Continuing with my series of blog posts related to the wonderful Web API of CRM 2016, in this blog post, I will explain how to execute custom actions through Web API. No more use of creating complex SOAP queries from the client side to invoke your action. The wave of Web API is here to sweep off the old established complex rules.
Let’s create a custom action here. I name it TestAction for the account entity. Below is the screenshot for the same.
As you can see the, the Action is pretty simple. I have two input parameters for the action – ‘Subject’ and ‘Description’. All the action does is send an email with the Subject and Description populated from the input arguments of the action. I activate the action. Now let’s get dirty with the code to invoke this action from the client side.
var organizationUrl = Xrm.Page.context.getClientUrl();
var data = {
“Description”: “Test description”,
“Subject”: “Invoking from Web API”
};
var query = “accounts(DE57510E-59A3-E511-80E4-3863BB35AD90)/Microsoft.Dynamics.CRM.new_TestAction”;
var req = new XMLHttpRequest();
req.open(“POST”, organizationUrl + “/api/data/v8.0/” + query, true);
req.setRequestHeader(“Accept”, “application/json”);
req.setRequestHeader(“Content-Type”, “application/json; charset=utf-8”);
req.setRequestHeader(“OData-MaxVersion”, “4.0”);
req.setRequestHeader(“OData-Version”, “4.0”);
req.onreadystatechange = function () {
if (this.readyState == 4) {
req.onreadystatechange = null;
if (this.status == 200) {
alert(“Action called successfully”);
} else {
var error = JSON.parse(this.response).error;
alert(error.message);
}
}
};
req.send(window.JSON.stringify(data));
Let me explain the code here. Since the action is based on the account entity, I can invoke it only from the context of an account record. DE57510E-59A3-E511-80E4-3863BB35AD90 is the guid of the account record. Check carefully here. I am invoking my action using the fully qualified namespace of my action message – Microsoft.Dynamics.CRM.new_TestAction
Like I do all the time to test my code, this time also I open CRM in my browser and pull up the powerful developer tool’s console.
I press enter and CRM does the magic! I check my emails and this is what I get.
Never mind the two records created here. I was so excited that I ran the code twice. 
Similar to this, you can call your global actions also which are not bound to entity. Below would have been the request URL if new_TestAction would have been a global action.
Please note you do not need to use the full qualified namespace for calling a global action unlike the action bound to entity.
Hope this helps!
Debajit Dutta
Business Solutions MVP
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Nice post deba .
I was trying above example .I am getting below error
“Request message has unresolved parameters” .Please suggest ?
var organizationUrl = Xrm.Page.context.getClientUrl();
var data = {
“Subject”: “Test description”,
“Description”: “Invoking from Web API”
};
var query = “accounts(72AA82B2-FCB5-E511-80DD-6C3BE5A878BC)/Microsoft.Dynamics.Crm.new_MyAction”;
var req = new XMLHttpRequest();
req.open(“POST”, organizationUrl + “/api/data/v8.0/” + query, true);
req.setRequestHeader(“Accept”, “application/json”);
req.setRequestHeader(“Content-Type”, “application/json; charset=utf-8”);
req.setRequestHeader(“OData-MaxVersion”, “4.0”);
req.setRequestHeader(“OData-Version”, “4.0”);
req.onreadystatechange = function () {
if (this.readyState == 4) {
req.onreadystatechange = null;
if (this.status == 204) {
alert(“Action called successfully”);
} else {
var error = JSON.parse(this.response).error;
alert(error.message);
}
}
};
req.send(window.JSON.stringify(data));
Hi Yusuf,
That’s my bad. Here URL requests are case sensitive. In the blog I have mistakenly written Crm instead of CRM.
Microsoft.Dynamics.Crm.new_MyAction should be Microsoft.Dynamics.CRM.new_MyAction
try this and it should work.
Thanks !! Deba,
Its working fine.There is one more typo above.
req.open(“POSTganizationUrl + “/api/data/v8.0/” + query, true);
Your posts are very helpful.
Hello,
Do I understand correctly that this is in context with a specific account record based on? Please help me understand how to modify this to work in context with the currently viewed account record.
Thanks,
Mike
Hi Mike,
The action that I used in this demo is tied to an account entity. So it always needs to be called in context of an account record.
When you open a account, in the form script you could use the guid of the account record that is open. All you need to do is, change the below from hardcoded value to dynamic value
var query = “accounts(DE57510E-59A3-E511-80E4-3863BB35AD90)/Microsoft.Dynamics.CRM.new_TestAction”;
to
var id = Xrm.Page.data.entity.getId();
var query = “accounts(” + id.replace(“}”, “”).replace(“{“, “”) + “)/Microsoft.Dynamics.CRM.new_TestAction”;
Really like the example provided and this is the first site that included the global action URL. Does Microsoft have this documented somewhere? Also, I’m going to need to use an Entity input parameter and I’m curios if you could provide an example for this.
Thanks!
When I wrote this article it was early crm 2016 days and I had to literally trial and error to find out how it works. However SDK is lot more updated and you should have this documented in SDK by now.
regarding the entity parameter, I will try this for myself and get back to you on this.
Hi Chris,
As you and couple of readers asked for, I have written a blog to pass an Entity as input parameter. This might be of help to you.
https://debajmecrm.com/2016/06/23/execute-action-with-an-entity-as-input-parameter-using-web-api-in-dynamics-crm-2016/
I am not able to read value of out parameter while executing action using Web API through .Net Code, can you please help me on this
Hi Sandeep
Thanks for reading my blog. Could you send over the code so that I can have a look into it.
You can send it to my email – debajit.dutta@xrmforyou.com
Cheers!
Debajit
Hello Debajit, thank you for your post.
I am trying to call action, that have 1 input parameter EntityId. Please suggest ?
I get an error
{
“error”:{
“code”:””,”message”:”No HTTP resource was found that matches the request URI ‘https://…/api/data/v8.2/accounts(7754E163-8300-EA11-A2E7-000152B30B0B)/Microsoft.Dynamics.CRM.new_…’.”
}
}
Hi Marina
Thanks for reading my blog. Could you send me a screenshot of your action definition.
Cheers!
Debajit