>New Article on MSDynamicsWorld: "The Future of Microsoft Dynamics GP – 5 Cool Technologies"

>

“Understanding the Microsoft products that will drive Dynamics GP forward”

My new article is up over at MSDynamicsWorld.com. This time I take a look at The Future of Microsoft Dynamics GP: 5 Cool Technologies You Should Watch For (and Learn) in the Coming Years, based on my past experiences and learnings at the Microsoft Dynamics GP Technical Conference 2011 in Fargo, North Dakota – see my article Microsoft Dynamics GP Technical Conference 2011 Wrap Up. In this article I explore Microsoft Lync, Microsoft Silverlight, Microsoft Visual Studio Lightswitch, cloud computing, and even Microsoft Dexterity.

If you have experience with any of these technologies it would be very cool to know your thoughts and how they have helped your work.

Until next post!

MG.-
Mariano Gomez, MVP
IntellPartners, LLC
http://www.IntellPartners.com/

>New Article on MSDynamicsWorld: MVP Mark Polino on "Integration Frustrations"

>“Significant gaps remain as eConnect and Integration Manager stagnate”

MVP Mark Polino

If you are familiar with MVP Mark Polino you will know that he has always had a love-hate relationship with Microsoft Dynamics GP integration tools – see Mark Polino’s Integration Manager Rant.

This time Mark vents out his frustrations (again!) with Integration Manager and eConnect over at MSDynamicsWorld in his new article Integration Frustration: Why Microsoft Dynamics GP Integration Tools Need a Kickstart. If you have your own comments, complaints, or if you are enamored with the tools and think Mark is simply overreacting, please read Mark’s article and add your comments.

Until next post!

MG.-
Mariano Gomez, MVP
IntellPartners, LLC
http://www.IntellPartners.com/

>Customizations for the View Indented Bill (bmViewIndentedBillInquiry) window failing for GP 2010

>In the past days I had been helping a Microsoft partner and good friend of mine in migrating some Modifier with VBA customizations from Microsoft Dynamics GP version 9.0 to version 2010.  In doing so, we came across an issue with one of the modified objects that needed to be converted: the Inventory module’s View Indented Bill window.

View Indented Bill window – Original

The customization in question added a field to the View Indented Bill window to retrieve the quantity available for a given component item on a bill, as shown below:

View Indented Bill window – Modified

The rest of the customization included adding some VBA code to retrieve the quantity available for the component across all sites by using some simple ADO code. So far, good!

The error came into play when we attempted to print the Indented Bill Report, by clicking on the print button on the window.

Unhandled script exception error

After selecting the report type on the destination on the Report Destination window and clicking Ok to generate the actual report, Microsoft Dynamics GP was complaining about an Unhandled script exception an its inability to find script PrintTraverseCallback of form “[Not Found]”.

As every good developer would know, troubleshooting this issue meant:

a) Testing that the error did not happen with the original form. Checked!
b) Testing that modifying the form did not corrupt the forms dictionary file, FORMS.DIC. Not Checked!
c) Testing that adding VBA code did not introduce the error, Not Checked!

In cases b) and c) even after rebuilding the forms dictionary and removing the VBA code, the error still occurred, but for case a) the system printed the report without presenting the Unhandled script exception error.

So being the, ehem!, well connected guy I am, I decided to call my good friend [Name excluded to protect the innocent] over at Microsoft. A test was performed to modify the same window and grant security to the modified version of the window, then run the report. The results were the same – Unhandled script exception. Now I could confirm that this was in effect a bug.

The bug also causes the BM Bill of Materials report would also not print the indented bill as expected.

BM Bill of Materials printed from original View Indented Bill window

Now, here is the report printed from the modified window.

BM Bill of Materials printed from the modified View Indented Bill window

Consequently, a problem report has been written up for this to be addressed in the near future – hopefully quick enough for the affected client.

Until next post!

MG.-
Mariano Gomez, MVP
IntellPartners, LLC
http://www.IntellPartners.com/

>Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010 R2 "Feature of the day" roundup

>Over at Inside Microsoft Dynamics GP, Errol Schoenfish took on two new features of the upcoming Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010 R2, letting you know why the enhancement is so darn cool and what you can expect to see when you get to it. So, with no further due, here is the roundup of features and enhancements covered by Errol this past week:

Feature of the Day: Business Portal external lists
Feature of the Day: List View performance enhancements

It’s time to start familiarizing yourself with these features and enhancements. The next wave of Microsoft Dynamics GP products will bring a new spotlight to middle-market ERP products. Go catch the wave!

Until next post!

MG.-
Mariano Gomez, MVP
IntellPartners, LLC
http://www.IntellPartners.com/

>Introducing Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010 R2 with Business Analyzer

>Some articles do not need to extend beyond a few words. Here’s a look at the new Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010 R2 with a customer navigation list and Business Analyzer displaying information for those customers. Take a look at Inside Microsoft Dynamics GP for more information on List View enhancements.

Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010 R2 with Business Analyzer

Sign of the good things to come.

Until next post!

MG.-
Mariano Gomez, MVP
IntellPartners, LLC
http://www.intellpartners.com/

>Opening a Microsoft Dynamics GP Extender window conditionally

>Today I came across an interesting request on the Microsoft Dynamics GP Partner Online Technical Community – here on referred to as the Partner forum. The partner wanted to know if it was possible to open an Extender window based on a specific Sales Transaction Entry document type being selected. In particular, the partner wanted to have the Extender window open only when the document type was an invoice.

