The Dynamics GP Blogster

Welcome to another edition of From the Newsgroups . In this installment we will look at a question posted in the Partner Online Technical Community newsgroup. The partner needed to know if it was possible to configure Microsoft Dynamics GP Business Alerts to submit posting errors to application adminstrators when using an auto-posting tool. Q : Is it possible to setup a GP Business Alert to notify someone when a scheduled SOP batch (or any other GP batch) fails to post? The background to this is we are using MC2 GP Agent module to autopost the imported SOP invoice batches. This will happen many times a day. To avoid the need for a person monitoring the automated posting process, we want an alert to be generated when the posting process fails. The response comes courtesy of Dave Bader , Moderator of the Partner Online Technical Community, enhanced by me with pictures to facilitate the explanation. I have been looking at the SY00500 which is the Posting Definitions Master and I have an o...

If your organization is considering upgrading to Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 and relies on SQL Mail to generate Business Alerts notifications for Microsoft Dynamics GP, then this is for you. With the introduction of Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 , a number of database features will be deprecated, this is, the feature will not be available in a future release of SQL Server -- SQL Mail being one of them. You can find the complete list of features that will be deprecated here: Deprecated Database Features in SQL Server 2008 R2 A couple things about SQL Mail : 1. SQL Mail runs in-process to SQL Server service. The issue here was, if SQL Mail crashed so did your SQL Server. Certainly, not an optimal situation in a production environment. 2. Using SQL Mail requires installing an extended MAPI client component on your server. Most of you would have typically resorted to install Microsoft Outlook to overcome this situation, as without a MAPI client SQL Mail would not run. So here comes Data...

For the second year in a row, I have been selected as one of the Microsoft Dynamics Top 100 Most Influential People for 2010 by the folks over at DynamicsWorld in the United Kingdom. I have to say that this award is given based on your nominations and consequent votes on the nominations, so to all of you who participated in the process and voting a big Thank You! Your votes have placed me in position #31 in the list, a superb move up the list from last year's #82 . I happen to share this honor with an extraordinary group of professionals: MVP Mark Polino (#28), MVP Victoria Yudin (#51), Jordanian MVP Mohammad R. Daoud (#44), former MVP Richard Whaley (#91), and partner in crime Microsoft's David Musgrave (#78). For the complete list, click here . Until next post! MG.- Mariano Gomez, MVP, MCP, PMP, MIS Maximum Global Business, LLC http://www.maximumglobalbusiness.com

Just recently, I came across a question from a partner asking if it was possible to have the scrolling window on a lookup form open in expanded mode, this is, showing information in detail. Traditionally, lookup windows in Microsoft Dynamics GP have always opened showing summary information, take for example the Item Lookup window shown below. The partner wanted to see the window as shown below when first opened. Note that the scrolling window displays the additional fields added to the big line. This is accomplished by clicking on the switch arrow button that expands the scrolling window. Of course, this is possible. The following VBA code can be used to open a Dexterity scrolling window in expanded mode by using pass-through Dexterity to set the switch value and run the expand window Dexterity statement. Window_BeforeOpen() Private Sub Window_BeforeOpen(OpenVisible As Boolean) Dim CompilerApp As Object Dim CompilerMessage As String Dim CompilerError As Integer Dim C...

It is just about right that I start out this article with the definition of Urban Legend . According to Wikipedia , " An urban legend, urban myth, urban tale, or a contemporary legend, is a form of modern folklore consisting of apocryphal stories believed by their tellers to be true. As with all folklore and mythology, the designation suggests nothing about the story's factuality or falsehood, but merely that it is in non-institutional circulation, exhibits variation over time, and carries some significance that motivates the community in preserving and propagating it. " The definition seems just about right for what you will read next. If you are the type who believes everything you read without questioning it, then for your own sake, please stay off the Internet ! Rumors -- as they can only be referred to -- began circulating today on claims of someone cracking the Microsoft Dynamics GP user password encryption algorithm -- if you are interested in the original article,...

