Month: August 2022

A Review of TasteWP

Ian Grieve4 minute read0 comment

WordPressI was recently contacted by TasteWP asking for people to take a look at their system and provide feedback. Before I get into the feedback I gave them and a wider review, I think it might be best to first explain what TasteWP is and what it can be used for.

TasteWP provides a sandbox environment where you can easily test plugins or themes you are developing or which you want to try out before deploying to a production site. There are other existing methods which have been around longer, such as Local by Flywheel, so why TasteWP?

Well, I did use Local a few times when I first found it, but through time I stumbled over one limitation too many times and eventually stopped using it; that limitation was its use of VirtualBox for the virtual environment it created. As I extensively use Microsoft’s Hyper-V, I found myself having to continually switch off the hypervisor to use Local and then switch it on again when I was finished; while modern PCs with SSDs do restart very quickly, it is still disruptive needing to restart the PC every time the hypervisor was enabled or disabled.

The other limitation of Local by Flywheel, which I mentioned in the review I wrote is that it is WordPress only; unfortunately, TasteWP has the same limitation of being WordPress only. WordPress is obviously much larger than ClassicPress, so this is not unexpected.

TasteWP allows you to create up to two sites which will expire after 48 hours; the admin page has a counter at the top right corner showing how long you have remaining. If you create an account and sign in you can create up to six sites which expire after 7 days and if you sign up for a premium account you can also create a site which does not expire and which has a lot more space available.

TasteWP website

Continue reading “A Review of TasteWP”

Git Command Line Snippets: Upload Release Asset

Ian Grieve2 minute read0 comment

GitHubThis post is part of the series on Git Command Line Snippets where I am taking a look at performing actions on GitHub using the git command line.

Now that we have the json from GitHub for the release, we can upload the release zip (an extra asset) which is used for installing the plugin on a ClassicPress site:

curl -X POST --header "Authorization: token ghp_authorizationtoken" --header "Content-Type: application/zip" --upload-file "path and filename" "https://uploads.github.com/repos/username/repository name/releases/tag id/assets?name=filename"

The highlighted sections need to be replaced with the parameters for your GitHub account, repo and the release.

In Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, how do I… Series Index

Ian Grieve2 minute read0 comment

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business CentralI have worked with and blogged about Microsoft Dynamics GP for the last 19 years, but have now started doing some work with Microoft Dynamics 365 Business Central. I am going to be doing some blogging about the latter system as I learn.

Early posts will be covering the basics of Dynamics BC, but will start to cover more complex topics as I learn more about Dynamics BC.

This series will likely be a long running one which serves as a repository for “how do I” posts on various elements of Dynamics BC, both technical and functional. The series index, below, will automatically update as each post in the series goes live so make sure you bookmark this post so you can see keep up-to-date with my journey into Business Central.

Continue reading “In Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, how do I… Series Index”

Microsoft Dynamics GP Workflow Approval SQL Views: Purchase Orders

Ian Grieve5 minute read0 comment

Microsoft Dynamics GPThis post is part of the Microsoft Dynamics GP Workflow Approval SQL Views series and contains a SQL view to return the workflow approval status of purchase orders.

-- drop view if it exists
IF OBJECT_ID(N'uv_AZRCRV_POPOrderApprovalStatus', N'V') IS NOT NULL
	DROP VIEW uv_AZRCRV_POPOrderApprovalStatus
GO
-- create view
CREATE VIEW uv_AZRCRV_POPOrderApprovalStatus AS
/*
Created by Ian Grieve of azurecurve | Ramblings of an IT Professional (http://www.azurecurve.co.uk)
This code is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Int).
*/
WITH POApprovals AS
	(
		SELECT
			['Workflow Instance Master'].WfBusObjKey AS PONUMBER
			,['Workflow History'].Workflow_History_User
			,['Workflow History'].Workflow_Completion_Date
			,['Workflow History'].Workflow_Completion_Time
			,['Workflow History'].Workflow_Name
			,['Workflow History'].Workflow_Step_Name
			,CASE WHEN ['Workflow History'].Workflow_Action = 1 THEN
				'Submitted'
			WHEN ['Workflow History'].Workflow_Action = 2 THEN
				'Resubmitted'
			WHEN ['Workflow History'].Workflow_Action = 3  THEN
				'Approved'
			WHEN ['Workflow History'].Workflow_Action = 4 THEN
				'Task Complete'
			WHEN ['Workflow History'].Workflow_Action = 5 THEN
				'Rejected'
			WHEN ['Workflow History'].Workflow_Action = 6 THEN
				'Delegated'
			WHEN ['Workflow History'].Workflow_Action = 7 THEN
				'Recalled'
			WHEN ['Workflow History'].Workflow_Action = 8 THEN
				'Escalated'
			WHEN ['Workflow History'].Workflow_Action = 9 THEN
				'Edit'
			WHEN ['Workflow History'].Workflow_Action = 10 THEN
				'Final Approved'
			END as Workflow_Approval_Status
			,['Workflow History'].Workflow_Comments
			,ROW_NUMBER() OVER(PARTITION BY ['Workflow Instance Master'].WfBusObjKey ORDER BY ['Workflow History'].Workflow_Completion_Date DESC, ['Workflow History'].Workflow_Completion_Time DESC) AS ROW_ID
		FROM 
			WF30100 AS ['Workflow History'] WITH (NOLOCK)
		INNER JOIN
			WFI10002 AS ['Workflow Instance Master'] WITH (NOLOCK)
				ON
					['Workflow Instance Master'].WorkflowInstanceID = ['Workflow History'].WorkflowInstanceID
		WHERE
			['Workflow Instance Master'].Workflow_Type_Name = 'Purchase Order Approval'
		AND
			['Workflow History'].Workflow_Action <> 11
	)

