Any limit to custom CRM fields

Anybody konw what, if any, limit there is on adding custom
fields? And Why? All or specific objects?

Simon
Tue Sep 09 07:40:07 CDT 2003

We've already hit the limit for the Contacts table after only 14 fields
(most of which are ints or picklists) - surprising to say the least. But
looking at the existing schema the field sizes are way too big (50 chars for
fax, 150 for email addresses etc.) - what would be the consequences of
reducing some of these field sizes? We also REALLY need the ability to add
tables and edit existing user-defined fields at least! It is extremely
limiting at the moment.

Simon

"lindad" <lindad@icsadvantage.com> wrote in message
news:03ee01c36541$18c32e30$a601280a@phx.gbl...
> There is an 8K limit per record; the SQL limit. So, the
> number of characters already used for a particular record
> type dictates how many remain. For example, the Account
> object is defined out of the box to use more characters
> than a Competitor object. The fewest characters are
> available for the Contact Object.
>
> There is a doc that describes each record type, the pre-
> defined fields and field types and the number of
> characters already used. Think it's on the Microsoft CRM
> Documentation CD.
>
> Most objects may have custom fields added, but not all
> (activities for example can't be modified using
> conventional methods - using the SDK there is more
> latitude I understand).
>
> Once you add a custom field it cannot be deleted nor
> modified. You cannot delete nor modify existing fields.
> You cannot add lookup fields. Hope this helps.
>
> Linda Dienberg
> Microsoft CRM
> Certified Instructor/Professional
> ICS Advantage
> 630-566-8386
> >-----Original Message-----
> >Anybody konw what, if any, limit there is on adding
> custom
> >fields? And Why? All or specific objects?
> >.
> >

Matt
Tue Sep 09 11:47:52 CDT 2003

Simon,

While you could modify the existing columns sizes directly via SQL, I don't
know that I'd recommend doing it. You don't know what kind of problems you
might introduce when a user actually enters more characters than the DB is
setup to handle. There is probably a way to change the metabase to indicate
this change, but you would be in unsupported territory. There is also the
problem of replication. You would need to ensure that the change gets
replicated ot the client Outlook Client MSDE datastore.

I agree that additional functionality would be nice, but am afraid there
hasn't been any word on whether or not we can expect features like you
describe anytime soon.

Matt

"Simon Storr" <sstorr@sdasolutions.com> wrote in message
news:%23u7lZBtdDHA.1932@TK2MSFTNGP10.phx.gbl...
We've already hit the limit for the Contacts table after only 14 fields
(most of which are ints or picklists) - surprising to say the least. But
looking at the existing schema the field sizes are way too big (50 chars for
fax, 150 for email addresses etc.) - what would be the consequences of
reducing some of these field sizes? We also REALLY need the ability to add
tables and edit existing user-defined fields at least! It is extremely
limiting at the moment.

Simon

"lindad" <lindad@icsadvantage.com> wrote in message
news:03ee01c36541$18c32e30$a601280a@phx.gbl...
> There is an 8K limit per record; the SQL limit. So, the
> number of characters already used for a particular record
> type dictates how many remain. For example, the Account
> object is defined out of the box to use more characters
> than a Competitor object. The fewest characters are
> available for the Contact Object.
>
> There is a doc that describes each record type, the pre-
> defined fields and field types and the number of
> characters already used. Think it's on the Microsoft CRM
> Documentation CD.
>
> Most objects may have custom fields added, but not all
> (activities for example can't be modified using
> conventional methods - using the SDK there is more
> latitude I understand).
>
> Once you add a custom field it cannot be deleted nor
> modified. You cannot delete nor modify existing fields.
> You cannot add lookup fields. Hope this helps.
>
> Linda Dienberg
> Microsoft CRM
> Certified Instructor/Professional
> ICS Advantage
> 630-566-8386
> >-----Original Message-----
> >Anybody konw what, if any, limit there is on adding
> custom
> >fields? And Why? All or specific objects?
> >.
> >

Simon
Wed Sep 10 03:20:22 CDT 2003

Thanks Matt. I thought that it might be getting into a big heap of trouble
:) We were told at a recent seminar that full-on table editing might be
possible in a post international release - I know its tricky as SQL Server
isn't great for editing and deleting fields while preserving data - so
here's hoping :)

