New article on MSDynamicsWorld: MVP Mark Polino and his Nostradamus predictions for 2010

"2010 will be a milestone year for Microsoft Dynamics GP..."

Microsoft Dynamics GP has a new Nostradamus in MVP Mark Polino. Mark looks into his crystal ball and predicts the fortune of Microsoft Dynamics GP 11, BI, Management Reporter and FRx, and the Microsoft Dynamics GP Community as a whole in his latest MSDynamicsWorld article... heck, the guy even talks politics!

Don't miss out on this great article.

Until next post!

MG.-
Mariano Gomez, MVP
Maximum Global Business, LLC
http://www.maximumglobalbusiness.com/

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Building a COM Interop Assembly to use with Microsoft Dexterity

I am currently building some customizations for a customer of mine in the aerospace industry. My customer required a library of trigonometric functions that could be used to extend their Dexterity integrating applications.

To solve this problem, we turned to .NET to create COM interop assembly. The idea was to take advantage of the standard Math class methods available with the System namespace - System.Math . The following is an excerpt of the code we created:

TrigonometricFunctions.cs

//Created by Mariano Gomez, MVP
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Text;
using System.Runtime.InteropServices;

namespace TrigonometricFunctions
{
    public class TrigonometricFunctions
    {
        [GuidAttribute("8268A95E-6FCB-4FB2-88A1-1E38F49F4FB8"), ClassInterface(ClassInterfaceType.AutoDual)]
        public class TrigFn
        {
            // dx in degrees
            public double fSin(double dx)
            {
                double angle = Math.PI * dx / 180.0;
                // returns sin(dx)
                return Math.Sin(angle);
            }

            // dx in degrees
            public double fCos(double dx)
            {
                double angle = Math.PI * dx / 180.0;
                // returns cos(dx)
                return Math.Cos(angle);
            }

            // dx in degrees
            public double fTan(double dx)
            {
                double angle = Math.PI * dx / 180.0;
                // returns tan(dx)
                return Math.Tan(angle);
            }

        }
    }
}

Once the functions in the TrigFn class were in place, we set up the assembly information in Visual Studio's marking the option to Make assembly COM visible.


So we did not have to register the assembly manually, we took advantage of Visual Studio's ability to register the assembly for COM interop under the Build settings. For purposes of demostration, I created a simple Dexterity form, as shown below:



The following is the code added to the '(L) Sine' button:

Sine button CHG script

{ script: l_Sine_CHG }

local TrigonometricFunctions oTrig;
local currency angle, sine;

oTrig = new TrigonometricFunctions.TrigFn();

'(L) Prompt' = "The Sine value is ";
'(L) Conversion' = oTrig.fSin('(L) Angle');

In the code above, TrigonometricFunctions is a data type created after adding the TrigonometricFunctions COM interop assembly as a library to our Dexterity application. The data type references the TrigonometricFunctions.TrigFn class.

References:

Using a .NET Assembly from a Dexterity-Based Application - Click here

Microsoft Dynamics GP 10.0 White Paper: Using a .NET Assembly from a Dexterity-based Application - Click here

Downloads:

TrigonometricFunctions .NET project - Click here
Dexterity Sample App - Click here

Until next post!

MG.-
Mariano Gomez, MVP
Maximum Global Business, LLC
http://www.maximumglobalbusiness.com/

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New article on MSDynamicsWorld: "Integrating Microsoft Dynamics CRM with Microsoft Dynamics GP"

"No, this is not the Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan movie..."

One of my goals for this year is to become technically and functionally skilled in Microsoft Dynamics GP CRM. However, I never expected this to happen so quickly and abruptly as it did some 3 weeks ago with a "weekender-all nighter-gotta-get-it-done-by-Monday" project I worked on with my business partner. I collected some of the best practices and experiences from that project and put them together in my new MSDynamicsWorld article.

Until next post!

MG.-
Mariano Gomez, MVP
Maximum Global Business, LLC
http://www.maximumglobalbusiness.com/

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Register now for Convergence 2010 in Atlanta

Registration Is Open

Register now for the premier Microsoft Dynamics event and learn how users like you drive business success by maximizing their Microsoft Dynamics solution. Take advantage of this unique chance to network with peers and Microsoft product experts, share ideas, and get up-to-speed on the latest products and technologies. Learn more on the Convergence Web site, then use the convenient e-mail feature to help tell your boss and colleagues why Convergence is an opportunity not-to-be-missed.

Convergence 2010 Atlanta is cost-effective and easy to attend. Atlanta offers quality and affordable hotel options and is a major air transit hub, which makes it a convenient destination. And the event starts on a Saturday in order to take less time from your work week.

Experience an event designed to deliver the most relevant information for your business needs, with content driven by users like you. Be sure to register early and save!

Best yet, it's right in my back yard! I look forward to seeing you in Atlanta!

Until next post!

MG.-
Mariano Gomez, MVP
Maximum Global Business, LLC
http://www.maximumglobalbusiness.com/

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Congratulations to Queen Victoria!

This is becoming a new year's habit -- in a very pleasant way! Victoria Yudin has now been crowned with the Microsoft Most Valuable Professional award for the 6th straight year. Keep in mind that the MVP award program has been in place for only 14 years, so quite an accomplishment for Victoria. The truth is the Dynamics GP community has quite a bit to thank Victoria for... how about a whopping 3,450 contributions to the Microsoft Dynamics GP public newsgroup for starters.

Insider's note about Victoria: she was originally born in Moscow, Russia and move to the US when she was only 10 years old. She is an avid reader and enjoys video games in her free time. She also has a tremendous sense of humor.

Until next post!

