The Dynamics GP Blogster

Wow! 2010 is on its way out and this mark the second year I have the opportunity to publish a list of the best articles I wrote this year. The Best of 2009 was a hit, so let's give this year's a chance: 1. Using Business Alerts with Extender Tables (Jan 12) - This one came straight out of the newsgroups with Microsoft's Dawn Langlie providing a neat solution. 2.  Autogenerating Customer IDs  (Feb 28). Many of you seemed to have found this one very useful for whaterver projects you were working on. Up to today I still receive offline notes of thank you! for this script. 3.  Microsoft Dynamics GP Architectural Foundations featuring Tim Brookins  (Mar series). Many of you who had been in the channel for a while, enjoyed reading this forgotten and hard to find whitepaper, which is still today one of the best produced on the topic, even though the Dynamics GP architecture has evolved over the years. Unfortunately, Tim Brookins was not available for the c...

Our Christmas Tree here at home As many of you prepare to celebrate these festivities in company of family and friends, I would like to take this opportunity to wish you the best throughout these Holidays on behalf of my wife Marina and children. Thanks for all the great comments posted throughout the year and the support you have shown to The Dynamics GP Blogster  and all the different outlets provided. It keeps me going and working to bring you the some of the best content you will find about all things Dynamics GP: the events, the technical articles, the series, and much more. You can always count on 2011 bringing new and exciting articles with innovative approaches for using Microsoft Dynamics GP and getting the best out of your investment. Until next post! MG.- Mariano Gomez, MIS, MCP, MVP, PMP Maximum Global Business, LLC http://www.maximumglobalbusiness.com/

This week's answer comes courtesy of Microsoft's Aaron Richards over at the Partner Online Technical Community , but first the question -- no names given to protect the innocent :-) We are using Dynamics GP2010. How do we track COBRA in Payroll. We are not using HR. Specifically, we are trying to track what the government reimbureses us. For example, we're trying to track 70% that we pay to the insurer on the 941 that we send to the government which eventually reimburses back from the government that we had paid. Please advise or point me to a reference for utilizing this. As stated by the partner, the customer is not using the HR module which has full COBRA tracking capabilities. Here is what Aaron had to say: Thank you for using Microsoft Online Communities. My name is Aaron and I will be assisting you with your questions today. This information was released when we started tracking COBRA in the hotfix pdf. It stated the following: Consolidated Omnibus Recon...

If you read my previous article on some table open operation issues I was faced with at a client, you know by now that it's important to have the proper writer permissions on the local %temp% folder. What I did not mention in that article was an issue we were also facing with the new  Dynamics Online Services application. Upon launching Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010 we were also receiving an add-in initialization error as shown below: Add-In Initalization Error Since last month I wrote an article about this same issue, I wanted to make sure I kept this topic separated from the  table open operation issues, even though they are directly related by the solution. As it turned out, writing permissions (or the lack thereof) on the %temp% folder caused the Dynamics Online Services application to fail as well with an add-in initialization error message. This error popped up a large window (shown above) detailing the nature of the problem. However, after re-e...

Who hasn't come across this error? If you have been long enough in the Microsoft Dynamics GP world, you will probably even have a prescribed set of steps to address this issue: Restart the SQL Server service to clear all tempdb database tables from memory Clear out the local temp folder Making sure the temp folder actually exists Making sure the %TEMP% environment variable exists Making sure your anti-virus software is not placing some sort of restriction on the folder And then some more... Just recently I ran across this issue with Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010 and I thought, how bad can this be? I started by walking through the prescribed steps as mentioned above, but still could not resolve the issue. I also remembered that my friend Allan Cahill over at Developing for Dynamics GP had blogged about this in his article Unexplained Temp Table Errors  so I went checking his findings. In his case the issue had to do with the Anti-virus software interfering with the tem...

Just recently on a newsgroup forum, a partner brought up an issue affecting SmartList Builder. The partner had just recently upgraded the client from version 9 and was testing the Smartlists the customer had built prior to the upgrade to ensure they were still working as expected. In the partner's own words: "It was working when we were on GP9, but now we're on GP2010 SP1 none of my fields set up with Negative Values are showing up with Negative Values. When I run the smartlist from the old GP9 server, amounts are showing negative amounts for Return documents. But when we run the smartlist on GP2010, the amounts are now positive amounts, and when I check the Set Field Options window, they are still set up to "Display as negative based on field" when SOP Type = Return." In order to verify this I launched GP 2010 and recreated the SmartList mentioned above by the partner, setting the field option for the Document Amount to display a negative value based on a...

