First Look at Menus for Visual Studio Tools

My friend David Musgrave has been busy lately. He has brought to us great products like Named Printers, Advanced Security, SnapShot, and Support Debugging Tool. He has done it again with the release of Menus for Visual Studio Tools (MVST).

For those of you not familiar with MVST, it’s a Dexterity-based product that exposes an API to Visual Studio developers for them to add their own menu items to the Microsoft Dynamics GP interface, providing even more transparent integrating products and customizations. If you may recall, there was no (out of the box) way to go about this with standard Visual Studio Tools functionality, which forced VS developers to create their own Dexterity customization to add their own menus. Of course, every developer has a different approach to writing code and coming up with an integrating solution — IF they happen to know Dexterity, which wasn’t always the case.

As a participant in the of the beta testing phase I played with some of the tool’s features and suggested a few changes to the documentation based on my experiences. David also incorporated tons of error handling routines and made it a virtually unbreakable product. Some of the feature I most enjoy are:

1) The relative ease of incorporation into already existing projects and easy call of APIs. The product registration in VS is straight forward and the naming convention is very logical.

2) The ability to add menus items to any existing Dynamics GP menu with the option to display conditional meny items, toggling them on or off according to application events.

3) The abundance in error handling and clearness of the errors.

David has released a stub on his blog with more information on the tool. The product is currently compatible with version 10.0 of Microsoft Dynamics GP and can be downloaded via CustomerSource and PartnerSource at:

CustomerSource – Menus for Visual Studio Tools for Microsoft Dynamics GP 10.0

PartnerSource – Menus for Visual Studio Tools for Microsoft Dynamics GP 10.0

FINAL NOTE: I was able to compile my code with Visual Studio 2005 and Visual Studio 2008, however, you will need the latest VST service pack to compile on VS2008.

Until next post!

MG.-
Mariano Gomez, MIS, MVP, MCP, PMP
Maximum Global Business, LLC
http://www.maximumglobalbusiness.com/

First Look at Menus for Visual Studio Tools

My friend David Musgrave has been busy lately. He has brought to us great products like Named Printers, Advanced Security, SnapShot, and Support Debugging Tool. He has done it again with the release of Menus for Visual Studio Tools (MVST).

For those of you not familiar with MVST, it’s a Dexterity-based product that exposes an API to Visual Studio developers for them to add their own menu items to the Microsoft Dynamics GP interface, providing even more transparent integrating products and customizations. If you may recall, there was no (out of the box) way to go about this with standard Visual Studio Tools functionality, which forced VS developers to create their own Dexterity customization to add their own menus. Of course, every developer has a different approach to writing code and coming up with an integrating solution — IF they happen to know Dexterity, which wasn’t always the case.

As a participant in the of the beta testing phase I played with some of the tool’s features and suggested a few changes to the documentation based on my experiences. David also incorporated tons of error handling routines and made it a virtually unbreakable product. Some of the feature I most enjoy are:

1) The relative ease of incorporation into already existing projects and easy call of APIs. The product registration in VS is straight forward and the naming convention is very logical.

2) The ability to add menus items to any existing Dynamics GP menu with the option to display conditional meny items, toggling them on or off according to application events.

3) The abundance in error handling and clearness of the errors.

David has released a stub on his blog with more information on the tool. The product is currently compatible with version 10.0 of Microsoft Dynamics GP and can be downloaded via CustomerSource and PartnerSource at:

CustomerSource – Menus for Visual Studio Tools for Microsoft Dynamics GP 10.0

PartnerSource – Menus for Visual Studio Tools for Microsoft Dynamics GP 10.0

FINAL NOTE: I was able to compile my code with Visual Studio 2005 and Visual Studio 2008, however, you will need the latest VST service pack to compile on VS2008.

Until next post!

MG.-
Mariano Gomez, MIS, MVP, MCP, PMP
Maximum Global Business, LLC
http://www.maximumglobalbusiness.com/

First Look at Menus for Visual Studio Tools

My friend David Musgrave has been busy lately. He has brought to us great products like Named Printers, Advanced Security, SnapShot, and Support Debugging Tool. He has done it again with the release of Menus for Visual Studio Tools (MVST).

