. You can also download your free trial to test it out !
Such Microsoft Dynamics CRM add-ons are created by Microsoft Partners to complement CRM functionalities. You can find a lot of such add-on components by Microsoft partners to address various functional gaps in Microsoft Dynamics CRM and help your process requirements.