Developing for Microsoft Dynamics GP

Why does my computer get stuck at Please Wait and fail to boot up?

2013-06-19T02:00:00Z

This issue took me a little while to discover the cause, but now that I understand what was happening I thought I would let you know in case you come across a similar issue. Most of the time I put my work laptop into sleep mode overnight and so I don't reboot my machine very often. However, every now and then a reboot is required, usually due to installing new software or system updates. What would then happen is my laptop would shutdown and restart and then sit with Please Wait on the...(read more)

Microsoft Dynamics GP EE Summit 2013

2013-06-12T10:00:00Z

You might be wondering why the blog has no posts last week. Well, that was primarily because I was busy travelling and attending meetings. Last week I had the pleasure of travelling from Perth, Australia to Fargo, North Dakota, USA for the Microsoft Dynamics GP Escalation Engineering Summit 2013 event. This internal event allows the top level of support engineers for Microsoft Dynamics GP from around the globe to come together and exchange knowledge and get updates from the Development and...(read more)

Surface Pro arrives in Australia today

2013-05-30T02:30:00Z

The wait in Australia is over. I mentioned that Surface Pro was due in Australia on 30th May , and today I received an email notice reminding me that it is now available. If you want to order one, go to the Microsoft Online Store , or to your local Harvey Norman or JB Hi-Fi store . If you are not sure which model suits your needs, then download the Specifications Sheet (which has a comparison) and check out the link below: Which Surface is right for you For more information on...(read more)

Final Reminder: Support Debugging Tool on GPUG System Administrators Special Interest Group Webinar today

2013-05-28T04:00:00Z

This is just a quick reminder that today (tonight Perth Time), I will be presenting the Support Debugging Tool (SDT) with John Lowther, MVP for this month's webinar for the System Administration GPUG (Dynamics GP User Group) Special Interest Group (SIG). Looking forward to demonstrating how the SDT can simplify the administration of your Microsoft Dynamics GP system. There are many features which do not require any developer skills which will improve the user experience and either avoid issues...(read more)

Xbox One is revealed

2013-05-22T06:00:00Z

Last night at 1 am (Perth Time), Microsoft revealed details of the next generation Xbox. The successor to the Xbox 360 will be named the Xbox One. The Xbox One, so called because it is the all-in-one entertainment system. Each Xbox One will come with the second generation of the Kinect sensor and will bring all of your entertainment experiences together to one place. To learn more, visit the Introducing Xbox One site on Xbox.com or click on the banner below: For a quick look at the Xbox...(read more)

Surface Pro due in Australia on 30th May

2013-05-16T05:00:00Z

Since the Surface Pro has been released in the USA in February this year, we have been waiting for it to arrive in Australia. Well today, the Microsoft Australia Blog has announced that the Surface Pro will be available in Australia on the 30 th May 2013. For details have a look at the post: Surface Pro hits Australian shores on May 30 If you are not sure which model suits your needs, then download the Specifications Sheet (which has a comparison) and check out the link below...(read more)

Using Named Printers with Terminal Server revisited

2013-05-14T14:00:00Z

This is an update to the original Using Named Printers with Terminal Server post from August 2008. The original post takes you through the process of using Template Users on Terminal Server so that you only need to setup one user per physical location with user mode printers and then users from that physical location can inherit the Named Printers settings from the Template User. It also mentions the unsupported method of sharing a single Machine ID between servers in a Terminal Server farm ONLY...(read more)

Angry Birds for Windows Phone 7 and 8 is available for free until 15th May

2013-05-13T04:00:00Z

Unless you have been hiding away from technology entirely, you would have heard of Rovio's Angry Birds game. One of the most popular mobile games across multiple platforms. Angry Birds has been available for Windows phone for a while now, but Rovio have just released a new version with additional levels. Now you will have over 400 levels of bird vs pig madness. The best thing is that this new version is available for download for free until the 15 th May 2013. So before time is up, I...(read more)

