Andrew Karasev

Dynamics GP Customizations: Dex, EDI, eConnect, Crystal

For Microsoft Dynamics GP, formerly known as Great Plains Dynamics ERP and MRP supporting people, who needs to get initial orientation in GP modification scenarios and tools.  

In this small publication we are offering the approach, when your business processes are unique and you cannot deploy standard GP business logic or one of the existing Great Plains ISV add-ons or third party modules.  Having this situation foreseen, we would like to recommend you considering solutions tuning approach, when you are getting existing products code fragments and you modify or adapt existing code to fit your unique business processes:

1.       Great Plains Dexterity.  This is the architecture, it has its own programming or better say scripting language Sanscript, Integrated Development Environment and such business logic dictionaries, as Dynamics.dic are in essence Dex logic metadata.  Solutions in Dexterity are products, deployed for restricted list of customers.  Typically you do not pay high price for the solution code, however you have the budget to alter the code to fit your unique business processes requirements.  Dexterity has relatively long learning curve and it also requires module purchase – if you are end customer, we recommend you to contract Dex programmers or Great Plains Technology Partner

2.       Electronic Document Interchange.  In some cases EDI is formalized and you can purchase third party add-on, which should allow you to map code, typically fixed length text files.  However, if you think about simplicity to parse code in SQL formatted Select statement – you may decide to save the money and make simple SQL programming exercise.  Usually you will need to deploy EDI via ODBC connection to Text file, consider deploying MS SQL Linked Server, reading text file and exposing it to Select statement formatting

3.       eConnect SDK.  eConnect is work and master files level of Dexterity code, replicated in SQL encrypted stored procedures.  It is friendly to Microsoft Visual Studio generic programmer, assuming you got quick training in Dynamics objects: customer, vendor, Sales Invoice, Purchase Order, GL account, etc.  This tool is great for eCommerce web programming, it lacks batch posting methods, we recommend you to deploy Autopost, if posting is required directly from ecommerce application

4.       Crystal Reports.  In contrast to FRx Financial Reporting (that is rather end user financials reports designing tool), Crystal is associated with custom logic and is more flexible.  If you plan to do cross-modules tables join, then Crystal could be the way to go.  We recommend you to consider basing report on SQL Stored procedure (the most powerful, where you can deploy intermediate temp tables) or view.  Other reporting tools to consider: SQL Server Reporting Services or SSRS – this tool is coming free with SQL Server purchase, plus it is naturally web application

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