Creating multiple entities in single request in Microsoft Dynamics CRM (OData) - odata

Question

I know how to create a single entity in single request. However, one requirement wants me to create multiple entities (in my case it's multiple entries in ContactSet). I tried putting array to
POST /XRMServices/2011/OrganizationData.svc/ContactSet
[{
"MobilePhone": "+0012 555 555 555",
"YomiFullName" : "Demo User 1",
"GenderCode" : {
"Value" : 1
}
.....
<data removed for sanity>
.....
},
{
"MobilePhone": "+0012 555 555 111",
"YomiFullName" : "Demo User 2",
"GenderCode" : {
"Value" : 1
}
.....
<data removed for sanity>
.....
}]
However this does not work and I could not find any documentation explaining me ways to achieve this. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Answer 1

You need to use an ExecuteMultipleRequest, I don't believe this is available in Rest service however, but is available in the SOAP service.
// Get a reference to the organization service.
using (_serviceProxy = new OrganizationServiceProxy(serverConfig.OrganizationUri, serverConfig.HomeRealmUri,serverConfig.Credentials, serverConfig.DeviceCredentials))
{
// 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);
}
}

Answer 2

ExecuteMultipleRequest is a good but not the only way. If you use CRM 2016 you can use Batch operations that is available in new WebApi. Check article that describes it - https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/mt607719.aspx

Answer 3

You can use a Web API action (see MSDN) to execute an ExecuteTransactionRequest, as described here. Subject of the example on MSDN is the WinOpportunityRequest, but it should work with any supported request, including custom actions.