Define an extended configuration entity for a channel instance account

When you create a custom SMS channel, you need to define an entity to represent the extended configuration for the channel instance account (msdyn_channelinstanceaccount). For example, you might have a MessageBird account for which you've enabled multiple phone numbers. The channel instance account has a 1:N relationship with the channel instances you created (in this example, the MessageBird phone numbers).

For each custom SMS channel solution, you need to:

1. Create a custom entity to represent the extended configuration of the Channel Instance Account entity defined in the base solution.

   The name of the entity is assigned to the attribute msdyn_channeldefinitionaccountexternalentity at the channel definition step.

2. Add a relationship to the base Channel Instance Account entity in the msdyn_extendedentityid attribute.

   This attribute is a polymorphic lookup. Here's an example of the relationship in XML:

   <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
   <EntityRelationships xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
     <EntityRelationship Name="msdyn_ChannelInstanceAccount_extendedentityid_cr65f_samplechannelinstanceaccount">
       <EntityRelationshipType>OneToMany</EntityRelationshipType>
       <IsCustomizable>0</IsCustomizable>
       <IntroducedVersion>1.0.0.0</IntroducedVersion>
       <IsHierarchical>0</IsHierarchical>
       <ReferencingEntityName>msdyn_ChannelInstanceAccount</ReferencingEntityName>
       <ReferencedEntityName>cr65f_samplechannelinstanceaccount</ReferencedEntityName>
       <CascadeAssign>NoCascade</CascadeAssign>
       <CascadeDelete>RemoveLink</CascadeDelete>
       <CascadeReparent>NoCascade</CascadeReparent>
       <CascadeShare>NoCascade</CascadeShare>
       <CascadeUnshare>NoCascade</CascadeUnshare>
       <CascadeRollupView>NoCascade</CascadeRollupView>
       <IsValidForAdvancedFind>1</IsValidForAdvancedFind>
       <ReferencingAttributeName>msdyn_extendedentityId</ReferencingAttributeName>
       <RelationshipDescription>
         <Descriptions>
           <Description description="" languagecode="1033" />
         </Descriptions>
       </RelationshipDescription>
       <EntityRelationshipRoles>
         <EntityRelationshipRole>
           <NavPaneDisplayOption>UseCollectionName</NavPaneDisplayOption>
           <NavPaneArea>Details</NavPaneArea>
           <NavPaneOrder>10000</NavPaneOrder>
           <NavigationPropertyName>msdyn_extendedentityid_cr65f_samplechannelinstanceaccount</NavigationPropertyName>
           <RelationshipRoleType>1</RelationshipRoleType>
         </EntityRelationshipRole>
         <EntityRelationshipRole>
           <NavigationPropertyName>msdyn_ChannelInstanceAccount_extendedentityid_cr65f_samplechannelinstanceaccount</NavigationPropertyName>
           <RelationshipRoleType>0</RelationshipRoleType>
         </EntityRelationshipRole>
       </EntityRelationshipRoles>
     </EntityRelationship>
   </EntityRelationships>
   

3. Create a form to expose the configuration fields.

   The form doesn't have to contain attributes like name or description since they come from Sales Custom controls. The form is loaded in the Sales SMS setup wizard (settings step). The form ID is assigned to the attribute msdyn_channeldefinitionaccountexternalformid at the channel definition step.

   

Next step

Define the message parts