Use ExecuteMultiple to improve performance for bulk data load

Applies To: Dynamics CRM 2013

You can use the ExecuteMultipleRequest message to support higher throughput bulk message passing scenarios in Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2013 and Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online, particularly in the case of Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online where Internet latency can be the largest limiting factor. ExecuteMultipleRequest accepts an input collection of message Requests, executes each of the message requests in the order they appear in the input collection, and optionally returns a collection of Responses containing each message’s response or the error that occurred. Each message request in the input collection is processed in a separate database transaction. ExecuteMultipleRequest is executed by using the IOrganizationService.Execute method.

In general, ExecuteMultipleRequest behaves the same as if you executed each message request in the input request collection separately, except with better performance. Use of the CallerId parameter of the service proxy is honored and will apply to the execution of every message in the input request collection. Plug-ins and workflow activities are executed as you would expect for each message processed.

Custom code in the form of plug-ins and custom workflow activities can even execute ExecuteMultipleRequest. However, there are a few key points to keep in mind. An exception thrown by a synchronous registered plug-in is returned in the response collection item Fault parameter. If a plug-in executes within a database transaction, the plug-in executes ExecuteMultipleRequest, and a transaction rollback is initiated, the rollback includes any data changes resulting from requests executed by ExecuteMultipleRequest.

In This Topic

Example

Specify run-time execution options

Run-time limitations

Handle a batch size fault

Example

The following sample code demonstrates a single ExecuteMultipleRequest that performs multiple create operations. Run-time execution options called Settings are used to control the request processing and returned results. These run-time options are discussed in the next section.

// Get a reference to the organization service.
using (_serviceProxy = ServerConnection.GetOrganizationProxy(serverConfig))
{
    // Enable early-bound type support to add/update entity records required for this sample.
    _serviceProxy.EnableProxyTypes();

    #region Execute Multiple with Results
    // Create an ExecuteMultipleRequest object.
    requestWithResults = new ExecuteMultipleRequest()
    {
        // Assign settings that define execution behavior: continue on error, return responses. 
        Settings = new ExecuteMultipleSettings()
        {
            ContinueOnError = false,
            ReturnResponses = true
        },
        // Create an empty organization request collection.
        Requests = new OrganizationRequestCollection()
    };

    // Create several (local, in memory) entities in a collection. 
    EntityCollection input = GetCollectionOfEntitiesToCreate();

    // Add a CreateRequest for each entity to the request collection.
    foreach (var entity in input.Entities)
    {
        CreateRequest createRequest = new CreateRequest { Target = entity };
        requestWithResults.Requests.Add(createRequest);
    }

    // Execute all the requests in the request collection using a single web method call.
    ExecuteMultipleResponse responseWithResults =
        (ExecuteMultipleResponse)_serviceProxy.Execute(requestWithResults);

    // Display the results returned in the responses.
    foreach (var responseItem in responseWithResults.Responses)
    {
        // A valid response.
        if (responseItem.Response != null)
            DisplayResponse(requestWithResults.Requests[responseItem.RequestIndex], responseItem.Response);

        // An error has occurred.
        else if (responseItem.Fault != null)
            DisplayFault(requestWithResults.Requests[responseItem.RequestIndex], 
                responseItem.RequestIndex, responseItem.Fault);
    }

' Get a reference to the organization service.
_serviceProxy = ServerConnection.GetOrganizationProxy(serverConfig)

Using _serviceProxy
    ' Enable early-bound type support to add/update entity records required for this sample.
    _serviceProxy.EnableProxyTypes()

    '#Region "Execute Multiple with Results"
    ' Create an ExecuteMultipleRequest object.
    ' Assign settings that define execution behavior: continue on error, return responses.
    ' Create an empty organization request collection.
    requestWithResults = New ExecuteMultipleRequest() With
        {
            .Settings = New ExecuteMultipleSettings() With
                        {
                            .ContinueOnError = False,
                            .ReturnResponses = True
                        },
            .Requests = New OrganizationRequestCollection()
        }

    ' Create several (local, in memory) entities in a collection. 
    Dim input As EntityCollection = GetCollectionOfEntitiesToCreate()

    ' Add a CreateRequest for each entity to the request collection.
    For Each entity In input.Entities
        Dim createRequest_Renamed As CreateRequest = New CreateRequest With {.Target = entity}
        requestWithResults.Requests.Add(createRequest_Renamed)
    Next entity

    ' Execute all the requests in the request collection using a single web method call.
    Dim responseWithResults As ExecuteMultipleResponse =
        CType(_serviceProxy.Execute(requestWithResults), ExecuteMultipleResponse)

    ' Display the results returned in the responses.
    For Each responseItem In responseWithResults.Responses

        If responseItem.Response IsNot Nothing Then
            ' A valid response.
            DisplayResponse(requestWithResults.Requests(responseItem.RequestIndex),
                            responseItem.Response)

        ElseIf responseItem.Fault IsNot Nothing Then
            ' An error has occurred.
            DisplayFault(requestWithResults.Requests(responseItem.RequestIndex),
                         responseItem.RequestIndex, responseItem.Fault)
        End If
    Next responseItem

To view the complete sample, see Sample: Execute multiple requests.