SELECT
	-- order headers
	['Purchase Orders'].PONUMBER
	,['Purchase Orders'].DOCDATE
	,['Purchase Orders'].VENDORID
	-- approval information
	,POApprovals.Workflow_Name
	,POApprovals.Workflow_Step_Name
	,POApprovals.Workflow_History_User
	,POApprovals.Workflow_Approval_Status
	,POApprovals.Workflow_Completion_Date
	,POApprovals.Workflow_Completion_Time
	,POApprovals.Workflow_Comments
	-- order lines
	,['Purchase Order Lines'].ITEMNMBR
	,['Purchase Order Lines'].ITEMDESC
	,['Purchase Order Lines'].QTYORDER
	,['Purchase Order Lines'].UNITCOST
	,['Purchase Order Lines'].EXTDCOST
	,['PM Vendor Master'].VENDNAME
FROM
	(
		SELECT
			PONUMBER
			,DOCDATE
			,BUYERID
			,VENDORID
		FROM
			POP10100 AS ['Purchase Order Work'] WITH (NOLOCK)
		UNION ALL
			SELECT
				PONUMBER
				,DOCDATE
				,BUYERID
				,VENDORID
			FROM
				POP30100 AS ['Purchase Order History'] WITH (NOLOCK)
	)  AS ['Purchase Orders']
INNER JOIN
	(
		SELECT
			PONUMBER
			,ITEMNMBR
			,ITEMDESC
			,QTYORDER
			,UNITCOST
			,EXTDCOST
		FROM
			POP10110 AS ['Purchase Order Lines Work'] WITH (NOLOCK)
		UNION ALL
			SELECT
				PONUMBER
				,ITEMNMBR
				,ITEMDESC
				,QTYORDER
				,UNITCOST
				,EXTDCOST
			FROM
				POP30110 AS ['Purchase Order Lines History'] WITH (NOLOCK)
	) AS ['Purchase Order Lines']
		ON
			['Purchase Order Lines'].PONUMBER = ['Purchase Orders'].PONUMBER
LEFT JOIN
	POApprovals
		ON
			POApprovals.PONUMBER = ['Purchase Orders'].PONUMBER
		AND
			POApprovals.ROW_ID = 1
LEFT JOIN
	PM00200 AS ['PM Vendor Master'] WITH (NOLOCK)
		ON
			['PM Vendor Master'].VENDORID = ['Purchase Orders'].VENDORID
GO

GRANT SELECT ON uv_AZRCRV_POPOrderApprovalStatus TO DYNGRP
GO

Microsoft Dynamics GP Workflow Approval SQL Views: Purchase Requisitions

Ian Grieve5 minute read0 comment

Microsoft Dynamics GPThis post is part of the Microsoft Dynamics GP Workflow Approval SQL Views series and contains a SQL view to return the workflow approval status of purchase requisitions.

