The Dynamics GP Blogster

I take a pause in my Microsoft Dynamics GP 2015 Developer's preview series to bring something fun before the Thanksgiving holiday here in the United States. Hopefully you find this trick very cool and enjoy it in your workplace. Have you ever wanted to wake up with The Dynamics GP Blogster page as the centerpiece of your Microsoft Dynamics GP application homepage? Or how about your favorite online news outlet? What if you just want to display your company web page or an intranet portal to allow employees to update their information or view the latest company news? Today I will show you how to take advantage of two obscure Dex.ini settings to customize the Connect gadget. The standard Connect gadget displays Microsoft Dynamics Community news and updates, but there are two  Dex.ini keys used to enable runtime debugging of the Connect gadget. One of the Dex.ini  keys turns on the debugging feature and the other allows you to specify a URL to be displayed...

What a week of learning that reIMAGINE 2014 conference was! If you stayed for the post conference training classes, even more power to you. In my previous article (see Microsoft Dynamics GP 2015 Developer's Preview: .NET Framework Interoperability - Part 3 ), I talked about the .NET interop capabilities introduced in this iteration of Dexterity and how these new capabilities have become the foundation for unlimited extensibility options for Dexterity-based applications. Today, I wanted to talk about another aspect brought by .NET interop: Dexterity services. However, to understand Dexterity services, we must first take a look at the service implementation patterns. Wrapped Window Pattern Under the wrapped window pattern,  a complete Dexterity form or window logic is wrapped into a service. The goal is to instrument the user interface and leverage all the existing validation logic within a RESTful service as to avoid recreating that same logic s...

November 13, 2014 After a good 3 days of conference sessions (both attending and delivering), I have to say this event has been very special to me. Being able to catch up - yes, catch up! - with old (and not so old) time friends is probably one of the best experiences of this particular reIMAGINE 2014 event. At Hector International Airport (FAR) Gate 1 As I sat at Gate 1 at Hector International Airport, looking out at the snow dusting collected on the tarmac (a stark reminder as to why I don't live in these latitudes), I reflect back on days past to highlight the following: 1. You MUST begin learning about Service-Based Architecture in general, now! The truth is, I spoke to numerous developers during this event and the one question that kept coming up was, " Where do I go to learn all this stuff? ". It took me some time to get acclimated to these style of services, but frankly, you need to build on your past experience. After all the current Web Services mod...

November 12, 2014 As the saying goes, " All good things must come to an end " and it was no different for the reIMAGINE 2014 conference. However, we still had to get through the day with the closing session, and couple breakout sessions we were responsible for. After the fantastic keynote speech by Doug Burgum and some really fun partner hosted events at the local bars on the previous day , it was just natural to wake up with an appetite, so I was down early for breakfast - then again, so was everyone else! Breakfast gathering Breakfast preceded the closing session, which was once more MC'ed by Jesse Byam , who was going around the room asking folks about the highlights of their conference experience, all the while eating their breakfast. Jesse and I had a chance to interact on my own experiences and I have to say, all the Service-Based Architecture sessions I attended were the biggest takeaway for me. After Jesse got the entire room pumped, ...

Oh goodness, what happened last night ? Well, it's true that if you are going to party into the wee hours of the morning, you must still get up to go to the conference and so I did. Today was the first full day of breakout sessions, but David and I won't start our first session until the afternoon. I got up and downloaded  Project Siena for the live demo I would be conducting during our session on building a Windows 8.1 App so I had just a few hours to learn the product. After obtaining the GP service XML configuration file from my buddy Kevin Racer the day before, the idea was to replicate the demo Kevin and Errol conducted on stage during the General Session. David and I met at the Microsoft Campus around 10:30 AM and sat for a bit to go over some of the logistics of the interaction between the two of us during the session. As with all our presentations, the improv factor helps more with having a fun and relaxed time. So David went off to ...

November 10, 2014 After my pleasant trip to Fargo on the previous day , it was time to check in and complete the registration process with the lovely ladies from Dynamic Communities . It helps to have a reputation in the community as my badge was handed to me without showing an ID. Registration Desk After registration and catching up the Dynamics Community folks I was off to get some breakfast. I quickly caught up with some of the most special people who have a big hand in making these events happen. Amy Alley, Shanna Hensch, Andy Hafer After grabbing some food and making it to my table, I caught up with my co-presenter  David Musgrave , with whom I would be reviewing and fine-tuning the last bits of our presentations. The 11,000 miles separating us do not always cooperate with making things smooth from a delivery perspective. At the table, I also had a chance to catch up with MVPs Belinda Allen and Leslie Vail, while also sharing some stories with Sheila Jeffers...

November 9, 2014 Typically, there's nothing exciting about a flight between Atlanta - Minneapolis - Fargo, except this time, I was able to appreciate the art exhibit displayed between T gates and concourse A at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International airport. Foreground: TRAVELING FAMILY By Amos Supuni Born 1970 Malawi Background: GALACTIC DANCER Tapfuma Gutsa Born 1956 Harare, Zimbabwe This permanent collection of twenty contemporary stone sculptures from Zimbabwe debuted in 2001 and is one of the largest publicly owned and exhibited collections of its kind. Located in the pedestrian corridor of the Transportation Mall between the T Gates and Concourse A, it features twelve of Zimbabwe's top artists. Though the Art Program chose these sculptures for their intrinsic beauty, the themes explored by the artists also seem universal. The works delve into the importance of family, humanity's relationship with nature and desire to be spiri...