This the next instalment in my series of post aimed at anyone preparing for the MB2-713 Certification (Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2016 Sales)

This will be my final post concentrating on the product catalog, this time I’m going to look at hierarchical charts. With Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2016 it is possible to view product families, bundles and products in a hierarchal manner.

Hierarchal information is displayed in “tiles” showing how each element of the product catalog relates to each other, it is also possible to fire specific actions directly from the tiles. This helps users to quickly see all of the products the company sells and how they relate to each other.

The hierarchy view is opened by selecting “VIEW HIERARCHY” in the command bar or by clicking on the hierarchy icon on a product, product family or bundle.

It is also possible to access the same hierarchy view directly from the product form.

Once the view is selected you can see a representation of the product catalog structure using tiles for each node. On the nodes you can see key information such as product name, ID, type and status.

On the left hand side of the screen we have a tree view to help navigate the structure. The “+” and “-” buttons can be used to expand or collapse “legs” of the chart.

On the screen shot above the Office 365 Service has 4 tiles directly associated with it. But only three can fit on the screen. If this happens you will see a counter on the right hand side of the form and a “>” symbol. This can be used to move to the right to view addition products. (And of course the same happens on the left side after you’ve moved to the right!)

Clicking on the “Open window” icon will expand the view to show the full CRM form.

It is possible to select one or more tiles and then run actions from the common bar. Including;

• emails links of the current view or the selected items.
• Follow / unfollow records.
• Run on demand workflows on the selected items.
• Or run reports on the selection.

If you dip into the structure part way down, you might see an ^ icon that allows you to move up the tree. As shown below.

Having created your product catalog this final concept of navigating the hierarchy is pretty simple. A few minutes “Playing” with the capabilities should be all you need from a revision point of view.

For the exam you should be aware that this style of hierarchy view is available (out of the box) on other entities. Such as an account hierarchy. It is also possible to create custom hierarchies as required.

This post wraps up the section on the product catalog, next time I will continue my revision by looking at the sales order process.