MG.-
Mariano Gomez, MVP
Maximum Global Business, LLC
http://www.maximumglobalbusiness.com/

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Post through from Microsoft Dynamics GP Manufacturing

As if Post Through wasn't hard enough to understand for the core financial and distribution modules (take a look at my previous article Why my transactions don't post through GL even when I have the flag selected?) here comes Manufacturing. Take a look at these comments from Microsoft's Becky Berginski:

"Within Microsoft Dynamics GP there is a place to setup your modules posting options. However, there is not an option specifically for Manufacturing. Manufacturing looks at the Inventory and General Ledger options to determine the MFG posting options. If the transactions you enter in Manufacturing post adjustments to Inventory then the system looks at the settings for your Inventory module. (i.e. To determine if it is stops in GL or posts through GL.) If the transactions don't update inventory (i.e. closing MO), but GL adjustments are made then it looks at your GL settings to determine how it posts.

Go to Tools Setup Posting Posting. Review the settings for both Inventory and General ledger transaction entry options.The posting journals that print after a posting of an MO Receipt are those associated with Inventory Adjustments. You can turn these off (or have them saved to a file) using the Posting Setup window (Tools - Setup - Posting - Posting). Be sure to choose the Inventory series and the Transaction Entry origin. Keep in mind that these settings are now on those reports for regular Inventory posting also and not just the posting of Manufacturing Components.

There are certain labor transactions that will not post through the GL. Data Collection transaction never post Through the GL. You would need to locate the Journal Entry and adjust the Transaction Date. Data Collection entries will have a Source Doc code of 'DC_ADJ' and reference to the MO number."

Becky then goes on to clarify that,

"There are some transactions that will not post to GL. Most of them do. Below is a listing of what does. There are various postings that will come from Manufacturing. Some of these postings go directly to the GL. Some of the postings go through Inventory first and then update the GL. The transactions that go through Inventory utilize the posting setup for that series. The transactions that post directly from manufacturing to GL utilize the posting setup for the financial series. Here are some examples of the various places that one can post from in Manufacturing:

1. If they are using the Quick MO Entry window, postings will occur when they click on the Close MO button.

A. They will have one adjustment posted in Inventory to reduce quantities for the components. This entry will update GL when it finishes posting in IV.

B. They will have a second adjustment posted in Inventory for the receipt of the finished goods. This also will update GL when it finishes posting in IV.

C. If there is labor or machine time set up for the finished good, a journal entry for those costs will post directly to the GL.

D. Also if there are any variances, a journal entry to record those will post directly to the GL.

2. If they are using the basic MO Entry window, postings may occur a number of different times and from different windows:

A. Components can be issued from the Component Transaction Entry window. This posts a decrease adjustment in IV and then GL when the posting completes in IV.

B. Any labor and machine time recorded in any of the WIP windows will post costs directly to the GL.

C. The posting of MO receipts will post an increase adjustment for the finished good in IV and then will update GL. If components are backflushed a decrease adjustment will be posted to IV and GL will be update after the IV posting is complete. Labor and machine costs may post to GL if they are backflushed.

D. When closing the MO, variances will be posted directly to GL. Also additional component quantities may be included--this means a decrease adjustment in IV and a related posting to GL.

One other setting that sometimes prevents users from posting thru GL is in the Security Setup window (Tools - Setup - System - Security). Choose product of Microsoft Dynamics GP, Type of Windows, and Series of Financial. Be sure that the users posting in Mfg have access to the following two windows:

GL Open Files
GL Open Financial Files - internal

As I mentioned transactions stemming from labor or machine data collection will never post through the GL."

Hope you find this information useful and a good 2010 opening article.

Until next post!

MG.-
Mariano Gomez, MVP
Maximum Global Business, LLC
http://www.maximumglobalbusiness.com/

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Happy New Year!

A fairly popular New Year's eve tradition is to define a list of resolutions for the incoming year. These resolutions become goals that you try very hard to achieve throughout the year in course. Comes year-end, you evaluate what happened, you praise the hits, and complain about the missed resolutions. You slip some of those unachieved goals into next year's resolutions, and the cycle starts all over again.

The one issue I see with New Year's resolutions is, a lot of us tend to just set way too many! The consequence? Lots of frustrations at the end of the year. So, with this in mind I have adopted a new strategy: have one single New Year's resolution that will drive a number of other initiatives.

So here is my one single New Year's resolution: increase readership to this site and all other outlets where you can find The Dynamics GP Blogster. So here is where you come in! In order to accomplish this one goal and all initiatives that derive from it I need your help: a) please keep reading my articles and sending in your comments, and b) spread the word!

How do these two seemingly simple requests help my initiatives? Very simple! If you keep reading and spreading the word, a) it will be a lot easier for the entire Microsoft Dynamics GP Community to find key pieces of information that makes their lives as easy as yours have become by reading this site, b) it will increase the adoption rate of Dynamics GP. The more users know about all the help outside of CustomerSource and PartnerSource, the less apprehensive they will be towards learning GP, and last but not least, c) it will allow me to continue helping the Community. See, the more I know what people are reading, the better I can address their needs (focused topics, workshops, series, etc). In addition, it increases my chances of coming to a place near you. One of the reasons I made it to the Microsoft Dynamics GP Technical Conference 2009 was due to a fairly successful campaign reaching out to you through various technical articles.

I know you follow me, I know you like (and sometimes dislike, but that ok too) what you read on this site, I know you stay tuned, but think of the benefits others could receive from the same information you get here. So, the next time you speak to your peers or colleagues just mention this site. It takes two seconds and it goes one step more to achieve my New Year's resolution.

Until next post!

MG.-
Mariano Gomez, MVP
Maximum Global Business, LLC.
http://www.maximumglobalbusiness.com

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