“rsItemNotFound” error when clicking on any Navigation List in GP 2010 R2 (SP2)

After a recent upgrade from GP 9.0 to GP 2010 R2 I ran into an interesting problem. The client is running on SQL Standard 2005 SP4 and I was aware that the Charts and KPI’s in GP were not going to work since they are only supported with SQL 2008 or above. See an excerpt from the upgrade documentation below:

During my tests after the upgrade, I selected the Customer Navigation List and I was confronted with this error message:

rsItemNotFound400The item '/xxxxxx/Sales/Charts And KPIs' cannot be found.http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=20476&EvtSrc=Microsoft.ReportingServices.Diagnostics.Utilities.ErrorStrings&EvtID=rsItemNotFound&ProdName=Microsoft%20SQL%20Server%20Reporting%20Services&ProdVer=9.00.5057.00Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services9.00.5057.00127OsIndependent1033ReportingServicesLibraryThe item '/xxxxxx/Sales/Charts And KPIs' cannot be found.

The first thing my mind jumped to were the new Business Analyzer panes in GP 2010 R2. How could I turn them off? The BA pane is looking for the Charts and KPI’s on the SQL Reporting services server and they of course are missing since they are not supported on SQL 2005.

Solution:

I discovered that I could hide the BA pane and the error message would then not show up. Once you click past all the error messages, the navigation list will load. You can then click the List Name settings dropdown >> Show/Hide >> and uncheck Business Analyzer.

This is great but what if I have many users and I want to hide the BA pane for every user? Using the Manual Logging feature in the Support Debugging Tool (written by David Musgrave from Microsoft, a must have if you’re a GP admin, available only on Partnersource, ask your partner to get it for you), I was able to determine which table holds this setting for the Navigation Lists. Below is a SQL script that will hide the BA pane for every Navigation List.

UPDATE DYNAMICS..SY07225 SET FactBoxVisible = 0

The above SQL code is great but there’s one problem. Every time a user clicks on a Navigation List that they’ve never clicked on before, a record will get inserted into the table and of course the BA pane will be visible by default. To overcome this problem, I used the above mentioned Support Debugging Tool to create a table trigger. When GP reads data from the List View Options table (DYNAMICS..SY07225), this trigger catches that read and changes the data that is getting returned to hide the BA pane. You can download the trigger here. Download the SDT_HideBAinNavigationList.xml.dbg.xml file. In Support Debugging Tool (I am using build 15, not sure if this file is compatible with earlier versions of SDT), select Options >> Configuration Export/Import and import the downloaded file. This will create an Automatic Debugger Mode trigger which you will need to enable for all users. Since this is not an SDT tutorial, please check out the Debugger pdf on the SDT page for instructions on how to use the Automatic Debugger Mode and the other features of the tool.

PS. This was a quick and dirty debugging job. I did NOT thoroughly test every bit of code in this example. Use at your own risk.

Of course, I gotta say, you really shouldn’t be on SQL 2005 because you’re missing out of all the new features. I should go tell the customer this…

Megan Has a Backup Plan. Do You?

Even 11 month old, Megan, has a "backup" plan. Do YOU have a backup and disaster recovery plan for your important files? (accounting data, photos, email archive)

Check out the video:
http://youtu.be/Qdv85ivcTlc

History of Microsoft Dynamics GP (aka Great Plains)

Came across this short history of Dynamics GP and thought it was interesting:
http://www.mbsadvisor.com/great_plains/history.htm

My Review of the Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010 Cookbook: Tips You Can Use Now!

I just finished going through Mark Polino's "Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010 Cookbook" and I can say that this is not just another manual that says "click on the obvious menu, then click next...then click next..." (or maybe I should say this is as far from the built in GP help as one can get? ;-) This is a book full of tips that come from the field on how to solve real world problems that are sure to be encountered by Dynamics GP users.

But beware: This book is not a complete 1,2,3 on how to use or implement GP. (and not meant to be) Rather it is immediately useable tidbits that address common issues that can and will come up when using Dynamics GP. (just as the subtitle mentions very accurately notes) If you have had the good experience of sitting in any of Mark's "GP 50 Tips" sessions at Microsoft Convergence (he started a whole new genre of Convergence training session that has been spreading like wildfire ;-) you will know exactly the format of this book: fast tips that provide immediate solutions to real world problems.

I would guess that even the most savvy GP user will take away at least 5 very valuable tips from the GP Cookbook that will make the part of your life spent inside GP easier and more productive. (For most of us it will be a lot more. ;-)

There is one thing I can't figure out about this book: What is the picture on the cover?

You can get the book here:
http://www.packtpub.com/microsoft-dynamics-gp-2010-cookbook/book
http://www.amazon.com/Microsoft-Dynamics-GP-2010-Cookbook/dp/1849680426

PS-I co-authored a book by Packt publishing just last year and realize we had the same project team leader, Priya. Aparently I didn't totally drive her crazy. ;-)

Didn't Make It to Convergence? Here Is Another GP Training Oppertunity

http://decisions.msdynamicsworld.com/session/conducting-gp-annual-physical-simple-steps-diagnosing-health-your-microsoft-dynamics-gp-syst

A Free, Community Based Dynamics GP Knowledge Base Compiled from Blogs

Looking for a place to get free help about your GP problems? Now there is yet another source of assistance! Checkout Mark Polino's "My GP Search" and tap into the vast knowledge of many GP wisdom giants. ;-)

There is even an Android app for this resource as well.

http://mygpsearch.blogspot.com/p/my-gp-search.html

Dynamics GP Goes Web Based: Microsoft Dynamics GP Web Client Announced

Microsoft announced that a Dynamics GP Web Client is coming. At the GP General Session at Convergence 2011 this drew a lot of wows from users and partners. This product will not be out for another year so there are a lot of unknowns at this point.

