The Dynamics GP Blogster

I just got done with presentations at the yearly Microsoft Dynamics GP Technical Conference in Fargo, ND and had the privilege of delivering a session titled Leveraging your on-premises data with the Power Platform . During this session I presented a moderately complex sample application that leverages PowerApps AI Builder Form Processing to capture utility bills. These bills are submitted to the Microsoft Dynamics GP ERP application via a call to Microsoft Flow, which then invokes an eConnect API stored procedures to integrate these documents as Accounts Payable invoices. The Solution The solution leverages 3 AI Builder forms processing models for 3 distinct utility vendors. Each model contains 5 form fields, selected during the build process, after training the model with 5 documents. Each model was published and used to create a PowerApps application - the Fabrikam Utility Billing Center app. This canvas app, is capable of reading utility bills for each vendor...

Microsoft Dynamics GP users rejoice! If you were a part of the long list of users, partners, and ISVs scared by some imaginary deadline set (by Microsoft) for you to migrate from Dynamics GP and onto Dynamics 365 Business Central, it's now my pleasure to separate fact from fiction in this era of, well, fake news - at least in the Dynamics space. Microsoft has recently published the October '18 Business Applications Release Notes , a 239 page document describing all the upcoming features and functionality to be included with Dynamics 365 for Sales, Service, Marketing, Finance and Operations, Talent, Retail, and Social Engagement; the Power platform (Power BI, PowerApps, Microsoft Flow, Common Data Services), and Dynamics 365 Business Central. The words "Dynamics GP" appear 7 times in this document (including the table of content) and span from pages 117 through 133, explaining what is an imminent reality: Dynamics GP is now part of the Business Central plan, alth...

If you missed it, the Microsoft Dynamics GP Development team has delivered the July Hotfix for versions 2015, 2016, and 2018. What has me really excited are a number of features that were included in this release - I will skip the bug fixes as those are always welcome - as follow: Support for TWAIN drivers Why is this important? TWAIN is an API and a communications protocol that regulates communication between software applications and digital imaging devices, such as image scanners and digital cameras. As it turned out, this is EXACTLY what the Document Attach feature needed to overcome some reported compatibility issues with certain scanning devices - Dynamics GP only provided support for Windows Image Acquisition (WIA) protocol . For additional information on TWAIN, click here . Applies to GP 2016 and GP 2018. Web Client support for Non-US regional date settings For users with a regional setting date format other than MMDDYYYY, web client will now display the proper date ...

I finally managed to get to this video! Every so often I come across Community forum posts requesting instructions on how to replace an expired certificate being used with the Microsoft Dynamics GP web client. The traditional response has always been to uninstall and reinstall the web client after replacing the certificate in IIS (single-machine installation), or to repair the installation (custom install). I frankly find those two processes a bit cumbersome and prone to errors, since system administrators often need to remember steps and entries that they may not even have initiated themselves. The procedures I outline in this video make use of the netsh  command prompt utility to accomplish this and I intend to soon publish a PowerShell script that would automate the entire process altogether. For now, enjoy this video and don't forget to provide your feedback. Until next post, MG.- Mariano Gomez, MVP

Is not too often that you will hear me saying anything negative about my beloved Microsoft Dynamics GP, but it is quite disheartening, to say the least, to see Microsoft not addressing the industry move away from TLS 1.0 as it relates to Dynamics GP. Background TLS or Transport Layer Security protocol provides privacy and data integrity between applications wishing to exchange data. TLS ensures that the connection is private, because it uses symmetric keys to encrypt the data between the parties; the identity of the communicating parties can be authenticated via some public key; and the connection ensures some level of message integrity, because there's a message integrity check via a message authentication code. As you would expect, TLS 1.0, 1.1, 1.2, 1.3 (draft), etc., are simply, progressive implementations, albeit with substantial differences that in some cases preclude interoperability between versions, of the same protocol. What is key however to this discussion is the ...