For those of you not familiar with MVST, it’s a Dexterity-based product that exposes an API to Visual Studio developers for them to add their own menu items to the Microsoft Dynamics GP interface, providing even more transparent integrating products and customizations. If you may recall, there was no (out of the box) way to go about this with standard Visual Studio Tools functionality, which forced VS developers to create their own Dexterity customization to add their own menus. Of course, every developer has a different approach to writing code and coming up with an integrating solution — IF they happen to know Dexterity, which wasn’t always the case.

As a participant in the of the beta testing phase I played with some of the tool’s features and suggested a few changes to the documentation based on my experiences. David also incorporated tons of error handling routines and made it a virtually unbreakable product. Some of the feature I most enjoy are:

1) The relative ease of incorporation into already existing projects and easy call of APIs. The product registration in VS is straight forward and the naming convention is very logical.

2) The ability to add menus items to any existing Dynamics GP menu with the option to display conditional meny items, toggling them on or off according to application events.

3) The abundance in error handling and clearness of the errors.

David has released a stub on his blog with more information on the tool. The product is currently compatible with version 10.0 of Microsoft Dynamics GP and can be downloaded via CustomerSource and PartnerSource at:

CustomerSource – Menus for Visual Studio Tools for Microsoft Dynamics GP 10.0

PartnerSource – Menus for Visual Studio Tools for Microsoft Dynamics GP 10.0

FINAL NOTE: I was able to compile my code with Visual Studio 2005 and Visual Studio 2008, however, you will need the latest VST service pack to compile on VS2008.

Until next post!

MG.-
Mariano Gomez, MIS, MVP, MCP, PMP
Maximum Global Business, LLC
http://www.maximumglobalbusiness.com/

Microsoft Dynamics GP 11.0 Previewed at GPUG Summit

The GPUG Summit 2008 is in full swing and the keynote speech delivered by Jeff Young, product unit manager for Microsoft Business Solutions came with a surprising presentation of Microsoft Dynamics GP 11.0. While the preview was very limited, it focused on the extended workflow capabilities for Office 14 and improved Sharepoint integration. 2009 has been targeted as the release for GP 11.0, however no specific quarter has been identified for it’s release.

Microsoft execs promissed a better preview at Convergence 2009. More information at MSDynamicsWorld.com.

Until next post!

MG.-
Mariano Gomez, MIS, MVP, MCP, PMP
Maximum Global Business, LLC
http://www.maximumglobalbusiness.com/

Best practices for labeling customized windows with Modifier and VBA in Microsoft Dynamics GP

Ever walked into a site where customizations to the Dynamics GP system seem to be endless? Are you confused as a consultant by what was done in what tool? This one may seem as a no brainer, but it is one of the biggest issues I face when I go to a customer’s site, especially when I am not the first to walk in there.

In addition, many of my customers also ask about windows with titles enclosed by periods, i.e., “.Customer Maintenance.“, or preceded by one period, i.e., “.Customer Maintenance“, or suffixed by one period, i.e., “Customer Maintenance.“, of course, for the trained and qualified eye, all created with Modifier and/or VBA, and/or both. The question is often, why is it that we have these two periods around the window name? Can’t we change it to something more visually appealing and truly indicative of existing customizations?The honest truth is, unless you have a much trained eye, these periods can escape you very easily and can make users very confused as to what they are seeing on the screen.

In fact, as part of my Dynamics GP list of best practices, I do recommend customers to make the following subtle changes to the titles of modified and VBA-customized Dynamics GP windows, as follows:

1) If the window includes only changes done with Modifier — one period at the beginning of the window title — change the title to MOD: Window Name.

NOTE: the period cannot be removed under Modifier, hence once security is granted; the window title will appear as .MOD: Window Name. The period is not completely gone, but still the impact of having the word “MOD” in the title is already a big change from just the period.

2) If the window includes only changes done with Visual Basic for Applications — a period at the end of the window title — change the title to VBA: Window Name

3) If the window includes changes done with Modifier and Visual Basic for Applications, change the title to MVBA: Window Name.

Modifier Only Changes

1) Open Modifier and perform all necessary changes to your window. Before save, change the Object Title property to MOD: Customer Maintenance as shown below.