Specify run-time execution options

The Settings parameter of ExecuteMultipleRequest applies to all of the requests in the request collection controlling execution behavior and results returned. Let’s take a look at these options in more detail.

For example, in a request collection that contains six requests where the third and fifth request return faults, the following table indicates what the Responses collection would contain.

An RequestIndex parameter in the response item indicates the sequence number, starting at zero, of the request that the response is associated with. In the previous example, the third request has a request index of 2.

Run-time limitations

There are several constraints related to the use of the ExecuteMultipleRequest as described in the following list.

• No recursion is allowed - ExecuteMultipleRequest cannot invoke ExecuteMultipleRequest. An ExecuteMultipleRequest found in the request collection will generate a fault for that request item.

• Maximum batch size – there is a limit to how many requests can be added to a request collection. If that limit is exceeded, a fault is thrown before the first request is ever executed. A limit of 1000 requests is typical though this maximum amount can be set for the Microsoft Dynamics CRM deployment. The deployment setting for this limit is BatchSize.

• Throttling of concurrent calls – for Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online there is a limit of 2 concurrent ExecuteMultipleRequest executions per organization. If that limit is exceeded, a “Server Busy” fault is thrown before the first request is ever executed. For an on-premises deployment, throttling is not enabled by default. The deployment setting for this limit is ExecuteAsyncPerOrgMaxConnectionsPerServer.

Handle a batch size fault

What should you do when your input request collection exceeds the maximum batch size? Your code can’t directly query the maximum batch size through the deployment web service unless it is run under an account that has the deployment administrator role.

Fortunately, there is another method that you can use. When the number of requests in the input Requests collection exceeds the maximum batch size allowed for an organization, a fault is returned from the ExecuteMultipleRequest call. The maximum batch size is returned in the fault. Your code can check for that value, resize the input request collection to be within the indicated limit, and re-submit the ExecuteMultipleRequest. The following code snippet demonstrates some of this logic.

catch (FaultException<OrganizationServiceFault> fault)
{
    // Check if the maximum batch size has been exceeded. The maximum batch size is only included in the fault if it
    // the input request collection count exceeds the maximum batch size.
    if (fault.Detail.ErrorDetails.Contains("MaxBatchSize"))
    {
        int maxBatchSize = Convert.ToInt32(fault.Detail.ErrorDetails["MaxBatchSize"]);
        if (maxBatchSize < requestWithResults.Requests.Count)
        {
            // Here you could reduce the size of your request collection and re-submit the ExecuteMultiple request.
            // For this sample, that only issues a few requests per batch, we will just print out some info. However,
            // this code will never be executed because the default max batch size is 1000.
            Console.WriteLine("The input request collection contains %0 requests, which exceeds the maximum allowed (%1)",
                requestWithResults.Requests.Count, maxBatchSize);
        }
    }
    // Re-throw so Main() can process the fault.
    throw;
}

Catch fault As FaultException(Of OrganizationServiceFault)

    ' Check if the maximum batch size has been exceeded. The maximum batch size is only included in the fault if it
    ' the input request collection count exceeds the maximum batch size.
    If fault.Detail.ErrorDetails.Contains("MaxBatchSize") Then

        Dim maxBatchSize As Integer = Convert.ToInt32(fault.Detail.ErrorDetails("MaxBatchSize"))
        If maxBatchSize < requestWithResults.Requests.Count Then
            ' Here you could reduce the size of your request collection and re-submit the ExecuteMultiple request.
            ' For this sample, that only issues a few requests per batch, we will just print out some info. However,
            ' this code will never be executed because the default max batch size is 1000.
            Console.WriteLine("The input request collection contains %0 requests, which exceeds the maximum allowed (%1)", requestWithResults.Requests.Count, maxBatchSize)
        End If
    End If
    ' Re-throw so Main() can process the fault.
    Throw
End Try

See Also

Execute
OrganizationRequest
OrganizationResponse
Use the IOrganizationService web service to read and write data or metadata
xRM messages in the Organization service
Messages in the discovery service
CRM messages in the organization service
Import data