Update and delete entities using the Web API
Applies To: Dynamics 365 (online), Dynamics 365 (on-premises), Dynamics CRM 2016, Dynamics CRM Online
Operations to modify data are a core part of the Web API. In addition to a simple update and delete, you can perform operations on single attributes and compose upsert requests that will either update or insert an entity depending on whether it exists.
Note
The metadata that define entities is updated in a different way. More information: Create and update entity definitions using the Web API
In this topic
Basic update
Update with data returned
Update a single property value
Delete a single property value
Upsert an entity
Basic delete
Basic update
Update operations use the HTTP PATCH verb. Pass a JSON object containing the properties you want to update to the URI that represents the entity. A response with a status of 204 will be returned if the update is successful.
This example updates an existing account record with the accountid value of 00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000001.
Important
When updating an entity, only include the properties you are changing in the request body. Simply updating the properties of an entity that you previously retrieved, and including that JSON in your request, will update each property even though the value is the same. This can cause properties to appear to have been updated in auditing data when in fact they haven’t actually changed.
Request
PATCH [Organization URI]/api/data/v8.2/accounts(00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000001) HTTP/1.1 Content-Type: application/json OData-MaxVersion: 4.0 OData-Version: 4.0 { "name": "Updated Sample Account ", "creditonhold": true, "address1_latitude": 47.639583, "description": "This is the updated description of the sample account", "revenue": 6000000, "accountcategorycode": 2 }
Response
HTTP/1.1 204 No Content OData-Version: 4.0
Note
See Associate entities on update for information about associating entities on update.
Update with data returned
Note
This capability was added with December 2016 update for Dynamics 365 (online and on-premises).
To retrieve data from an entity you are updating you can compose your PATCH request so that data from the created record will be returned with a status of 200 (OK). To get his result, you must use the return=representation preference in the request headers.
To control which properties are returned, append the $select query option to the URL to the entity set. The $expand query option will be ignored if used.
This example updates an account entity and returns the requested data in the response.
Request
PATCH [Organization URI]/api/data/v8.2/accounts(00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000001)?$select=name,creditonhold,address1_latitude,description,revenue,accountcategorycode,createdon HTTP/1.1 OData-MaxVersion: 4.0 OData-Version: 4.0 Accept: application/json Content-Type: application/json; charset=utf-8 Prefer: return=representation {"name":"Updated Sample Account"}
Response
HTTP/1.1 200 OK Content-Type: application/json; odata.metadata=minimal Preference-Applied: return=representation OData-Version: 4.0 { "@odata.context": "[Organization URI]/api/data/v8.2/$metadata#accounts/$entity", "@odata.etag": "W/\"536537\"", "accountid": "00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000001", "accountcategorycode": 1, "description": "This is the description of the sample account", "address1_latitude": 47.63958, "creditonhold": false, "name": "Updated Sample Account", "createdon": "2016-09-28T23:14:00Z", "revenue": 5000000.0000, "_transactioncurrencyid_value": "048dddaa-6f7f-e611-80d3-00155db5e0b6" }
Update a single property value
When you want to update only a single property value use a PUT request with the property name appended to the Uri of the entity.
The following example updates the name property of an existing account entity with the accountid value of 00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000001.
Request
PUT [Organization URI]/api/data/v8.2/accounts(00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000001)/name HTTP/1.1 Content-Type: application/json OData-MaxVersion: 4.0 OData-Version: 4.0 {"value": "Updated Sample Account Name"}
Response
HTTP/1.1 204 No Content OData-Version: 4.0
Delete a single property value
To delete the value of a single property use a DELETE request with the property name appended to the Uri of the entity.
The following example deletes the value of the description property of an account entity with the accountid value of 00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000001.
Request
DELETE [Organization URI]/api/data/v8.2/accounts(00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000001)/description HTTP/1.1 Content-Type: application/json OData-MaxVersion: 4.0 OData-Version: 4.0
Response
HTTP/1.1 204 No Content OData-Version: 4.0
Note
This can’t be used with a single-valued navigation property to disassociate two entities. For an alternative approach, see Remove a reference to an entity.
Upsert an entity
An upsert operation is exactly like an update. It uses a PATCH request and uses a URI to reference a specific entity. The difference is that if the entity doesn’t exist it will be created. If it already exists, it will be updated. Normally when creating a new entity you will let the system assign a unique identifier. This is a best practice. But if you need to create a record with a specific id value, an upsert operation provides a way to do this. This can be valuable in situation where you are synchronizing data in different systems.
Sometimes there are situations where you want to perform an upsert, but you want to prevent one of the potential default actions: either create or update. You can accomplish this through the addition of If-Match or If-None-Match headers. For more information, see Limit upsert operations.
Basic delete
A delete operation is very straightforward. Use the DELETE verb with the URI of the entity you want to delete. This example message deletes an account entity with the primary key accountid value equal to 00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000001.
Request
DELETE [Organization URI]/api/data/v8.2/accounts(00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000001) HTTP/1.1 Content-Type: application/json OData-MaxVersion: 4.0 OData-Version: 4.0
Response
If the entity exists, you’ll get a normal response with status 204 to indicate the delete was successful. If the entity isn’t found, you’ll get a response with status 404.HTTP/1.1 204 No Content OData-Version: 4.0
See Also
Web API Basic Operations Sample (C#)
Web API Basic Operations Sample (Client-side JavaScript)
Perform operations using the Web API
Compose HTTP requests and handle errors
Query Data using the Web API
Create an entity using the Web API
Retrieve an entity using the Web API
Associate and disassociate entities using the Web API
Use Web API functions
Use Web API actions
Execute batch operations using the Web API
Impersonate another user using the Web API
Perform conditional operations using the Web API
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