2) Save all your changes and return to Microsoft Dynamics GP

3) Grant security to the modified window.

4) Open the window to view the title. As shown below, it is easier to identify changes done with Modifier this way.

Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) Only Changes

1) Open un-modified window; add to Visual Basic (CTRL+F11 on your keyboard)

2) Add all fields required for the customization you are planning

3) Change the Caption property as shown below to reflect VBA: Customer Maintenance.

4) When window is displayed by GP, title is now preceded by the word VBA.

Modifier with Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) changes

1) Follow steps 1 and 2 as indicated in the above scenario

2) Change the Caption property to include MVBA: Customer Maintenance

3) When the window is displayed by GP, title is now preceded by the word MVBA

Trivial? Maybe. However, these simple techniques for identifying customizations done with Modifier and further enhanced with VBA, have saved me from many redundant and sometimes unnecessary questions and comments, including “some developer did not pay attention when they were typing the window title”, ehem!

Until next post!

MG.-
Mariano Gomez, MIS, MVP, MCP, PMP
Maximum Global Business, LLC
http://www.maximumglobalbusiness.com/

Best practices for labeling customized windows with Modifier and VBA in Microsoft Dynamics GP

Ever walked into a site where customizations to the Dynamics GP system seem to be endless? Are you confused as a consultant by what was done in what tool? This one may seem as a no brainer, but it is one of the biggest issues I face when I go to a customer’s site, especially when I am not the first to walk in there.

In addition, many of my customers also ask about windows with titles enclosed by periods, i.e., “.Customer Maintenance.“, or preceded by one period, i.e., “.Customer Maintenance“, or suffixed by one period, i.e., “Customer Maintenance.“, of course, for the trained and qualified eye, all created with Modifier and/or VBA, and/or both. The question is often, why is it that we have these two periods around the window name? Can’t we change it to something more visually appealing and truly indicative of existing customizations?The honest truth is, unless you have a much trained eye, these periods can escape you very easily and can make users very confused as to what they are seeing on the screen.

In fact, as part of my Dynamics GP list of best practices, I do recommend customers to make the following subtle changes to the titles of modified and VBA-customized Dynamics GP windows, as follows:

1) If the window includes only changes done with Modifier — one period at the beginning of the window title — change the title to MOD: Window Name.

NOTE: the period cannot be removed under Modifier, hence once security is granted; the window title will appear as .MOD: Window Name. The period is not completely gone, but still the impact of having the word “MOD” in the title is already a big change from just the period.

2) If the window includes only changes done with Visual Basic for Applications — a period at the end of the window title — change the title to VBA: Window Name

3) If the window includes changes done with Modifier and Visual Basic for Applications, change the title to MVBA: Window Name.

Modifier Only Changes

1) Open Modifier and perform all necessary changes to your window. Before save, change the Object Title property to MOD: Customer Maintenance as shown below.

2) Save all your changes and return to Microsoft Dynamics GP

3) Grant security to the modified window.

4) Open the window to view the title. As shown below, it is easier to identify changes done with Modifier this way.

Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) Only Changes

1) Open un-modified window; add to Visual Basic (CTRL+F11 on your keyboard)

2) Add all fields required for the customization you are planning

3) Change the Caption property as shown below to reflect VBA: Customer Maintenance.

4) When window is displayed by GP, title is now preceded by the word VBA.

Modifier with Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) changes

1) Follow steps 1 and 2 as indicated in the above scenario

2) Change the Caption property to include MVBA: Customer Maintenance

3) When the window is displayed by GP, title is now preceded by the word MVBA

Trivial? Maybe. However, these simple techniques for identifying customizations done with Modifier and further enhanced with VBA, have saved me from many redundant and sometimes unnecessary questions and comments, including “some developer did not pay attention when they were typing the window title”, ehem!

Until next post!

MG.-
Mariano Gomez, MIS, MVP, MCP, PMP
Maximum Global Business, LLC
http://www.maximumglobalbusiness.com/

Best practices for labeling customized windows with Modifier and VBA in Microsoft Dynamics GP

Ever walked into a site where customizations to the Dynamics GP system seem to be endless? Are you confused as a consultant by what was done in what tool? This one may seem as a no brainer, but it is one of the biggest issues I face when I go to a customer’s site, especially when I am not the first to walk in there.