One of the questions I often get is, can you dynamically display an image on a Microsoft Dynamics GP form or report. The answer is No, it's not possible. The reason for this is, Microsoft Dexterity, the tool used to developed your beloved Microsoft Dynamics GP, is only capable of displaying images stored within the dictionary itself. Since the picture control in Dexterity is binded to these pre-stored images, this obviously would indicate that there is no room for dynamic images to be added. In addition, the Dexterity picture control cannot be referenced or manipulated programatically as Dexterity does not treat this object like it does with any other fields. One *exception* may be the adding these pictures via Modifier, but even so, this is not a dynamic manipulation of a picture control. In summary, not possible! Of course, you can always resort to VBA. The objective of this post is to see how you can use VBA to aid in displaying images where needed. ...

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...

Just recently, I was working on a few Report Writer reports for a client and assisting with installing the latest Adobe Acrobat Standard version for them. After Adobe was installed, we decided to run a few tests to attempt to send some of the modified reports output via email using the Send To > Mail Recipient PDF option on the Report Output window. Send To > Mail Recipient PDF Upon choosing the Mail Recipient PDF option, we received the following error:  Adobe PDF Converter error  The error seems to come from the Adobe PDF Converter application which suggested that our PDF conversion process must rely on the system fonts and use document fonts. In addition, the message provided the path to address the issue as well, so we followed. Initially, you must go to the Devices and Printers panel in Microsoft Windows, then right click on the Adobe PDF Converter printer and choose Printer Properties. Devices and Printers panel Once the Adobe PDF Converter Propertie...

Ok, this is directly or indirectly a Report Writer subject, but nonetheless a topic related to Report Writer. In this example, I take the General Posting Journal transaction document and enable it under Word Templates. However, this example will not develop the Word Template itself, but rather show how easy it is to make the journal document template enabled. The steps are very simple and in fact, with a little bit of creativity, a developer could potentially write code that quickly enables critical reports. To enable an existing Microsoft Dynamics GP report: 1. Register a trigger against the IsTemplateEnabledReport() function of the syReportLookup form. Template enabled reports can be selected in the Reports lookup window. Startup { Created by Mariano Gomez, MVP This code is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 Generic license. } local integer l_result; pragma (disable warning LiteralStringUsed); l_result = Trigger_RegisterFun...

In this corner: David Musgrave In this corner: Mark Polino In case you have missed the heated debates  - all within cordiality, though there was even a call for insanity  - between David Musgrave and Mark Polino on Report Writer, I now join in to continue fueling the heat by declaring this the official Report Writer week! To make this an even more attractive proposition for you the reader, The Dynamics GP Blogster is siding  (more like ganging up against Mark :-) ) with Developing for Dynamics GP  to deliver some really cool Report Writer articles and to show some advanced techniques for developing reports... yes, with Report Writer. Until next post! MG.- Mariano Gomez, MVP Maximum Global Business, LLC http://www.maximumglobalbusiness.com/

Yesterday it was Bryan Prince demonstrating in-memory XML serialization , today is Chris Roehrich over at Developing for Dynamics GP . Chris shows a technique to create a Custom Serialization Assembly for eConnect outside of the method exposed in the eConnect Programmer's Guide . Please be sure to visit Developing for Dynamics GP to read Chris' article. Until next post! MG.- Mariano Gomez, MVP Maximum Global Business, LLC http://www.maximumglobalbusiness.com/

Over at MBS Guru , my friend Bryan Prince demonstrates a technique to perform in-memory XML serialization when working with eConnect . Bryan's technique is very helpful especially when working in environments where disk access and/or disk permissions can become an issue. If you ever needed a cool piece of code for your eConnect projects, this is it! On a personal note...I had a chance to work on a project briefly with Bryan and I won't be surprised he will be publishing some other cool life saving techniques he used at our client. Until next post! MG.- Mariano Gomez, MVP Maximum Global Business, LLC http://www.maximumglobalbusiness.com/

Good news from the land Down Under! The critically aclaimed Support Debugging Tool now sports a new Build 14 for your delight. You can now download Support Debugging Tool from Microsoft Dynamics PartnerSource. If you are a customer using Support Debugging Tool, please reach out to your partner for the latest build number. Support Debugging Tool Build 14 is available for versions 9 (last release for this version), 10.0, and 2010. For more information on fixes and new features, please visit Developing for Dynamics GP and read David's release notes: Support Debugging Tool Build 14 Released Downloads To download Support Debugging Tool Build 14, please use the following links: Support Debugging Tool for Microsoft Dynamics GP 9.0 Support Debugging Tool for Microsoft Dynamics GP 10.0 Support Debugging Tool for Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010 Note to all readers : Given the success and high marks we had at Convergence 2010 Atlanta presenting the Support Debugging Tool,...