I have had the fortune to work on a very challenging Microsoft Dynamics CRM and Microsoft Dynamics GP multi-system integration for the past 3 months, requiring lots of custom code to manage above and beyond the common interfaces that can be had with some of the tools available in today's market. Of course, one of the main challenges has been for the folks building the reports. So today I start a series of quick and easy queries showing how to obtain data from both Microsoft Dynamics CRM and GP, that hopefully will help you build some quick reports, but also begin to find similarities between the two products. Today features the Product catalog from CRM and the Item Master from GP. select a.ProductNumber, a.ProductId, a.Name, b.ITEMTYPE, b.STNDCOST, b.CURRCOST, b.ITMCLSCD from ProductBase a inner join IV00101 b on (a.ProductNumber = b.ITEMNMBR) If you have custom fields in CRM for your Product, you can use the following query to tie these in. select a.ProductNumber, a.ProductId, ...

In another edition of From the Newsgroups we explore an issue found in Microsoft Dynamics GP 10.0 on 64-bit Windows Server 2008 or Windows Server 2008 R2. This issue was discovered as a result of a recent migration from Windows Server 2003 to Windows Server 2008. Q: Regarding the map icon in GP10 - for example, where you can open a map of a customer's address in MapPoint or in Bing Maps... My customer has just deployed new 64 bit Windows 2008 servers on their Citrix farm to replace the existing 32 bit Windows 2003 servers. I've migrated GP10 (SP4) over to the new servers, however the map icon is no longer visible. Also if I go to User Preferences, the drop-down list at the bottom is grayed out (usually allows you to specify whether to display maps in MapPoint or MapPoint Web). Anyone come across this? Is [this] not compatible with 64 bit machines or Windows [Server] 2008? The answer given to this question by David Musgrave , Escallation Engineer at Microsoft will surprise you...

I woke up this morning thinking to myself Decisions 2010 Spring Conference would be "just another webinar" . When I logged on to the Conference site I was confronted with a true virtual conference environment with expo halls, booths, and even a lounge where you could "hang out" and chat with other users. The idea of being able to go to the different virtual spaces was amazing to say the least. The application platform was simply breath taking. I then decided to take a tour through the different exhibit halls. I quickly rushed into the East Exhibit Hall where I "came across" the folks of Accellos , FastPath , and Flexible Solutions . One thing to note about the virtual expo environments, is the background sound of people transiting around the expo and talking, conveying the sense of activity. I stopped over at the Flexible Solutions booth where I chatted with MVP Victoria Yudin and Mickie Stamm . The team seemed a bit busy, so I left after 5 minutes to v...

Ok, so you missed Microsoft Dynamics Convergence 2010 ... as hard as that it is to believe, I do understand. But what's your excuse for not attending Decisions Spring 2010 ? May 19 - 20, MSDynamicsWorld launches the largest, free online conference for anyone who owns (or leases, or borrows) a computer with access to the Internet and wishing to learn something about Microsoft Dynamics... yes, not only GP, but also all the other products. You will also have a chance to listen to some of the well known names in the community: MVP Mark Polino , MVP Frank Hamelly , and yes, me! Now, just click on the picture to the left to register. This is not just another webinar, it's a fully fledge online interactive experience, with virtual booths and sponsors. Please register and attend our sessions. Until next post! MG.- Mariano Gomez, MVP Maximum Global Business, LLC http://www.maximumglobalbusiness.com/

"Personally, I believe this transition is the best outcome for the Microsoft Dynamics GP community in general..." My new MSDynamicsWorld article is out! Since I featured the article on the newsgroups being phased out on this blog, I have received numerous inquiries on the subject, so I just decided to expand on the article over at MSDynamicsWorld. Please be sure to read the follow up here . MG.- Mariano Gomez, MVP Maximum Global Business, LLC http://www.maximumglobalbusiness.com/

Ok, so why the journalistic type nature of this article? Well, if like many users out there you tend to export tens of thousands of records out of Microsoft Dynamics GP using SmartList and you complain about the export's performance, then I guarantee you will want to read Patrick Roth's new article Smartlist: Exports slowly to Excel - Part 1 . In his article, Patrick details an undocumented DEX.INI setting that changes the way records are exported from SmartList into Microsoft Office Excel. The feature was added since release 10 and remains active in release 2010. SmartlistEnhancedExcelExport=TRUE Patrick further explains the feature trades formatting for performance, so if you are an Excel wizz just looking to get data out so you can do the rest on your own, then this switch is for you. The DEX.INI is the Microsoft Dynamics GP defaults file containing setup and operating information about Microsoft Dynamics GP. Each line of information, or setting, in the file contains inform...

