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In Dynamics CRM, calculated fields allow the value of a field to be automatically set based on an equation. For instance, the sales team may want to automatically apply a discount, if an order is greater than £1000. A calculated field can contain values resulting from simple math operations, or conditional operations, such as greater than or if-else, and many others.
Prior to Dynamics CRM 2015 developers had to write code to perform calculations and rollups, which was an issue for many organisations who do not have development resource on tap. In Dynamics CRM 2015 Microsoft has provided the ability for power users / administrators to create and update calculated fields and rollup fields via the CRM web client.
Calculated Fields:
Users can create a calculated field for any data type, except multiple line of text, Image, or lookup fields. When a calculated field is created, an “Edit” link will appear next to the field type. When you click the Edit button, you’ll be taken into the editor where you can define your calculation for the field.
When modifying fields that affect the calculation, the calculated field is calculated synchronously after a save is performed. The end user will get immediate feedback that data has changed after the form is refreshed.
An example of the editor used to define a calculation is shown below:
Rollup Fields:
Rollup fields are used to perform record level aggregation from related records. Similar to calculated fields, rollup fields do not support all data types. Rollup fields are available for whole number, decimal number, date & time, and currency fields. Similar to calculated fields when a field is created, the user will see an edit button appear when the rollup for field type is chosen. The user can then define rules for the records that should be included in the aggregation (sum), and which field should be used.
Rollup fields are stored in the database and can be used and displayed like any other physical field in Views / Reports / Charts / Forms and Field Level Security.
Learn More
Learn more about Rollup and Calculated Fields in this short video:
For more information and assistance on creating Rollup and Calculated Fields in Microsoft Dynamics CRM, please Contact Us for further information or visit the Video Tutorial page for other “how to” tips on using Dynamics CRM. If you would like to try out Dynamics CRM, we offer a 30 day, no obligation Free Trial.