My suspicion has been for some time that Microsoft is taking baby steps towards a web ui. Things like the web based components that kept appearing such as Navigation Panes, Navigation List preview pane and most importantly the SQL Reporting BI and reports which render on web engine.

Here are Some questions and the answers I could uncover.
(This was in chats here and there so things could change/be inacurrate etc. Keep in mind.)

Q:What does GP Web client UI look like?
A: In one word: Nice! It looks just like the existing Dynamics GP user interface with the Outlook overall view. It is running inside a browser but had a neat little feature that in the bottom of the window there was a panel that show a preview of all the open windows. Below is the Home screen:

Q: Is the UI snappy?

A: Obviously the demo will show something that works nice (not like,let's say Navigation Lists a year ago ;-) but in the General Session they demo'd editing a Vendor master and then moving to a new record. The navigation and data entry seemed to be snappy.

Q: Did I see "Tabs" on the GP Windows?

A: Yes you did! GP Web client is rendering extra windows supporting the main window as a tab. Wow--very smart. Take a look below and note the tabs on the Vendor Master windows.

Q: What about performance and server loading?

A: One person noted that with Terminal Services a server can handle approximately 15 users. With a GP Web Server they heard a test number of something like 75. So this shows that GP Web server will be considerable more efficient than TS.

Q: What About ISV Modules?

A: All Dexterity based modules will work with the new GP Web Client. It seems like behind the scenes the dexterity windows are being converted/(compiled?) to the web based screens. So this is huge and very well thought about.

Q: Won't some current GP windows not be well suited for Web?

A: Yes, and Microsoft noted that they are "cleaning up" some windows for the web client version to make things more streamlined.

Q: What is it built with?

A: Silverlight. It shows--nice.

With Internet Explorer 9's new "drag to your taskbar" feature which effectively makes any web page act like a windows application, GP Web Client will feal like a win app to most!

This developement is very big for the GP community. This means that GP is heading into the future and will be part of the "cloud" motion of everything. It will also make hosting GP exponentially easier. It will make the huge community of ISV products effectively web enabled.

And once again this demonstrates that Microsoft is fully behind Microsoft Dynamics GP!

Note: for even better screenshot of the web client I suggest going over to David Musgraves' article on this same subject:
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/developingfordynamicsgp/archive/2011/04/13/microsoft-convergence-2011-atlanta-day-2.aspx

My Review of Microsoft Dynamics GP Implementation by Victoria Yudin

I took the flying/waiting/travel time to Convergence 2011 to wrap up reading "Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010 Implementation" (using a some speed reading methods ;-). In this book fellow Packt Publishing author and GP consultant, Victoria Yudin, does a good job of walking the non-initiated through what a normal implementation of Dynamics GP should look like.

She also give a lot of practical, real world suggestions for anyone going through the implementation process. There is a lot of infrastructure advice (since we do infrastructure I can say this has a lot of good tips--actually many we recommend as well!): What does "official supported" hardware configurations mean? Lots of little practical tips around what server, SQL versions, getting Windows 2008 Remote App feature working with GP and running GP on Hyper-V. She also discusses some common questions that come up like: "Why don't we just implement on Terminal Server?" and gives a good list of pros and cons.

But the book doesn't stop at infrastructure. What is the best methodology for training? Who should train? What should a implementation time line look like? (with very specific list) Importing considerations and a lot more.

This book is a great read for those who have not implemented GP (or done erp) before as it gives a good overview of the processs. It is an especially good book to loan to those who want to self implement as it guides them away from many of the common pitfuls that will befall them. It was also good from my perspective to look over Victoria's shoulder and see another consultants tips and tricks.

Here you can get the book:
https://www.packtpub.com/microsoft-dynamics-gp-2010-implementation/book

http://www.amazon.com/Microsoft-Dynamics-GP-2010-Implementation/dp/1849680329

NOTE: i was not paid, given a book or in any way compensated for this review. ;-)

Our Dynamics GP Team is Ready to Head to Convergence 2011!

Our team is ready to head to Convergence 2011 in Atlanta, GA! Convergence is the premier Microsoft Dynamics event where we increase our ability to help you, our customer, optimize your business and improve your bottom line. This event serves as the meeting point for the Microsoft Dynamics Customer and Partner business community. We are ready to learn more about GP 2010, host clients/prospects and meet some of our regular vendors. If you want to meet us there you are welcome to drop us a line—we’d be glad to meet you in person.

Visit with one of our team members to find out more about SmartSearch, the new "Google for GP." It takes the pain out of searching for & finding the information you need, giving you results in mere seconds. You can also look here for more information.

Our GP consultants will be out of the office from Monday, April 11 – Wednesday, April 13. If you need support during that time you can call in and we will schedule you to be taken care of ASAP beginning on Thursday the 14th.