Export ribbon definitions

 

Applies To: Dynamics CRM 2013

To effectively define changes to the default RibbonXml, you must be able to reference the RibbonXml data that defines those ribbons.

Access the ribbon definitions for your organization

If the Ribbon for your organization has been modified, you should export the current definitions if you intend to work with the customized ribbon elements. To do this, use the exportribbonxml sample located at SampleCode\CS\Client\Ribbon\ExportRibbonXml.

Access the default ribbon data

The default ribbon definitions for Microsoft Dynamics CRM can be found in the SDK package: SDK\Resources\ExportedRibbonXml. Download the Microsoft Dynamics CRM SDK package.

The applicationRibbon.xml file contains the definition of the core application ribbons.

The remaining files contain the definitions used by entities that have ribbon definitions that differ from the entity template. Each file is named according to the name of the entity: logical entity name + Ribbon.xml.

These files represent the output of two messages using the Sample: Export ribbon definitions:

Decompress the ribbon data

The ribbon data is exported as a compressed file. To decompress the file into XML you have to use the System.IO.Packaging.ZipPackage class. The following example is a helper method used in the SDK sample to decompress the file.


/// <summary>
/// A helper method that decompresses the the Ribbon data returned
/// </summary>
/// <param name="data">The compressed ribbon data</param>
/// <returns></returns>
public byte[] unzipRibbon(byte[] data)
{
 System.IO.Packaging.ZipPackage package = null;
 MemoryStream memStream = null;

 memStream = new MemoryStream();
 memStream.Write(data, 0, data.Length);
 package = (ZipPackage)ZipPackage.Open(memStream, FileMode.Open);

 ZipPackagePart part = (ZipPackagePart)package.GetPart(new Uri("/RibbonXml.xml", UriKind.Relative));
 using (Stream strm = part.GetStream())
 {
  long len = strm.Length;
  byte[] buff = new byte[len];
  strm.Read(buff, 0, (int)len);
  return buff;
 }
}

''' <summary>
''' A helper method that decompresses the the Ribbon data returned
''' </summary>
''' <param name="data">The compressed ribbon data</param>
''' <returns></returns>
Public Function unzipRibbon(ByVal data() As Byte) As Byte()
 Dim package As System.IO.Packaging.ZipPackage = Nothing
 Dim memStream As MemoryStream = Nothing

 memStream = New MemoryStream()
 memStream.Write(data, 0, data.Length)
 package = CType(ZipPackage.Open(memStream, FileMode.Open), ZipPackage)

 Dim part As ZipPackagePart = CType(package.GetPart(New Uri("/RibbonXml.xml", UriKind.Relative)), ZipPackagePart)
 Using strm As Stream = part.GetStream()
  Dim len As Long = strm.Length
              Dim buff(CInt(len - 1)) As Byte
  strm.Read(buff, 0, CInt(len))
  Return buff
 End Using
End Function

Retrieve the application ribbon data

The application ribbon can be retrieved using the RetrieveApplicationRibbonRequest as shown in the following sample.


//Retrieve the Appliation Ribbon
RetrieveApplicationRibbonRequest appribReq = new RetrieveApplicationRibbonRequest();
RetrieveApplicationRibbonResponse appribResp = (RetrieveApplicationRibbonResponse)_serviceProxy.Execute(appribReq);

System.String applicationRibbonPath = Path.GetFullPath(exportFolder + "\\applicationRibbon.xml");
File.WriteAllBytes(applicationRibbonPath, unzipRibbon(appribResp.CompressedApplicationRibbonXml));

'Retrieve the Appliation Ribbon
Dim appribReq As New RetrieveApplicationRibbonRequest()
Dim appribResp As RetrieveApplicationRibbonResponse = CType(_serviceProxy.Execute(appribReq), RetrieveApplicationRibbonResponse)

Dim applicationRibbonPath As String = Path.GetFullPath(exportFolder &amp; "\applicationRibbon.xml")
File.WriteAllBytes(applicationRibbonPath, unzipRibbon(appribResp.CompressedApplicationRibbonXml))

Retrieve entity ribbons

To retrieve the ribbon definition for entities, you can just include the name of the entity as a parameter to the RetrieveEntityRibbonRequest.

To retrieve the ribbon definitions for all entities that support the ribbon you need a list of those system entities that have ribbon definitions that vary from the entity ribbon template. The following sample shows an array of all the system entities that have ribbon definitions.


  //This array contains all of the system entities that use the ribbon.
  public System.String[] entitiesWithRibbons = {"account",
"activitymimeattachment",
"activitypointer",
"appointment",
"bulkoperation",
"calendar",
"campaign",
"campaignactivity",
"campaignresponse",
"competitor",
"connection",
"contact",
"contract",
"contractdetail",
"convertrule",
"convertruleitem",
"customeraddress",
"discount",
"discounttype",
"email",
"emailserverprofile",
"entitlement",
"entitlementchannel",
"entitlementtemplate",
"entitlementtemplatechannel",
"fax",
"goal",
"goalrollupquery",
"importfile",
"incident",
"invoice",
"invoicedetail",
"kbarticle",
"kbarticlecomment",
"lead",
"letter",
"list",
"listmember",
"mailbox",
"metric",
"opportunity",
"opportunityproduct",
"partnerapplication",
"phonecall",
"postfollow",
"pricelevel",
"product",
"productpricelevel",
"queue",
"queueitem",
"quote",
"quotedetail",
"recurringappointmentmaster",
"report",
"rollupfield",
"routingrule",
"routingruleitem",
"salesliterature",
"salesliteratureitem",
"salesorder",
"salesorderdetail",
"service",
"serviceappointment",
"sharepointdocument",
"sharepointdocumentlocation",
"sharepointsite",
"site",
"sla",
"slaitem",
"socialactivity",
"socialprofile",
"systemuser",
"task",
"team",
"teamtemplate",
"territory",
"uom",
"uomschedule",
"userquery"};

