Custom modules written in so-called Great Plains Dexterity were very popular in late 1990th and earlier 2000th. Since then numerous ISV partners opened their doors to offer third party add-ons to cover functionality gaps. Plus new technologies emerged, such as eConnect SDK. Dexterity Sanscript programming language and technology itself are semi-proprietary and software development project may stall with inefficient code and design especially when you hire somebody who is in initial learning curve. In this publication we are coming through customization tools and pitfalls as well as recommending you the way out of crisis. Lets begin with Dexterity:
1.Dexterity Customization Design. It is possible to create so-called Alternative GP Forms where you are directly placing new buttons or fields on existing form. Very popular one is Sales Order Processing Transaction Entry. However the issue may lay in foreseeable future when you decide to undergo version upgrade. Plus numerous popular add-ons are using this technology and Alternate Form might be already taken. Better way is not really intuitive and known to experienced Dex programmers. They use triggers to work with the form logic without physical modification of the form. This is only one simple example which sits on the surface. There is the whole world of GP Source Code software developing where programmer has access to original Sanscript code in Dynamics.dic meta-dictionary. When you are ordering modification project you should be sure that developer gives you customization source code in the form of Dynamics.dic or Extract.dic with Sanscript procedures, functions and field scripts in it. If you do not have source code then in the future if you terminate relations with your original programmer then there is no way to upgrade the customization and it should be reprogrammed
2.Modifier with VBA. This tool might look like a simple to start coding overnight for Visual Basic generic programmer. VBA or Visual Basic for Applications was introduced in pre .Net time as a simple way to modify Microsoft Office applications such as Excel, Word and others. Great Plains Software also enabled VBA in such tools as Modifier and Integration Manager. If you need to get access to the Great Plains company tables use ADO connection in VBA script. In Modifier you add fields on existing form and then you animate these fields logic via VBA scripting. Looks simple however do not plan to deploy Modifier with VBA in large scope modification project as these tools are for modest modification. So called Modified Forms are typically immune to the version update but VBA scripts related to integration with Excel or MS Access might face the problem of deprecated connection methods and in this case they should be reprogrammed
3.eConnect integrations. It might be simple enough to follow eConnect SDK examples in C#, C++ and VB to program integration from your external application (typically in eCommerce, EDI or another business specific custom system) in Microsoft Visual Studio. We are usually trying to set customer expectation that eConnect is flexible and open to future improvements including its technology stack. The improvements are good but they often lead to the necessity to review eConnect code on the compliance to the future release
4.Second Opinion. We believe that you at this point got reasonable exposure to GP alteration projects complexity. If you feel that your original VAR did wonderful sales presentation and following implementation of the software but in the phase two these people failed with Dexterity programming project then we believe that you need to seek for second opinion. Every reseller of Corporate ERP software has its unique market offer. There is no need for every VAR to carry Dexterity software development department or sometimes referred as programming factory. We recommend you to go above the limits of considering local reseller only as local offer often tends to pursue new software licenses sales mode and initial generic implementation only. There are nationwide partners who are primarily addressing GP customization project market where you already have this mid-market ERP sold and implemented
5.Please call us 1-866-528-0577, or email [email protected] We have local presence in Chicagoland, Southern California, South West Michigan, Houston and Dallas areas of Texas. We serve customers USA, Canada, Mexico, Brazil nationwide and internationally via web sessions and phone conferences (Skype is welcomed). Our consultants speak English, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian and Chinese.
1.Dexterity Customization Design. It is possible to create so-called Alternative GP Forms where you are directly placing new buttons or fields on existing form. Very popular one is Sales Order Processing Transaction Entry. However the issue may lay in foreseeable future when you decide to undergo version upgrade. Plus numerous popular add-ons are using this technology and Alternate Form might be already taken. Better way is not really intuitive and known to experienced Dex programmers. They use triggers to work with the form logic without physical modification of the form. This is only one simple example which sits on the surface. There is the whole world of GP Source Code software developing where programmer has access to original Sanscript code in Dynamics.dic meta-dictionary. When you are ordering modification project you should be sure that developer gives you customization source code in the form of Dynamics.dic or Extract.dic with Sanscript procedures, functions and field scripts in it. If you do not have source code then in the future if you terminate relations with your original programmer then there is no way to upgrade the customization and it should be reprogrammed
2.Modifier with VBA. This tool might look like a simple to start coding overnight for Visual Basic generic programmer. VBA or Visual Basic for Applications was introduced in pre .Net time as a simple way to modify Microsoft Office applications such as Excel, Word and others. Great Plains Software also enabled VBA in such tools as Modifier and Integration Manager. If you need to get access to the Great Plains company tables use ADO connection in VBA script. In Modifier you add fields on existing form and then you animate these fields logic via VBA scripting. Looks simple however do not plan to deploy Modifier with VBA in large scope modification project as these tools are for modest modification. So called Modified Forms are typically immune to the version update but VBA scripts related to integration with Excel or MS Access might face the problem of deprecated connection methods and in this case they should be reprogrammed
3.eConnect integrations. It might be simple enough to follow eConnect SDK examples in C#, C++ and VB to program integration from your external application (typically in eCommerce, EDI or another business specific custom system) in Microsoft Visual Studio. We are usually trying to set customer expectation that eConnect is flexible and open to future improvements including its technology stack. The improvements are good but they often lead to the necessity to review eConnect code on the compliance to the future release
4.Second Opinion. We believe that you at this point got reasonable exposure to GP alteration projects complexity. If you feel that your original VAR did wonderful sales presentation and following implementation of the software but in the phase two these people failed with Dexterity programming project then we believe that you need to seek for second opinion. Every reseller of Corporate ERP software has its unique market offer. There is no need for every VAR to carry Dexterity software development department or sometimes referred as programming factory. We recommend you to go above the limits of considering local reseller only as local offer often tends to pursue new software licenses sales mode and initial generic implementation only. There are nationwide partners who are primarily addressing GP customization project market where you already have this mid-market ERP sold and implemented
5.Please call us 1-866-528-0577, or email [email protected] We have local presence in Chicagoland, Southern California, South West Michigan, Houston and Dallas areas of Texas. We serve customers USA, Canada, Mexico, Brazil nationwide and internationally via web sessions and phone conferences (Skype is welcomed). Our consultants speak English, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian and Chinese.
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