Author: Ian Grieve

Ian is a Microsoft Dynamics GP certified consultant specialising in the delivery of Microsoft Dynamics GP projects and currently the Lead ERP Consultant for ISC Software Ltd., a Microsoft Partner, VAR and ISV in England. Ian has worked with Microsoft Dynamics GP since 2003 and, over the nine years since, has dealt with all aspects of the product life-cycle from presales, to implementation, to technical and functional training, to post go-live support and subsequent upgrades and process reviews. In his spare time, Ian runs the azurecurve | Ramblings of a Dynamics GP Consultant blog dedicated to Microsoft Dynamics GP and related products.

How to Install SharePoint 2010 – The Prerequisites

Ian Grieve2 minute read2 Comments

SharePointI was having a fiddle around a while ago, after I built my new home server, with SharePoint and thought I’d post a short series of posts up to remind myself of how to do the install again.

I don’t typically work with SharePoint as that is in the purview of other consultants at work, but I do need to interact with it for items such as Business Portal. Which is why I decided to have a go at installing it. Before anyone says, I know there is a new version of SharePoint now, but this is the version I had available to me when I did the install and I’m about to move house so don’t have everything setup at home to do a SharePoint 2013 install.

If you do follow these posts and install SharePoint, please don’t do so on a live system. Only use the resulting SharePoint for GP/other demos.

First step, is to install the prerequisites (very easy if you have an Internet connection):

Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010

Continue reading “How to Install SharePoint 2010 – The Prerequisites”

Please Vote For MS Connect Suggestion – Management Reporter Default Page Setup

Ian Grieve2 minute read0 comment

Microsoft Dynamics GPI realise this probably won’t interest the American readership, but I would appreciate it if you could vote for an MS Connect suggestion I have logged for Management Reporter.

In Management Reporter there is no way to change the default page setup except by editing each Report Definition.

This is an issue in the UK because the default page size here is A4 rather than Letter (as is common in the US). This means that every single new report created needs to be edited to have an A4 page size.

I think it would be incredibly useful if there was a global page setup which could be defined and would be the default for every single new report created in Management Reporter. Not only would it allow for a default page size, but also allow for a global default margin size or to choose between portrait and landscape as the default orientation.

If you think this suggestion is a good one, then please vote here and tell Microsoft how many people would benefit.

Management Reporter Not Remembering The Default Company

Ian Grieve2 minute read2 Comments

Microsoft Dynamics GPI am definitely in a Management Reporter zone at the moment. A recent issue I’ve dealt with was where Management Reporter was not remembering the Default Company, so each time a user opened Management Reporter they had to reset it before they could use Management Reporter Report Designer.

A little checking round and this turned out to be a problem with the configuration of Citrix XenApp which is clearing down the user profiles each time the user logged off.

Management Reporter stores the users default company in a configuration file located in %LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\Management Reporter\ and this data was being cleared down each time they logged off Citrix. What keyed me into this being the problem was when I got a user to close Management Reporter and reopen it without logging off Citrix and they did not then need to select the default company; they only needed to do this after logging all of the way out.

The solution to the problem is to change the configuration of Citrix so that the configuration file is not deleted when the user logs off. Once this is done, the Default Company will be remembered.

Coming Soon: Microsoft Dynamics GP 2013 Financial Management

Ian Grieve2 minute read1 Comment

Microsoft Dynamics GPWith an expected release date of September 2013, the Microsoft Dynamics GP 2013 Financial Management book is to be released.

This is a brand new book focused on financial management within Microsoft Dynamics GP 2013 by me (I’ve been fairly busy this year);

Microsoft Dynamics GP 2013 Financial Management by Ian Grieve

With this book you will:

  • Discover how to improve financial management in Microsoft Dynamics GP 2013
  • Learn the key financial management modules in Microsoft Dynamics GP 2013
  • Improve your abilities with Microsoft Dynamics GP 2013 to gain a better understanding and control of your business

The modules covered in Microsoft Dynamics GP 2013 Financial Management are:

  • Analytical Accounting
  • Cash Flow Management
  • Budgets
  • PO Commitments
  • Encumbrance Management

This is my second book after the Microsoft Dynamics GP 2013 Cookbook, and you can pre-order the Microsoft Dynamics GP 2013 Financial Management direct from Packt Publishing.

Microsoft Dynamics GP 2013 SP2 Has Been Released

Ian Grieve2 minute read1 Comment

Microsoft Dynamics GPAfter an initial announcement back in July that service pack 2 for Microsoft Dynamics GP 2013 was scheduled for release in Q4 this year, I am amazed that it was released yesterday. When it was talked about as Q4 I imaged that meant later in Q4 as Errol Schoenfish said there will be a Feature of the Day series running in September so I assumed (which is bad) that this meant the release would follow rather than precede these posts.