I have received a number of emails from many of you requesting I add the Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010 Word Template series and Microsoft Dynamics GP Architectural Foundations series of articles to the Learning Resources page on this site. Your wishes are my command! Please visit the Learning Resources page under the Contents section for links to these series. Thanks for your continuous readership and for making this site better every day. Until next post! MG.- Mariano Gomez, MVP Maximum Global Business, LLC http://www.maximumglobalbusiness.com/

In recent days, I have been resting from a long standing project in beautiful Las Vegas, Nevada. Months of traveling every two weeks back and forth have certainly paid off with my customer going live with their newly reimplemented systems. As a Delta regular, working at 35,000 feet during commute time has become more than just a laptop maneuvering exercise and has driven me to explore other obscure features of my beloved Microsoft Dynamics GP, all on my way to the client. One such thing I decided to explore is, how much of a footprint does a Microsoft Dynamics GP (versions 10 and 2010) installation really have? This curiousity took a different dimension after reading a recent article by fellow blogger Jen Kuntz on Uninstalling Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010 the hardway . In this article, Jen outlines a number of locations, both logical and physical, where she had to search for references to Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010 in order to be able to reinstall the...

Lately, many users have reported getting the error depicted below after launching Microsoft Dynamics GP 10 with Service Pack 5 or Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010 with Service Pack 1:  Add-In Initialization Error The error references the Microsoft.Dynamics.GP.OnlineServices.dll  assembly file as the root cause of the problem. This assembly was shipped with Microsoft Dynamics GP 10 SP5 and is a part of the Dynamics Online Services application. The error typically indicates that the add-in assembly is loaded, however, it most likely indicates that the Dexterity portion of the application, dictionary DO6499.dic , isn't loaded in the path found in the DYNAMICS.SET file -- which should have also generated a dictionary load error prior to receiving the above message -- or isn't loaded at all. To fix this error: 1. Run a repair or update on the Microsoft Dynamics GP client under the Windows Control Panel. This will reinstall the Dynamics Online Services appli...

It's this time of the year again... I am personally thankful for your readership and all the feedback I have received from you throughout the year from a good number of you following this blog. Now, go eat some turkey! Until next post! MG.- Mariano Gomez, MVP Maximum Global Business, LLC http://www.maximumglobalbusiness.com/

Let's face it! Like many things in life, configuration decisions are revisited even after going live (rightfully so!) with your system. What was viewed and considered a requirement a few months aback and worked during User Acceptance Testing turns out to be something the business no longer needs today, due to changes in direction, or changes in business conditions. Just recently, I came across a request for disabling the new reporting ledgers functionality in Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010. While this implementation was not live, this issue was clearly affecting the consulting teams ability to move forward. The following script should disable the reporting ledgers function: -- Created by Mariano Gomez, MVP -- This code is licensed under the Creative Commons -- Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 Generic license. UPDATE GL40000 SET Allow_Reporting_Ledgers = 0, UseLedgersForAcctBalance = 0; DELETE FROM GL40001; Once the script is executed, go back to the General Ledger Setu...

After the long title of this post, you probably already have the idea of what the article will be about. However, back in April of 2009, I wrote about the POWERUSER role and the Microsoft SQL Server sysadmin server role - see Microsoft Dynamics GP 10 POWERUSER role vs Microsoft SQL Server sysadmin role  - and explained the key differences between the two. Among other things, I discussed how a GP user login that's assigned to the sysadmin server role on Microsoft SQL Server becomes able to setup new users in GP. However, those of you who are database administrators have been quite reluctant to add logins to the sysadmin group, and quite understandably so. After all, logins added to the sysadmin server role can do anything on the database server, and we sure don't want that to happen either. In response to this, and to the many requests lately on the forums, my friend Robert Cavill, with Emeco Group in Australia, has submitted the following script, whi...

It turns out, this is the time of the year when I start looking forward to next years events I would like to attend... as a speaker! It's my honor and priviledge to introduce two of the events I will be speaking at: Microsoft Dynamics GP Technical Conference 2011 will be held in Fargo, North Dakota, USA on the 1st - 3rd March 2011. Microsoft Dynamics Convergence 2011 Atlanta will be held in Atlanta, Georgia, USA on the 10th - 13th April 2011. You will also be pleased to know that I will be presenting with my dear friend, Microsoft's David Musgrave , who has been cleared for both presentations. So, please, please, please help us with session ideas for the conference by emailing  your suggestions. Also, please feel free to post comments on this article AND also submit your thoughts to the Convergence NA 2011 Call for Topics site before it closes on the 20-Nov-2010. Kevin Machayya from the Microsoft Dynamics Partner Community Blog explains more in his post: ...

As more of you begin to migrate your Dexterity 8.0 and Dexterity 9.0 customizations to be compatible with Microsoft Dynamics GP versions 10.0 and 2010, you may have noticed some performance decrease in your applications if using memory tables. The reason for this decrease in performance? There was a change to how memory tables were implemented since Dexterity 10.0. Originally, memory tables used the Ctree data structure but were created in memory. However, they needed large contigious blocks of memory and as more developers used them and data stored in them grew, Runtime Engine crashes were more noticeable when memory tables failed due to running out of usuable memory. See KB article 898993 - You receive an "Open operation on table mytable has used a bad file name" error message when you try to access a memory table in a program that you create by using Great Plains Dexterity. The change was to implement memory tables as local Ctree tables in the user's temp fold...