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Important
This functionality requires version 10.0.12 for finance and operations apps, while service update 189 is required for Dataverse. The release information for Dataverse is published on the latest version availability page.
This article is a collection of frequently asked questions about finance and operations virtual entities.
Do Tier 1 finance and operations environments or demo topologies work?
Yes, Tier 1 environments and DEVTEST and DEMO topologies work.
What version of finance and operations do I need?
You need version 10.0.12 or later.
Can a solution from an independent software vendor (ISV) take a dependency on virtual entities? What does the application lifecycle management (ALM) look like?
Yes. The virtual entities are all generated in the MicrosoftOperationsERPVE solution, which is API-managed. In other words, the items in the solution change as you make entities visible or hidden, but the solution is still a managed solution that you can take dependency on. The standard ALM flow takes a standard reference to a virtual entity from this solution by using the Add existing option in the ISV solution. The solution checks for missing dependencies when you import it. If you specify a virtual entity that doesn't yet exist, the virtual entity is automatically made visible during import.
Which entities from finance and operations do users see in the catalog in Dataverse?
Generally, users see all entities where IsPublic is set to Yes. These entities are the same entities that are currently visible in Open Data Protocol (OData).
Do all Microsoft Power Platform users have to be users in finance and operations?
Any interactive user of Microsoft Power Platform who tries to access finance and operations data through a virtual entity must also exist as a user in finance and operations. Therefore, technically, not all users have to be users in finance and operations. Only those users who access finance and operations data through virtual entities must be users in finance and operations.
You can also use a S2S application user to call into virtual entities. For this kind of integration, set up the application user in System administration > Setup > Configure Microsoft Entra Applications. This setup allows applications to integrate with finance and operations by using virtual entities.
Where do I find the catalog entity?
In the Advanced find window, the entity is named Available finance and operations Entities.
Is there a way to specify a company when I perform data operations on a virtual entity?
Yes. Although the company is implicit in finance and operations, it's an explicit field on each company-striped entity in Dataverse. You can use either the Company Code field, where the value is a four-character string, or the Company field, which is a lookup to cdm_Company. Both approaches provide the same information.
Can I change the prefix for the virtual entities?
No. Generate all finance and operations virtual entities in the MicrosoftOperationsERPVE solution, and use the "mserp_" prefix. Don't change this prefix. If you have a scenario where you believe the prefix needs to change, share that scenario with Microsoft.
How can I filter data in an app that I create by using Power Apps, based on the current user or any other dynamic criteria, such as today-10?
Write a pre-operation plug-in on the RetrieveMultiple message of the entity and change the criteria on the query in it. Alternatively, write a post-operation plug-in to filter the results before they return.
Can I pin a model-driven app into finance and operations?
No, you can't currently pin a model-driven app into finance and operations.
How can I show, in the same grid, data from multiple virtual entities that are joined to a physical entity record in Dataverse?
This approach isn't currently possible in Dataverse.
How do I add subcomponents in the new Power Apps experience?
As in the previous Power Apps user interface (UI), you must redo the Add Existing operation. After you select the solution, and add Customer Group as an entity, follow these steps:
- Select Add existing > Entity.
- Select customer group entity, and then select Next.
- Under Components, select Select components.
- Select the fields, relationships, and forms that you want, and then select Add.
If I want a default value to be entered in a field during pre-create, will an initValue on the data entity work?
Yes. Here's the order of calls:
- Dataverse sends a create or update message.
- The system invokes all the existing logic on the finance and operations entity and backing tables. This logic includes default value entry and might change values.
- Dataverse sends another Retrieve (single) message to get the latest copy of the data, including any fields that default values were entered for.
Can I debug finance and operations when I do a create, read, update, and delete (CRUD) operation from Dataverse? If so, which process do I have to attach?
Yes, to debug in finance and operations, open Visual Studio as an admin. Typically, finance and operations apps run under w3wp.exe as a process. However, when you open Visual Studio as an admin, IISExpress.exe is automatically opened, and finance and operations is hosted there. You can attach to IISExpress.exe (or to w3wp.exe if not running Visual Studio as an admin). To set breakpoints in the virtual entity code, find the CDSVirtualEntityAdapter and CDSVirtualEntityController classes. The adapter class is the first class that is called, and it only does serialization/deserialization. It then delegates to the controller class to do the actual queries. Therefore, the controller class is usually the easiest place to put breakpoints.
Does the form business logic in finance and operations get called through virtual entities?
Finance and operations business logic that resides on forms isn't invoked through virtual entities. Instead, you should expect the same behavior that you get through OData access to the same entities. The expectation is that an entity that's exposed to OData (that is, IsPublic is set to Yes) has appropriate protections to ensure that data can't be corrupted. If any entity lacks this protection, that situation represents a bug in the entity. If you see differences in entity behavior between OData and virtual entities, that situation represents a bug in the virtual entity feature.