In addition, many of my customers also ask about windows with titles enclosed by periods, i.e., “.Customer Maintenance.“, or preceded by one period, i.e., “.Customer Maintenance“, or suffixed by one period, i.e., “Customer Maintenance.“, of course, for the trained and qualified eye, all created with Modifier and/or VBA, and/or both. The question is often, why is it that we have these two periods around the window name? Can’t we change it to something more visually appealing and truly indicative of existing customizations?The honest truth is, unless you have a much trained eye, these periods can escape you very easily and can make users very confused as to what they are seeing on the screen.

In fact, as part of my Dynamics GP list of best practices, I do recommend customers to make the following subtle changes to the titles of modified and VBA-customized Dynamics GP windows, as follows:

1) If the window includes only changes done with Modifier — one period at the beginning of the window title — change the title to MOD: Window Name.

NOTE: the period cannot be removed under Modifier, hence once security is granted; the window title will appear as .MOD: Window Name. The period is not completely gone, but still the impact of having the word “MOD” in the title is already a big change from just the period.

2) If the window includes only changes done with Visual Basic for Applications — a period at the end of the window title — change the title to VBA: Window Name

3) If the window includes changes done with Modifier and Visual Basic for Applications, change the title to MVBA: Window Name.

Modifier Only Changes

1) Open Modifier and perform all necessary changes to your window. Before save, change the Object Title property to MOD: Customer Maintenance as shown below.

2) Save all your changes and return to Microsoft Dynamics GP

3) Grant security to the modified window.

4) Open the window to view the title. As shown below, it is easier to identify changes done with Modifier this way.

Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) Only Changes

1) Open un-modified window; add to Visual Basic (CTRL+F11 on your keyboard)

2) Add all fields required for the customization you are planning

3) Change the Caption property as shown below to reflect VBA: Customer Maintenance.

4) When window is displayed by GP, title is now preceded by the word VBA.

Modifier with Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) changes

1) Follow steps 1 and 2 as indicated in the above scenario

2) Change the Caption property to include MVBA: Customer Maintenance

3) When the window is displayed by GP, title is now preceded by the word MVBA

Trivial? Maybe. However, these simple techniques for identifying customizations done with Modifier and further enhanced with VBA, have saved me from many redundant and sometimes unnecessary questions and comments, including “some developer did not pay attention when they were typing the window title”, ehem!

Until next post!

MG.-
Mariano Gomez, MIS, MVP, MCP, PMP
Maximum Global Business, LLC
http://www.maximumglobalbusiness.com/

Currency Formatting in Analysis Cubes for Excel

Fellow bloggers Dwight Specht a Mark Polino tackle the formatting of currency fields being pulled into Excel from Analysis Services. Dwight and Mark provide detail steps on how to overcome this issue, but fundamentally on how to get rid of it forever. Please stop by DynamicAccounting.net to read this very interesting article.

Until next post!

MG.-
Mariano Gomez, MIS, MVP, MCP, PMP
Maximum Global Business, LLC
http://www.maximumglobalbusiness.com/

Currency Formatting in Analysis Cubes for Excel

Fellow bloggers Dwight Specht a Mark Polino tackle the formatting of currency fields being pulled into Excel from Analysis Services. Dwight and Mark provide detail steps on how to overcome this issue, but fundamentally on how to get rid of it forever. Please stop by DynamicAccounting.net to read this very interesting article.

Until next post!

MG.-
Mariano Gomez, MIS, MVP, MCP, PMP
Maximum Global Business, LLC
http://www.maximumglobalbusiness.com/

Currency Formatting in Analysis Cubes for Excel

Fellow bloggers Dwight Specht a Mark Polino tackle the formatting of currency fields being pulled into Excel from Analysis Services. Dwight and Mark provide detail steps on how to overcome this issue, but fundamentally on how to get rid of it forever. Please stop by DynamicAccounting.net to read this very interesting article.

Until next post!

MG.-
Mariano Gomez, MIS, MVP, MCP, PMP
Maximum Global Business, LLC
http://www.maximumglobalbusiness.com/