Hands On With Microsoft Dynamics GP 2016 R1: Install the Web Resource Cache

Microsoft Dynamics GPThe web resource cache is an optional component of the Microsoft Dynamics GP web client, but installing it on each session host machine is recommended as it will improve performance.

To install the Web Resource Cache start the setup utility from the download media and, under the Additional Products header click on GP Web Resource Cache:

Microsoft Dynamics GP 2016 setup utility

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MS Connect Suggestion Sunday: Multiple Items To Vote Upon

Microsoft Dynamics GPI occasionally post suggestions from MS Connect and ask people to read the suggestion and cast their votes. Well, today I don’t have a single suggestion, or even two, but three suggestions for you to vote upon.

One Click Access to SmartList in Web Client

In the desktop client you can access SmartList from the area page, from the Microsoft Dynamics GP menu or via a toolbar icon. However, in the web client, only the first of these options are available and most users of Dynamics GP do not generally know of ways othet than the Microsoft Dynamics GP menu to start SmartList. This suggestion is to make SmartList available via one click in the web client.

Chris Dobkins submitted the suggestion and asked if SmartList can be made available by an icon next to the User Date in the web client; I don’t actually mind where the icon is, but agree that a single click method is required to make SmartList more accessible.

Vote here for this suggestion.

Hide Business Analyzer in Navigation Lists for All Users and All Lists

Business Analyzer can be a good way of seeing infromation from Dynamcis GP, but I have never liked BA being added to the navigation lists in Dynamics GP. This is why I added a recipe to the Microsoft Dynamics GP 2013 Cookbook which allowed it to be switched off globally with a SQL trigger. A Chris says, it would be better to have this functionality available via the GP client itself and allow users to switch it on when wanted.

Vote for this suggestion here.

End a corrupted Web Client Session

This is the third suggestion, suggested by Chris.

From time to time, a web client session will become corrupt. When this happens, you can reconnect to the session, but GP does not work (you may just gets lots of errors pop up in the status spinner, for example). When this happens, the user needs the ability to end the session from the screen that lists your active sessions and the tenants to which you have access to create new sessions. Users have the ability to remove their login from the activity table, and have had for many versions. Ending a hung web client session is the web client version of removing your user from the activity table so that you can log back into GP.

Vote for this suggestion here

Hands On With Microsoft Dynamics GP 2016 R1: First Opinions on the HTML5 Web Client

Microsoft Dynamics GPIn the last post, I showed the new HTML5 web client, but didn’t really give an opinion on how well I thought it worked.

Not having to install SilverLight on each PC or laptop which will run the web client is a definite plus; likewise it being cross platform and supported on Chrome, Safari and Firefox is another plus.

The HTML5 web client is also, in my opinion, quicker than the old SilverLight one.

However, there is one large negative which escaped me when doing initial testing and which Belinda Allen pointed out, although not on her blog, you can only have one open at a time; when you open a window the area pages are disabled, preventing you from opening another:

Vendor Maintenance

You can still drill down to other windows so you can for example drill from the Account Summary Inquiry to the Detailed Summary Inquiry or from Vendor Maintenance to Country Code Maintenance:

Country Code Maintenance

When you do open one window from a drill down the original window is then disabled. To toggle between them you need to use the Search for a Form or Report window:

Search for a Form or Report

This situation has created a bit of an outcry at Microsoft asking that they do further work to allow multiple window to be open at the same time. There is a post on the Microsoft Connect site where you can vote on this issue and impress upon Microsoft the importance that a resolution is found for this issue. You can vote here.

One of the main issues with the approach Microsoft have taken is that some ISV products rely on having more than one window open at the same time; another is it can seriously interrupt your workflow by being restricted to one window. Imagine, you’re half-way through creating a new vendor card when a customer rings up with an invoice query; you’d need to close the Vendor Maintenance window to open the Transactions by Debtor one.

More information on this issue has been posted by MVPs David Musgrave and Beat Bucher.

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Hands On With Microsoft Dynamics GP 2016 R1: Monkeying About With The Web Client

Microsoft Dynamics GPWith the web client installed and configured, it is now time to log in for the first time. With previous versions of the web client, this meant installing SilverLight, but the new web client is HTML5 based.

