3 steps to control the Form Assistant Pane

Completing a form can be complicated at times when you have to look up and select information. For example, you are filling in an account form, and you have to pick the parent account from a list. Or, you are filling in an order form, and you have to choose the correct price list. The Form Assistant Pane helps you to select the appropriate Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0 data by displaying lists of filtered records based on the data entered on the form. The pane can also provide tips for helping you look, and, in some areas of Microsoft CRM, other functionality is available, such as the ability to create a follow-up activity.

The Form Assistant Pane is opened by default in the Services area of Microsoft CRM, but closed by default in the other areas. Though this pane can be temporarily opened or closed each time you open a form, for example, an account, order, or invoice form, you may find it more convenient to change the default system-wide. You can do this in three basic steps: by exporting the form, using a text editor to customize the XML code in the form, and then importing and publishing the form in Microsoft CRM.

There are a few things to be aware of before you start.  You might overwrite other customizations.  Read the online Help topics Customizing Entities and Export or import customized entities, templates, or navigation to understand these risks.

Also, you can’t add the Form Assistant Pane to all forms. Some custom logic implemented in JScript for the lookup will not work properly in the Form Assistant Pane. For example, some lookups change the lookupclass attribute at runtime (usually to filter the results) depending on the value of other fields on the form.