Just today, I was trying to solve a problem that at first seemed very simple: I needed to duplicate a Microsoft Dexterity window on the same form. Background To provide some context, I have a Dexterity form which hosts a modal window that needs to be displayed in middle of a process - we will call this window, window B of form B. Form B implements an OpenWindow form script that serves as an API to any calling script. The OpenWindow scripts implements a parameter that allows the modal window to either wait for user input or continue processing automatically (that is, without user input), which in turn would close the modal window (and the form) upon completion of all processes executed by the OpenWindow script. To make matters more interesting, one of the callers happen to be a script on another modal window in another form - we will call this window, window A of form A. Now, when this code (and process) is performed from the Microsoft Dynamics GP desktop client, everything occurs...

Just recently I was assisting a partner on the Dynamics GP Partner forum with an error they were receiving when attempting to log into the Microsoft Dynamics GP web client. Summary The partner reported they could log into web client just fine from the SQL Server. However, when they launched web client from the Web Server that host the Dynamics GP web application, they received: HTTP Error 500.0 - Internal Server Error Now, this error is a pretty generic error. In addition to not being able to log in, the landing page would not display the Microsoft Dynamics GP logo. Troubleshooting the Issue The partner had tried the following troubleshooting techniques: Repaired Microsoft Dynamics GP web components Uninstalled and reinstalled web components Rebooted the server In addition, I recommended my article Microsoft Dynamics GP 2016 web client UI not displaying icons to ensure static content had been enabled during Internet Information Services (IIS) configuration. Typi...

Hi! As of late I have been seeing a number of questions on forums about deploying Microsoft Dynamics GP Web Client using Office 365 identity. So I figured I would take a deep dive look into this topic, by providing a bit of background and steps to achieve a successful deployment. What you need to know is, you have a range of options. Background Office 365 uses Azure Active Directory (Azure AD) cloud-based user authentication service to manage users. This service provides 3 identity models that can be used to manage user accounts: Cloud identity . In this scenario, accounts are managed in Office 365 only. All the administration is done in the cloud, requiring no on-premise servers to manage the accounts. Synchronized identity . In this particular case, your on-premise directory objects are synchronized with Office 365, with the bulk of the administration done from your on-premise server. Passwords can be synchronized such that users have the sam...

Just recently, I was working with the Microsoft Dynamics GP 2016 web client and, as is customary, I run my tests on Google Chrome and Microsoft Internet Explorer and Edge browsers. When I brought up the web client website on Internet Explorer and Edge, nothing out of the ordinary seem to happen and effectively, the address bar is squeaky clean, as shown below: Microsoft Edge address bar Internet Explorer address bar However, when you bring up the same site in Google Chrome, you are greeted with a site configuration warning and struck-out https prefix, as shown below Chrome address bar If you further click on the warning sign, you get additional information stating: "This site uses a weak security configuration (SHA-1 signatures), so your connection may not be private." The Details link is further more descriptive by opening the Chrome Security pane, where you get additional information stating the certificate expiration date is approaching soon and t...

Just today, I ran into a community forum post  requesting an answer on why Microsoft Dynamics GP 2016 web client UI does not display icons. Since I had ran into this same issue before, I though I would I create this article to address the topic. The Problem Most users reporting this issue, experience things like the images shown below, where the Microsoft Dynamics GP logo and upper left corner application splash image are missing. Microsoft Dynamics GP Sign In page (Sessions) Furthermore, if you are able to access the application, mind you, sometimes this is not possible due to static content restrictions, you may find that your navigation bar and other areas of the application are missing the respective icons. It is worth noting that in most cases, the missing icons do not negate the events of the buttons or objects they are associated with. The theory In web development, static content are files that don't change based on user input, and they consist of things l...

Microsoft reIMAGINE 2016 hosted by Dynamic Communities is now over, but I did not want to let this week go by without giving you an account of my experiences at the conference, which sure brought a lot of surprises to all the partners in attendance. Tuesday, September 20, 2016 Well Day 1 , was certainly jammed packed with activities for David and I. Today however, was more of a transition day, where I would get to attend a few sessions, along with presenting one of my own. I started out the day with Understanding Workflow and Document Attach , presented by Theresa Nistler , Senior Program Manager at Microsoft. Frankly, I neglected learning the initial versions of Workflow, but Dynamics GP 2016 certainly rocks and new and improved version of it, with easy configuration and a slick integration to the Document Attach feature, which I have implemented a few times. It was also good for me to attend this session, as I have a development project that involves integrating with Workflo...