Well, it’s been really long time since I had even opened my blog, though I do read the articles from across the Blogosphere.

Recently I was taking a technical training to one of a newly joined Consultant. I started with DYNAMICS.SET as it is the Launch File for Dynamics GP application. Apparently after the session, this Consultant started doing all sorts of R&D on the DYNAMICS.SET and several errors were encountered quite obviously.

So, what are all those errors and how one can tackle the same? The following are the list of errors that we will encounter with an erroneous DYNAMICS.SET file:

1. Data dictionary memory allocation error.

Pretty common error that we face. As soon as we launch GP we face this error message and GP does not open once you click on OK.

Reason #1: The “Number of Products” value, which is the first line in DYNAMICS.SET is more than the actual number of products listed.

Solution #1: Count the number of products listed in the DYNAMICS.SET and then edit the “Number of Products” value accordingly.

Reason #2: The total number of products listed in the DYNAMICS.SET file does not equal the total number of Path Lines (3 Lines per product; effectively total path lines divided by 3).

Solution #2: Check the path lines for which the Product is not listed. This is a bit difficult since we do not know all the customizations and the 3rd Party modules which are installed. In that case, the best option would be to copy the DYNAMICS.SET file from the server (or any machine which is a model for the GP Environment in the client’s place) on to the machine from which we face this error.

Reason #3: Some product may not have any one of the path line. For instance, Project Accounting product would not be having all three path lines (Business Logic, Forms & Reports Dictionary Paths).

Solution #3: Check out the SET file to find the exact product for which all three path lines are not available. Upon finding, we have to manually enter the lines.

2. Trigger registration Errors

When launching GP, trigger registration errors like the ones shown below are encountered:

Reason: A product’s dictionary paths (Business Logic, Forms & Reports Dictionary paths) are not found. The above shown errors will be thrown if the Project Accounting product’s paths are not found in the DYNAMICS.SET file. And not necessarily the errors are the same in all occasions. It depends on the product and the other products that are installed in that client machine.

Solution: Find whether the number of products listed and the number of paths (3 path lines per product) match. If not, try to add it manually or try to copy the DYNAMICS.SET file from the server on to the machine from where these errors are encountered.

3. This launch file is invalid.

When GP is launched the following message is thrown:

Reason #1: The keyword “Windows” in the DYNAMICS.SET file is missing.

Solution #1: Go to the last Product listed (with Product ID and Product Name) in the SET file and manually enter the keyword “Windows”.

UPDATE (9th Aug 2009)

Reason #2: The “Number of Products” value is missing.

Solution #2: Count the number of products (by counting the Product IDs) and enter the value in the first line. Just make sure that there is no empty line between this entry and the first Product ID & Name information.

While most of the times, an End User does not do any kind of R&D, unless he/she knows about GP and the DYNAMICS.SET file. It is the Consultant(s) who usually tamper the SET file when the development task is carried out.

Just in case, anyone have found these errors (other than Consultants/Developers), this article may act as a reference.

WORD OF CAUTION: Do not change anything in DYNAMICS.SET manually before taking a copy of it. It may prove costly at times and it may drink the precious time of a Consultant / End User to try rectifying it.

VAIDY