How to Retrieve Duplicates using WebApi

03/12/201802/12/2018 | by Andrew Butenko

In this post I provide 2 ways to retrieve duplicates – using plain JS way and with usage of Xrm.WebApi namespace that was introduced as a part of 9.0 release.

So here is plain JS:

var contactRecord = {
    "@odata.type": "Microsoft.Dynamics.CRM.contact",
    "firstname": "Andrew",
    "lastname": "Butenko"
};

var pagingInfo = {
    "PageNumber": 1,
    "Count": 10
};

var context;

//Use this code if you're on 8.x
if (typeof GetGlobalContext === "function") {
    context = GetGlobalContext();
} else {
    context = Xrm.Page.context;
}

//Use this code if you're on 9.x
context = Xrm.Utility.getGlobalContext();

var requestUrl = "/api/data/v8.2/RetrieveDuplicates(BusinessEntity=@p1,MatchingEntityName=@p2,PagingInfo=@p3)";
requestUrl += "?@p1=" + encodeURIComponent(JSON.stringify(contactRecord));
requestUrl += "&@p2='contact'";//put account, lead or other entity here
requestUrl += "&@p3=" + encodeURIComponent(JSON.stringify(pagingInfo));

var req = new XMLHttpRequest();
req.open("GET", context.getClientUrl() + requestUrl, true);
req.setRequestHeader("OData-MaxVersion", "4.0");
req.setRequestHeader("OData-Version", "4.0");
req.setRequestHeader("Accept", "application/json");
req.setRequestHeader("Content-Type", "application/json; charset=utf-8");
req.onreadystatechange = function () {
    if (this.readyState === 4) {
        req.onreadystatechange = null;

        if (this.status === 200) {
            var results = JSON.parse(this.response);
            //you've got results to results variable
        } else {
            var errorText = this.responseText;
            //handle error here
        }
    }
};
req.send();

var contactRecord = {

"@odata.type": "Microsoft.Dynamics.CRM.contact",

"firstname": "Andrew",

"lastname": "Butenko"

};

var pagingInfo = {

"PageNumber": 1,

"Count": 10

};

var context;

//Use this code if you're on 8.x

if (typeof GetGlobalContext === "function") {

context = GetGlobalContext();

} else {

context = Xrm.Page.context;

}

//Use this code if you're on 9.x

context = Xrm.Utility.getGlobalContext();

var requestUrl = "/api/data/v8.2/RetrieveDuplicates(BusinessEntity=@p1,MatchingEntityName=@p2,PagingInfo=@p3)";

requestUrl += "?@p1=" + encodeURIComponent(JSON.stringify(contactRecord));

requestUrl += "&@p2='contact'";//put account, lead or other entity here

requestUrl += "&@p3=" + encodeURIComponent(JSON.stringify(pagingInfo));

var req = new XMLHttpRequest();

req.open("GET", context.getClientUrl() + requestUrl, true);

req.setRequestHeader("OData-MaxVersion", "4.0");

req.setRequestHeader("OData-Version", "4.0");

req.setRequestHeader("Accept", "application/json");

req.setRequestHeader("Content-Type", "application/json; charset=utf-8");

req.onreadystatechange = function () {

if (this.readyState === 4) {

req.onreadystatechange = null;

if (this.status === 200) {

var results = JSON.parse(this.response);

//you've got results to results variable

} else {

var errorText = this.responseText;

//handle error here

}

};

req.send();

And here is Xrm.WebApi version:

var contactRecord = {
    "@odata.type": "Microsoft.Dynamics.CRM.contact",
    "firstname": "Andrew",
    "lastname": "Butenko"
};

var pagingInfo = {
    "PageNumber": 1,
    "Count": 10
};

var retrieveDuplicatesRequest = {
    BusinessEntity: contactRecord,
    MatchingEntityName: "contact",
    PagingInfo: pagingInfo,
    getMetadata: function () {
        return {
            boundParameter: null,
            parameterTypes: {
                "BusinessEntity": {
                    "typeName": "mscrm.crmbaseentity",
                    "structuralProperty": 5
                },
                "MatchingEntityName": {
                    "typeName": "Edm.String",
                    "structuralProperty": 1
                },
                "PagingInfo": {
                    "typeName": "mscrm.PagingInfo",
                    "structuralProperty": 5
                }
            },
            operationType: 1,
            operationName: "RetrieveDuplicates"
        };
    }
};

