I am sure this would be useful to all those who would like to read all important GP articles from our GP Blogosphere.

Do expect effectively two articles in a week on my blog, which will lead you to all the GP articles, briefing on each article and a short explanation on what I perceived from those articles.

Vaidy

Very hard lesson, indeed. Mark gives us a very harsh reality to know and stresses the importance of taking a working backup of GP Data.

Yeah, it is not just taking a backup. It is also imperative to confirm the backup set, that we have taken, actually works. Read his article: Backup, Backup, Backup.

Please remember: Taking Backup Set of GP Data is very very important. Even more important is to test it whether it is safe and working.

Vaidy

The short and informative series gets completed with the second article from Mariano.

The approach explained in the first article on this series, How to roll down SOP’s Requested Ship Date … Part I, is a SQL trigger which will do the trick whenever we enter a Requested Ship Date in the SOP Date Expansion Form.

The approach explained in the second article on this series, How to roll down SOP’s Requested Ship Date … Part II, is a combination of VBA and SQL Procedure. It also stresses the advantages in using a VBA based Customization.

This is just another simple and good example of how we can utilize the technical flexibility that GP provides.

Take a look at these articles, sure it will add our skills.

Vaidy

This eConnect error was a menace couple of weeks back for me and the team. The team had installed eConnect on GP Server and the runtime on one of the client machine. We somehow got convinced that we followed the correct procedures.

When we started using the web application, which calls eConnect API for certain integration, we received this error message:



We tried all possible steps and searched for a solution on the GP forums.

This is what we finally got to know, on our own: This error will be thrown, if we do not have the same version on both GP Server and Workstations/Web Server.

For instance, if the GP server eConnect version is 9.0.4.0, then the same version should be installed on Workstations/Web Server. In our case, it was this mismatch: 9.0.4.0 on GP Server Vs 9.0.2.0 on Web Server. The point I wanted to stress is: It is not just the Major Version Number that is critical. It is very critical to have the same Minor Version Number and also the subsequent numbers.

This is not the only reason for this error. There is one more reason for this error: If there is NO eConnect RUNTIME installed on Workstations/Web Server.

So if anyone face this error message, make sure that:
1. You have installed eConnect Runtime on Workstations/Web Server.
2. You have installed the same version on both ends.

Vaidy

I could read this article only today. This article is of tremendous value for us. We don’t get to see such articles always, which explain the concepts with such simplicity and completeness and makes sure that it enhances our knowledge.

I would recommend everyone to read Victoria‘s article, Payables Return Transactions in Dynamics GP.

Vaidy

This one is quite interesting. This could be something very trivial, but I would like to share this information.

I added a Checkbox on a Smartlist lookup using Modifier. Two functionalities with respect to this new checkbox:

1. This option should be selected by Default when we open the lookup.
2. Based on this value (selected/de-selected), the records should be refilled on the scrolling grid.

I was able to achieve the second one, by adding my code inside the validation in VBA:

If <WindowName>.<Checkbox>.Value = True Then
{My Code}
Else
{My Code}
End if

But for the first one, I tried the statement:

<WindowName>.<CheckBox>.Value = True

This never worked. I was quite confused, since the same statement worked on a validation but NOT WORKED on assignment. I checked back the VBA Manual and found that, for checkboxes we need to use either a number 1 (Select) or number 0 (De-select). So ideally, my statement should have been:

<WindowName>.<CheckBox>.Value = 1

Well, that did the trick and below is the conclusion:

To check whether a Checkbox is selected or not, you can write a code to check whether the value of that Checkbox is TRUE or FALSE. But, to select or de-select a Checkbox programmatically, you must assign either a number 1 or a number 0.

Vaidy

Wishes to all GP Community…

From 2008: Let’s celebrate all successful moments, learn from all mistakes and cherish all Happier Moments…

In 2009: Let’s dream and realize Success on all our steps, strive to and be the most Happiest Human…

WISH YOU ALL A HAPPY AND PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR 2009

Vaidy

This is very good article on How to Access Form Menu from Global Scripts, from Patrick Roth, on Developing for Dynamics GP blog.

I have done exactly the same with VBA and Continuum API (My Article: SOP Entry – Defaulting Add Item Menu Option), but that was sort of a wrokaround and not as good as this method in DEX. This is an important article for all Dex Developers. Also make sure that you read Mariano’s query and Patrick’s reply (as comments to this article). That’s added information.

Thanks Patrick to share with us such a precious information.

Vaidy

It is a real pleasure to work on VBA Customizations. I just completed one such customization for a client, and believe me, it was fun and effective to achieve it.

One of the clients, asked for a criteria to be added on a Smartlist lookup. They wanted to filter records based on a value which is not provided in the standard GP/Smartlist lookup. We can still setup the Smartlist Favorite to do this, but they did not want it as everytime we open the lookup, we need to go and manually select that criteria from the Smartlist Header menu.

This had to be achieved by adding a Check Box for that criteria and upon selecting, the records should be filtered accordingly. Well, I first thought I would write some Dex triggers or some coding with Dex. But then, I finally decided to go for VBA and give it a try.

VBA did the trick, that too less than 75% of the estimated time. It’s efficient, ease-of-use, maintainable and what not? It does have limitations, I completely agree, but if you need a fast solution for simple & critical requirements, you can certainly bet on VBA.

I have started loving this brilliant tool. Mariano had rightly said in one of his articles about VBA and its efficiency. I am experiencing it now.

Vaidy

This is a very important article from Mark. He points out a very critical behavior in Extender. Do read his article to know it better and always remember what he has pointed out while using Extender Windows: Deleting Extender Window Deletes Data As Well.

Let me add some more of them (yeah I do say that as Limitations and NOT Flaws, because we don’t know whether these are overlooked knowingly):

1. I create an Extender Window and records are being entered. And we need to add another field as “Key Field” to that window. And if we do this, the records which are already been entered will become Orphan Records (often called Stranded Records). These records are not automatically amended with the new set of “Key Fields”. Instead, what we see after the “Key Fields” amendment, is a new record on screen and the table as well.

2. When I delete a parent record, the Extender record does not get deleted automatically. Of course, GP tables do not have the Parent Child relationships defined, but this could have been handled by some Dex triggers or even a DB trigger. And that puts me on a fix. As an End User, I am not bothered about what data is stored in which table and whether it still exists when I delete a parent record, but as a Technical guy, I should be bothered, as this is a bad design to keep a stranded record. I hope you all would agree.

3. When I add a Key Field, it automatically sorts it based on the Field Name, which I feel is really frustrating. For instance, I want my Key Fields to be “Customer ID”, “Customer Number”, “Address Code” and once I add these fields on the Key Fields area, these will be automatically sorted as “Address Code”, “Customer ID”, “Customer Number”.

There are more like these small issues. I would like to see the feedback from others to know these things better.

Vaidy