Method Community

Hello there folks,

Ok, I'm new to Method CRM. I am a developer writing a plugin to an existing product. My purpose is to gather information and present it to the user. This was the easy part and it's all good there.

I also would like a couple of links to the method UI from our application that allow the user to:

1) Create a new Contact

2) Create a new Account (Vendor account)

3) Open a customer in Edit Mode  (given information available via the API like record id, etc)

I have looked at MethodAPIGetScreenURL version 2,3, and 4. I am sure these would work if I could get the correct parameters and figure out which is the best to use. The documentation is spotty and there aren't any decent examples that I could find.

I would greatly appreciate any help with this,

Thanks,

Jacob

 Hi Jacob,

There are 2 ways to do what you are asking. You can use the create short method url action from within method itself. (You can read up on it at http://www.methodintegration.com/method/kb.aspx?folder=methodcrm&article=Create-Short-Method-URL&id=165)

The second way is using the API, I will provide examples below. My examples are in C# and assume you have already added the appropriate service references in your code. I also replaced companyaccount, login, and password with XXX, YYY, and ZZZ respectively. You should be able to tweak them to meet your needs

Using MethodAPIGetScreenURLV2

Let's assume you have a tab called customers, with a tablink called New Customers.

string ResponseFromAPI = MethodAPI.MethodAPIGetScreenURLV2(XXX, YYY, ZZZ, "", "New Customer", "Customers", "");

if you look at ResponseFromAPI it is actually an xml string like the following

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="windows-1252" ?><MethodAPI response = "Success" URL = "http://link.methodintegration.com/XXXXX" ></MethodAPI>

You can then parse the xml grab the url and send it to your users. When the screen loads they will be at the new customer screen

Using MethodAPIGetScreenURLV3

Continuing the example from above, you have more parameters on the function signature. The two of interest that must be populated in this case are DomainLinkOrMIurl(with the value of 'link' or 'miurl') and isportal(true or false). A parameter you may or may not want to set is RecordID, this will take the user to a specific record when the screen loads. In this case we left it as an empty string

string ResponseFromAPI = MethodAPI.MethodAPIGetScreenURLV3(XXX, YYY, ZZZ, "", "link", "Customers", "New Customer", "", "", "", false, "");

if you look at ResponseFromAPI it is actually an xml string like the following

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="windows-1252" ?><MethodAPI response = "Success" URL = "http://link.methodintegration.com/XXXXX" ></MethodAPI>

You can then parse the xml grab the url and send it to your users. When the screen loads they will be at the new customer screen

Using MethodAPIGetScreenURLV4

Still continuing our customer example from above let's actually set a customer recordid this time. Let's also assume you have a screen called edit customer

string ResponseFromAPI =MethodAPI.MethodAPIGetScreenURLV4(XXX, YYY, ZZZ, "", "link", "Customers", "Edit Customer", "68", "", "", false, "", "");

if you look at ResponseFromAPI it is actually an xml string like the following

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="windows-1252" ?><MethodAPI response = "Success" URL = "http://link.methodintegration.com/XXXXX" ></MethodAPI>

You can then parse the xml grab the url and send it to your users, and this time when the screen loads it will be prepopulated with customer 68.

Dave

 thanks for the reply. I will try this.

In my case, this must be pure API, and I am using a new un-cusomtized UI. I have to have it generic so it can be used in any customers system barring some weird stuff they may do.

 Ok. I've tried this with every permutation I can think of.

I keep getting the same page. It has the Method CRM heading and a blank page with the "waiting/loading" icon in the center.

I'm not sure if it's due to invalid data or a server issue?

The response was successful, I took the URL it gave and pasted it into a browser.

Thanks,

Jacob

 Hi Jacob,

Does the page load successfully when you login to method normally? Does it show you any form of warning/error message?

Dave

Yes. It works fine if I log in manually. 

If necessary I can do a web ex or Skype to show the exact situation. 

This is a c# application. 

Thanks,

Jacob

 help?

 Hi Jacob,

Sorry about the delay been a little swamped...

Does this happen with every link generated or only some of them? What function are you using to generate the link? Can you also tell me what tab and tablink you are trying to go to?

Dave

 Dave,

Yes, this happens to every link I generate. I have tried all three methods of generating a link.

Here is the code: The commented out sections give the same results.

                MethodCRMService.ServiceSoapClient client = new MethodCRMService.ServiceSoapClient(binding, endpointAddress);
                client.MethodAPIGetScreenURLV2Completed += (sender, args) =>
                {
                    Log(args.Result);
                };
                client.MethodAPIGetScreenURLV3Completed += (sender, args) =>
                {
                    Log(args.Result);
                };
                client.MethodAPIGetScreenURLV4Completed += (sender, args) =>
                {
                    Log(args.Result);
                };
                client.MethodAPIGetScreenURLV2Async(credentials.Company, credentials.UserName, credentials.Password, string.Empty,
                    "New Customer", "Customers", string.Empty);
                //client.MethodAPIGetScreenURLV3Async(credentials.Company, credentials.UserName, credentials.Password, string.Empty,
                //    "link", "Customers", "Customers and Contacts List", "2", string.Empty, string.Empty, false, string.Empty, "1");
                //client.MethodAPIGetScreenURLV4Async(credentials.Company, credentials.UserName, credentials.Password, string.Empty,
                //    "link", "Customers", "Edit Customer", "277", string.Empty, string.Empty, false, string.Empty, string.Empty);

Results:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="windows-1252" ?> 
  <MethodAPI response="Success" URL="http://link.methodintegration.com/A638z" /> 

I am manually taking the URL provided and pasting it into a new IE window. I've also tried Chrome with the same results. The debugging window in IE/Chrome shows no errors.

If I am already logged in, I am shown the "working" screen as I described before. If not, I am prompted to login then that screen is shown.

This is the screen I see

 very sorry to keep bugging, but my deadline approaches :)

Hey Jacob,

Just an update....I have managed to reproduce the problem and we are investigating a fix.

Dave

 That is awesome. Thanks very much.

 Hi Jacob,

Have you ever done a quickbooks sync? If not you should follow the steps in the Method Initial Setup Guide. http://www.methodintegration.com/self-service-documentation.aspx

After the initial sync this problem should be solved

Dave

dave,

i have not. this is a default test system and i do not have a QB installation to test with.  while our customers should have this setup, i believe we will not require a QB sync since we are only interested in the crm data.

forgive me for saying, but this still seems like a defect.

thanks,

jacob