Create an OData Dialog

Updated on 12 Nov 2024
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This article provides step-by-step instructions on how to create a new OData Dialog record as a part of the Lasernet Connector configuration within Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement.

Note
OData Dialogs is an action that allows executing a report in Finance and Operations. Clicking the OData Dialogs button in Customer Engagement opens a print dialog. Here you can choose a printer, a number of copies, etc. Data is received from the Customer Engagement entities. The button is used when CE is not connected to FO, or if you want to use a logic app.

Sign in to your CE system.
On the Sales menu, click the drop-down menu to open the navigation menu flyout, and then under the Settings flyout, click OData Dialogs in the Lasernet list.

The Active Lasernet OData Dialogs page is displayed.

On the Active Lasernet OData Dialogs page, click the NEW button.
Fill in all the required fields and then click the Save icon.

Note
In the OData Endpoint as well as OData Submit Endpointtext boxes, enter the URL which is composed of the Finance and Operations environment URL and the API interface to your Lasernet service. The latter is a fixed part. Here is an example of this fixed part for the OData Endpoint text box value:
.../api/services/LACCRMServiceGroup/LACCRMReportExecuteService/newReport
Here is an example of this fixed part for the OData Submit Endpoint text box value:
.../api/services/LACCRMServiceGroup/LACCRMReportExecuteService/executeReport

As a result, a new OData Dialog record is listed on the Active Lasernet OData Dialogs page.

In the Active Lasernet OData Dialogs list, click the OData Dialog record you have just added. You can see the OData Dialog page opens for editing.
In the Lasernet Groups/OData Dialogs (OData Dialog) section, click the plus icon to add a group/OData Dialog record.
In the dialog displayed, enter a name in the corresponding text box as well as select a group and then click the Save icon to save changes.

In addition, you can add a new OData Dialog record when adding a new group or editing the existing one. To this end, see step 11 in the Add a New Button to a New Flyout article.

ODATA Dialog Fields

The following table defines some of the fields when creating a new ODATA Dialog record:

ODATA Dialog field query	Answer
What does the Pre-Fetch Print Dialog no/yes do?	This is when the information needed to populate the printing dialog is fetched from FO ahead of time and stored in the browser's local storage (cache) when a form is opened. It will not run if a match is found in the cache. It can remove the “Loading” message that’s displayed the first time a user opens the printing dialog for a given form in a cleared browser. It can have a negative impact on performance if there are many buttons applied to the same form/entity.
What does the Fetch print Dialog On Click no/yes do?	Same as above, except that it happens when the user clicks on the OData dialog button. Does not have a negative impact on performance, as it is only invoked when the user clicks on the button. However, the time saved using this will only be in the range of 50-400 ms.
What does Wait for Fetch no/yes do?	If the printing dialog should wait for any running pre-fetches (the two above), or if it should start its own fetch as soon as it opens. It will only wait if a pre-fetch has signaled that it is running. The printing dialog will start its own fetch if the pre-fetch fails. It's faster to wait for an existing pre-fetch than to start a new fetch, however, a pre-fetch will not be able to display an error message from FO. Any failed pre-fetch will require a fresh fetch and will result in extra time.
What does Wait for Fetch timeout no/yes do?	How many seconds the printing dialog should wait for a running pre-fetch to finish (option above), before starting its own fetch.
What does Storage Timeout no/yes do?	How many seconds the information for the printing dialog should be stored in the browser's local storage (cache) before being removed (expired). This value should be set low if the customer is frequently changing report mapping in FO and wants to avoid clicking on CLEAR CACHE FOR ALL under Lasernet Parameters in Dynamics 365.
How to use the Image 16 field? How do you add a picture? How to use the ModernImage and what is the difference from Image ##?	Image 16 is an image with 16x16 pixels, 32 is 32x32 pixels, and ModernImage is for SVG (Vector) images. An example is the images for standard Direct Print and Lasernet flyout: Uses the following Lasernet Connector web resources: Which are applied using Image16, Image32, and ModernImage: The same values could also be applied to buttons: The difference between 16/32 and ModernImage is that modern is vector-based, so it scales up without becoming pixilated. Furthermore, the unified interface only supports modern images.

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Create an HTTP Method

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