Xrm.WebApi.online.execute(retrieveDuplicatesRequest).then(
    function success(result) {
        if (result.ok) {
            var results = JSON.parse(result.responseText);
            //you've got results to results variable            
        }
    },
    function (error) {
        var errorText = error.message;
        //handle error here
    }
);

var contactRecord = {

"@odata.type": "Microsoft.Dynamics.CRM.contact",

"firstname": "Andrew",

"lastname": "Butenko"

};

var pagingInfo = {

"PageNumber": 1,

"Count": 10

};

var retrieveDuplicatesRequest = {

BusinessEntity: contactRecord,

MatchingEntityName: "contact",

PagingInfo: pagingInfo,

getMetadata: function () {

return {

boundParameter: null,

parameterTypes: {

"BusinessEntity": {

"typeName": "mscrm.crmbaseentity",

"structuralProperty": 5

"MatchingEntityName": {

"typeName": "Edm.String",

"structuralProperty": 1

"PagingInfo": {

"typeName": "mscrm.PagingInfo",

"structuralProperty": 5

}

operationType: 1,

operationName: "RetrieveDuplicates"

};

}

};

Xrm.WebApi.online.execute(retrieveDuplicatesRequest).then(

function success(result) {

if (result.ok) {

var results = JSON.parse(result.responseText);

//you've got results to results variable

}

function (error) {

var errorText = error.message;

//handle error here

}

);

12 Comments

Praveen says:

14/11/2019 at 8:19 am

Hi Andrew,

I have used same webApi method (just Copy-Pasted) to retrieve duplicates in online trial environment. I’m getting error like “Resource not found for the segment ‘Retrieve Duplicates'”. Do you have any Idea ?

Reply
1. Andrew Butenko says:
  
  14/11/2019 at 12:30 pm
  
  Hello,
  I checked and it works fine for me. What exactly did you do with code and where you tried it?
  Thanks,
  Andrew
  
  Reply
Praveen says:

14/11/2019 at 12:58 pm

Hi…I have not modified anything, just used your code as it is in my custom Js file. my online trial version 9.1

Here is the method I’m calling on form load and getting error “Resource not found for the segment ‘Retrieve Duplicates’”

this.retrieveDuplicatesWebApi = function () {
var contactRecord = {
“@odata.type”: “Microsoft.Dynamics.CRM.contact”,
“firstname”: “Andrew”,
“lastname”: “Butenko”
};

var pagingInfo = {
“PageNumber”: 1,
“Count”: 10
};

var retrieveDuplicatesRequest = {
BusinessEntity: contactRecord,
MatchingEntityName: “contact”,
PagingInfo: pagingInfo,
getMetadata: function () {
return {
boundParameter: null,
parameterTypes: {
“BusinessEntity”: {
“typeName”: “mscrm.crmbaseentity”,
“structuralProperty”: 5
},
“MatchingEntityName”: {
“typeName”: “Edm.String”,
“structuralProperty”: 1
},
“PagingInfo”: {
“typeName”: “mscrm.PagingInfo”,
“structuralProperty”: 5
}
},
operationType: 1,
operationName: “RetrieveDuplicates”
};
}
};

Xrm.WebApi.online.execute(retrieveDuplicatesRequest).then(
function success(result) {
if (result.ok) {
var results = JSON.parse(result.responseText);
//you’ve got results to results variable
}
},
function (error) {
var errorText = error.message;
//handle error here
}
);
}

Reply
Prydwen says:

30/04/2020 at 11:36 am

try with Hashtag:
“@odata.type”: “#Microsoft.Dynamics.CRM.contact”,

Reply
Yuriy Yanin says:

19/06/2020 at 4:20 am

Hello, i have the same issue as Praveen. “Resource not found for the segment ‘Retrieve Duplicates”
So strange, i tried almost everything and didn’t managed to solve the problem. Andrew is there any chance you expirienced and solved this issue somehow?

Спасибо,
Юрий

Reply
1. Andrew Butenko says:
  
  19/06/2020 at 11:06 am
  
  Юрий,
  I tried the “Xrm.WebApi way” and it doesn’t work anymore for some reason but the old-fashioned way with the use of XmlHttpRequest still works.
  Андрій
  
  Reply
Richard Wilson says:

28/08/2020 at 12:07 pm

Hey Andrew,

I tried using the article and had the same issues as you did with the Xrm.WebApi version not work. Microsoft has posted some SDK code on GitHub that should allow you to fix it.

