GP Transaction Search: Using PM Transaction Search v1.0.0.4

Winthrop DCThis post is part of the series on the new, free, GP Transaction Search window from Steve Endow of Precipio Services.

Over the last couple of posts, I’ve covered the installation and configuration of the PM Transaction each enquiry window; now it is time to take a look at the functionality of the inquiry/enquiry window.

The first, and main, access point to the PM Transaction Search window is via the standard navigation of area pages or drop down menus; it replaces the Transaction by Document window on the Purchasing area page » Inquiry/Enquiry menu:

Inquiry menu

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GP Transaction Search: Installing the SQL Stored Proc for v1.0.0.4

Winthrop DCThis post is part of the series on the new, free, GP Transaction Search window from Steve Endow of Precipio Services.

When running through the installation of the GP Transaction Search the other day, I didn’t cover the deployment of the SQL stored proc.

In the downloaded zip file, there is a SQL script called csspGLTransactionSearch v1.1.sql which needs to bedeployed in each company database:

Windows Explorer

Once this is deployed, the PM Transaction Search window will be fully working.

GP Transaction Search: Configuration of v1.0.0.4

Winthrop DCThis post is part of the series on the new, free, GP Transaction Search window from Steve Endow of Precipio Services.

With GP Transaction Search installed, the next stage is to review the configuration and make any changes necessary.

To review the settings, open the GP.TransactionSearch.dll.config.

There are three settings under the GP.TransactionSearch.Properties.Settings. The only one I would advise changing is the SearchAsYouType one; if you have a small database, leaving this setting set to True is fine, but on larger databases may cause some lag:

One you’ve changed the settings, click Save and close the config file.

GP Transaction Search: Installation of v1.0.0.4

Winthrop DCThis post is part of the series on the new, free, GP Transaction Search window from Steve Endow of Precipio Services.

The installation of the GP Transaction Search window is a nice simple one.

First off, download the addin from the Precopio Services website.

The downloaded file is a zip which contains the four versions currently available:

GP Transaction Search zip

I am installing the Microsoft Dynamics GP 2018 version, so have opened the 2018 folder.

Copy the contents of the folder to the Dynamics GP addins folder which is a subfolder of the installation one (by default this is C:/Program Files (x86)/Microsoft Dynamics/GP2018/).

Depending on your security settings, you may need to Unblock the dlls. To check if this is necessary, right click each one in turn and click on Properties. If there is a checkbox called ,em>Unblock, mark this and click OK to save changes.

GP Transaction Search: Why?

Winthrop DCThis post is part of the series on the new, free, GP Transaction Search window from Steve Endow of Precipio Services.

I’ve been working with Microsoft Dynamics GP for 15 years now and I have always thought that one of the most useless inquiry/enquiry windows in the Purchasing series was the Transaction by Document (Purchasing area page » Enquiry/Inquiry » Transaction by Document) one. It turns out I am not alone in this assessment.

The window allows you to search only by Document Number. In most cases you also want to narrow the selected data down by vendor/creditor, but the window does not allow this.

Well, sharing my view of the window, MVP Steve Endow, of Precipio Services has decided to do something about it. Microsoft Dynamics GP has several options for making customizations, from minor tweaks using VBA (not supported in the web client), to .NET with VS Tools, to Dexterity. This is a huge benefit for GP customers as it allows them to pick the best technology for the customisation they want. There is always a cost to either making your own customisations, or having someone else do the work for you. However, by not making the customisation, you can really miss out on the benefits. This can lead to users who can struggle to quickly or easily find the information they need.

Steve decided to make the GP Transaction Search project as a very usable demonstration that a relatively small customization can produce significant benefits and efficiencies.

This new enquiry/inquiry window allows you to search by a Document Date range and/or the Vendor ID or Name and/or the Document Number and/or a Document Amount. This makes it a far better window for searching for documents than the standard Transaction by Document one. It is also very quick to return data.

The initial version of GP Transaction Search includes only the PM Transaction Search, but took only one day to develop the prototype, and an additional two to three days to finish, refine, test, and release. If you look at the actual .NET code, it’s surprisingly simple; there are actually very few lines of code in the project–it’s mostly basic .NET functionality, albeit, admittedly, with some clever construction and design and tricks to work with Dynamics GP.

As this shows, it doesn’t require a huge investment to produce really valuable customizations and, as I’ll show over the next few posts, deployment and updates are simple and low maintenance. This aligns with Steve’s view that customizations, when well designed, don’t have to be a burden for customers.

As well as being immediately useful to people using Dynamics GP, Steve has released the project as an open source project; this means that it can be a great learning tool and reference for other developers looking to use .NET with GP. As mentioned the initial project includes a replacement to the Transaction by Document enquiry/inquiry, it can easily be expanded to display any data from any module in Dynamics GP and, potentially, from any other database.

Since the project is quite literally just a simple window with a grid displaying the results of a stored procedure. It can easily be expanded to display any data in Dynamics GP, from any module (such as Receivables Management, Inventory Control, Fixed Asset Management), or in any other application database, for that matter.

The GP Transaction Search window is available for all version of Microsoft Dynamics GP starting with 2013. You can download the install files from Precipio Services; if you’re a developer, the GitHub project is here.

GP Transaction Search: Series Index

Winthrop DCSteve Endow of Precipio Services has recently launched a GP Transaction Search. The initial version is a PM Transaction Search which replaces the Transaction by Document window (Purchasing » Inquiry » Trx by Document) in the Purchasing series.

