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Dynamics 365 Community / Forums / Microsoft Dynamics CRM (Archived) / Can one use a $filter ...
Microsoft Dynamics CRM (Archived)

Can one use a $filter when retrieving via GUID?

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Posted on by Community Member

I'm trying to find out if I can always use a $filter expression even if I only have an object's raw GUID.

I know I can do stuff like:

.../AccountSet(guid'bdc0e823-4f8e-e511-80e0-00155d62e31e')

to get the object but it would be helpful (for designing a user config system) if we could use a $filter to identify the object as an alternative.

.../AccountSet?$filter=<some_member_field> eq <some_guid>

It's a little frustrating to have to support two ways of identifying records to retrieve.

Any info on this area much appreciated!

Thx

PS: I guess I'm kind of asking if every Dynamics entity has an implicit "SelfId" property/field which is always present and which we can refer to in a $select expression.

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  • kyleknab Profile Picture
    kyleknab 517 on at
    RE: Can one use a $filter when retrieving via GUID?

    CRM controls the primary key field and its always a GUID.

    Someone could certainly create a new field on an entity (or use an existing field), and say it will be a primary key, in which case they should  also construct a way (e.g. a custom workflow/plugin/JavaScript) to ensure the uniqueness of the data in that pseudo-primary key field.

    This is common for the OOTB Account Number field.  CRM does not enforce uniqueness on this field, but in practice you might keep this data clean (readable, 5-7 characters) and unique because it may integrate with some third party system that cannot be expected to replicate CRM's own GUIDs (e.g. your ERP).

  • Community Member Profile Picture
    Community Member on at
    RE: Can one use a $filter when retrieving via GUID?

    Thanks a lot for these helpful explanations, much appreciated. So may I ask another question.

    Is the named primary key field that's always present a GUID string? From the examples I'm seeing here on a test system it's true.

    But could someone define a primary key field that isn't a GUID string but say an int, a string etc.

    Thanks

  • Suggested answer
    kyleknab Profile Picture
    kyleknab 517 on at
    RE: Can one use a $filter when retrieving via GUID?

    In CRM every entity has a named primary key field; accounts have an accountid, Contacts have a contactid, etc.  And every lookup field on a CRM entity holds a GUID that corresponds to the primary key field on the entity type that is being looked up (account.primarycontactid : contact.contactid).

    Here is the example that was supposed to be on that reply:

    $filter=PrimaryContactId/Id eq 'guid<guid>'

  • Community Member Profile Picture
    Community Member on at
    RE: Can one use a $filter when retrieving via GUID?

    (Also your post was truncated where you were about to show an example of /Id).

    Thx

  • Community Member Profile Picture
    Community Member on at
    RE: Can one use a $filter when retrieving via GUID?

    OK Thanks, much appreciated.

    So does every object have a named primary key field? I've been perusing the returned JSON from a load of test REST queries and it's not very clear to me.

    Thanks

  • Suggested answer
    kyleknab Profile Picture
    kyleknab 517 on at
    RE: Can one use a $filter when retrieving via GUID?

    Hi KorporalKernel,

    Yes you can use the "eq guid'<guid>' syntax in your $filter parameter.
    When filter by an entity's primary key field (e.g. AccountId for AccountSet) then you can just do $filter=AccountId eq guid'<guid>'.

    When you're comparing a lookup field on an entity to a guid, you must include /Id to indicate you're comparing the Id member of the lookup array.  For example, to filter AccountSet by the account's primarycontactid field:

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