The big key takeaway here is that they are creating the request as a function and they are then adding the getMetadata to the prototype of that function. Adding a getMetadata function directly to an object doesn’t work.

https://github.com/MicrosoftDocs/powerapps-docs/blob/live/powerapps-docs/developer/model-driven-apps/clientapi/reference/Xrm-WebApi/online/execute.md

var Sdk = window.Sdk || {};

Sdk.RetrieveDuplicatesRequest = function(businessEntity, matchingEntityName, pagingInfo) {
this.BusinessEntity = businessEntity;
this.MatchingEntityName = matchingEntityName;
this.PagingInfo = pagingInfo;

};

Sdk.RetrieveDuplicatesRequest.prototype.getMetadata = function() {
return {
boundParameter: null,
parameterTypes: {
“BusinessEntity”: {
“typeName”: “mscrm.crmbaseentity”,
“structuralProperty”: 5 // Entity Type
},
“MatchingEntityName”: {
“typeName”: “Edm.String”,
“structuralProperty”: 1 // Primitive Type
},
“PagingInfo”: {
“typeName:”: “mscrm.PagingInfo”, // Complex Type
“structuralProperty”: 5
}
},
operationType: 1, // This is a function. Use ‘0’ for actions and ‘2’ for CRUD
operationName: “RetrieveDuplicates”,
};
};

// Create a variable to point to a contact record and with specific data in the needed fields
var contactRecord = {
“@odata.type”: “Microsoft.Dynamics.CRM.contact”,
“firstname”: “Test”,
“lastname”: “Account”
};

// Create a paging object to keep track of the current page and how many records we get per page
var pagingInfo = {
“PageNumber”: 1,
“Count”: 10
};

// Create the variable retrieveDuplicatesRequest to build the request
var retrieveDuplicatesRequest = new Sdk.RetrieveDuplicatesRequest(contactRecord, “contact”, pagingInfo);

// Use the request object to execute the function
Xrm.WebApi.online.execute(retrieveDuplicatesRequest).then(
function(result) {
if (result.ok) {
result.json().then(
function(response) {
console.log(“The response is: %s”, response);
});
}
},
function(error) {
console.log(error.message);
// handle error conditions
});

Reply
1. Andrew Butenko says:
  
  28/08/2020 at 2:59 pm
  
  Richard,
  Thanks!
  Andrew
  
  Reply
Danny says:

13/11/2024 at 4:00 am

Hi Andrew,
I’m using this RetrieveDuplicates API to fetch duplicate accounts and in principle it works. BUT when the account name contains brackets AND additional characters after the closing bracket (e.g. “Acme (PTY) LTD”) I receive a BAD REQUEST. When I change the account name to “Acme (PTY)” all is good.
Do you have any ideas what I’m doing wrong or how to work around that issue?

Reply
1. Andrew Butenko says:
  
  13/11/2024 at 5:37 am
  
  Danny,
  I, personally, never experienced such situation but I bet something is wrong with the encoding. My latest experience tells me not to use encodeURIComponent at all. Try to run your code without it.
  Andrew
  
  Reply
  1. Danny says:
    
    15/11/2024 at 12:27 pm
    
    Hi Andrew,
    I did try to send the account name without url-encoding it. But that doesn’t matter, the response the same error message. In the meanwhile I even tried the SDK and here it works! I digged into the implementation of the Microsoft.PowerPlatform.Dataverse.Client.ServiceClient and found out, that the RetrieveDuplicatesRequest is not handled using the RESTful API. Seems like they fallback to the WCF service.
    But including the Microsoft.PowerPlatform.Dataverse.Client-NuGet package brings so many dependencies, I’m not happy with that.
    
    Regards,
    Danny
    
    Reply
Danny says:

15/11/2024 at 12:28 pm

Hi Andrew,
I did try to send the account name without url-encoding it. But that doesn’t matter, the response the same error message. In the meanwhile I even tried the SDK and here it works! I digged into the implementation of the Microsoft.PowerPlatform.Dataverse.Client.ServiceClient and found out, that the RetrieveDuplicatesRequest is not handled using the RESTful API. Seems like they fallback to the WCF service.
But including the Microsoft.PowerPlatform.Dataverse.Client-NuGet package brings so many dependencies, I’m not happy with that.

Regards,
Danny

Reply