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.

Management Reporter 2012 Incorrect Figures Using Data Mart Connector

Ian Grieve3 minute read3 Comments

Microsoft Dynamics GPA client reported an issue the other day with figures being incorrect in Management Reporter when compared to the equivalent report in FRx and also to the figures in Microsoft Dynamics GP (which matched FRx).

I think the original cause of this problem is that when the calendar for the current year was created, there was a gap accidentally left between the end of last year and the start of the current one. This was fixed and a reconciliation run in GP, but this did not allow the data to be trickled out into the Management Reporter Data Mart.

In an attempt to resolve the issue, I removed and re-added the Data Mart (deleting the DDM database between removing and re-adding) using the Management Reporter Configuration Console, waited for the initial extract and ended up with figures that were even more different to FRx; a slightly worrying moment I have to admit.

I checked the version and discovered the client was running Management Reporter 2012 RU4 which is known to have an issue populating the DDM database during the initial data extract. Fortunately, Microsoft Support KB 2831693 details how transactions posted from the open years in Dynamics GP are not included during the initial data load and links to the hotfix for RU4 which resolves this problem.

I again removed the Data Mart, deleted the database, installed the hotfix and added the Data Mart back and, after the initial data load completed, all of the data needed to make the report match both GP and FRx was present.

VBA Compile Error – Expected: expression

Ian Grieve2 minute read2 Comments

Microsoft Dynamics GPI realise that the use of VBA in modifications and customisations is something that needs to be carefully considered with Microsoft Dynamics GP 2013 including a Silverlight based Web Client which cannot use VBA. I had a requirement from a client for a modification to the Debtor Enquiry (Customer Inquiry to the Americans reading) to include the sum of the displayed transactions on the window and as this was a small client with GP installed locally on each PC there is no requirement for the web client, I felt able to perform this change using Modifier using some VBA.

I added the required fields to the VBA project but encountered an error message when writing the VBA code to concatenate the fields into the SQL statement I was going to use to get the data;

Microsoft Visual Basic: Compile error: Expected: expressionMicrosoft Visual Basic: Compile error: Expected: expression

Continue reading “VBA Compile Error – Expected: expression”

Management Reporter – An Unknown Error Has Occurred

Ian Grieve1 minute read2 Comments

Microsoft Dynamics GPAfter dealing with an obscure and unhelpful Integration Manager error recently, I’ve also had a Management Reporter one; when trying to generate a report the following error was consistently produced;

An unknown error has occurred while processing reportAn unknown error has occurred while processing report

Continue reading “Management Reporter – An Unknown Error Has Occurred”

Microsoft Dynamics GP 2013 SP2 Announced for Q4

Ian Grieve3 minute read1 Comment

Microsoft Dynamics GPA few days ago, Errol Schoenfish on the Inside Microsoft Dynamics GP blog announced the forthcoming Microsoft Dynamics GP 2013 SP2 (or H2 as he named it) for Q4 of the 2013 calendar year.

The part of the announcement which surprised me was the announcement that there would be a “Feature of the Day” starting in September; I thought that, usually, “Feature of the Day” only occurred for major releases and not service packs. Let me say though: this is not a complaint!

In SP2 the Web Client will see the see releases for the Project, Manufacturing and Field Service series as well as the expansion of ISV Extensibility to allow Visual Studio forms to be presented in the Web Client in the same way as Dexterity forms.

Document Attach will be extended to allow attachments to be included in emails and to allow documents attached to cards to be rolled down to the transactions. So a terms and conditions file attached to a customer record could be rolled down to the sales invoices and attached to the email.

One really nice feature is the ability in SmartList to hide the navigation tree; here’s hoping this is a button on the toolbar to quickly expand and shrink the nav pane.

There are additional features so far announced in the blog post including an update to the Windows 8 Business Analyzer app to rewrite it in HTML5 and JavaScriptto allow, amongst other new features, the inclusion of reports from Management Reporter.

For full details of the announcment check the original blog post.

Integration Manager Error – Object Reference Not Set To An Instance Of An Object

Ian Grieve1 minute read4 Comments

Microsoft Dynamics GPSometimes I find Integration Manager to be very trying. It can be a very useful tool but it can also be incredibly frustrating.

A client we have taken over support for logged a call about an integration they couldn’t run and hadn’t been able to run for a couple of months after their upgrade to Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010. The error message they were receiving was this;

Integration Manager - Object reference not set to an instance of an objectIntegration Manager – Object reference not set to an instance of an object

Continue reading “Integration Manager Error – Object Reference Not Set To An Instance Of An Object”

You Cannot Print An Unauthorized Purchase Order

Ian Grieve1 minute read2 Comments

Microsoft Dynamics GPAs the title says, “you cannot print an unauthorized purchase order”. This is an error message which I encountered the other day on my demo system when I was trying to print a PO. Now, I’m largely not surprised to see errors occur on that VM and regularly either build a new one or, more often, redeploy the Fabrikam, Inc. sample company, but in this case I was a little surprised to see this message;

You cannot print an unauthorized purchase orderYou cannot print an unauthorized purchase order

Continue reading “You Cannot Print An Unauthorized Purchase Order”

Area Page Error – Value Cannot be Null

Ian Grieve2 minute read2 Comments

Microsoft Dynamics GPA client who upgraded to Microsoft Dynamics GP 2013 a few weeks ago began encountering a problem when switching between modules. In particular when they loaded the Purchasing area page they received the following message;

Value cannot be null. Parameter name: contentValueValue cannot be null. Parameter name: contentValue

Fortunately, there are two solutions to this problem outlined in the Microsoft Support KB Article 2843273. The first is to upgrade to Microsoft Dynamics GP 2013 which at very short notice isn’t really an option, or to use the script in the KB article to both remove the corrupt entry in SY07140 and add a trigger to the table to prevent another corrupt entry being created.

As we needed the client up and running without the error quickly, we opted for the second approach and will look to schedule in the upgrade from 2013 RTM to SP1.

Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Cookbook Released

Ian Grieve1 minute read1 Comment

Microsoft Dynamics CRMThis is not a book I have written, but rather one that, like the Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Applications (MB2-868) Certification Guide, I have done some technical reviewing on behalf of the publisher, Packt Publishing. This is basically assisting the publisher to verify that the content of the book is technically accurate and can be successfully followed. Well, while I was working on the Microsoft Dynamics GP 2013 Cookbook I was also doing technical reviewing of the Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Cookbook by Dipankar Bhattacharya;

Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Cookbook

Continue reading “Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Cookbook Released”

Customisation Import – Component Write Exception

Ian Grieve2 minute read1 Comment

Microsoft Dynamics GPWhile importing a customised Form with VBA I encountered a problem and received a Component write exception;

Component Write ExceptionComponent Write Exception

The form itself had imported but the VBA element had not.

Not having seen this error before I hit up Bing and soon found a blog post from Dex Master David Musgrave where he discusses this exact issue on GP9 (I was loading a customisation from GP9 to GP 2010 to upgrade).

The answer was not quite what I wanted. I was hoping for something nice and simple, but instead I needed to export all the customisations, delete the forms.dic, reports.dic and dynamics.vba files and then reimport all of the customisations.

After I did this the import worked fine.