Over the next few posts, I’m going to be taking a look at the origins, installation, configuration, use and future of this add-on.

Dynamics GP Transaction Search v1.0 is Available! For FREE!

Microsoft Dynamics GPMVP Steve Endow, on the Dynamics GP Land blog, has announced the release of a new Dynamics GP Transaction Search window for all versions of Microsoft Dynamics GP from version 2013 onwards.

The intention of the new window is that it replaces the Transaction by Document (Purchasing >> Enquiry >> Transaction by Document) window; the default version can be very slow and only allows you to search by one criteria (Document Number).

In contrast, Steve’s new PM Transaction Search window allows you to search on a date range, Vendor ID, Vendor Name, Document Number and range of values, all at the same time:

PM Transaction Search

The new window is also available from Additional menus on several windows including Vendor Maintenance (Purchasing >> Enquiry >> Vendor)

The initial release includes the PM Transaction Search, but Steve has intentions that more search windows are added to other modules and series in Dynamics GP.

Best of all, this new search is absolutely free.

Steve also plans to open source the window so that other people in the Dynamics GP community can contribute.

The Precipio Services website will be updated, but, until then, you can download it from Steve’s blog.

Microsoft Dynamics GP 2013 R2 Out of Mainstream Support

Microsoft Dynamics GPMicrosoft Dynamics GP 2013 came out of mainstream support and into extended support as of 1oth April 2018; end of mainstream support means you will no longer get statutory updates such as the addition of the Invoice Receipt Date in the January 2017 hotfix which applied to the UK or year-end tax updates for the US and Canada.

I always recommend to client to look to upgrade every two to three years; the last few years have seen many improvements and additional new functionality added to Microsoft Dynamics GP (2013, 2013 R2, 2015, 2015 R2, 2016, 2016 R2 and 2018) as well as bug fixes.

By not upgrading regularly, you not only miss out on all of these fixes and new functionality, but you also make your eventual upgrade longer and more complex due to the number of versions which need to be upgraded through.

You can review the product lifecycle on the Microsoft Lifecycle Policy – Microsoft Dynamics GP page.

Microsoft Dynamics GP 2013 Nearing End of Mainstream Support

Microsoft Dynamics GPMicrosoft Dynamics GP 2013 was released back on 12th March 2013; mainstream support is available for versions of Dynamics GP for approximately five years from the release date. Therefore mainstream support for Dynamics GP 2013 ends on 10th April 2018, after which it will go into extended support.

My recommendation to clients is to try to remain on a mainstream supported version of the product so that you can still receive hot fixes to major issues (or for US or Canadian users receive payroll updates).

With the frequency of releases of Dynamics GP, an upgrade every five years is going to mean an upgrade between five versions which is quite a jump (that’s going forward; for a while recently new versions were twice a year); I generally advise clients to upgrade every 2-3 versions to minimise the length of time an upgrade will take and how many intermediate versions need to be upgraded through (we have one client who does the ideal and upgrades once per year, but they largely do their own upgrades with only a small amount of input from myself).

Upgrading often means you have most of the bug fixes and regularly get access to the new functionality.

You can see the launch dates as well as the mainstream and extended support dates on the Microsoft Product Lifecycle page.

My recommendation is, if you are on Microsoft Dynamics GP 2013, and haven’t already started planning your upgrade, to start now.

Microsoft Dynamics GP January 2018 Hotfix Now Available

Microsoft Dynamics GPTerry Heley announced the availability of the January 2018 Hotfix for Microsoft Dynamics GP the other day on the Dynamics GP Support and Services Blog. This hotfix is available for the following version of Microsoft Dynamics GP;

  • 2013 – this will be the last hotfix for GP 2013, so you should really start planning your upgrade to a supported version.
  • 2015
  • 2016
  • 2018

While you don’t need to install every hotfix for Microsoft Dynamics GP, I would always recommend reviewing the fix list to determine if you need to upgrade.

I am not listing all of the fixes here, just the ones which seem important or relevant to my clients:

  • These fixes are for 2018 only:
    • You may experience slow performance when you click Inquiry>>Purchasing>>Transaction By Document.
    • You are unable to make changes to copied workflow steps when created using the Copy Workflow Step feature.
  • These fixes are for both 2016 and 2018:
    • PM Payables Transaction Workflow A get/change operation on table ‘PM_Transcation_WORK’ failed.
    • Upgrade error CO00104 set BusObjKey = replace(BusObjKey,’0\PM\Payables Transaction History’,’0\PM\Payables Transaction’) where BusObjKey.
    • When two users simultaneously submit a document into a workflow with multiple approvers at the same time, one of the workflows will either go to the workflow manager or only be assigned to a portion of the approvers (this is an issue I logged with Microsoft which was causing issues for a couple of clients, so nice to see the fix available).
    • You may notice duplicate payments with simultaneous use of the payables select checks window, warning was added to the user.
    • You are unable to add new columns to existing Analytical Accounting SmartLists in Dynamics GP 2016 R2 or later & columns with special characters result in “excel found unreadable content” error when list is exported to excel.
    • Posting a GL reversing entry to a historical year with P&L account, where it reverses in the new year has incorrect SEQNUMBR in the GL20000 and incorrect ACTINDX in AAG30001 on reversing ‘GJ’ entry and 0% in AAG3000.

For the full fix list, check Terry’s blog post