Eager to upgrade to Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010? Then this is for you! The following is the upgrade path from previous releases of Microsoft Dynamics GP. I am sure this list will be updated from time to time so keep checking back this blog for more information: Update Paths Updating From Patch Requirement for the 2010 Update Notes 9.00.0371 (Hotfix KB 971017) Any Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010 patch can be installed prior to updating 9.00.0372 (Hotfix KB 975177 & KB 977781) Any Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010 patch can be installed prior to updating 9.00.0374 (Hotfix KB 978730) Any Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010 patch can be installed prior to updating 9.00.0375 (Hotfix KB 980030) Any Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010 patch can be installed prior to updating 10.00.1368 (Service Pack 4 - KB 971808) Any Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010 patch can be installed prior to updating 10.00.1400 (Hotfix KB 975174 & KB 977783) Any Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010 patch can be installed prior to updating 10.00.1411 (Hotf...

Prior to the Microsoft Dynamics GP Convergence 2010 event, I had been hard at work with my good friend David Musgrave , working on couple Live Meeting pre-recordings corresponding to the two sessions we co-presented at the Microsoft Dynamics GP Technical Conference 2009 . Now, these two Live Meetings have been made available to the partner community along with a number of other sessions presented at the Tech Conference, updated for Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010 . Visit the following link to access all the presentations: Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010 Technical Web Seminars ( PartnerSource ) If you attended the Tech Conference, you may remember that David and I co-presented the following two sessions: Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010: Customizing the Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010 Client with Visual Studio Tools, Dexterity and Modifier with VBA ( Microsoft Partner Learning Center ) Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010: Troubleshooting Your Developed Solution ( Microsoft Partner Learning Center ) Please be sure ...

I could not help to see a post that was circulating yesterday on the microsoft.public.greatplains and the microsoft.public.dynamics.gp.developer announcing the discontinuation of the decade old public newsgroups. While the transition off the old Microsoft Exchange-based platform is not expected to be until the end of May, clearly the intent is to get it done sooner than later. For example, today the service was down the entire day. In addition, the broadcast to the Google newsgroup appears to have (at least for now) been suspended. I will personally say that this is the best that could have happened to the Microsoft Dynamics GP community in general - though I am a bit sadden to see them go away, since they are the main reason I was awarded my MVP status. The transition of the newsgroups to the more robust forum-style Community platform should benefit both users and partners alike. The newgroup transition will also bring some much needed consolidation. I am really tired of having to...

Folks, it's been almost a full week since the official general availability date of Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010 . I wanted to collect your first impressions on this major product release and have consequently opened a discussion on The Dynamics GP Blogster Facebook page. Please stop by and join in with your experiences. If you haven't had a chance to review Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010, don't worry, you are also welcome to drop a note and let all followers know of your plans moving forward. Until next post! MG.- Mariano Gomez, MVP Maximum Global Business, LLC http://www.maximumglobalbusiness.com/

Folks, as a member of the TAP program, I had been test driving Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010 since January, however this is truly an exciting time to be a part of the Microsoft Dynamics GP community overall. Microsoft has made the links to Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010 available to the general public. That's it! You can go ahead and download the RTM version and begin planning your upgrades. Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010 - PartnerSource download Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010 - CustomerSource download According to Microsoft , registration keys are being updated for customers and partners and may take up to 24 hours to have all the keys available. Be sure to check the new hardware requirements for each product listed below as they have changed. Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010 System Requirements Web Application System Requirements Until next post! MG.- Mariano Gomez, MVP Maximum Global Business, LLC http://www.maximumglobalbusiness.com/

Admit it... you enjoyed " 50 Tips in 50 Minutes " and got a kick out of " 50 MORE Tips in 50 Minutes " at Microsoft Dynamics Convergence 2010 , you even walked up to the guy to congratulate him for a job well done, then why not buy the book now? You've read correctly. MVP Mark Polino , in yet another great move releases his first book, Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010 Cookbook . The book is currently available for preorder from Pack Publishers and you better secure one of them from now. If the book is as good as the sessions, then you outta know they won't lost long once released. PS. My book is currently undergoing review for the latest release of Microsoft Dynamics GP and won't be available until the September timeframe. Until next post! MG.- Mariano Gomez, MVP Maximum Global Business, LLC http://www.maximumglobalbusiness.com/