Microsoft Dynamics Top 100 Most Influential People for 2013 published

2013-05-13T03:30:00Z

If you have been watching the blogsphere last week you would have noticed that DynamicsWorld UK have published their Microsoft Dynamics Most Influential People Top 100 List for 2013. This list started in 2009 and archives of the previous years can be found at the bottom right corner of their page. Back in 2010, I was privileged/lucky enough to be included on the Top 100 list at position 78. Then for the years 2011 and 2012 I did not make it onto the list at all (much to the surprise and dismay...(read more)

SmartList not working properly, Search window does not display correctly

2013-05-03T01:00:00Z

Yesterday, I had a support case come in where the customer was complaining that SmartList was not working properly and that the Search window was not being displayed correctly. The Problem During a screen sharing session with the customer, they explained that when they first opened SmartList and then the Search window it would say "Search [Not Found]" in the title and that clicking on the Columns button would not show any fields. See the screenshot below: Screenshot showing incorrect...(read more)

SDT on GPUG SIG: Sys Admin

2013-05-02T01:00:00Z

Yes, that is correct. The Support Debugging Tool (SDT) will be the topic of this month's webinar for the System Administration GPUG (Dynamics GP User Group) Special Interest Group (SIG). Kim Peterson and John Lowther asked if I could present a session on the Support Debugging Tool and how it can be used to simplify and speed up the administration of Microsoft Dynamics GP systems. As you probably know, I love presenting and talking about the Support Debugging Tool. My problem is trying...(read more)

Currency Symbol not showing correctly for Users

2013-05-01T01:00:00Z

I resolved an interesting case the other day and thought I would write this one up on the blog. The Problem The customer reported that for a couple of their users, the currency symbol on the GL Transaction Entry window where not matching the symbols as defined by the Currency ID setup. This issue occurred with multiple Currency IDs. The screenshot below shows the window using the currency Moroccan Dirhams (MAD) which should be showing a Currency Symbol of "MAD". You will notice...(read more)

Great new Windows Phone Advert

2013-04-30T05:00:00Z

After winning the Engadget Reader's Choice Smartphone of the Year , Nokia have released a hilarious new advert for the Nokia Lumia 920. Have a read about it on the Windows Phone Blog : Three smartphones and a wedding A peek behind the scenes of our new wedding ad And watch the video below: Switch to the Nokia Lumia 920 Windows Phone -- Engadget's Readers Choice Smartphone of the Year (Please visit the site to view this video) Also watch the Making...(read more)

Microsoft Dynamics GP 2013 Upgrade Blog Series

2013-04-29T01:00:00Z

Kelly Youells and her support team colleagues on the Dynamics GP Support and Services Blog has created a fantastic new series of posts to help you upgrade. Have a look at the Microsoft Dynamics GP 2013 Upgrade Blog Series. The articles are listed below: Microsoft Dynamics GP 2013 Upgrade Blog Series Schedule!! Microsoft Dynamics GP 2013 Upgrade Planning – Let’s Get Started! Microsoft Dynamics GP 2013 - Known Upgrade Issues Microsoft Dynamics GP 2013 - Version Checks...(read more)

Last Votes for Top 100 Most Influential People in Microsoft Dynamics 2013

2013-04-26T02:00:00Z

Voting for the Top 100 Most Influential People in Microsoft Dynamics for 2013 is almost over. Voting closes on 30 th April 2013. Please take some time out to vote for the Dynamics GP people in the list. See the posts below for a great summary of the GP people in the list: Samuel Mathew: 2013 Top 100 Most Influential People in Microsoft Dynamics Mohammad Daoud: The Top 100 Most Influential People in Microsoft Dynamics List for 2013 For more details see my post: Top 100...(read more)

