Application Integration
Application integration describes how to add custom menus, side tabs, and buttons to the Microsoft CRM application and to Microsoft CRM Sales for Outlook (the Outlook client).
To do this, you edit the text-based configuration files found on your Microsoft CRM server.
Note To make your customization look like Microsoft CRM, use the style sheet found in the technical article “Customizing the UI for Third-Party Extensions to Microsoft CRM” at msdn.microsoft.com/library/en-us/dnmbscrm/html/mbs_crmappui.asp.
Any integration into the application must participate in security. That is, any server or client application calling into the Microsoft CRM application programming interface (API) must have user context in the same domain.
Important Any integration into Microsoft CRM Version 1.2 may not be supported in the same way in future versions.
The following topics explain the details of customization:
- Using a Template and Style Sheet. This topic describes how to use an HTML template and cascading style sheet to customize the look of the user interface (UI) of extensions you create for the Microsoft CRM application.
- Customizing the Microsoft CRM Application. This topic describes how to customize the application using the configuration file.
- Customizing Microsoft CRM Sales for Outlook. This topic describes how to customize the Outlook client using the configuration file.
- URL Addressable Forms. This topic describes how to open any form in Microsoft CRM from an external or integrated application.
Security issue
All users of the system have access to all integration points. No security or role-based limitations are built into the integration; in other words, these customizations are visible to all users regardless of their roles.
Specifying URLs in the ISV.config file
You should use the following escape sequences when specifying a URL in the ISV.config file. No escape sequences are required for parentheses or curly brackets.
| Character | Escape Sequence |
| (space) | + |
| ' | \' |
| " | %22 |
| & | & |