'This array contains all of the system entities that use the ribbon.
      Public entitiesWithRibbons() As String = {"account", "activitymimeattachment", "activitypointer", "appointment", "bulkoperation", _
                                                "campaign", "campaignactivity", "campaignresponse", "competitor", "connection", "contact", _
                                                "contract", "contractdetail", "customeraddress", "discount", "discounttype", "email", "fax", "goal", _
                                                "importfile", "incident", "invoice", "invoicedetail", "kbarticle", "kbarticlecomment", "lead", _
                                                "letter", "list", "listmember", "metric", "opportunity", "opportunityproduct", "phonecall", _
                                                "pricelevel", "product", "productpricelevel", "queueitem", "quote", "quotedetail", _
                                                "recurringappointmentmaster", "report", "salesliterature", "salesorder", "salesorderdetail", _
                                                "service", "serviceappointment", "sharepointdocumentlocation", "sharepointsite", "systemuser", _
                                                "task", "team", "territory", "uom", "uomschedule", "userquery"}

The following sample shows how to retrieve the ribbon definitions for a set of entities.


//Retrieve system Entity Ribbons
RetrieveEntityRibbonRequest entRibReq = new RetrieveEntityRibbonRequest() { RibbonLocationFilter = RibbonLocationFilters.All };

foreach (System.String entityName in entitiesWithRibbons)
{
 entRibReq.EntityName = entityName;
 RetrieveEntityRibbonResponse entRibResp = (RetrieveEntityRibbonResponse)_serviceProxy.Execute(entRibReq);

 System.String entityRibbonPath = Path.GetFullPath(exportFolder + "\\" + entityName + "Ribbon.xml");
 File.WriteAllBytes(entityRibbonPath, unzipRibbon(entRibResp.CompressedEntityXml));
 //Write the path where the file has been saved.
 Console.WriteLine(entityRibbonPath);
}

'Retrieve system Entity Ribbons
Dim entRibReq As New RetrieveEntityRibbonRequest() With {.RibbonLocationFilter = RibbonLocationFilters.All}

For Each entityName As String In entitiesWithRibbons
 entRibReq.EntityName = entityName
 Dim entRibResp As RetrieveEntityRibbonResponse = CType(_serviceProxy.Execute(entRibReq), RetrieveEntityRibbonResponse)

 Dim entityRibbonPath As String = Path.GetFullPath(exportFolder &amp; "\" &amp; entityName &amp; "Ribbon.xml")
 File.WriteAllBytes(entityRibbonPath, unzipRibbon(entRibResp.CompressedEntityXml))
 'Write the path where the file has been saved.
 Console.WriteLine(entityRibbonPath)
Next entityName

Any custom entities also support ribbon customizations. To get a list of custom entities, use the RetrieveAllEntitiesRequest and retrieve the names of custom entities. The following sample shows how to retrieve ribbon definitions for all custom entities.


 //Check for custom entities
 RetrieveAllEntitiesRequest raer = new RetrieveAllEntitiesRequest() { EntityFilters = EntityFilters.Entity };

 RetrieveAllEntitiesResponse resp = (RetrieveAllEntitiesResponse)_serviceProxy.Execute(raer);

 foreach (EntityMetadata em in resp.EntityMetadata)
 {
  if (em.IsCustomEntity == true &amp;&amp; em.IsIntersect == false)
  {
   entRibReq.EntityName = em.LogicalName;
   RetrieveEntityRibbonResponse entRibResp = (RetrieveEntityRibbonResponse)_serviceProxy.Execute(entRibReq);

   System.String entityRibbonPath = Path.GetFullPath(exportFolder + "\\" + em.LogicalName + "Ribbon.xml");
   File.WriteAllBytes(entityRibbonPath, unzipRibbon(entRibResp.CompressedEntityXml));
   //Write the path where the file has been saved.
   Console.WriteLine(entityRibbonPath);
  }
 }
}

 'Check for custom entities
 Dim raer As New RetrieveAllEntitiesRequest() With {.EntityFilters = EntityFilters.Entity}

 Dim resp As RetrieveAllEntitiesResponse = CType(_serviceProxy.Execute(raer), RetrieveAllEntitiesResponse)

 For Each em As EntityMetadata In resp.EntityMetadata
  If em.IsCustomEntity = True AndAlso em.IsIntersect = False Then
   entRibReq.EntityName = em.LogicalName
   Dim entRibResp As RetrieveEntityRibbonResponse = CType(_serviceProxy.Execute(entRibReq), RetrieveEntityRibbonResponse)

   Dim entityRibbonPath As String = Path.GetFullPath(exportFolder &amp; "\" &amp; em.LogicalName &amp; "Ribbon.xml")
   File.WriteAllBytes(entityRibbonPath, unzipRibbon(entRibResp.CompressedEntityXml))
   'Write the path where the file has been saved.
   Console.WriteLine(entityRibbonPath)
  End If
 Next em
End Using

See Also

Customize commands and the ribbon
Command bar or ribbon presentation
Export, prepare to edit, and import the ribbon