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Dynamics 365 Community / Forums / Microsoft Dynamics GP (Archived) / Dexterity and Source C...
Microsoft Dynamics GP (Archived)

Dexterity and Source Control

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Posted on by Steve Kondolf 40

Hello everyone -

Brand new user here and my first post to the community!

Our company is migrating over to Dynamics GP and we've installed 2015R2.  Our development group consists of 3 developers with no experience in GP or Dexterity.  We each have Dex installed on our local workstations (Win7 64bit) and we have each taken a source dictionary, added some custom resources, built a chunk file and have deployed the chunk into GP.  We're now looking to setup source control so we can all share 1 dictionary and take advantage of each other's custom objects, scripts, etc.

I've done some searching here in the forums as well as on the web and while I'm finding some limited documentation on how to setup source control I've not been successful.  We're thinking of using Team Foundation Server Express since there's only 3 of us and that would be a free option for small teams however I've noticed there are version issues with TFS and Visual Studio and Dex.  I tried installing DSCCS from the 2015R2 install media but when I go into control panel on my Win7 64bit box I can't even open up the program.  I found a couple pdf's but they dealt with older versions of the software.

Currently we are running the following:

GP 2015R2

Dexterity 14.00.0072

Visual Studio 2013 Shell (for SSRS Reporting)

Can anyone point me in the right direction regarding Dex and Source Control especially in a small shop like ours?  Is it even necessary?  If not necessary how would multiple developers work with 1 common dictionary?  Is the Dexterity Source Code control program adequate or do I need to look into setting up TFS and VS?  Any other options available?

*This post is locked for comments

  • Community Member Profile Picture
    Community Member Microsoft Employee on at
    RE: Dexterity and Source Control

    Thank you so much!  We have a very similar setup in terms of versions.  I've notice a couple slight variances for us.  I've been using the directory from step 2 instead of step 3 as the root in Dexterity options.  That said I think I've tried every permutation and combination imaginable.  We had similar difficulty setting this up with TFS2010, VS 2010 and Dynamics GP-2010 years ago.  At that point it also came down to everything had to be named just right for everything to line up and work correctly.  I just got VSS-2005 working with Dexterity so I have a good Plan-B but I'd still like to understand where Dexterity and TFS aren't connecting in our environment.  Thanks again for the clear information.


    Erik

  • Steve Kondolf Profile Picture
    Steve Kondolf 40 on at
    RE: Dexterity and Source Control

    Erik -

    Sure I can try to help.  We're still learning so not sure how much info I can give but I'll try.  As an FYI one of the issues we ran into appeared to be versions of the various pieces of software.  Also we are a very small shop so we went the "free" route.  Here's what we're currently using for source control:

    Server: Windows Server 2008R2

    DB: SQL Server Express 2014

    TFS 2013 Express

    Workstation: Visual Studio 2013 Express (includes VS 2013 shell)

    Dexterity from the 2015R2 install media

    1. After install of TFS on the server we setup a collection and a team project tied to that collection called DynamicsGP.

    2. I then opened up VS 2013 shell and setup the connection to TFS.  Ultimately I was able to see the DynamicsGP folder in Source Control Explorer.

    3. In VS 2013 Shell I then created a team project called Dex which created a folder under DynamicsGP.  I had to define a local directory on my workstation where my source control files would be saved.

    4. Finally I went into Dexterity under Options - Source control.  Provider is TFS 2013, root directory is the same directory you setup in #3 above.  Username is your login to the server hosting TFS.  We prefixed our username with our domain.  Project name is the team project created in #3. Temp file location is wherever you want your temp files stored.

    There may be some permissions you need to grant in TFS to allow the developers access.

    Hope this helps.

  • Community Member Profile Picture
    Community Member Microsoft Employee on at
    RE: Dexterity and Source Control

    Hi Steve,

    I see in your solution you had an issue with the workspace configuration in TFS.  We are moving from GP2010 to 2015R2.  Although we have Dex 2010 working with TFS 2010 currently,  I'm having trouble setting up and configuring Dex 2015R2 with TFS 2013 and using the TFS 2013 source control option in Dexterity.  I'm wondering if you'll entertain a few questions regarding exactly how you set the TFS 2013 to have Dex recognize your project?

    Thank you,

    Erik Peterson

  • Steve Kondolf Profile Picture
    Steve Kondolf 40 on at
    RE: Dexterity and Source Control

    Thanks Mariano - I posted the solution I found and marked it as a "suggested" answer but didn't realize I had to go in and mark my post as the "actual" answer.  I've done so now.

  • Mariano Gomez Profile Picture
    Mariano Gomez 26,225 on at
    RE: Dexterity and Source Control

    Glad you got through. As is customary on the forums, if any of the replies provided above helped you with resolving the issue or if you figured it out on your own, please mark the correct post as the answer to assist other users who may experience similar issues. 

  • Verified answer
    Steve Kondolf Profile Picture
    Steve Kondolf 40 on at
    RE: Dexterity and Source Control

    Thanks to all who responded - I finally figured out my issues.  Primarily I wasn't setting up the workspace in TFS properly so Dex wasn't recognizing the project when I attempted to setup source control.  Secondly, I did not realize DSCCS did not need to be installed on my workstation if I was going to use Team Foundation Server 2013.  Once I made the necessary changes I was able to sync up with TFS and populate my repository.

  • Mariano Gomez Profile Picture
    Mariano Gomez 26,225 on at
    RE: Dexterity and Source Control

    You can actually take advantage of TFS or VSTS (Visual Studio Team Services). The latter happens to be free for dev shops 5 users or under. I strongly suggest you go this route as it will allow developers to work from anywhere in the world. We here at Mekorma, Inc. have just completed our migration to VSTS and are now in the process of revisiting our SCC methodology. I have written extensively about SCC with Microsoft Dexterity and VSTS here:

    Microsoft Dexterity crashes when checking resource version information and status from repository with Visual Studio Team Services - Part 1

    Microsoft Dexterity crashes when checking resource version information and status from repository with Visual Studio Team Services - Part 2

    I also must let you know that the crash problems that led to us having problems have been resolved in the latest builds of Dex 14 and Dex 16. I will be happy to discuss our new SCC methodology, but it certainly will not be on this forum. Please read the articles first, before you get in touch with me. I will be at Amplify in Anaheim and will be happy to arrange a meeting in person if you are interested. I shouldn't be hard to miss.

  • Vikas Gupta Profile Picture
    Vikas Gupta 2,622 on at
    RE: Dexterity and Source Control

    Hello Steve ,

    If you have installed VSS then just open dexterity and fill the information in below screen.

    Edit -> Option -> Source Control 

     

    1602.2.png1602.2.png

     

    After fill this information to each your client PC. you will be able to work in sync with all your client with VSS.

     

     

    Regards,

    Vikas Gupta

  • Mick Egan Profile Picture
    Mick Egan 3,557 on at
    RE: Dexterity and Source Control

    Steve,

    I would look at any blogs by David Musgrave, as would rate David as one of the most knowledgeable on the subject.

    mick

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