Web Client Deployment Guide for Microsoft Dynamics GP 2013

2013-04-25T01:00:00Z

The introduction of the Web Client for Microsoft Dynamics GP 2013 produces some challenges for those that are in pre-deployment and deployment roles. There has been some exposure to the various stack technologies with the Business Portal, Workflow, Web Services and eConnect, but none have taken us to the depth that the Web Client does. This is especially true for an Internet-Facing Deployment (IFD) of the Web Client. The questions that we don't ask always seem to delay an implementation...(read more)

Dynamics Confessor Report Writer Function Series

2013-04-24T04:00:00Z

My great friend, Leslie Vail - The Dynamics Confessor , has released a great series of posts about the Report Writer functions available in Microsoft Dynamics GP. These Report Writer functions are Dexterity global functions which are exposed to the Report Writer so they can be included in calculated fields as user defined functions. There are many functions available in the system, but most have not been documented well. Over time, the Microsoft Dynamics GP Support Team has created Knowledge...(read more)

Microsoft Dynamics GP 2013 Service Pack 1

2013-04-19T01:00:00Z

After a small delay, Service Pack 1 for Microsoft Dynamics GP 2013 is now available for download. The development, testing and documentation of Service Pack 1 has been a massive effort from all areas of the development, testing, support and product management teams. Well done and thank you to all those involved. The core Dynamics dictionary version for Service Pack 1 is 12.00.1412 and the Dexterity version is 12.00.0232. For more version details download the MDGP2013_MSPVersionList.xls file...(read more)

Top 100 Most Influential People in Microsoft Dynamics 2013

2013-04-18T01:00:00Z

Wow. Just Wow. The Top 100 Most Influential People in Microsoft Dynamics for 2013 has reached the voting stage and I was not planning to make much of a fuss over it. I didn't need to. The Microsoft Dynamics GP community led by the MVPs has taken over and is promoting for people to vote for me. I must say that the support I have in the community is outstanding and very much appreciated. Thank you. Now go through the Top 100 list and vote for all the Dynamics GP people you can...(read more)

Dexterity Training in Seattle, Washington, USA (22th to 26th April 2013)

2013-04-13T01:00:00Z

If you are new to Microsoft Dynamics GP development or have been working only with Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) or Visual Studio Tools, or even if you dabble in Dexterity, but have not had formal training, now is your chance to get properly trained in Dexterity. Dexterity is the native development environment for Microsoft Dynamics GP and the only development/customisation tool that is fully supported on the Microsoft Dynamics GP 2013 Web Client. Even if you don't plan to develop in...(read more)

Support Debugging Tool Build 17 hotfix 2 released

2013-04-12T02:00:00Z

Following on from the release of the Support Debugging Tool Build 17 hotfix , I am releasing a hotfix 2 build. It turns out that some of the changes in the way the Support Debugging Tool adds buttons to the Standard Toolbar were still not perfect. We had a few reports that when the SDT dictionary was installed, newly created users would be missing their menus. The solution was to remove the SDT from the system and recreate the user, or to use SQL to drop the contents of the menu and toolbar tables...(read more)

Quick Tip: VBA ADO Connection Run-time error '3709'

2013-04-11T03:00:00Z

It has been a long time since I shared a Quick Tip for Visual Basic for Applications (VBA), but I have had this one waiting for me to write up for a while. When using VBA on a window with ActiveX Data Object (ADO) to connect to SQL Server to read and/or write data to tables, the best practice is to open the ADO connection on the Window_BeforeOpen() event and to close the ADO connection using the Window_AfterClose() event. This is similar to the best practice for reports discussed in the Using...(read more)

Dexterity Training in Dallas, Texas, USA (17th to 21th June 2013)

2013-04-03T06:30:00Z

The First day of the month April will now be April 2nd

2013-04-01T01:00:00Z

Yes, I am sorry to report that due to the global political correctness movement and the general lack of a sense of humour, governments around the world have agreed to skip past the first of April in an effort to cancel April Fool's Day. It is sad that the world has gone this way, but ever since the BBC told us about the 1957 Spaghetti Harvest (see video below), there has been a downward spiral of jokes played on the world by individuals and corporations. (Please visit the site to view this...(read more)