#GPPT GP Power Tools: What’s in the Developer Tools module?

This is the fourth article in the #GPPT GP Power Tools: What’s in each module series? of articles.

It covers what is included in the Developer Tools module. This module provides extremely powerful, multi-lingual triggering and scripting capabilities that can be used to solve and fix bugs, create customizations or provide self-service support.

Introduction

The Developer Tools module contains all the features related to scripting and triggers within GP Power Tools. You can script using Dexterity sanScript, Transact-SQL, Visual C# and Visual Basic.Net without needing to install Dexterity, SQL Server Management Studio or Visual Studio. Code saved in GP Power Tools is stored in SQL Server and is immediately deployed to all workstations without needing to visit them. This functionality can be used to find and fix bugs, customize GP, create integrations and provide self-service support.

Benefits

Here is a quick summary of the benefits:

• Create, execute and publish scripts from inside Dynamics GP, using Dexterity, Transact-SQL, Visual C# and Visual Basic.Net.
• Create triggers to schedule events, customize Dynamics GP, and debug issues by automatically capturing logs.
• Build custom Report Writer functions or custom Service Based Architecture (SBA) service procedures.
• Request parameters from users for scripts without needing any additional programming.
• Group triggers, scripts and parameter lists together into development projects for easy maintenance and exporting.

Features

Below is a list of the features for this module.

The following key is used to denote whether the feature is a Standard Mode (User level) feature (unmarked) or an Advanced Mode (Administrator level) feature and to what build of GP Power Tools the feature was added.

• (A) Advanced Mode Feature
• * New for Build 20 of GP Power Tools
• ** New for Build 21 of GP Power Tools
• *** New for Build 22 of GP Power Tools

Trigger Status

Shows the currently active GP Power Tools triggers and allows them to be started (registered) or stopped (unregistered). Triggers are defined in the Trigger Setup window and can be used for debugging issues or creating customizations.

Runtime Executer*

Allows any user to be able to execute a script marked as published from the Runtime Execute Setup window. Can be used to create self-service support scripts where the primary language used is Dexterity sanScript. Using Parameter Lists in conjunction with the script allows the user to respond to a dialog to control the script or pass values to it.

SQL Executer*

Allows any user to be able to execute a script marked as published from the SQL Execute Setup window. Can be used to create self-service support scripts where the primary language used is Transact-SQL. Using Parameter Lists in conjunction with the script allows the user to respond to a dialog to control the script or pass values to it.

.Net Executer*

Allows any user to be able to execute a script marked as published from the .Net Execute Setup window. Can be used to create self service support scripts where the primary language used is Visual C# or Visual Basic.Net. Using Parameter Lists in conjunction with the script allows the user to respond to a dialog to control the script or pass values to it.

Project Setup*** (A)

Projects can be used to group scripts, triggers and parameter lists together into a single project which can be exported as a single xml file.

Trigger Setup (A)

Debug issues by creating logging triggers which capture logs up to a specified event and then check for the error condition before saving logs and performing actions. Create customizations by adding non-logging triggers to events in Microsoft Dynamics GP and then executing scripts as desired. Use helper functions to work across Dexterity dictionaries or execute scripts in Dexterity or other languages and pass parameters between them. Define Parameter Lists to get input from users before trigger scripts execute.

Runtime Execute Setup (A)

Create Dexterity scripts which can be executed from this window or the Executer window or called by triggers or other scripts. Parameter Lists can be used to get input from users before scripts execute. Use helper functions to work across Dexterity dictionaries or execute scripts in other languages and pass parameters between them. Runtime Execute scripts can be used with Modifier added fields. They can also be used to create custom RW functions for use in calculated fields in the report writer and to create custom SBA (Service Based Architecture) Web Services which can be called externally.

SQL Execute Setup (A)

Create Transact-SQL scripts which can be executed from this window or the Executer window or called by triggers or other scripts. Parameter Lists can be used to get input from users before scripts execute.

.Net Execute Setup* (A)

Create .Net scripts in Visual C# or Visual Basic.Net which can be executed from this window or the Executer window or called by triggers or other scripts. Parameter Lists can be used to get input from users before scripts execute. Use helper functions to work across Dexterity dictionaries or execute scripts in other languages and pass parameters between them.

Parameter Lists** (A)

Define up to 10 inputs to be populated by a user before a script or trigger executes. Parameters can be of any type, including lists and lookups, and can have optional from and to values or just a single value. Custom lists and lookups can be defined using SQL queries written in the SQL Execute Setup window.

Dynamic Trigger Logging*** (A)

Developer feature to dynamically define triggers against events which are logged before and after the event fires. This tool was created specifically to help debug SBA (Service Based Architecture) code where the code behaves differently when in Desktop and Service modes. As there is no script logging available in Service mode, this feature is a valuable tool in understanding where the code flow differs.

I hope this helps your understanding of GP Power Tools and what it can do for you. If you want more details than provided in this series, please download the GP Power Tools User Guide manual, which contains over 320 pages of detailed description of every feature in the product.

You can also download and install the product, NFR (Not for Resale) Keys are available for partners and a 30 day trial is available for customers. Please contact my distribution partner, Mekorma, at sales@mekorma.com. GP Power Tools can also work with no registration keys if only the sample company is installed.

I firmly believe that all Microsoft Dynamics GP sites globally should have GP Power Tools installed, and the articles in this series will explain why.

David

This article was originally posted on http://www.winthropdc.com/blog.