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Dynamics 365 Community / Forums / Microsoft Dynamics NAV (Archived) / Dynamics NAV 2018 - Da...
Microsoft Dynamics NAV (Archived)

Dynamics NAV 2018 - Data Migration Best Practices Documentation / Videos / White Papers .. also after detailed information in RapidStart

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Posted on by Community Member

Hi All,

I am after Best Practices Documentation / Videos / White Papers for doing Data Migration to MS NAV 2018 

Also I'm after after "RapidStart" whitepapers and technical documentation ... (Excel Files with Embedded XML Schema / XSD) 

I want to programatically created a 100% compatible Excel file in the Rapid Start file for over 100 Dynamics Data Objects ... are there any C# sample code around ?

Thanks In Advance for any pointers in the right direction ...

Regards

Mark Dicken

Data Migration Consultant

UK Mob 07786530377

Skype "MarkDicken.com"

email@MarkDicken.com

 

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  • Suggested answer
    Stefano Demiliani Profile Picture
    Stefano Demiliani 37,166 Most Valuable Professional on at
    RE: Dynamics NAV 2018 - Data Migration Best Practices Documentation / Videos / White Papers .. also after detailed information in RapidStart

    Rapidstart packages are the standard way to do (also for Dyn365BC). With Rapidstart, you can select the table and the fields you want to manage and an excel file for import/export will be created for you. No need to use C# or external tools.

    Using it is very simple, it’s only via NAV user interface, just google for samples.

  • Community Member Profile Picture
    Community Member on at
    RE: Dynamics NAV 2018 - Data Migration Best Practices Documentation / Videos / White Papers .. also after detailed information in RapidStart

    Hi Stefano / All,

    If I have like up to 15 Company / Entities then it makes sense to me to possibly store all 100+ Data Objects into a standard MS SQL Server with 1 table for each Data Object with all the fields define inside in the correct order

    And then if I add a Entity Field and a Active Flag then at the press of a button I can simply script the Export of all Excel Files (13 of them) which internally have the 100+ Excel Sheets in the required (RapidStart) format

    Also if you have a Large number of Data Objects like 200,000 of either Customers or Vendors or Items/Materials then guessing Excel could be big and slow

    I have googles and I have seen a few webcasts and Microsoft videos but was after a bit more technical details as I guess it may be hidden behind more of Partner Source rather than the Customer Source access I have at the moment

    Personally I want to perform a proper ETL / Data Migration Methodology and Approach where I can perform outside of NAV the Validation before Loading  and after loading perform proper reconciliation

    I have coded what looks like a 100% compatible file format with the data in the exact same place (row 3, and headers in row 1) and I was having issues in coding how to add a XML Schema into Excel and then mapping the fields to the correct places (I have some code working) but need to test later if RapidStart is happy with it or not ?

    Also I have a Exported Excel File from NAV and I get annoying errors like :-

    "Microsoft Excel: We found a problem with some content in '(filename)'. Do you want us to try to recover as much as we can? if you trust the source of this workbook, click yes"

    I can see some good advantages of the Rapid Start solution

    I also see a few disadvantages and I also could just populate all my data using Web Services but I tested with Payment Terms and you have to upload a complex type so I need a quick wrapper for each Data Object

    So any technical pointers are welcomed ...

    Regards

    Mark Dicken

    Data Migration Consultant

    UK Mob 07786530377

    Skype "MarkDicken.com"

    email@MarkDicken.com

  • Suggested answer
    Stefano Demiliani Profile Picture
    Stefano Demiliani 37,166 Most Valuable Professional on at
    RE: Dynamics NAV 2018 - Data Migration Best Practices Documentation / Videos / White Papers .. also after detailed information in RapidStart

    There are no official guidelines on that, Rapidstart is the standard way to go. I can agree, with large amounts of data using Excel files is not always the best choice.You can always use XMLPort (they can import XML os CSV files) or for particular cases also web services or writing data via SQL.

    This last approach is not recommended because NAV business logic is not triggered during imports. Import via SQL can be done only if you're sure that the data you're importing is valid and must not be trigger native business logic. 

  • Suggested answer
    Community Member Profile Picture
    Community Member on at
    RE: Dynamics NAV 2018 - Data Migration Best Practices Documentation / Videos / White Papers .. also after detailed information in RapidStart

    Hi Stefano & All

    Yes I completely agree that with ERP products its best not to write direct to SQL Tables because it is important to always go through the API so all checks and validations are performed

    It was my personal preference to actually use Web Services in the first place but I was trying to keep Functional Consultants happy

    I think I now have enough justification now to go down my original wanted Web Services route and I will learn the data model quite quickly for my 100+ Data Objects because I will need to load all the Data Objects in the correct order like other non Microsoft ERP systems

    Here I will write a generic uploading XML Web Services program which will be about the same effort or easier than using SSIS because SSIS uploading to Web Services does not like complex types

    Any more suggestions or pointers from anyone else are welcomed ...

    Regards

    Mark Dicken

    Data Migration Consultant

    UK Mob 07786530377

    Skype "MarkDicken.com"

    email@MarkDicken.com

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