Dropping Timestamps from SQL Server and Text File Data Sources in Integration Manager

As promissed, the following post deals with managing those rogued timestamps in SQL Server and text file data sources. This problem, contrary to what anyone would think, is very common among Integration Manager developers and has haunted newsgroups and message boards with questions on how to effect such conversions. I have devised two methods that are effective in removing timestamps from data sources. The first method deals with the problem at its source -- the source query. The second method utilizes VBScript to remove the timestamp.

SQL Server Query Method (Source Query)

To drop a timestamp from a SQL Server data source, you will need to setup a simple ODBC or advance ODBC data source. The query will have to make use of the SQL Server convert function to remove the timestamp from the datetime field as follows:

select field1, field2,..., convert(datetime, convert(char(15), thedatefield, 101)) as newdatefield from your_table where your_condition

Note the dual conversion, from date to char and back to a datetime expression.

VBScipt Method (Date Field Script)

In order to apply this method, you will need to open the script editor for the date field and enter the following script:

tDate = SourceFields("SourceQuery.thedatefield")
newDateField = right("00" & Month(tDate), 2) & "/" & right("00" &_
Day(tDate), 2) & "/" & year(tDate)
CurrentField.Value = newDateField

The neatness of this script rely on the ability to set the dows (leading zeroes) in front of the month and day values without extending the script beyond 3 lines.

Hope you liked these two simple, yet useful methods of dropping timestamps from data sources.

Until next post!

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

Comments

Anonymous said…
Helpful post. What I've been doing is pulling the source text file into excel, changing the format to mm/dd/yy, then saving the file still in text format.
May 13, 2008 at 4:19 PM
Mariano Gomez said…
Anonymous,
What you have been doing is not uncommon. I am glad I provided you with tools to improve your work.
May 16, 2008 at 10:03 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

DBMS: 12 Microsoft Dynamics GP: 0 error when updating to Microsoft Dynamics GP 2013 R2

Image
Hello all! It's been quite a while since I've actually written anything of remote interest to anyone who follows my blog, but at the same time, you will be pleased to know that I've been quite busy in the consulting front, with upgrades, server migrations, complex multi-instance postings involving 10's of thousands of transactions, wrapping up some Field Service Automation projects, and the list goes on and on. This time around I want to bring to the forefront, an issue I encountered updating  from Microsoft Dynamics GP 2013 SP2 to Microsoft Dynamics GP 2013 R2 plus the latest service pack. Background My client requested a server migration to a new environment where they wanted to deploy Dynamics GP 2013 R2 web client (plus the latest service pack) and upgrade their relational database management system to Microsoft SQL Server 2014. This is something I'm absolutely comfortable with (for the most part) given also that my client was sitting at Microsoft Dynamics...
Read more

Do I have to use those "Z-" currency IDs in GP?

Image
I know this seems like a trivia question, but recently I have come across a number of clients who have been using Microsoft Dynamics GP for a number of years and have been told by their former partners that they *must* use the predefined currency IDs created after adding the sample company, with no real explanation to support these claims. Case in point, my new client in Saudi Arabia, has been struggling for years to understand why they were told to prefix all currency IDs with the "Z-". So they went ahead and setup "Z-SR" for the Saudi Real. If you are familiar with Microsoft Dynamics GP and the sample company, Fabrikam, you may have noticed by now that after adding the sample company (which is not a requirement by any means), you will get a number of predefined currencies such as Z-US$ (US Dollars), Z-UK (British Pounds), Z-C$ (Canadian Dollars), Z-AUD (Australian Dollars), and so forth, accompanied by a number of exchange rate tables. If you are not familiar wi...
Read more

Microsoft Dynamics GP Scrolling Windows and Line Sequence Numbers

Image
I thought I would write about something meaningless that no one really thinks about. However, I realized that this is a compelling topic since it makes for some interesting discussion around the ability to insert line items withinin most transaction scrolling windows. Let’s take some time to understand where Line Sequence Numbers come from. A Line Sequence Number is auto generated by Dynamics GP and uses a seed value of 16,384 as a basis for the first line. Each subsequent line in the scrolling window is incremented by this number, so line number 2 would have a Line Sequence Number value of 32,768, line number 3 would have Line Sequence Number Value of 49,152, and so on. Since most GP transaction entry scrolling windows allow inserting rows in between line items, the newly inserted Line Sequence Number value is calculated as an average between the previous and the next line item sequences, i.e., if you were to insert an item in between row 1 and row 2 in the scrolling window -- keep in...
Read more