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Overview

In this business scenario we have an unknown Rogue Process that is setting the Description field to itself in an Account periodically. 

We are unsure as to what is causing it but we can see it happening. This is having a negative effect as it's setting off a downstream Process that shouldn't be getting triggered at that time as the Description field isn't actually changing. 

We want to identify and stop this without a lengthy and costly inspection of our numerous processes. We can do this with a simple North52 formula.  

North52 Decision Suite

The North52 Decision Suite solution works like this:

  • A formula is created that will trigger whenever the Description field is updated
  • When triggered, the formula will check to see if the Description field value changed
  • If the field has not changed, the formula will remove the Description field from the Save event, thereby not triggering the Downstream Process

Setup Formula

  • Navigate to Settings > N52 Formula
  • Create a new formula, setting the following values in the Formula Guide:
    • Source Entity set to Account
    • Set Formula Type to Save - Perform Action
    • Select the Classic editor
  • Change the Name of the formula to Rogue Process Fix
  • Expand Source & Target 
  • Scroll down Source Property and click on Description
  • Expand Deployment Settings
  • For Pipeline Stage select Pre-Operation (Synchronous) 
  • In the Classic editor copy and paste the formula below:
IfTrue(HaveFieldsNotChanged('[account.description]'),

RemoveAttributes('description'))
  • Click Save

Setup Rogue Process

We want to simulate a rogue process:

  • Create a workflow that is triggered on demand. This workflow will set the Description field of an Account to itself:

Setup Downstream Process

Create a workflow that is triggered whenever the description field in an Account entity is changed. The North52 formula will ensure that the rogue process above will not trigger this workflow.

  • For this example the workflow will create a Contact using the Account's details:

Test

Run the Rogue Process on an Account when the formula is Deactivated and then run it when the formula is Activated. 

You will see in Settings > System Jobs that the Downstream Process does not run when the formula is active. 

Did you know?

It is Faster, Easier and Smarter using North52

We help you deliver Dynamics 365 projects with complex decision logic/business rules:

FASTER.

Our no code business rules engine helps deliver CRM/CDS projects up to 10 times faster than using custom code.

EASIER.

Simple to use point-and-click interface to build simple or complex business rules.

SMARTER.

Lower your project risk and slash ongoing maintenance costs.

Learn more about the North52 Decision Suite

Keywords: iftrue, HaveFieldsNotChanged, RemoveAttributes, Formula Manager