If I develop a new finance and operations entity and want to see it in Dataverse, do I have to select Refresh entity list in finance and operations? Do I have to do anything in Dataverse?
In theory, no, you don't have to refresh the entity list. At most, you might have to either reset Internet Information Services (IIS) or restart IIS Express, depending on where Application Object Server (AOS) is running. The system caches the accuracy of the list of entities in SysGlobalObjectCache, which is a per-process cache. Anytime that this cache doesn't indicate that the list is accurate, the system rebuilds the list. The rebuild process takes about five seconds. Therefore, when you restart your AOS process (w3wp.exe or iisexpress.exe), the list is accurate the next time that you query it from Dataverse. Additionally, although recompilation should flush the SysGlobalObjectCache cache, it might not. In that case, an AOS restart flushes it.
Is there guidance on when to use a virtual entity and when to use dual-write?
For guidance on when to use a virtual entity and when to use dual-write, see Integration between finance and operations apps and third-party services.
When adding records by using virtual entities, is there any way to use number sequences?
Yes, if the finance and operations entity can auto generate number sequences, it works the same way from the virtual entity.
Why doesn't 'search view' work in Power Apps?
If you don't add fields in the quick find view for the entity, the search box doesn't work. Add one or more fields of the entity to the quick find view.
The virtual entity performance is slow when a virtual entity has relationships to other entities. Is there guidance on how to avoid these problems?
Performance can be slow for several reasons when a virtual entity has relationships to other entities. This section will be updated as new patterns are identified. The following guidance reflects current knowledge.
When virtual entities have relationships to other entities, the virtual entity framework needs to query the related entities if the field select list includes the foreign key values for the related entities. By default, queries against the entities return all fields unless the caller requests a specific set of fields. Specify a narrow select list to help prevent slow performance.
An example of this issue is explained in Optimize Dataverse virtual table queries.
Can I configure virtual entities to connect other Power Platform environments to the finance and operations environment even if the Power Platform integration is enabled?
While some features of the Microsoft Power Platform integration, like the synchronization of business events and data events with Dataverse, only work between the finance and operations apps and Power Platform environments linked through the Microsoft Power Platform integration, you can still manually configure virtual entities between multiple Power Platform environments and the finance and operations environment.
When you enable the Microsoft Power Platform integration, you link the finance and operations environment to a single Power Platform environment. This one-to-one environment relationship for the integration automatically configures the virtual entities between the two environments. You don't need to manually configure virtual entities as described in Configure Dataverse virtual entities. If you manually configured virtual entities before you enabled the Microsoft Power Platform integration between the two environments, the manual configuration is ignored after you enable the integration, and the automatic configuration connects the two environments.
Although the automatic virtual entity configuration is used for the Power Platform environment linked to the finance and operations environment through the Microsoft Power Platform integration, you can manually configure virtual entities in additional Power Platform environments to enable virtual entities for the finance and operations environment with more than one Power Platform environment.
Can I use Dataverse virtual entities as a data source with the Data Integrator?
No. The Data Integrator doesn't support virtual entities as a source for data integration. Technical limitations prevent the Data Integrator from getting the deltas in the source data to push data to the destination environment.
I'm getting an error that paging isn't supported. How do I work around this?
When you run a query against a virtual entity, you might get an error response with the message, "Paging isn't supported for queries with temporary tables." This behavior is by design. The error occurs if the query includes any temporary tables. If you get this error, you need to determine which temporary tables are included in the query, and then modify the query to exclude the temporary table. Disabled configuration keys might also cause this error. The default virtual entities provided in the Dynamics 365 ERP Virtual Entities solution don't include temporary tables when you enable all configurations. However, when you don't enable a configuration key for the backing table of an entity, the system replaces the physical table with a temporary table so it doesn't need to recompile for schema changes. This change results in a temporary table included in the virtual entity query. In these scenarios, enable the associated configuration key to resolve the error.
For more information about the impact of configuration keys on data entities, see Configuration keys and data entities.
I'm getting an error that the call was rejected by finance and operations apps as not authorized. How do I work around this?
When you run a query against a virtual entity, you might get an error response with the message, "A token was obtained to call Finance and Operations, but Finance and Operations rejected the call as not authorized. Verify that the Microsoft Entra application value is specified in the Microsoft Entra application for in Finance and Operations, and that the associated user account has privileges to call the CDSVirtualEntity web service."
This error can occur if you remove the default integration applications from the environment. Verify that the following applications are listed in the Microsoft Entra applications page in the finance and operations apps environment. By default, you add these applications to the environment. Dataverse virtual entities for finance and operations apps can't gain authorization to the finance and operations environment if you remove these applications from the list.
| Client ID | Name | User ID |
|---|---|---|
| 61a0518c-121a-421a-9ad6-f0955a88be43 | PowerPlatformApplication | PowerPlatformApp |
| f1752846-f0df-4766-96f5-c109adf67d7f | PowerPlatRuntimeApp | PowerPlatformApp |