The Dynamics GP Blogster

It's a gloomy and rainy day in Atlanta, so I figured I could do something productive while under lockdown. I currently run Microsoft Dynamics GP build number is 10.00.1193 -- service pack 3, which was installed using the Feature Pack 1 DVD image available on CustomerSource and PartnerSource under the Product Release section. This build installs the Dexterity dictionary 10.0.320. Before beginning the installation of SP4, I created a backup copy of my current GP installation folder just in case I needed to revert to it, and of course, backed up all forms, reports, and VBA projects, and my DYNAMICS and company databases. I also backed up the registry key corresponding to the GP installation, HKLM > Software > Microsoft > Business Solutions > Great Plains . The upgrade operation began by launching the Service Pack 4 msp installation file. After 5 minutes of the "10.0 is being configured on your computer" process, the installation script began "Gatherting requ...

A few months aback I announced the availability of The Dynamics GP Blogster blog site on Amazon's Kindle . However, did you know you can follow me on other social media networks as well? Follow me on Facebook Follow me on Twitter Follow me on the Microsoft Dynamics Community website Follow me on LinkedIn Whatever Social Networking tool you use, be sure to keep up with the latest Microsoft Dynamics GP articles from yours truly, The Dynamics GP Blogster. Until next post! MG.- Mariano Gomez, MVP Maximum Global Business, LLC http://www.maximumglobalbusiness.com/

As many of you may (or may not) know Dexterity had its origins in the days of the 8.3 file length limitation, imposed by the FAT file system found in the early versions of Windows -- for more information, see the article Understanding how Microsoft Dynamics GP works with Microsoft SQL Server by David Musgrave over at Developing for Dynamics GP -- This limitation reflected on the names of the physical files supported by the ISAM file servers at the time, FairCom (Ctree) and Btrieve. The physical name constraints carried over to Microsoft SQL Server table naming convention, leaving tables with what a new bread of database administrators, systems administrators, and developers have denominated "cryptic names". The fact is, reworking table physical names to support SQL Server would have been quite an expensive task, so the decision was made to continue with these names. Nonetheless, Dexterity was enhanced to allow long physical table names, but this option needs to be activate...

The highly anticipated Microsoft Dynamics GP v10 Service Pack 4 is hot out of the oven! Service Pack 4 had been expected by the end of this week, but the development and tesing teams worked around the clock to beat the deadline. Service Pack 4 addresses a number of issues and delivers new features, such as International ACH Transactions (IAT) and Extender enhancement capabilities for forms and detail forms. Extender Forms Enhancements Create new data entry forms for master files and transactions Create SmartLists for each new form Add Note windows and Note List windows Create conditional and calculated fields Use lookups to link to any Microsoft Dynamics GP or third party table Generate the next master ID numbers automatically Add up to 50 extra windows for each form Open associated applications from files Use templates to default fields and increase data entry speed Create multicurrency forms Create views Import data into forms Extender Detail Forms Enhancements Create scrolling wind...

For those of you awaiting key EFT enhancements in Microsoft Dynamics GP, here is a bit of news published back in July -- a bit late, but still worth sharing. The National Automated Clearing House Association (NACHA) and Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) have published new specifications for International ACH Transactions (IAT). As of September 18, 2009 the new IAT code will need to be in place that requires participants to identify international transitions and to code these transactions as IAT transactions. Additional information regarding the specification can be found at http://www.nacha.org/IAT_Industry_Information/ Microsoft Dynamics GP 10 will support the new International ACH Transaction (IAT) ACH format changes with the release of Microsoft Dynamics GP 10 service pack 4. The electronic file transfer (EFT) formats will be changed for Microsoft Dynamics GP Payables and Receivables modules. Note: The Royal Bank of Canada file format specification changes will also be include...

The dates are in! Microsoft Dynamics GP Technical Conference 2009 will be hosted in Fargo, North Dakota from November 9 through November 11. The Technical Conference is geared towards Microsoft Dynamics GP developers, implementers, and technical resources in general. In addition, David Musgrave is working through Microsoft to have me as a co-presenter of two of his sessions. If no arrangements are made, I still will be attending the Conference and the sessions where I expect to meet a good number of you. The sessions being presented by David are as follow: Customizing the Microsoft Dynamics GP Client with Visual Studio Tools, Dexterity and Modifier with VBA . Get an in-depth analysis of the various client-side customization tools for Microsoft Dynamics GP, including Modifier with Visual Basic for Applications, Dexterity, and Visual Studio Tools for Microsoft Dynamics GP. This session will help you understand how each of the tools can be used to create user-interface customizations as...