-- drop view if it exists
IF OBJECT_ID(N'uv_AZRCRV_POReqApprovalStatus', N'V') IS NOT NULL
	DROP VIEW uv_AZRCRV_POReqApprovalStatus
GO
-- create view
CREATE VIEW uv_AZRCRV_POReqApprovalStatus AS
/*
Created by Ian Grieve of azurecurve | Ramblings of an IT Professional (http://www.azurecurve.co.uk)
This code is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Int).
*/
WITH PRApprovals AS
	(
		SELECT
			['Workflow Instance Master'].WfBusObjKey AS PRRequisitionNumber
			,['Workflow History'].Workflow_History_User
			,['Workflow History'].Workflow_Completion_Date
			,['Workflow History'].Workflow_Completion_Time
			,['Workflow History'].Workflow_Name
			,['Workflow History'].Workflow_Step_Name
			,CASE WHEN ['Workflow History'].Workflow_Action = 1 THEN
				'Submitted'
			WHEN ['Workflow History'].Workflow_Action = 2 THEN
				'Resubmitted'
			WHEN ['Workflow History'].Workflow_Action = 3  THEN
				'Approved'
			WHEN ['Workflow History'].Workflow_Action = 4 THEN
				'Task Complete'
			WHEN ['Workflow History'].Workflow_Action = 5 THEN
				'Rejected'
			WHEN ['Workflow History'].Workflow_Action = 6 THEN
				'Delegated'
			WHEN ['Workflow History'].Workflow_Action = 7 THEN
				'Recalled'
			WHEN ['Workflow History'].Workflow_Action = 8 THEN
				'Escalated'
			WHEN ['Workflow History'].Workflow_Action = 9 THEN
				'Edit'
			WHEN ['Workflow History'].Workflow_Action = 10 THEN
				'Final Approved'
			END as Workflow_Approval_Status
			,['Workflow History'].Workflow_Comments
			,ROW_NUMBER() OVER(PARTITION BY ['Workflow Instance Master'].WfBusObjKey ORDER BY ['Workflow History'].Workflow_Completion_Date DESC, ['Workflow History'].Workflow_Completion_Time DESC) AS ROW_ID
		FROM 
			WF30100 AS ['Workflow History'] WITH (NOLOCK)
		INNER JOIN
			WFI10002 AS ['Workflow Instance Master'] WITH (NOLOCK)
				ON
					['Workflow Instance Master'].WorkflowInstanceID = ['Workflow History'].WorkflowInstanceID
		WHERE
			['Workflow Instance Master'].Workflow_Type_Name = 'Purchase Requisition Approval'
		AND
			['Workflow History'].Workflow_Action <> 11
	)

SELECT
	-- requisition headers
	['Purchase Requisitions'].POPRequisitionNumber
	,['Purchase Requisitions'].DOCDATE
	,['Purchase Requisitions'].RequisitionDescription
	,['Purchase Requisitions'].REQSTDBY
	-- approval information
	,PRApprovals.Workflow_Name
	,PRApprovals.Workflow_Step_Name
	,PRApprovals.Workflow_History_User
	,PRApprovals.Workflow_Approval_Status
	,PRApprovals.Workflow_Completion_Date
	,PRApprovals.Workflow_Completion_Time
	,PRApprovals.Workflow_Comments
	-- requisition lines
	,['Purchase Requisition Lines'].ITEMNMBR
	,['Purchase Requisition Lines'].ITEMDESC
	,['Purchase Requisition Lines'].QTYORDER
	,['Purchase Requisition Lines'].UNITCOST
	,['Purchase Requisition Lines'].EXTDCOST
	,['Purchase Requisition Lines'].VENDORID
	,['PM Vendor Master'].VENDNAME
FROM
	(
		SELECT
			POPRequisitionNumber
			,DOCDATE
			,RequisitionDescription
			,REQSTDBY
		FROM
			POP10200 AS ['Purchase Requisition Work'] WITH (NOLOCK)
		UNION ALL
			SELECT
				POPRequisitionNumber
				,DOCDATE
				,RequisitionDescription
				,REQSTDBY
			FROM
				POP30200 AS ['Purchase Requisition History'] WITH (NOLOCK)
	)  AS ['Purchase Requisitions']
INNER JOIN
	(
		SELECT
			POPRequisitionNumber
			,ITEMNMBR
			,ITEMDESC
			,QTYORDER
			,UNITCOST
			,EXTDCOST
			,VENDORID
		FROM
			POP10210 AS ['Purchase Requisition Lines Work'] WITH (NOLOCK)
		UNION ALL
			SELECT
				POPRequisitionNumber
				,ITEMNMBR
				,ITEMDESC
				,QTYORDER
				,UNITCOST
				,EXTDCOST
				,VENDORID
			FROM
				POP30210 AS ['Purchase Requisition Lines History'] WITH (NOLOCK)
	) AS ['Purchase Requisition Lines']
		ON
			['Purchase Requisition Lines'].POPRequisitionNumber = ['Purchase Requisitions'].POPRequisitionNumber
LEFT JOIN
	PRApprovals
		ON
			PRApprovals.PRRequisitionNumber = ['Purchase Requisitions'].POPRequisitionNumber
		AND
			PRApprovals.ROW_ID = 1
LEFT JOIN
	PM00200 AS ['PM Vendor Master'] WITH (NOLOCK)
		ON
			['PM Vendor Master'].VENDORID = ['Purchase Requisition Lines'].VENDORID
GO

