Pay attention to the CRM version when using the SDK NuGet packages

Microsoft publishes the CRM SDK DLLs also as NuGet packages, you can find the list by browsing the crmsdk profile:

https://www.nuget.org/profiles/crmsdk

Because the packages are not separate by CRM version (for example a package for CRM 2015 and a package for CRM 2016) Microsoft simply updates the NuGet package increasing the version.
This can be an issue in some projects as happened to me some days ago. I was working on a plugin for CRM 2015, my project was targeting .NET 4.5.2 and I installed the current version of CoreAssemblies (8.0.1).
The build was successful but the plugin always returned the exception "Value cannot be null".

I spent some time to understand that the problem was the referenced DLL version, so I removed the NuGet package and I installed the 2015 specific version (7.1.1) using the Package Manager Console:

Install-Package Microsoft.CrmSdk.CoreAssemblies -Version 7.1.1

After the plugin worked like a charm.
As reference these are the current versions and the suggested .NET framework to use:

• CRM 2011: 5.0.18 (.NET 4.0)
• CRM 2013: 6.1.1 (.NET 4.0)
• CRM 2015: 7.1.1 (.NET 4.5.2)
• CRM 2016: 8.0.1 (.NET 4.5.2)

Another year with the MVP community

Yesterday I received my second MVP Award and it's a great way to start the New Year!
Be in the first quarter (or in the second one due to April Fools' Day) is a bit thrilling but worth the wait. Last October the MVP program made some changes, so my award category is now called Business Solutions and includes MVPs from the Dynamics family (CRM, AX, GP, NAV) and from Microsoft Project.

An anniversary is also a moment to look back and see what was done last year. Personally I contribute to these sites: Dynamics Community, MSDN Forums and StackOverflow.

I start with the last. StackOverflow doesn't have a so good reputation inside the Dynamics CRM community, probably because it's not the right place to ask all the questions, it's a site for developers, it has rules and you can't just drop there and ask: "How do I install the Email router?", but it's a great community with extraordinary members.

MSDN has forums for CRM questions, but I noticed in the last year that the number of questions asked there is lower, there are also some regional CRM forums (like in German or French) but I don't know if this trend I noticed affected also that part.

Dynamics Community had a huge increment of participation: more questions, more active users, more feedback. It's a site for everybody, beginners and experts, a great community, probably THE Dynamics CRM community, you can find everybody there.

Last year I also coded a bit and released two small utilities: a library to handle Moment.js multi language inside Dynamics CRM and a Theme Generator.

The library for Moment.js is a small thing, you can find details here but it got a mention on CRM Tip Of The Day.

The Dynamics CRM Theme Generator had more success, it has daily visitors and was mentioned or reviewed in some CRM articles, in particular this one that I like very much:

My Eyes! How to Create Jarring Themes Using the Theme Generator

2015 was a long and full year and I hope 2016 will be Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger!

Guido
ps: I started a new blog (8086.it)