Well, I had been absent (more like out of ideas) from writing any new VBA articles. The truth is, they are hard to come by without giving away too many secrets. :-) However, this one is worth giving away as I have seen many users request this feature to speed up data entry and processing. Take for example the Purchase Order Entry window. Won't you just like the ability to press some combination of keys on your keyboard to quickly access the Vendor Detail Entry window where you can quickly change around shipping methods, or other information needed? Well this example shows just that, but can be used to add shortcuts to any other button control in any other Dynamics GP window. The solution is simple: 1) Add a pixel size button to the window with Modifier. 2) Caption the button. Buttons can have captions preceeded with the ampersand ("&") character, which in turn acts like a shortcut when used in combination with the Alt key on the keyboard. As a personal choice, I ca...

Having a tough time correlating the Last Tax Update date with the actual Payroll Tax Round number released by Microsoft? Setup > System > Payroll > Payroll Tax Sweat it no more! The following is a list of payroll tax round numbers with their corresponding dates: Round 7 - Last Tax Update 7/3/2009 Round 6 - Last Tax Update 6/22/2009 Round 5 - Last Tax Update 4/27/2009 Round 4 - Last Tax Update 3/23/2009 Round 3 - Last Tax update 2/26/2009 Round 2 - Last Tax Update 1/21/2009 Round 1 - Last Tax Update 12/19/2008 Remember, you can always use the automated tax update feature in Microsoft Dynamics GP to get the latest tax updates. 1) Go to MSDGP > Maintenance > US Payroll Updates > Check for Tax Updates, and choose the Automatic update mode from the wizard. 2) Enter your company Authorization Number (usually your main phone number) to continue. Click on the Log in button to continue. Dynamics GP will then download the latest tax update and apply the latest fixes required...

Ok, so this is not currently possible [Ed: with version 10.0. This functionality was previously available with IM version 9] , but won't it be great if it were? :-)) This question came up in the Dynamics GP Developers' newsgroup just a couple days aback and while the developer was sure of seing this at one of his clients, I assured him that Integration Manager did not have the capability of color coding the script, which is very standard stuff in other script editors and development environments, take for example Dynamics GP VBA code editor. The above image is simulated and not an actual capability of Integration Manager Nonetheless, I explained to the developer that I use other tools like VbsEdit to provide script color coding and some debugging capabilities. Except for native Integration Manager objects, VbsEdit is capable of color coding keywords, numbers, strings, etc., and provide line numbering which facilitates code readability and troubleshooting. Did I mention the a...

If your organization happens to be PCI-compliant you are already too familiar with the data encryption requirements imposed by the financial institutions you currently deal with. As part of your certification and compliance process, you probably had to find a way to encrypt customer and credit card data traveling between your organization and the credit card processor. This means you had to enable SSL encryption on your servers all the while obtaining a certificate issued by a certificate authority. But what about your customer data traveling between your SQL Server and your Microsoft Dynamics GP client, and viceversa. Here are three methods to encrypt Dynamics GP data traveling over the network: 1) You can enable strong data encryption at the DSN level if using a Microsoft SQL Server Native Client DSN to connect to your Dynamics GP databases on a Microsoft SQL Server 2005 or Microsoft SQL Server 2008 database server. To enable encryption, check the Use Strong Data Encryption option ...

A few months aback, I blogged about a case where the Microsoft Dynamics GP toolbar menu would reorganized itself erratically even with the Lock Toolbar option activated. Back then, I alluded to the Script Debugging Tool being activated via the DEX.INI. Since then, I have also found that this may (or may not) be the case when returning from Modifier or Report Writer. If you do happen to experience this issue and do not use the Script Debugging Tool, you can run the following T-SQL script in SQL Server Management Studio to correct the problem: USE DYNAMICS; GO UPDATE SY07121 SET Visible = 0, ROWNMBR = 1, RowSequence = 1 WHERE CmdBarDictID = 3830 AND CmdBarFormID = 22006 AND CmdBarWindowID = 22003 AND USERID '' UPDATE SY07121 SET Visible = 1, ROWNMBR = 1, RowSequence = 4 WHERE CmdBarDictID = 0 AND CmdBarFormID = 1568 AND CmdBarWindowID = 294 AND USERID '' UPDATE SY07121 SET Visible = 1, ROWNMBR = 1, RowSequence = 3 WHERE CmdBarDictID = ...

