The Dynamics GP Blogster

"Understanding the Microsoft products that will drive Dynamics GP forward" My new article is up over at MSDynamicsWorld.com. This time I take a look at The Future of Microsoft Dynamics GP: 5 Cool Technologies You Should Watch For (and Learn) in the Coming Years , based on my past experiences and learnings at the Microsoft Dynamics GP Technical Conference 2011 in Fargo, North Dakota - see my article Microsoft Dynamics GP Technical Conference 2011 Wrap Up . In this article I explore Microsoft Lync, Microsoft Silverlight, Microsoft Visual Studio Lightswitch, cloud computing, and even Microsoft Dexterity. If you have experience with any of these technologies it would be very cool to know your thoughts and how they have helped your work. Until next post! MG.- Mariano Gomez, MVP IntellPartners, LLC http://www.IntellPartners.com/

"Significant gaps remain as eConnect and Integration Manager stagnate" MVP Mark Polino If you are familiar with MVP Mark Polino  you will know that he has always had a love-hate relationship with Microsoft Dynamics GP integration tools - see Mark Polino's Integration Manager Rant . This time Mark vents out his frustrations (again!) with Integration Manager and eConnect over at MSDynamicsWorld in his new article Integration Frustration: Why Microsoft Dynamics GP Integration Tools Need a Kickstart . If you have your own comments, complaints, or if you are enamored with the tools and think Mark is simply overreacting, please read Mark's article and add your comments. Until next post! MG.- Mariano Gomez, MVP IntellPartners, LLC http://www.IntellPartners.com/

In the past days I had been helping a Microsoft partner and good friend of mine in migrating some Modifier with VBA customizations from Microsoft Dynamics GP version 9.0 to version 2010.  In doing so, we came across an issue with one of the modified objects that needed to be converted: the Inventory module's View Indented Bill window. View Indented Bill window - Original The customization in question added a field to the View Indented Bill window to retrieve the quantity available for a given component item on a bill, as shown below: View Indented Bill window - Modified The rest of the customization included adding some VBA code to retrieve the quantity available for the component across all sites by using some simple ADO code. So far, good! The error came into play when we attempted to print the Indented Bill Report, by clicking on the print button on the window. Unhandled script exception error After selecting the report type on the ...

Over at Inside Microsoft Dynamics GP , Errol Schoenfish took on two new features of the upcoming Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010 R2, letting you know why the enhancement is so darn cool and what you can expect to see when you get to it. So, with no further due, here is the roundup of features and enhancements covered by Errol this past week: Feature of the Day: Business Portal external lists Feature of the Day: List View performance enhancements It's time to start familiarizing yourself with these features and enhancements. The next wave of Microsoft Dynamics GP products will bring a new spotlight to middle-market ERP products. Go catch the wave! Until next post! MG.- Mariano Gomez, MVP IntellPartners, LLC http://www.IntellPartners.com/

Some articles do not need to extend beyond a few words. Here's a look at the new Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010 R2 with a customer navigation list and Business Analyzer displaying information for those customers. Take a look at Inside Microsoft Dynamics GP for more information on  List View enhancements . Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010 R2 with Business Analyzer Sign of the good things to come. Until next post! MG.- Mariano Gomez, MVP IntellPartners, LLC http://www.intellpartners.com/

Today I came across an interesting request on the Microsoft Dynamics GP Partner Online Technical Community  - here on referred to as the Partner forum. The partner wanted to know if it was possible to open an Extender window based on a specific Sales Transaction Entry document type being selected. In particular, the partner wanted to have the Extender window open only when the document type was an invoice. Sales Transaction Entry window - Invoice The first thing that comes to mind for most hardcore technical resources is to write some VBA or Visual Studio Tools code to do this. While not impossible, recurring to this type of customization to achieve the partner's request, quickly becomes cumbersome and inflexible as a solution if more and more conditions are needed throughout the application or even the window. However Extender has a little known feature called Window Groups . A window group is made up of one or more windows. The windows that can be added to...

