#VSIT Visual Studio Integration Toolkit Helper Functions

The release of Build 15 of the free product Visual Studio IntegrationToolkit is a bonus to Visual Studio Tools for Microsoft Dynamics GP developers around the globe.

As well as the enhancements to the Menu Navigation functionality and the addition of support for custom Area Pages, Build 15 adds a new Helper functions module with over 220 functions.

This build is the result of a month’s development effort and is why you have not heard much from me on the blog recently.

The idea behind the addition of the helper functions module to Visual Studio Integration Toolkit (VSIT) is to give the Visual Studio developer access to many of the functions previously only available to Dexterity developers.

The functions are a combination of Dexterity and Dynamics GP functions wrapped to expose them to Visual Studio, and many custom functions written to allow them to work with any Form, Window or Field in any product Dictionary.

The functional areas covered by the helper functions include:

• Helper Function Registration and Version
• Messages and Constants
• Clearing and Filling Variables
• Clearing and Filling Fields
• Field Hiding, Locking, Disabling
• Field Size and Position
• Field Control
• Field Properties
• Field Colors
• Field Fonts
• Text Fields
• Dates and Times
• Formatting Fields
• List Fields
• System Dialogs
• Launching External Applications
• Dictionary Resources
• Working with SQL
• Executing Dexterity sanScript
• Files and Paths
• Launch File
• Window Size and Position
• Window Control
• Scrolling Window Control
• Runtime Engine and Dictionary Versions
• WebClient and Service Based Architecture
• User Functions
• Encoding and Encryption
• Miscellaneous

The functions are available using the path MenusForVisualStudioTools.Forms.VstmHelper.Functions and the easiest way to access them is by defining a helper variable at the top of your code. For example:

 var helper = MenusForVisualStudioTools.Forms.VstmHelper.Functions;

short response = helper.Ask.Invoke("Do you want to save this record?", "&Save", "&Discard", "&Cancel");
 

For more information see:

• Visual Studio Integration Toolkit User Guide (also installed with the product)
• #VSIT Visual Studio Integration Toolkit build 15 released

This tool is my gift to the Microsoft Dynamics GP development community, please take advantage of its new features to make your lives easier.

Please provide feedback and product suggestions in the comments below.

Enjoy

David

This article was originally posted on http://www.winthropdc.com/blog.