GRANT SELECT ON uv_AZRCRV_POReqApprovalStatus TO DYNGRP
GO

Microsoft Dynamics GP Workflow Approval SQL Views: Payables Transactions

Ian Grieve5 minute read0 comment

Microsoft Dynamics GPThis post is part of the Microsoft Dynamics GP Workflow Approval SQL Views series and contains a SQL view to return the workflow approval status of payables transactions.

-- drop view if it exists
IF OBJECT_ID(N'uv_AZRCRV_PayablesTransactionApprovalStatus', N'V') IS NOT NULL
	DROP VIEW uv_AZRCRV_PayablesTransactionApprovalStatus
GO
-- create view
CREATE VIEW uv_AZRCRV_PayablesTransactionApprovalStatus AS
/*
Created by Ian Grieve of azurecurve | Ramblings of an IT Professional (http://www.azurecurve.co.uk)
This code is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Int).
*/
WITH PMTrxApprovals AS
	(
		SELECT
			['Workflow Instance Master'].WfBusObjKey
			,['Workflow History'].Workflow_History_User
			,['Workflow History'].Workflow_Completion_Date
			,['Workflow History'].Workflow_Completion_Time
			,['Workflow History'].Workflow_Name
			,['Workflow History'].Workflow_Step_Name
			,CASE WHEN ['Workflow History'].Workflow_Action = 1 THEN
				'Submitted'
			WHEN ['Workflow History'].Workflow_Action = 2 THEN
				'Resubmitted'
			WHEN ['Workflow History'].Workflow_Action = 3  THEN
				'Approved'
			WHEN ['Workflow History'].Workflow_Action = 4 THEN
				'Task Complete'
			WHEN ['Workflow History'].Workflow_Action = 5 THEN
				'Rejected'
			WHEN ['Workflow History'].Workflow_Action = 6 THEN
				'Delegated'
			WHEN ['Workflow History'].Workflow_Action = 7 THEN
				'Recalled'
			WHEN ['Workflow History'].Workflow_Action = 8 THEN
				'Escalated'
			WHEN ['Workflow History'].Workflow_Action = 9 THEN
				'Edit'
			WHEN ['Workflow History'].Workflow_Action = 10 THEN
				'Final Approved'
			END as Workflow_Approval_Status
			,['Workflow History'].Workflow_Comments
			,ROW_NUMBER() OVER(PARTITION BY ['Workflow Instance Master'].WfBusObjKey ORDER BY ['Workflow History'].Workflow_Completion_Date DESC, ['Workflow History'].Workflow_Completion_Time DESC) AS ROW_ID
		FROM 
			WF30100 AS ['Workflow History'] WITH (NOLOCK)
		INNER JOIN
			WFI10002 AS ['Workflow Instance Master'] WITH (NOLOCK)
				ON
					['Workflow Instance Master'].WorkflowInstanceID = ['Workflow History'].WorkflowInstanceID
		WHERE
			['Workflow Instance Master'].Workflow_Type_Name = 'Payables Transaction Approval'
		AND
			['Workflow History'].Workflow_Action <> 11
	)
	
SELECT
	-- transaction information
	['PM Key Master File'].CNTRLNUM AS 'PO Number'
	,['Payables Document Types'].DOCTYNAM AS 'Document Type'
	,['PM Key Master File'].VENDORID AS 'Vendor ID'
	,['PM Vendor Master'].VENDNAME AS 'Vendor Name'
	,['PM Key Master File'].DOCDATE AS 'Document Date'
	-- approval information
	,PMTrxApprovals.Workflow_Name AS 'Workflow Name'
	,PMTrxApprovals.Workflow_Step_Name AS 'Workflow Step Name'
	,PMTrxApprovals.Workflow_History_User AS 'Workflow User'
	,PMTrxApprovals.Workflow_Approval_Status AS 'Workflow Approval Status'
	,PMTrxApprovals.Workflow_Completion_Date AS 'Workflow Completion Date'
	,PMTrxApprovals.Workflow_Completion_Time AS 'Workflow Completion Time'
	,PMTrxApprovals.Workflow_Comments AS 'Workflow_Comments'
FROM
	PM00400 AS ['PM Key Master File'] WITH (NOLOCK)
INNER JOIN
	PM00200 AS ['PM Vendor Master'] WITH (NOLOCK)
		ON
			['PM Vendor Master'].VENDORID = ['PM Key Master File'].VENDORID
INNER JOIN
	PM40102 AS ['Payables Document Types'] WITH (NOLOCK)
		ON
			['Payables Document Types'].DOCTYPE = ['PM Key Master File'].DOCTYPE
LEFT JOIN
	PMTrxApprovals
		ON
			PMTrxApprovals.WfBusObjKey = CAST(RTRIM(['PM Key Master File'].CNTRLNUM) AS VARCHAR(20)) + '~PM_Trxent'
		AND
			PMTrxApprovals.ROW_ID = 1
GO

