<h2>Creating a Global Option set from a spreadsheet </h2>

You may have come across this before. A user wants you to create an option set that can be used across multiple entities, and they give you a spreadsheet with a 1000 rows in it! Don’t despair, you can create a global option set with them in. Just not in a single step. Here’s how you do it:

1. Create a field of type option set on your required form
2. Add a column to your spreadsheet so that you can easily Identify the new records you are about to create.
3. Import the data in the CRM system using your spreadsheet. The Identifier should be the primary key field for your record (i.e. last Name for contacts)
4. When mapping the to the option set, set it to create missing options
5. Import
6. Now you should have all the rows added as new items to your option set
7. Locate all the records you just imported and delete them
8. Your option set will still be there and still have all the imported values.
9. Now use a tool to convert the local option set to a global option set, here are two:
   • https://xrmoptionsetconverter.codeplex.com/
   • http://mscrmtools.blogspot.com.au/2013/10/new-xrmtoolbox-plugin-local-to-global.html

Hey presto, you should now have a global option set with all the values you imported. Simple, huh?