#GPPT GP Power Tools build 28.1 released

Winthrop Development Consultants is extremely excited to announce Build 28 of GP Power Tools (GPPT) for Microsoft Dynamics GP was released on 11-Aug-2020.

This build is the biggest ever, incorporating massive enhancements to almost every existing feature as well as adding a host of new features to all modules of GP Power Tools. There have also been many updates and fixes to improve performance and usability throughout the product.

This blog lists some of the major new features and enhancements. It is a long list, so go grab a cuppa/beverage and make yourself comfortable. To give you an idea of how much has been added, the user guide manual has grown from 425 pages in build 27 to 592 pages in build 28!

IMPORTANT NOTICE: With the release of build 28, support for build 25 has been discontinued. Sites running on build 25 or earlier need to update before their subscriptions can be renewed. It is highly recommended that ALL sites update to build 28 to take advantage of the new features, enhancements and fixes.

Build 28 of GP Power Tools is available for the following Microsoft Dynamics GP versions:

Microsoft Dynamics GP 2013 and GP 2013 R2 (v12.0)
Microsoft Dynamics GP 2015 and GP 2015 R2 (v14.0)
Microsoft Dynamics GP 2016 and GP 2016 R2 (v16.0)
Microsoft Dynamics GP 2018 and GP 2018 R2 (v18.0)
Microsoft Dynamics GP Modern Lifecycle (v18.2)

System Features Module Enhancements

Changes to the System Features Module of GP Power Tools include the following:

Updated System Summary report on the ScreenShot window to include information on Dictionary Assembly and Metadata Assembly DLLs as well as drive space for important folders.

Added a Dictionary Assembly Generator Control window to create or update Dictionary Assembly and Metadata Assembly DLLs. Direct access to this window has been added to the .Net Execute Setup References window and from the Resource Information Script Parameters window.

Updated the Configuration Export/Import window to support exporting and importing of linked resources from Customization Maintenance.

The Resource Explorer has multiple enhancements including being able to see Modified Windows and highlight fields added by alternate or modified windows on the Form and Menu Explorers; highlighting the primary key fields on the Table Explorer; Addition of the Global Variable Explorer and Constant Explorer windows; Performance enhancements by moving the cache tables from temporary tables to SQL tables with automatic updating when installed dictionaries are changed.

Added an Additional Launch File Installer window which offers to add GP Power Tools to other launch files in the current application folder.

Added the Purchase Requisitions Entry window to the feature that shows which user is editing a transaction.

Added a fix so that when changing Home Page roles, the home page selection is kept rather than defaulting back to Intelligent Cloud Insights each time.

Administrator Tools Module Enhancements

Changes to the Administrator Tools Module of GP Power Tools include the following:

The Resource Information window update with the addition of Global Variables mode, Constants mode and Messages and Warnings mode. The Resource Information window is also now displayed on the Tools and Resource Descriptions menus and will open to the currently selected Form, Window and Field.

Addition of a new Resource Finder window to assist in locating exactly where data is stored. The window can find data by the current window field, by tables containing a field, or by data stored in any table in the system or company database. It has multiple filtering options and uses the SQL Execute window to preview the data. The Resource Finder window is also displayed on the Tools and Resource Descriptions menus and will open to the currently selected Form, Window and Field.

The Security Information window now has a report which shows access for the currently selected resource for all users and companies. The report includes the Security Roles and Security Tasks to show how a user was granted access.

The Security Log window can now track detailed security data showing individual accesses to security resources rather than the statistical data captured by the normal Security Log functionality.

The Enhanced Security window (part of Deny Based Security) can display the security resources filtered by a Security Role or Security Task.

The Company Colors feature on the Administrator Settings window now supports Binary Stream’s Multi-Entity Management. It also supports per user selection of colors specifically designed for vision impaired and color blind users.

The usability features of the Administrator Settings window have been extended with new options to automatically close the Login window or Company Login window if they are left open too long; to prevent user activity until the login process is complete; and to warn if the available drive space for the Temporary folder, Application Data folder or Logging folder falls below a specified number of MB.

The Security Activity Tracking feature on the Administration Settings window can now be told to track detailed records and keep the data for a specified number of days.

The User Activity Tracking feature on the Administrator Settings window can now track detailed records and keep the data for a specified number of days.

The Automatic Logout feature has additional options to force close inquiry windows and to remove the ACTIVITY table record to free up the user license even if the system fails to log out.

The User Setup Additional Information feature can now have the four user defined string fields linked to a SQL Lookup (as supported by the Parameter Lists feature).

Updated individual User/Company selection options to include User Class, Security Role, Security Task and Security Modified Alternate ID. This change has been applied to Administrator Settings, Dictionary Control, and Dynamic Product Selection windows.

Added an option to Dex.ini Configuration which can track attempted reads from missing Dex.ini Settings. This allows you to identify what other Dex.ini settings can be used to control the application.

The Company Login Filter window has been updated to add the option to hide the “Remember this company” checkbox.

