Custom Page – Open Custom Page with Ribbon Button

I am using Dynamics 365 as an example, but the process will be the same for Power Apps – Model Driven. Only difference is that Dynamics 365 has the Opportunity table that we are wanting to use.

If you want to learn more about Custom pages I suggest you look at the following posts:
Scott Durrow
Lisa Crosby
MCJ
Microsoft Custom Pages

I have also added the simple button setup to Github, if you just want to give it a go.
👉DOWNLOAD SIMPLE BUTTON HERE👈

Creating an app and adding the button

Start off by adding an app to a solution and giving it a proper name. In my case, I am choosing Sales Win, because I am creating a simple app for everyone to see the functionality. You could of course just add this to your existing app if that is what you want to do.

For the tricky part, you need to open the Command Bar. This is essentially Ribbon Workbench jr😉 In time I would only imagine that most of the Ribbon Workbench would be available here, but we are probably still a few years away from a complete transition here.

Choose the main form for this exercise, and then create a new Command. Command is actually a button. Why it’s called Command I’m not sure as we all are used to add buttons to a ribbon🤷‍♂️

On the right side, you can add an image, and I usually find mine through SVG’s online.
SVG’s for download <- a blog post I wrote about the topic. Add this as a webresource.

Now, we are going to have to create some JavaScript. It’s actually the only way to open a Custom Page. The JavaScript is pretty “simple”, and I will provide you with the copy-paste version.

JavaScript

🛑BEFORE YOU STOP READING BECAUSE OF JAVASCRIPT🛑

I will provide the JavaScript you need. Unfortunately, you will still need to understand how to copy-paste some script for stuff like custom pages to work.

The only parameter you have to change here if you are creating everything from scratch is:
name: “saleswin_saleswin_c0947” <- replace with the name of your custom page.

function CloseWON(formContext) {
    //Get Opportunity GUID and remove {}
    var recordGUID = formContext.data.entity.getId().replace(/[{}]/g, "");
    // Centered Dialog
    var pageInput = {
        pageType: "custom",
        name: "saleswin_saleswin_c0947", //Unique name of Custom page
        entityName: "opportunity",
        recordId: recordGUID,
    };
    var navigationOptions = {
        target: 2,
        position: 1,
        width: {value: 450, unit: "px"},
        height:{value: 550, unit: "px"}
    };
    Xrm.Navigation.navigateTo(pageInput, navigationOptions)
        .then(
            function () {
                // Called when the dialog closes
                formContext.data.refresh();
            }
        ).catch(
            function (error) {
                // Handle error
                alert("CANCEL");
            }
        );
}

This JavaScript opens up a custom page and sends in a GUID parameter (look at PageInput) to use within the page. This is just how Custom Pages work, so don’t try to do any magic here!

Other examples of how to load a custom page:
Microsoft Docs Custom Page

Hide-Show button

It’s important to hide or show the button at the correct times, and that is why you have to add logic. With the following function, the button is only visible when the Opportunity is in edit mode. When creating a new Opportunity you will not see this button.

Self.Selected.State = FormMode.Edit

Add a new page to your solution

A custom page is a lot like a Canvas App, but it’s not exactly the same. Not all functionality is the same as a Canvas App, so you need to get familiar with it first.

The first thing I noticed was the lack of multiple screens.

It seems not impossible to add more screens, but Microsoft has hidden this feature. The reason seems to be related to isolating a Screen to be a specific application. Might make sense, but not for my use case. It does make somewhat sense because a Custom Page can be opened from everywhere within Model Driven Apps. It’s actually not tied to anything (entity) at all. If you need to turn it on: 👇

Please don’t judge this Canvas App ATM. It will only get better over time 😂

I added labels and text boxes without any logic to them yet and added a data source for Opportunities. This is all for the next step of our configuration of the Sales Win dialog.

Last step (maybe the most important one)

We now need to add the custom page to the APP.

Make sure you UNCHECK the “Show in navigation”. Otherwise, you will see this page as a navigation option on the left side like account, contact, oppty etc.

Finally, publish in the ribbon editor

What have we achieved so far?

Once the button is pushed, the Custom Page loads. 🙏👍🎉