Sales Transaction Entry window – Invoice

The first thing that comes to mind for most hardcore technical resources is to write some VBA or Visual Studio Tools code to do this. While not impossible, recurring to this type of customization to achieve the partner’s request, quickly becomes cumbersome and inflexible as a solution if more and more conditions are needed throughout the application or even the window.

However Extender has a little known feature called Window Groups.

A window group is made up of one or more windows. The windows that can be added to a Window Group are Windows, Detail Windows, Notes and Inquiries. Conditions can be added to each window to specify when each window will be opened.

Let’s see how this request would then be implemented in Extender:

First, we will need to setup the Extender window and associate the key fields that will be used against the Sales Transaction Entry window. As it stands, this is a very standard procedure. The following example shows two fields added to the Extender window needed:

Extender Window – Additional Invoice Information

Once the window is in place, we can proceed to create the Window Group and setup the condition as shown below:

Extender Window Group – condition for SOP Type = Invoice (4)

Note that in the Windows section we chose the previously created Extender Window. Next, in the Conditions section, we created a condition for SOP Type = 4 (Invoice). Now, in my books, that’s what you call simplicity!

Until next post!

MG.-
Mariano Gomez, MVP
IntellPartners, LLC
http://www.IntellPartners.com/

>Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010 R2 "Feature of the day" roundup

>Over at Inside Microsoft Dynamics GP, Pam Misialek and Errol Schoenfish continue their look into the upcoming Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010 R2 features. This week shows improvements in the emailing capabilities deparment, the addition of the Word Template Generator, and some Dexterity enhancements:

Feature of the Day: Script Editor Names window enhancement
Feature of the Day: Word Template Generator
Feature of the Day: Ability to Email Reports
Feature of the Day: Ability to Create Email Messages
Feature of the Day: Substitute Fields for Email
Feature of the Day: Ability to Copy Email Messages

It’s time to start familiarizing yourself with these features and enhancements. The next wave of Microsoft Dynamics GP products will bring a new spotlight to middle-market ERP products. Go catch the wave!

Until next post!

MG.-
Mariano Gomez, MVP
IntellPartners, LLC
http://www.IntellPartners.com/

>The Dynamics GP Blogster in Buenos Aires, Argentina

>The Dynamics GP Blogster will be visiting Buenos Aires, Argentina from the 17th to the 19th of March on a business assignment, but for those of you who would like to exchange business cards and ideas please don’t hesitate to reach me at the Marriott Plaza Hotel.

I will be available in the afternoons after 6:30 PM and as time permits. For those of you who decide to tag along for dinner or otherwise, table topics are fairly open or if you are a prospective customers considering Dynamics GP and would like some insight, please feel free to drop by. Please email me in advance using the link on the right so I can keep a headcount.

Until next post!

MG.-
Mariano Gomez, MVP
IntellPartners, LLC
http://www.IntellPartners.com/

>Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010 R2 "Feature of the day" roundup

>Over at Inside Microsoft Dynamics GP, Pam Misialek has been posting feature after feature of the upcoming Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010 R2, letting you know why the enhancement is so darn cool and what you can expect to see when you get to it. So, with no further due, here is the roundup of features and enhancements covered by Pam over this week:

Feature of the Day: Business Intelligence Refresh
Feature of the Day: Drilldown from SQL Server Reporting Services Reports
Feature of the Day: New SQL Reporting Services Reports
Feature of the Day: Report Builder Integration
Feature of the Day: Report Builder Integration (Export)
Feature of the Day: SOP Return Word Templates
Feature of the Day: TFS Source Control Provider

It’s time to start familiarizing yourself with these features and enhancements. The next wave of Microsoft Dynamics GP products will bring a new spotlight to middle-market ERP products. Go catch the wave!

Until next post!

MG.-
Mariano Gomez, MVP
IntellPartners, LLC
http://www.IntellPartners.com/

>Corporate Performance Management Roadmap

>For those of you who were wondering what’s happening with Corporate Performance Management and Management Reporter, and the overall product roadmap, you would like to know that CPM has not gone unnoticed by Microsoft and plays a vital role in the overall Dynamics ERP direction.

Corporate Performance Management Roadmap

Some highlights of this direction include integration with AX, SL, and NAV to be delivered by the 2H of CY2011. If you have overseas operations and are in need for consolidated financials, you will also be glad to know that Management Reporter will be supporting currency translation from within Microsoft Dynamics GP. This is a shift from what FRx currently does with the FRx Currency Translator, which is built within FRx.

Management Reporter will also gain the ability to drill back into Dynamics GP — clap here! — a la FRx, with the added bonus of richer report viewing – translation: really cool looking reports! – and perhaps the most impressive of it all, integration to Intant Messenger and the ability to add comments to the reports themselves.

Perhaps, even more telling is Microsoft’s effort to move away from the cumbersome Forecaster (though, it will continue to be supported for some time) into a more strategic and operational budgeting tool. This will be something to watch for in the coming year and beyond.

Until next post!

MG.-
Mariano Gomez, MVP
IntellPartners, LLC
http://www.IntellPartners.com/