{"id":33329,"date":"2022-12-12T14:57:04","date_gmt":"2022-12-12T09:27:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.inogic.com\/blog\/?p=33329"},"modified":"2026-02-10T14:17:42","modified_gmt":"2026-02-10T08:47:42","slug":"get-business-process-flow-stages-in-a-defined-sequence-within-microsoft-dynamics-365-crm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.inogic.com\/blog\/2022\/12\/get-business-process-flow-stages-in-a-defined-sequence-within-microsoft-dynamics-365-crm\/","title":{"rendered":"Get Business Process Flow Stages in a defined sequence within Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you\u2019ve ever tried to retrieve Business Process Flow (BPF) stages programmatically in Dynamics 365 CRM, you\u2019ve probably noticed something frustrating: the order you get from the backend doesn\u2019t always match what you see on the form.<\/p>\n

Recently, while working on a real project requirement, you may find yourself needing the BPF stages in the exact sequence shown to users on the entity record. Naturally, your first instinct would be to query the processstage table. However, once you do that, you\u2019ll quickly realize that the stages are not returned in the same order as the UI.<\/p>\n

In this blog, you\u2019ll learn how you can reliably retrieve Business Process Flow stages in their defined sequence by using the Processes (workflow) table and the clientdata attribute, without compromising on technical accuracy or flexibility.<\/p>\n

What Is a Business Process Flow in Dynamics 365 CRM?<\/strong><\/p>\n

A Business Process Flow in Dynamics 365 CRM is designed to guide users through a structured sequence of stages, such as qualifying a lead or closing an opportunity, directly on the entity form. Each stage follows a predefined order that users rely on for day-to-day operations.<\/p>\n

The challenge you face as a developer is that this UI-defined order is not always preserved when you query Dataverse tables directly.<\/p>\n

Scenario: When Your Custom BPF Stage Appears Out of Order<\/strong><\/p>\n

As part of your requirement, you add a custom stage called Verification<\/em> right after the Qualify<\/em> stage in the out-of-the-box leadtoopportunitysalesprocess Business Process Flow.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Your expectation is simple: when you retrieve the stages programmatically, they should appear in the same order, Qualify first, Verification next, followed by the remaining stages.<\/p>\n

Why Querying the processstage Table Doesn\u2019t Work for Stage Order<\/p>\n

When you query the processstage table using an OData query, you\u2019ll notice that the custom Verification stage appears at the end, rather than immediately after Qualify.<\/p>\n

Even if you try ordering the result using versionnumber, the sequence still doesn\u2019t align with what you see on the form.<\/p>\n

Query:<\/strong><\/p>\n[OrganizationURI]\/data\/v9.0\/processstages?$filter=_processid_value=\u201927919E14D1-6489-4852-ABD0-A63A6ECAAC5D\u2019&$select=stagename&$orderby=versionnumber<\/p>\n

\"Business<\/p>\n

This clearly shows a platform behavior you need to be aware of: the processstage table does not guarantee the UI-defined order of Business Process Flow stages.<\/p>\n

Solution: Use the Processes (Workflow) Table<\/strong><\/p>\n

At this point, you need a more reliable source of truth.<\/p>\n

When you look deeper into Dynamics 365 CRM internals, you\u2019ll find that the Processes (workflow) table stores not only workflows, but also Business Process Flows, actions, and dialogs. More importantly, it includes the clientdata attribute, which preserves the actual stage sequence.<\/p>\n

This is where the solution starts to come together.<\/p>\n

Note:<\/strong>\u00a0To get the stages of their desired Business Process Flow, one must know the GUID of their respective Business Process Flow to apply the filer on.<\/p>\n

Fetching the BPF Definition Using FetchXML<\/strong><\/p>\n

To retrieve the correct stage order, you query the Processes table using the unique GUID of your Business Process Flow.<\/p>\n

Note:<\/strong> You must know the GUID of the specific BPF you\u2019re targeting.<\/p>\n

<fetch>\r\n\r\n<entity name=\"workflow\">\r\n\r\n<attribute name=\"clientdata\"\/>\r\n\r\n<filter>\r\n\r\n<condition attribute=\"workflowid \" operator=\"eq\" value=\"919e14d1-6489-4852-abd0-a63a6ecaac5d\"\/>\r\n\r\n<\/filter>\r\n\r\n<\/entity>\r\n\r\n<\/fetch><\/pre>\n
Understanding What the clientdata Attribute Contains<\/strong><\/p>\n
The clientdata<\/strong> field is a JSON string that holds the complete definition of the Business Process Flow, including the exact order of its stages.<\/p>\n
To deserialize this JSON, you can use the following class structure:<\/p>\n
public class List\r\n\r\n{\r\n\r\npublic string description { get; set; }\r\n\r\npublic Steps steps { get; set; }\r\n\r\npublic string stageId { get; set; }\r\n\r\npublic string nextStageId { get; set; }\r\n\r\n}\r\n\r\npublic class Stepsdata\r\n\r\n{\r\n\r\npublic Steps steps { get; set; }\r\n\r\n}\r\n\r\npublic class StepLabels\r\n\r\n{\r\n\r\npublic List<object> list { get; set; }\r\n\r\n}\r\n\r\npublic class Steps\r\n\r\n{\r\n\r\npublic List<List> list { get; set; }\r\n\r\n}<\/pre>\n
How You Can Identify the Correct Stage Sequence<\/strong><\/p>\n
Once you deserialize the JSON, you\u2019ll see a nested structure where the steps array preserves the exact sequence of BPF stages.<\/p>\n
\"\"<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s what you\u2019ll notice:<\/strong><\/p>\n