The Dynamics GP Support and Services Blog has full details of the new service pack.

The new DVD can be downloaded by Partners or Customers (with relevant PartnerSource or CustomerSource logins).

Or if you want the service pack only, Partners or Customers (with relevant PartnerSource or CustomerSource logins).

Management Reporter Column Layouts For Previous Years

Ian Grieve2 minute read2 Comments

Microsoft Dynamics GPA client in the process of migrating from FRx to Management Reporter 2012 recently asked how to configure the Column Definition in Management Reporter so they could get the same information as they did from FRx.

When I looked into it I found that the Column Layout in FRx was not set up in a way that the Migration Wizard will translate across correctly, as the FRx Column Layout hasn’t been configured in the recommended way.

The Column Layout was configured with columns for previous years as shown below with a Period Code of 1 To 13 and a Current Per/YTD of YTD;

FRx Column Layout For Previous Year

Continue reading “Management Reporter Column Layouts For Previous Years”

FRx – Such A Small Typo, Such A Big Effect

Ian Grieve2 minute read0 comment

Microsoft Dynamics GPSometimes it is difficult to see the cause of a problem. We’re in the process of upgrading a heavily customised installation of Microsoft Dynamics GP for a client and are installing the new version on a new environment.

When it came to installing FRx I had a bit of a problem. I had installed and configured it on the SQL Server without any problem, but when I installed it on a Terminal Server I ran into the following error;

FRx Professional - FRx32.OSFIMain.CheckOFSIConnection - 8900: Frx is unable to open a connection to the general ledger database because the specified ODBC data source is not value. Verify that the data source exists on the computerFRx Professional – FRx32.OSFIMain.CheckOFSIConnection – 8900: Frx is unable to open a connection to the general ledger database because the specified ODBC data source is not value. Veryify that the data source exists on the computer

Continue reading “FRx – Such A Small Typo, Such A Big Effect”

Management Reporter Legacy Connector Company Logon Works Only For sa

Ian Grieve4 minute read5 Comments

Microsoft Dynamics GPI’ve been having a bit of a Management Reporter time recently; not that I especially mind as I like Management Reporter. In this instance I did some configuration of Management Reporter for a client (see my recent post on the Data Mart) and checked everything out as A-OK.

I then asked one of the clients to try, but she got an error stating “Unable to connect to the LIVE company. The connection to the Microsoft Dynamics GP database failed. Contact your system administrator”.

Well, I logged back in and tried again and was again able to log in without a problem. A little more exploring and I was able to establish that only when I logged in as the sa user was I able to run Management Reporter without a problem.

This is not an error I have seen before so a little investigation determined the problem is because I configured the Management Reporter Data Mart Connector I had used the machine name as the connection to the server, but the client machines are configured to use the CNAME alias in the ODBC connection instead of the machine name.

KB Article 2737852 outlines two methods of correcting the problem. The first is to change the client machines ODBC entry to match that used to configure the Data Mart and which I did not want to do as it was set up so passwords would not need to be reset if GP was moved to a different server.

The second method is to edit some data in the Management Reporter database to change the GLEntityConnectionInformation column so that it matches the ODBC on the client machines. This is the method I opted for and, after making the change, the client confirmed she was able to access Management Reporter.

Updated following comment from Peter Bailey

Outlook.com: Send Without Attachments?

Ian Grieve2 minute read3 Comments

azurecurveI’ve been a bit quiet on the posting front recently because my second book is in the later stages of the publishing process and I need to review and respond to feedback from the editors at Packt Publishing.

To do this we’ve been emailing drafts of the chapters to and fro. And (again) this morning a feature of Outlook.com saved me from looking slightly silly when I replied to an email intending to send back an updated draft, but clicked Send without actually attaching the file;

Send without attachments?Send without attachments? Just checking. It looks like you’ve mentioned attachments but haven’t added any.

I was presented with the above message. Clicked Go back, added the file and sent the message.

I’ve talked to various people who dislike this type of message, but I really don’t see the problem with it. I’ve only ever been presented the message when I have meant to attach a file and forgotten; I’ve never received it for a false positive so I quite like it. I wish Outlook 2010 had it (or perhaps it does and I just don’t know where the setting is.

Management Reporter 2012 Rollup 6 Available

Ian Grieve2 minute read4 Comments

Microsoft Dynamics GPA couple of days ago , the Dynamics PTS blog announced the release of Management Reporter 2012 Rollup 6.

This rollup has a range of new features including:

  • The ability to generate a single report link for a report group and open all reports from a single page in the web viewer
  • 14 new default reports for new Dynamics GP customers (existing customers can easily import these reports)
  • Transaction descriptions greater than 100 characters are now supported
  • Support for bi-directional text in Management Reporter Report Designer and Web Viewer

Partners can get more information here and download RU6 here.

Full details are available on the Dynamics PTS blog.