Integrate SharePoint 2007 and CRM 3.0 (SQL 2005)

hi Menshen,

One of the new features that microsoft has introduced with MOSS 2007 is Business Data Catalog a.k.a. BDC.

The BDC allows you to create a XML metadata file describing a database or web service to SharePoint so that SharePoint can query this data source to make its data available within the portal.

This external database can be basically anything you can get via ADO.net (SQL, Oracle, ODBC, and OLEDB) or web services.

Once registered in your SharePoint environment this data can be displayed in the Business Data web parts (described later in this posting) or as lookup information for list/library columns (and column templates).

you can refer to the following link on creating a BDC, all you need to do is change the connection query to connect to your datasource.
http://geekswithblogs.net/sharepointless/articles/77923.aspx

Some good videos on BDC is available from microsoft from the following link,
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=5EC4193A-8061-4FD8-8CA4-574540049FE9&displaylang=en

All the very best,
Regards,
Shailaja Kumar

You can start by just using the CRM Web Parts:
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms913709.aspx

Jeff
TechSoEasy

P. S.  There's also the CRM List Web Part that you can download and use:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=BC9B3526-DECF-4057-A530-91840C0D5401&displaylang=en

Jeff
TechSoEasy

Hi Thank you for your comments,

Shailaja, yours seems to be the solution but for a non-programmer like myself it's a difficult path. I'll see if a solution more "plug-and-play" like the one suggested by TechSoEasy is possible. Unfortunately the specific solutions he suggested are for an older version of SharePoint.

I did find a sample XML file to import, but even the customization of it seems Chinese to me unfortunately.

Hi Menshen,

There is a workaround for using the CRM web parts in SharePoint 2007,
Try using the following link,
http://blogs.msdn.com/mscrmfreak/archive/2007/01/16/microsoft-crm-and-moss-2007-workaround.aspx 

Regards,
Shailaja Kumar

Shailaja,

I was able to follow the isntructions and install the web part, but as soon as I try to load it in a page, it gives me the following error:

The "DataGridWebPart" Web Part appears to be causing a problem. Request for the permission of type 'Microsoft.SharePoint.Security.SharePointPermission, Microsoft.SharePoint.Security, Version=12.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=71e9bce111e9429c' failed.

Web Parts Maintenance Page: If you have permission, you can use this page to temporarily close Web Parts or remove personal settings. For more information, contact your site administrator.

Hi Menshen,

Sorry for the delayed post,

the security issue can be overcome by droping the dll of the Web Part in to GAC instead of the bin directory, dont forget to register the webpart as safecontrol in the web.config file of your virtual directory.

Regards,
Shailaja Kumar

Hi Shailaja,

Could you please be a more specific? I'm ver yignorant regarding Sharepoint at this time ;)

What dll specifically are you refering to? I use an command to install a CAB file that didn't allow me to see which dlls were installed and I can't see any with obvious names in the BIN directory such as *crm*.dll.

Where is this GAC directory also?

Hi Menshen,
GAC means Global Assembly Cache, the folder is in C:\Windows\Assembly. The assemblies placed in GAC have Full trust and do not raise any security issues.

Regards,
Shailaja Kumar

Thanks a lot, it's working perfectly now ;)

I have the Web part working just fine on our local network.  When I try to access the sharepoint site from the Internet I get the following

ERROR: You must specify a valid Microsoft CRM server.

Actually I do have that same problem now, and I'm sure I'm inserting the URL to the right CRM server

I think it has something to do with Kerberos auth but i am not sure how to remediate it.