Is there are more efficient way of publishing/debugging Dynamics CRM 365 Plugins?

Question

I have been tasked with bringing our 2008 CRM server into the modern age of Microsoft Dynamics 365 on-premises. I have got a plugin working and java script which is my first task and debugging/remote debug is working too. I can also make changes to the DLL and the changes work. However I am really concerned with how long winded the process to publish the DLL to the server is and wondered if am missing something. Watched quite a few videos, googled a lot but everyone seems to cover getting it working and that's it.

I note during Registration there is an option to select 'Disk' for the location of the DLL but this just crashes when i select it? so I am having to select 'Database'

Initial setup:

• Build the plugin that adds a note 'A'
• Copy the DLLs from bin\Debug onto server bin\assembly folder.
• register plugin as Sandbox/Database
• test and it works.

Currently my development workflow is:

• modify the plugin code slightly to show 'B' instead of 'A'
• rebuild the DLLs.
• Copy the DLLs from bin\Debug to server bin\assembly folder.
• test and it still shows 'A'

The ONLY way I have been able to get this working and it seems there must be an easier way:

• rebuild the DLL's
• Copy the DLLs from bin\Debug to server bin\assembly folder.
• Open the registration
• locate the DLL again
• Tick the plugin selection boxes
• click update selected plugins
• test and it shows 'B'

This seems a real PIA if you need to rapidly change rebuild test which I suspect I will need to.

Is there an easier way?

Answer 1

Plugin publishing and debugging can be a challenge for sure.

As far as publishing goes, I use the commercial 3rd Party Visual Studio extension XrmToolkit (no affiliation), which is not to be confused with the wildly popular community-supported XrmToolbox app.

XrmToolkit enables you to configure, build, and publish a plugin directly from Visual Studio. This greatly streamlines the process of publishing updates.

Microsoft used to have a Developer Extensions tool, and Jason Lattimer had one too, but I'm not sure if either of those are in active development anymore.

Another technique that I generally employ is to put the plugin code into a Visual Studio Shared Project, which I reference from both the plugin project and a Console App. I use the Console App to develop and debug before publishing the plugin. After the plugin goes live, I'll continue using the Console App to troubleshoot or build enhancements.

For Example:

///Shared Project
public class MyPluginApp
{
    private IOrganizationService svc;
    public MyPluginApp(IOrganizationService svc)
    {
        this.svc = svc;
    }

    public void Run(Account target)
    {
        //do stuff with the Target
    }
}

////Plugin
public void Execute()
{
    var app = new MyPluginApp(context.Service);
    app.Run(context.Target);
}

///Console App
public static void Main()
{
    var svc = new CrmServiceClient(connectionString);
    var target = getLastTouchedAccount(svc);
    var app = new MyPluginApp(svc); 
    app.Run(target);
}

Please also see this answer.