PCF SmartButton Control

Overview

The PCF SmartButton control provides dynamic, configurable buttons based on Dataverse settings. This control allows you to create flexible, context-aware buttons that can be used for custom actions and navigation in your Power Apps forms.

Features

The PCF SmartButton control includes the following features:

Feature	Description
Dynamic Button Configuration	Configure buttons directly in Dataverse without code changes
Visibility Conditions	Show/hide buttons based on dynamic expressions
Custom Actions	Execute custom scripts or navigate to URLs
Field Value Integration	Use record field values in button labels, tooltips, URLs, visibility expression and action scripts.
Smart Caching	Optimized performance through intelligent caching of record data
Error Handling	Robust error handling and graceful fallbacks
Fluent UI Integration	Modern, consistent UI using Fluent UI components

Installation

Prerequisites

A Power Platform environment with Dataverse
Solution Import permissions

Install steps

Download the solution from the releases page.
Choose the appropriate solution package:
- Managed Solution: For production environments (recommended)
- Unmanaged Solution: For development environments
Import the Solution into your environment.

Configuration

Button Configuration Table

After installation, create records in the Button Configuration table with the following fields:

Field	Type	Required	Description
Name	Text	Yes	Unique identifier for the button configuration
Table Name	Text	Yes	Entity/table the button appears on (e.g., 'contact')
Button Label	Text	Yes	The text to display on the button
Button Tooltip	Text	No	Hover text for the button
Button Position	Number	Yes	Numeric order for button placement
Button Icon	Text	No	Fluent UI icon name - Browse available icons
Visibility Expression	Text	No	Condition for showing/hiding button - The pcf context is available to be referenced.
URL	Text	No	The URL to navigate to when clicked
Show as	Choice	Yes	Choose between Button or Link display
Action Script	Text	No	Custom script to execute on click

Configuration form

Dynamic Values and Tokens

All text fields (Label, Tooltip, URL, Visibility Expression, and Action Script) support dynamic tokens:

Token Format	Description	Example
`{fieldname}`	Reference to a field value	`{websiteurl}`
`{lookup.fieldname}`	Access related record field	`{parentcustomerid.name}`
`{lookup1.lookup2.fieldname}`	Chain multiple lookups	`{parentcustomerid.parentaccountid.websiteurl}`

Configuration Examples

Basic Navigation Button

To create a simple button that navigates to a website:

Name: View Website
Table Name: contact
Button Label: Visit Website
Button Tooltip: Go to {websiteurl}
Button Position: 1
Button Icon: Globe
Visibility Expression: {websiteurl}
URL: {websiteurl}
Show as: Button

Action Button with Custom Script

To create a button that executes JavaScript:

Name: Create Related Case
Table Name: account
Button Label: Create Case
Button Icon: Add
Button Position: 2
Visibility Expression: true
Action Script:
var entityFormOptions = { entityName: "incident", formId: "your-form-id" }; entityFormOptions["formParameters"] = { "customerid": "{accountid}" }; Xrm.Navigation.openForm(entityFormOptions);
Show as: Button

Advanced Usage

Filtering Buttons by Control

To display buttons only on specific control instances:

Add the SmartButton control to your form.
Open the control properties.
Set a filter expression in the "Button Configuration Filter" property (e.g., contains(theia_name,'Control 2')).

This ensures that only buttons matching the filter will appear on that specific control instance.

Showing filter on form

Visibility Expressions

Use JavaScript expressions to determine when a button should be visible:

Example	Description
`{revenue} > 10000`	Show only for high-value accounts
`{statuscode} === 1`	Show based on status value
`{parentcustomerid.parentaccountid.websiteurl} != null`	Show based on related record values
`{revenue} > 10000 && {statuscode} === 1`	Combine multiple conditions

Action Scripts

Examples of common action script scenarios:

var accountid = "{accountid}";
var name = "{name}";
// Open a record
Xrm.Navigation.openForm({entityName: "account", entityId: accountid});

// Show a notification
Xrm.App.addGlobalNotification({
  type: 1, // INFO
  message: "Processing "+name+"...",
  level: 1
});

// Retrieve related record data
var id = "{parentcustomerid.id}";
const parentcustomer = await Xrm.WebApi.retrieveRecord("account", id);

Action Script Example

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Issue	Solution
Buttons not appearing	Verify Table Name matches exactly with the entity logical name
Visibility expressions not working	Check that field names are correct and in proper case
Action scripts failing	Test scripts in browser console first to verify syntax
Related record values not loading	Verify lookup references use proper format and exist