When you navigate to the GP app on the web server there is no apparent difference between the Microsoft Dynamics GP 2016 web client and the previous version; in both cases you need to login using your Domain Account:

Web Client Login

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Hands On With Microsoft Dynamics GP 2016 R1: Install Web Components Help

Microsoft Dynamics GPThe second of the wizards which pops up after the web client has been installed is the Web Components Help.

On the Welcome step click on Install to begin the installation:

Microsoft Dynamics Web Components Help: Welcome

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Hands On With Microsoft Dynamics GP 2016 R1: Web Client Configuration

Microsoft Dynamics GPOnce the installation of the web client is complete, two wizards will be started. The first of these is the Microsoft Dynamics GP Web Components Configuration Wizard.

On the Welcome step click on Next:

Microsoft Dynamics GP Web Components Configuration Wizard: Welcome

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Hands On With Microsoft Dynamics GP 2016 R1: Installing the Web Client

Microsoft Dynamics GPIn this post, we’re going to cover the installation of the Microsoft Dynamics GP Web Client as a single-machine deployment.

To install the web client, launch the setup utility from the downloaded installation media. Under Additional Products click on Web Client:

Microsoft Dynamics GP 2016 setup utility

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I Like Monkeys

Todays post is a bit of a diversion from the Hands on With Microsoft Dynamics GP 2016 R1 series of posts I am currently working through. I was away on site last week and didn’t get a chance to write many posts and am now trying to catch up.

So something a little funny (I hope) to distract you while I get the next posts written:

The pet store was selling them for 50¢ a piece. I thought that odd since they were normally a couple thousand each. I decided not to look a gift horse in the mouth.

I bought 200. I like monkeys.

I took my 200 monkeys home. I have a big car. I let one drive. His name was Sigmund. He was retarded. In fact, none of them were really bright. They kept punching themselves in their genitals. I laughed. Then they punched my genitals. I stopped laughing.

I herded them into my room. They didn’t adapt very well to their new environment. They would screech, hurl themselves off of the couch at high speeds and slam into the wall. Although humorous at first, the spectacle lost its novelty halfway into its third hour.

Two hours later I found out why all the monkeys were so inexpensive: they all died. No apparent reason. They all just sorta’ dropped dead. Kinda’ like when you buy a goldfish and it dies five hours later. Damn cheap monkeys.

I didn’t know what to do. There were 200 dead monkeys lying all over my room, on the bed, in the dresser, hanging from my bookcase. It looked like I had 200 throw rugs.

I tried to flush one down the toilet. It didn’t work. It got stuck. Then I had one dead, wet monkey and 199 dead, dry monkeys.

I tried pretending that they were just stuffed animals. That worked for a while, that is until they began to decompose. It started to smell real bad.

I had to pee but there was a dead monkey in the toilet and I didn’t want to call the plumber. I was embarrassed.

I tried to slow down the decomposition by freezing them. Unfortunately there was only enough room for two monkeys at a time so I had to change them every 30 seconds. I also had to eat all the food in the freezer so it didn’t all go bad.

I tried burning them. Little did I know my bed was flammable. I had to extinguish the fire.

Then I had one dead, wet monkey in my toilet, two dead, frozen monkeys in my freezer, and 197 dead, charred monkeys in a pile on my bed. The odor wasn’t improving.

I became agitated at my inability to dispose of my monkeys and to use the bathroom. I severely beat one of my monkeys. I felt better.

I tried throwing them way but the garbage man said that the city wasn’t allowed to dispose of charred primates. I told him that I had a wet one. He couldn’t take that one either. I didn’t bother asking about the frozen ones.

I finally arrived at a solution. I gave them out as Christmas gifts. My friends didn’t know quite what to say. They pretended that they like them but I could tell they were lying. Ingrates. So I punched them in the genitals.

I like monkeys.

Hands On With Microsoft Dynamics GP 2016 R1: Install the Web Client Runtime

Microsoft Dynamics GPTypically for a production environment, an installation of the web client would be done as a scale-out deployment whereby the different components are installed on different servers.

As I am working on a small number of servers in my demo environment (a Domain Controller, a SQL Server and a Web Client Server) I will be doing a single-machine deployment with the sessions central and session host services on a single machine.

To do this I have the Microsoft Dynamics GP desktop client installed on the Web Client: this is the only machine with a client installed.

To do this, I need to add the Web Client Runtime feature to the installation of the desktop client. To do this open the Programs and Features applet in Control Panel, select Microsoft Dynamics GP 2016 and click the Change button:.

Programs and Features

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