Apr 3

Written by: Michael Washington
4/3/2012 5:27 AM 

Xpert 360 has released a new LightSwitch extension, Lightning Dynamics CRM Data Source, that allows LightSwitch to connect to Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online. It allows LightSwitch to connect to 40 Dynamics CRM entities. The unusual thing is that currently the product is free:

“We have decided to go ahead with an unusual business model, for a software product company, but the upshot is there will be several free-use software products for LightSwitch. We use our software ourselves for developing customer funded custom solutions.”

The extension works in LightSwitch 2010 and the Beta LightSwitch in Visual Studio 11.

 

Prerequisites

There are prerequisites to use the extension:

A Dynamics CRM instance

• Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online subscription

Windows Identity Foundation

• http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/gg334502.aspx
• http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=17331

Free license key for the adapter supplied by Xpert360

• Based on ‘Live ID’ to be used to access Dynamics CRM and ‘Organization Name’ used for the subscription.

A credentials XML file similar to that used by the Dynamics CRM SDK samples and tools

• With the addition of username, password and license key
• Security mechanisms are planned to be significantly expanded in the next release

 

Installing

The following screen shots show the installation process:

 

Using The Extension

Once connected to Microsoft Dynamics CRM, LightSwitch can interact with the entities:

 

 

Credential File

Note: A path to a credentials file needs to be specified as the 'connection string' when adding a new Lightning Dynamics CRM Data Source to a LightSwitch project.

 

Frequently Asked Questions

The following FAQ was taken from their website:

Why Zero-Price?

We want to help repay the LightSwitch community,

We want to keep the LightSwitch data adapters and forthcoming LightSwitch utilities and extensions at zero cost in order to nurture the LightSwitch market space and encourage the community to continue to play their part too.

What do we want in return?

Download the software, try it, participate in the LightSwitch community and pass back constructive criticism, ideas and praise if you wish.

We want anonymous usage feedback to improve the LightSwitch extensions.

If people truly find the software useful and continue to use it you are under no obligation to do so but any donations will be gladly received to help cover costs.

If you like what we do and need custom versions or integration development work then contact us.

We want to gather basic anonymous market data solely for our own use to help with product roadmaps.

Will the software be open source?

When we feel that we have done all that we can with the software our intentions are to move all zero-cost software to CodePlex.

Can I use this in production?

We do not recommend the first version for production it is intended for evaluation, testing and to gather feedback. For subsequent versions we accept no liability whatsoever, the software will be provided 'as is' with only informal community support in the forums. You may take out a support agreement with us in which case the terms of conditions of the support agreement will cover you.

How can we fund this?

We reserve the right to monetize some versions of future utilities and adapters. We will make zero-cost versions available to the wider community and charge for some advanced levels of custom work and professional support.

Download

You can download the extension at this link: http://www.xpert360.com/lightning_products.html

Support

Please direct any questions regarding the extension to their support forums: http://support.xpert360.com/categories/20047856-lightning-series-adapters-microsoft-dynamics-crm-online