IOrganisationService.Retrieve Record does not exist

Question

I've made code to check if a record in CRM exists. Problem is that the IOrganisationService.Retrieve returns an error instead of a null when no record is found. I expect multiple records not to be found and I do not want to have to use a try catch then use the error from the catch.

using (OrganizationServiceProxy serviceProxy = new OrganizationServiceProxy(OrganizationUri, HomeRealmUri, credentials, null))
            {
                IOrganizationService service = (IOrganizationService)serviceProxy;
                //Get record

                var record = service.Retrieve(entryId, guid, new ColumnSet(true)); //switch to var if no work
                //Check if record is not null/empty
                recordExists = !String.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(record.Id.ToString()); //<- does the record exist
            }

Suggestions?

Why don't you want to use a try/catch? See my answer for help. — Phil, Oct 10 '16 at 09:16

Henk van Boeijen · Answer 1 · 2016-10-10T10:06:11.400

Method Retrieve presumes that the record with the given ID actually exists in the system. In general it fails in only two scenarios:

The record was deleted by another user or process.
The user does not have sufficient read privileges.

When you need to query for data that may not exist or when a query can yield zero, one or more records, use QueryExpression queries; you can issue these queries using the RetrieveMultiple method. If you like, you can also use LINQ for CRM, which basically wraps the QueryExpression functionality.

Phil · Accepted Answer · 2016-10-10T16:05:26.387

2

Use RetrieveMultiple to retrieve users with the ID you're interested in:

// Create and cache the plugin context
this.context = (IPluginExecutionContext)serviceProvider.GetService(typeof(IPluginExecutionContext));
var serviceFactory = (IOrganizationServiceFactory)serviceProvider.GetService(typeof(IOrganizationServiceFactory));
this.service = serviceFactory.CreateOrganizationService(this.context.UserId);

// Retrieve users with certain ID
Guid userId = Guid.NewGuid();
var query = new QueryExpression("systemuser");
query.Criteria.AddCondition(new ConditionExpression("systemuserid", ConditionOperator.Equal, userId));

EntityCollection users;
try
{
    users = this.service.RetrieveMultiple(query);
}
catch (FaultException<OrganizationServiceFault> faultException)
{
    throw new InvalidPluginExecutionException($"Failed to retrieve system users that have an ID of '{userId}'", faultException);
}

if (users.Entities.Length == 0) // (or !users.Entities.Any() using Linq)
{
    // Do something
}

edited Oct 10 '16 at 16:05

answered Oct 10 '16 at 09:14

Phil

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The code works, maybe my explanation was a bit bad. The Retrieve method errors if no result is found; I want to know which CRM records do not exist without having to use the catch to say that the record doesn't exist. – Zain Oct 10 '16 at 09:29
I don't think that is possible using the `Retrieve` method. The CRM service will throw an exception of type `FaultException` if the record does not exist. What you could do however is use `RetrieveMultiple` to retrieve a list of records that have the ID you are interested in - if the length is 0, an exception will not be thrown. I've updated my answer. – Phil Oct 10 '16 at 10:02
The `Retrieve` method is supposed to return the specified record and a call to it will only fail in rare cases. Hence, error handling should preferrably be handled at the highest level possible. – Henk van Boeijen Oct 10 '16 at 10:04
@Phil Thanks for the help, your solution worked for me. – Zain Oct 10 '16 at 15:55

IOrganisationService.Retrieve Record does not exist

2 Answers2