-- grant permissions
GRANT SELECT ON uv_AZRCRV_PayablesTransactionApprovalStatus TO DYNGRP
GO

Microsoft Dynamics GP Workflow Approval SQL Views: Series Index

Ian Grieve1 minute read0 comment

Microsoft Dynamics GPA couple of years ago, I posted a SQL view which returned the status of general ledger batches.

I’ve recently been working with a few clients with workflow in Purchasing and a common request was being able to report on the status of documents.

I have three views which were created and which I will post over the next few days. If I create additional ones in future, I’ll tag them into this post.

Microsoft Dynamics GP Workflow Approval SQL Views
Show Workflow Approval Status of posted Microsoft Dynamics GP General Ledger batches
Payables Transactions
Purchase Requisitions
Purchase Orders

Git Command Line Snippets: Get Release Information

Ian Grieve2 minute read0 comment

GitHubThis post is part of the series on Git Command Line Snippets where I am taking a look at performing actions on GitHub using the git command line.

In the last post, of this series, I covered the command to create a release and mentioned that uploading a release zip (extra asset) had to be handled separately. While the command to do this isn’t too complex, there is one problem; to upload the asset you need the tag d of the release. This is not the tag that you supply to create the release with, but the internal GitHub id which is automatically assigned.

The command below can be used to get the release information, in the form of json, which includes the tag id:

curl -H "Accept: application/vnd.github+json" -H "Authorization: token ghp_authorizationtoken" https://api.github.com/repos/username/repository name/releases/tags/required tag

Git Command Line Snippets: Create Release

Ian Grieve2 minute read0 comment

GitHubThis post is part of the series on Git Command Line Snippets where I am taking a look at performing actions on GitHub using the git command line.

Once changes have been added, committed and pushed to the repository, we can create a release.

When developing for ClassicPress, there is also a need to upload a release zip which is used for deployment to a ClassicPress site. Unfortunately, this cannot be done while creating a release; this post is just on creating the release and a later post will cover uploading the release zip.

The following command can be used to create a release using command line:

curl -X POST -H "Accept: application/vnd.github+json" -H "Authorization: token ghp_authorizationtoken" https://api.github.com/repos/username/repository name/releases -d "{\"tag_name\":\"tagname\",\"target_commitish\":\"main\",\"name\":\"name\",\"body\":\"release comment\",\"draft\":false,\"prerelease\":false,\"generate_release_notes\":false}"

The highlighted sections need to be replaced with the parameters for your GitHub account and repo.

In Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, What is a Company and What is an Environment

Ian Grieve3 minute read0 comment

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business CentralSometimes terminology can be benefit from being explained. There are two concepts for Dynamics BC which, in the short time I’ve worked with Dynamics BC, I have had to discuss with a client.

These terms are company and environment.

In simplistic terms, a company is a container which holds all information (setup, master and transactional data) for a legal entity. If we have a company called Cronus which has operations in England and Scotland, they might create two companies as there are two legal entities which operate under different legal jurisdictions.

These two companies would exist in the same environment. Environments are used to separate production systems from development or testing systems. While you can have a test company on the production system, there is a risk that emails could be sent from the test company to a live client.

To mitigate this risk, Dynamics BC allows the creation of a sandbox environment which allows for testin of new processes or features without risking the live system.

Multiple environments might also be used if you have mutiple companies operating in multiple countries as an environment is liked to a country (England and Scotland, which I mentioned earlier, are a special case as they are both part of the UK, which Dynamics BC would regard as one country).

When you sign up to Dynamics BC for a trial there is one environment and two companies automatically created; a Cronus sample company with sample data and a new one called My Company which is a blank company.

If you have more than one environment you need to specify the environment you want to access during login.