Simon

"Matt Parks" <Matt.Parks@removetoX_XRevereGroup.Com> wrote in message
news:#R6LpIvdDHA.3088@TK2MSFTNGP09.phx.gbl...
> Simon,
>
> While you could modify the existing columns sizes directly via SQL, I
don't
> know that I'd recommend doing it. You don't know what kind of problems
you
> might introduce when a user actually enters more characters than the DB is
> setup to handle. There is probably a way to change the metabase to
indicate
> this change, but you would be in unsupported territory. There is also the
> problem of replication. You would need to ensure that the change gets
> replicated ot the client Outlook Client MSDE datastore.
>
> I agree that additional functionality would be nice, but am afraid there
> hasn't been any word on whether or not we can expect features like you
> describe anytime soon.
>
> Matt
>
> "Simon Storr" <sstorr@sdasolutions.com> wrote in message
> news:%23u7lZBtdDHA.1932@TK2MSFTNGP10.phx.gbl...
> We've already hit the limit for the Contacts table after only 14 fields
> (most of which are ints or picklists) - surprising to say the least. But
> looking at the existing schema the field sizes are way too big (50 chars
for
> fax, 150 for email addresses etc.) - what would be the consequences of
> reducing some of these field sizes? We also REALLY need the ability to add
> tables and edit existing user-defined fields at least! It is extremely
> limiting at the moment.
>
> Simon
>
> "lindad" <lindad@icsadvantage.com> wrote in message
> news:03ee01c36541$18c32e30$a601280a@phx.gbl...
> > There is an 8K limit per record; the SQL limit. So, the
> > number of characters already used for a particular record
> > type dictates how many remain. For example, the Account
> > object is defined out of the box to use more characters
> > than a Competitor object. The fewest characters are
> > available for the Contact Object.
> >
> > There is a doc that describes each record type, the pre-
> > defined fields and field types and the number of
> > characters already used. Think it's on the Microsoft CRM
> > Documentation CD.
> >
> > Most objects may have custom fields added, but not all
> > (activities for example can't be modified using
> > conventional methods - using the SDK there is more
> > latitude I understand).
> >
> > Once you add a custom field it cannot be deleted nor
> > modified. You cannot delete nor modify existing fields.
> > You cannot add lookup fields. Hope this helps.
> >
> > Linda Dienberg
> > Microsoft CRM
> > Certified Instructor/Professional
> > ICS Advantage
> > 630-566-8386
> > >-----Original Message-----
> > >Anybody konw what, if any, limit there is on adding
> > custom
> > >fields? And Why? All or specific objects?
> > >.
> > >
>
>
>

Cindy
Thu Feb 19 19:00:29 CST 2004

Does anyone know where this documentation is located?

> There is an 8K limit per record; the SQL limit. So, the
> number of characters already used for a particular record
> type dictates how many remain. For example, the Account
> object is defined out of the box to use more characters
> than a Competitor object. The fewest characters are
> available for the Contact Object.
>
> There is a doc that describes each record type, the pre-
> defined fields and field types and the number of
> characters already used. Think it's on the Microsoft CRM
> Documentation CD.
>
> Linda Dienberg
> Microsoft CRM
> Certified Instructor/Professional
> ICS Advantage
> 630-566-8386

Gary
Thu Feb 19 19:25:44 CST 2004

hmmm....that would be new to me, maybe she meant Appendix A in the IG? But
that doesn't have the number of characters, nor how much space is left or
any of that vital information.....

if you want to know the size of a given Object (ex: AccountBase) theres some
SQL code that can get you that value (off the top of my head I don't
remember it)

-Gary

"Cindy MIkeworth" <cindy@tas-in.com> wrote in message
news:103an8hniiv6vbf@corp.supernews.com...
> Does anyone know where this documentation is located?
>
> > There is an 8K limit per record; the SQL limit. So, the
> > number of characters already used for a particular record
> > type dictates how many remain. For example, the Account
> > object is defined out of the box to use more characters
> > than a Competitor object. The fewest characters are
> > available for the Contact Object.
> >
> > There is a doc that describes each record type, the pre-
> > defined fields and field types and the number of
> > characters already used. Think it's on the Microsoft CRM
> > Documentation CD.
> >
> > Linda Dienberg
> > Microsoft CRM
> > Certified Instructor/Professional
> > ICS Advantage
> > 630-566-8386
>
>

GreaterThanTwo
Fri Feb 20 10:40:26 CST 2004

There are several techknowledge articles on PartnerSource.

Mike


"Cindy MIkeworth" <cindy@tas-in.com> wrote in message
news:103an8hniiv6vbf@corp.supernews.com...
> Does anyone know where this documentation is located?
>
> > There is an 8K limit per record; the SQL limit. So, the
> > number of characters already used for a particular record
> > type dictates how many remain. For example, the Account
> > object is defined out of the box to use more characters
> > than a Competitor object. The fewest characters are
> > available for the Contact Object.
> >
> > There is a doc that describes each record type, the pre-
> > defined fields and field types and the number of
> > characters already used. Think it's on the Microsoft CRM
> > Documentation CD.
> >
> > Linda Dienberg
> > Microsoft CRM
> > Certified Instructor/Professional
> > ICS Advantage
> > 630-566-8386
>
>