Over at Inside Microsoft Dynamics GP , Pam Misialek and Errol Schoenfish continue their look into the upcoming Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010 R2 features. This week shows improvements in the emailing capabilities deparment, the addition of the Word Template Generator, and some Dexterity enhancements: Feature of the Day: Script Editor Names window enhancement Feature of the Day: Word Template Generator Feature of the Day: Ability to Email Reports Feature of the Day: Ability to Create Email Messages Feature of the Day: Substitute Fields for Email Feature of the Day: Ability to Copy Email Messages It's time to start familiarizing yourself with these features and enhancements. The next wave of Microsoft Dynamics GP products will bring a new spotlight to middle-market ERP products. Go catch the wave! Until next post! MG.- Mariano Gomez, MVP IntellPartners, LLC http://www.IntellPartners.com/

The Dynamics GP Blogster will be visiting Buenos Aires, Argentina from the 17th to the 19th of March on a business assignment, but for those of you who would like to exchange business cards and ideas please don't hesitate to reach me at the Marriott Plaza Hotel . I will be available in the afternoons after 6:30 PM and as time permits. For those of you who decide to tag along for dinner or otherwise, table topics are fairly open or if you are a prospective customers considering Dynamics GP and would like some insight, please feel free to drop by. Please email me in advance using the link on the right so I can keep a headcount. Until next post! MG.- Mariano Gomez, MVP IntellPartners, LLC http://www.IntellPartners.com/

Over at Inside Microsoft Dynamics GP , Pam Misialek has been posting feature after feature of the upcoming Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010 R2, letting you know why the enhancement is so darn cool and what you can expect to see when you get to it. So, with no further due, here is the roundup of features and enhancements covered by Pam over this week: Feature of the Day: Business Intelligence Refresh Feature of the Day: Drilldown from SQL Server Reporting Services Reports Feature of the Day: New SQL Reporting Services Reports Feature of the Day: Report Builder Integration Feature of the Day: Report Builder Integration (Export) Feature of the Day: SOP Return Word Templates Feature of the Day: TFS Source Control Provider It's time to start familiarizing yourself with these features and enhancements. The next wave of Microsoft Dynamics GP products will bring a new spotlight to middle-market ERP products. Go catch the wave! Until next post! MG.- Mariano Gomez, MVP IntellPartne...

For those of you who were wondering what's happening with Corporate Performance Management and Management Reporter , and the overall product roadmap, you would like to know that CPM has not gone unnoticed by Microsoft and plays a vital role in the overall Dynamics ERP direction. Corporate Performance Management Roadmap Some highlights of this direction include integration with AX, SL, and NAV to be delivered by the 2H of CY2011. If you have overseas operations and are in need for consolidated financials, you will also be glad to know that Management Reporter will be supporting currency translation from within Microsoft Dynamics GP. This is a shift from what FRx currently does with the FRx Currency Translator, which is built within FRx. Management Reporter will also gain the ability to drill back into Dynamics GP -- clap here! -- a la FRx, with the added bonus of richer report viewing - translation: really cool looking reports! - and perhaps the most impressive of it all, in...

I usually wait for David to return to Australia to do this post and link back to his, but our schedules were very different this year, so when he catches up with everything I will be adding links to his posts. This year's Microsoft Dynamics GP Technical Conference 2011 was very different from the one I attended in 2009. What made it different you may ask (if you did not attend of course)? The fact that we got full demos of the upcoming Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010 R2 and code name GP "12" made a difference, the fact that we were able to preview the web client for Microsoft Dynamics GP made a big difference, the fact that we saw a renewed commitment from Microsoft to deliver a butt kicking product made ALL the difference in the world. Bottom line, this Conference was the last straw being drawn by many partners in attendance to see if things would take a turn for the best, product wise. I can certainly say, partners got what they came for and more...lot's more...

We hope you enjoyed the sessions this year and as promised, here are the materials for our presentations at the Microsoft Dynamics GP Technical Conference 2011. MSDGPTechConference2011.zip Here is the summary of each presentation session for added convenience: Development Troubleshooting with the Support Debugging Tool Presenters: David Musgrave and Mariano Gomez, MVP Following the success of this session at Convergence Atlanta 2010, David Musgrave and Mariano Gomez return to the Microsoft Dynamics GP Technical Conference with a number of advanced features included in the now popular Support Debugging Tool. Learn how to debug and trace your customizations, build temporary fixes, and troubleshoot development issues and problems with dictionaries. Discover some of the tricks used by the Microsoft Developer Support team. Presenters will demonstrate real life scenarios and work through their resolutions. Topics: - Manual Logging Mode - Advanced Debugger Mode - Dictionary C...

