If you have Great Plains Dynamics GP implemented in your organization, you should be aware about GP Reporting tools: RW, Crystal Reports, FRx financial reporting, SSRS or Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services
We often see the scenario when brave IT in-staff programmer comes with the initiative to design and deploy all Great Plains Dynamics GP reports in Crystal or SRS – this is definitely great initiative, however it might not be too rational: each reporting tool is dedicated to its own set of tasks and covers specific area. In this small publication we would like to talk about Dynamics GP Report Writer:
1. RW best fit. It is where you call reports from Dynamics GP screens: Sales Order Entry, Purchase Order Entry, for examples. In these cases Great Plains screens allow you to fill in parameter fields and call Report Writer reports accordingly: SOP Blank Invoice form is good example. In order to do similar job for Crystal Report designer – you will have to purchase GP Modifier module (customization site enabler) with VBA. But this is just the beginning of the story – then you will need to program Crystal Reports Engine call from VBA script. Some additional info: ReportWriter is Great Plains Dexterity programmed module and this is why it is seamlessly integrated into Dynamics GP user security realm. If you need custom GP reports to be developed and integrated to your unique Dynamics GP Dexterity programmed add-on, Microsoft Dexterity is appropriate tool to do GP software development
2. Report Writer programming. This paragraph is for Dynamics GP Dexterity developers and programmers. In order to add custom feature to existing GP RW report, you may consider moving it into your Dexterity development dictionary. Then, you should create RW_ global function in Dex and this function from that time will be available in your Alternate Modified Dynamics GP Reports. Alternate means standard report included into your GP custom ISV dictionary and then modified with Report Writer
3. Report Writer or FRx. Here you should follow the rule: FRx is for strictly Financial reporting: Balance Sheet, Statement of Profit and Loss, Statement of Cash Flow, Consolidation financial reporting, including international multicurrency reporting. Plus FRx has Reporting Tree concept, allowing you to pick specific departments or consolidate selected companies
4. Where you have to consider Crystal Reports. RW is not flexible in the situation, where you decide to deploy user defined fields, or when you have to base your reports upon custom tables (including the ones, created in Dynamics GP Dexterity customization). And please, note here, that we are talking about modules specific reports, not GL ones, where FRx is the way to go
Dexterity Customization for Dynamics GP Evaluation Level Paper
When you are developer it is always a good idea to read technical manuals. But if you was just assigned to the IT team to decide if Dexterity is the right tool to customize your ERP application then first you need something which is in style of ‘easy reading papers’ or FAQ
Planning Dynamics GP Customization in Large Corporation
If you are reading this page then chances are high that you were not able to find ISV add-on and need customization project. Let’s talk about planning, quality assurance and future event such as version updates.
Dynamics GP Invoice Logo Attributed to Specific Company or Crossing the Borders of Three SOP Forms
Initial Great Plains Dynamics architecture had three SOP Invoice forms: Long, Short and Blank. Modern GP is popular in scenarios where you have more than three companies under one business entity umbrella
