How to Auto Number Entities in Dynamics CRM
This will work for any entity – custom or out-of-the-box. All that is involved is 1) creating an auto number entity and record, 2) creating a relationship with the entity you would like to have an auto number in, and 3) making a real-time workflow populate and increment the number.
Here are the steps to go through. You will end up with an automatically-generated number with an optional prefix and suffix on the first save of the record. I added the ability to increment your auto number by any whole number in the event that you have that requirement.
1. Create & save your solution:
2. Add the entities you would like to add the auto number functionality to.
In this case I am going to create the ability to auto number Accounts, Quotes, and a custom entity I created called Projects.
3. Create a new entity called AutoNumber.
4. Add the following fields to the AutoNumber form for each entity you would like to have auto numbering.
- Prefix (Text)
- Suffix (Text)
- Number (Whole Number, Simple)
- Increment (Whole Number, Simple)
5. Create a 1:N relationship between your AutoNumber entity and the entity(ies) you would like to have the auto number functionality apply to.
6. Create your AutoNumber form:
Create a section for each entity you would like to auto number.
7. Add a text field to each of the entities you would like to auto number.
This will store the generated number. In this case I have called mine Account Number.
8. Create the AutoNumber record with the default values in it.
- Go to advanced find
- In “look for” select AutoNumbers
- Click results
- Click New AutoNumber
- Enter in your values
9. Now create the workflow to set and update the AutoNumber (one for each entity).
10. Create a step to update the quote and set the Quote AutoNumber lookup to the value of the record you created (Defaults).
11. Update the value to your quote number field on the quote form using the AutoNumber values:
12. Increment the Quote AutoNumber number field by the amount in the quote increment field
13. Leaving you with a Workflow looking like this Repeat it for each entity you would like to Auto number.
Now create some records and you should have some automatically generated numbers!
