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Browse the metadata for your organization

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Applies To: Dynamics CRM 2013

You can use the Entity Metadata Browser to view entities and their properties in Microsoft Dynamics CRM. The Entity Metadata Browser is a managed solution available in the downloadable files available in the Microsoft Dynamics CRM SDK at SDK\Tools\MetadataBrowser\MetadataBrowser_2_0_0_5_managed.zip.

Note

The metadata browser supports Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, and Internet Explorer 9, Internet Explorer 10, or Internet Explorer 11.

After you install the Entity Metadata Browser solution, open the managed solution by double-clicking the row in the solutions list and view the Configuration page to view information about the Entity Metadata Browser and buttons to launch two different views.

Tip

After you launch one of the views, add the view to you favorites using the Internet Explorer Ctrl+D keyboard shortcut. Other browsers provide alternative ways to save bookmarks.

On the configuration page, you can open the Metadata Browser where you can perform the following actions:

  • Select an entity to view using the Entity Metadata Browser.

  • Open the selected entity form in the default organization, if the entity supports this.

  • Perform a text search to filter displayed entities using the following entity properties: SchemaName, LogicalName, DisplayName, ObjectTypeCode, or MetadataId.

  • Filter entities by any entity property values.

  • Filter the properties displayed for the selected entity.

You can also open the Entity Metadata Browser where you can perform the following actions for a single entity:

  • View all the properties for the entity and filter the properties displayed.

  • Open the selected entity edit form in the default organization, if the entity supports this.

  • Change the entity that you want to view.

  • View the entity attributes in a master/detail view. With this view you can:

    • Open the selected attribute form in the default organization, if the attribute supports this.

    • Perform a text search to filter displayed attributes using the following attribute properties: SchemaName, LogicalName, DisplayName, or MetadataId.

    • Filter attributes by any attribute property values.

    • Filter the properties displayed for the selected attribute.

  • View entity relationships. With these views you can:

    • Open the selected relationship form in the default organization, if the relationship supports this.

    • Perform a text search to filter displayed relationships using values relevant to the type of relationship.

    • Filter the relationship by any relationship property value.

  • View entity privileges. With this view you can:

    • Filter the displayed privilege using the PrivilegeId.

When viewing the entity detail properties, you’ll see that many complex properties are expandable. The most useful value is displayed with a link that allows toggling to a more detailed view. The detailed view reflects the structure of the data if you were to retrieve it programmatically. The detailed view also reveals other relevant data that can be retrieved in the same area, for example, if any localized labels are present for Display Name properties.

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See Also

Developer tools
Customize entity metadata
Extend the metadata model
Visual Studio and the .NET Framework
Developer Toolkit for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2013
Create early bound entity classes with the code generation tool (CrmSvcUtil.exe)
Analyze plug-in performance
Solution tools for team development