If you have been keeping tabs on the Microsoft Dynamics GP Technical Conference 2011 blog articles coming out of Fargo on both Developing for Dynamics GP  (see David's article Day 1 Morning ) and this site (see my article Day 1 Opening Session ), you may have caught glimpses of Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010 R2 pillars and features list. I wanted to make sure you had a clear view of these two images and start to cheer for the new features that will be delivered in the next iteration of the product. People, Process, Ecosystem - the 3 pillars for Microsoft Dynamics 2010 R2  The feature list also looks very promising for customers, partners, and developers alike. Some of the features that quickly jump out of the picture below are: Reporting Additional analytical SSRS reports (more KPIs and metrics for example) Ability to group Excel reports Multi-company Excel reports Bulk deployment of Excel reports More multi-company reports in general Map-based reports Bu...

After the goodbye-hugs at the Closing Session , I hitched a ride with Beat Bucher to the airport, as the Ramada decided at last minute to mess up my shuttle booking. The cab took us to the hotel, where I picked up my luggage and off we went to the airport. Beat and I went to the cafeteria, grabbed a cup of joe each, and talked about the latest world developments. An hour before Beat's flight we decided it was time to go through security as lines were quickly getting long. We were greeted by some very nice TSA agents with whom we spent time talking about the different [crazy!] seasons in Fargo and Montreal -- Beat's from Montreal. Once our carry-on was inspected, TSA agents had a particular interest in Beat's carry-on suitcase. As it turned out, my friend was trying to smuggle an apple juice box unsuccessfully out of the country :-). The juice box was confiscated and off we went to gate 1 from where both of our flights would depart. Fargodome Once in the air,...

It's hard to believe that this is the last day of the Microsoft Dynamics GP Technical Conference 2011 , in the very hospitable Fargo, North Dakota. After a late night putting together the Day 2 post  and the Microsoft Dynamics GP roadmap post, and having a bit of fun with partners and ISVs at the bar in the Ramada's lobby, it was now time to pack and get ready to go home.  At the Ramada's bar last night - David drinking 2011 vintage H2O on the rocks and me, well... However, the closing session would have a couple of surprises, including, but not limited to, 2 fire alarms! The situation was quickly managed in an orderly fashion by the Fantastic 3 (the Conference organizing team). Hat tips go out to Babs, Lanelle, and Naomi for such an awesome, hiccup-free event. Note: I still believe Babs pulled the fire alarm cord to get all the poor tired souls in attendance up on their feet again :-) The Conference organization team - From left to right, Babs Coler (Microsof...

I wanted to take the opportunity to show how the Microsoft Dynamics GP roadmap has evolved over the past 2 years, contrasting each slide that has been released at different stages. Clearly, Microsoft is going in the right direction and, while there's a lot more work to be done, the future looks very promising. Attendees at Convergence New Orleans 2009 saw a roadmap contemplating up to the release of the then code name "11 FP". You can still expect to see a Service Pack 2 for Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010 coming soon.  Roadmap as of March 2009 (Convergence New Orleans)  At the Microsoft Dynamics GP Technical Conference 2009 , the roadmap had been updated to incorporate code name GP "14". However, code name GP "11 FP" had been dropped as part of the picture, all the while maintaining code name GP "12" and code name GP "14" as part of the future plans. Roadmap as of November 2009 (Technical Conference 2009) Now, at the Mi...

Following the opening session and our Support Debugging Tool presentation  on Day 1, it was now time to present our Introduction to Microsoft Dynamics GP Customization Tools session. There was a certain anxiety in the air, as this is the first time David and I would build code, live! The presentation began on time and on track with David taking the lead on the Dexterity and Modifier with Visual Basic for Applications portion of the session. However, we had a number of questions from the audience and things started to extend out a bit.  Getting ready for the presentation While David did his best to catch up, it was already apparent that the Visual Studio Tools portion, which I would be presenting, would run short. While presenting the VST session, it was necessary to cut short on the explanation of the customization itself, and skimp a bit on the build process of the VST project itself. This created a bit of confusion with the attendees. Upon finalizing ...