What is a FUNCTION operation type in request body of Xrm.WebApi.online.execute

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Posted on by cheezecake

I want to use Xrm.WebApi.online.execute to execute a process Action which in turn executes a workflow activity plugin (codeactivity).

1. Execute a process (workflow) Action (non-entity bound, eg. global).

2. The Process action then calls a workflow activity plugin (CodeActivity) (with input parameters and output parameters).

So according to the image below, I should be using ACTION operation type.

The question is 'what is FUNCTION" operation type?

How do you create a FUNCTION in Dynamics 365?

Is FUNCTION the same as plugin workflow activity? (ie CodeActivity)

Thx

a2z

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Bipin D365 28,983 Moderator on at

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Hi,

You should install Dataverse rest builder tool to auto generate code to call your action

carldesouza.com/.../

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cheezecake 12 on at

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Err.... so not a single one in this forum has used a FUNCTION Operation Type? I find that hard to believe.

Can anyone from Microsoft answer my questions please?

a2z

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ScottDurow 21 on at

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Hi cheezecake

Functions are similar to actions, except they are executed via HTTP GET rather than POST. As I suspect you've seen already, an example of Function provided by the platform is WhoAmI

You can create your own functions using the Custom API feature. The function accepts the parameters on the query string rather than via the POST body - but is passed to the plugin that implements the logic in the same way as an action. You can create a bound and unbound function, however there are some restrictions on the data types that functions can accept.

Functions are somewhat easier to test since you can simply send the request in the browser, but if you are using the Xrm.Web.execute API, then it's all handled internally and doesn't really make must difference.

So to answer your original question 'Is FUNCTION the same as plugin workflow activity? (ie CodeActivity)' - no they are not - they are created using the Custom API feature!

Hope this helps!

Scott

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cheezecake 12 on at

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That doesn't answer my questions. Thanks, but I have no need to use a Rest builder. I need to know what is FUNCTION operation type is in Dynamics 365. Can anyone give me an example of a D365 Function?

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Ray 1,537 on at

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Hi,

You can check this link.

A function is an operation which does not have observable side effects. They typically retrieve data. They may have parameters and they may return values. Functions may be bound to entity types.

You can create your own function by create Custom API as Scott said.

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Guido Preite 54,086 Moderator on at

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Other already replied but

A Function is not the same as the Code Activity

the parameter operationType set to 1 for Xrm.WebApi calls is required when calling internal Functions (they already posted the link but is this one) or Custom APIs defined as Functions, for the other scenarios (Action, Custom Action, Custom API not defined as Function) the operationType is set to 0

You can't create internal Functions, you can only create Custom API defined as Function

I understand that you don't want to use my tool Dataverse REST Builder but (as this post can be beneficial to others) the tool has a request type "Execute Function" to deal with the internal functions and the request type "Execute Custom API" indicates if the Custom API is a function or not. The code generated set operationType to 1 for Xrm.WebApi calls.

You can also check the online demo from here, the demo includes some internal Functions and a Custom API defined as Function, so you can see how the generated Xrm.WebApi code looks like, without installing the tool.

as last thing, the page where you took the screenshot where the operationType values are written, contains an example on how a function is called, this link.

hope it helps

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cheezecake 12 on at

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Now this is the sort of answers I am looking for. And yes, I have managed to use configure and use Custom API and also called a Workflow Activity via an Action. Thank you Scott!

a2z

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