It's official! A few days aback, I announced that Microsoft Dynamics GP v10 compatibility with Windows 7 and Windows 2008 was going to be made formal with the public availability of the RTM versions of Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 - click here for the article. Apparently, the Product Management team could not wait anymore and have decided to go public with the announcement. If you go to v10's System Requirements page ( CustomerSource , PartnerSource ) you will now see that Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 are now a part of the client and server operating systems' compatibility list, respectively -- see pictures below. The good news? You will not be required to install any new service packs or hotfixes! On the otherside, as mentioned in my previous post, v9 will remain compatible with the current OS platforms with no announcements made to support Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2. Word of caution : before planning to upgrade to Windows 7 and/or Window Server...

Well, getting back on track with our series, today I will show you how to add the toolbar and status bar button controls in addition to adding the code that will allow our WinForm to be displayed as an menu option under the Additional menu on the Customer Maintenance window. 1) In the Toolbox window, choose Button 2) Click on the toolbar area of the window to place the button control. Then change the properties as indicated in the picture below: Note that the ButtonType on dexButtonProvider property is implemented as part of the Microsoft Dexterity Shell assembly ( Microsoft.Dexterity.Shell.dll ). Also, note that when I set the value to ToolbarWithSeparator the button immediately acquired the "look and field" of a typical Dexterity toolbar button. 3) Now, let's add the image to the Ok button. To do this, we can click on the image property and select the picture resource that best suit our needs: In this case, I selected the Toolbar_Post image in the Resources file. Now,...

I get asked almost on a daily basis what is Support Debugging Tool and how to get a hold of it. In addition, many partners have not ventured into using the tool at their customers, because they are unsure of the installation process, the footprint, or unaware that it's a free tool. Now, David Musgrave over at Developing for Dynamics GP has channeled all those inquiries into a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) article . If you are a customer and want to take advantage of Support Debugging Tool, but you are unsure how to obtain it, this article is just right for you. If you are a partner trying to become familiar with the tool and the installation process, this article is also right for you. If you are not using Support Debugging Tool, you are definitely making your support and troubleshooting efforts much more difficult than they should be. Related Articles For all Support Debugging Tool articles over at Developing for Dynamics GP, click here . For all SDT related articles on this...

The good news: Microsoft Dynamics GP v10 is now compatible with Windows 7, the bad news: Microsoft Dynamics GP v9 is not! The Dynamics GP Product Management & Marketing team has announced it on their blog , however, the official stand on the System Requirements page on CustomerSource and PartnerSource won't be until the Windows 7 RTM version is publicly available on October 22. For those of you awaiting compatibility with Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2, the Additional Information page also makes it clear that compatibility can be expected with the RTM version. However, this may be interpreted as testing has also been completed on the server operating system as well, but the team will hold off until the official RTM version is released. I am not surprised if some of the delays on v10 Service Pack 4 obey to assuring compatibility with Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2. After all, why release a Service Pack to then have to release a hotfix. Until next post! MG.- Mariano Gome...

Just recently on the Dynamics GP Partner forum , my friend Japheth Nolt reported that some workstations at one of his clients would not display the warning dialog " It's 12:00 a.m. Would you like the user date to change to ...? " after the system clock crossed the 11:59:59 PM barrier, and that this issue would cause some users to enter transactions with the wrong date. After all, transaction windows in GP default with the user date, not the system date. Japheth had already inspected the DEX.INI looking for the SuppressChangeDateDialog , making sure the key was not set to True. This setting prevents the user date rollover message from being displayed and was designed to prevent integrations running around mid night from failing in response to the warning dialog. In addition, there were no macros running around the mid night timeframe either. When a macro fires up, all timed events crossing paths with the executing macro are re-queued by the runtime engine. The first step ...