The User Activity Log window has been updated to support detailed activity logging as well as tracking by Machine Name and filtering by User Status and User Type.

The Window Position Memory window has been updated to provide an option to mark windows as resizable (to be used when the built in check fails to identify a resizable window). Also added more windows to the default windows so that it now includes all common Transaction, Cards and Inquiry windows.

The Login Limits window now has a option to reserve a user license for specific users ensuring that they can always log into the system. The view options have been extended to include options to only include users and/or companies with settings. The left hand tree pane also now shows colored indicators to show what settings have been enabled.

The Launch File Configuration window now has a file selection button to simplify the selection of additional files, so they can be selected rather than typed in.

A new Website Settings window has been added to control the website used for the Connect Homepage section and the Intelligent Cloud Insights Homepage section. The change to the websites is achieved without using Dex.ini settings or Modifier on each workstation and is system wide.

A new Product Version Validation window has been added to view and edit the Product Dictionary version tracking information at both the system and workstation level.

On logging into Microsoft Dynamics GP, product dictionary versions are checked for a mismatch and a warning will be provided if there is an issue.

Developer Tools Module Enhancements

Changes to the Developer Tools Module of GP Power Tools include the following:

Project Setup has numerous enhancements including; allowing a default form to be specified to be opened with a single click; Options to Rename, Duplicate and Delete the entire project have been added; Resources from Customization Maintenance can now be added to the project and the associated package file will be exported and imported with the project.

Dexterity based triggers and scripts against Modified windows and Modifier Added Fields no longer use Continuum based technology which did not work on the web client. All the Continuum calls have been replaced by the DictionaryRoot methodology created by Matthew Arp. This change provides improved stability and performance to triggers and scripts against Modified Windows as well as compatibility with the web client.

The Trigger Setup window now supports a Field Changed event which picks up whenever a field is changed even if the associated Change Script is not executed. This event is normally only available to Visual Basic for Applications or Visual Studio code. Also added Global and Form Procedures and Function with Parameters which allows access to parameters passed in.

New options to pull window focus (to force change scripts to execute), select dialog types, control recursion and use a Message ID (from the new Messages feature).

The Trigger Status window now has a report that can be printed to show the current triggers registered.

The Minimize Log Entries checkbox has been added to the Runtime Execute Setup, SQL Execute Setup and .Net Execute Setup windows. All helper functions have been updated to honor the Minimize Log Entries feature, so that customizations using this option will only create log entries if an error occurs.

Names buttons, Helper buttons and Insert buttons have been updated to incorporate new functionality such as the Global Variables and Constants Explorer windows, new Helper Functions and manual Placeholders in scripts. This change has been applied to Trigger Setup, Runtime Execute Setup, SQL Execute Setup and .Net Execute Setup windows.

Updated individual User/Company selection options to include User Class, Security Role, Security Task and Security Modified Alternate ID. This change has been applied to Trigger Setup, Runtime Execute Setup, SQL Execute Setup and .Net Execute Setup windows.

The Parameter List Maintenance window has been updated to natively support an additional 11 common lookups. It also now supports filtered SQL Lists and SQL Lookups by using Placeholders in the associated SQL Execute scripts. This allows for hierarchy to be added to Parameter List selections. For example: Select a batch or document type and then only list batches or documents or the selected type.

A Messages Setup window has been added to allow for re-use of messages and to automatically have messages changed depending on the language of the current client. Messages can be retrieved from the Trigger Setup window or in scripts using a Helper Function.

The Helper Functions window has been updated with improved navigation and the addition of over 40 new helper functions.

Added an expansion button to the Dynamic Trigger Logging window to allow data from a table field, window field or global variable to be logged.

Database Tools Module Enhancements

Changes to the Database Tools Module of GP Power Tools include the following:

The XML Export window now has an Options menu selection to open the built in Table Export Tool.

The XML Import window now has an Options menu selection to open the built in Table Import Tool. Note that this import tool does not have any associated business logic.

The Database Validation window has been updated to locate and fix when a user has a custom schema at the SQL level. It also includes a warning if not all of the systems product dictionaries are installed.

The Database Validation Email Settings window has been renamed as the Password Reset Email Settings window and is now available directly from the application navigation menus as well as from the Database Validation window, SQL Login Maintenance window and from the Additional Menu on the User Setup window.

A new Copy User Settings window has been added to allow all user specific data in the system database to be copied from one User ID to another User ID.

A new SQL Trigger Control window has been added to allow identifying, disabling, enabling and deleting of SQL Triggers. This can be for troubleshooting to remove the effect of customizations or for cleaning up a system to remove out of date triggers.

Added the option to automatically save and restore data when dropping and recreating tables using the standard SQL Maintenance window in Dynamics GP.

Web Client Compatibility

Build 28 of GP Power Tools has been updated and tested for Web Client Compatibility and all features that are supported by the Web Client and make sense to have on the Web Client are functioning. Updates include adjusting windows to render correctly as well as code changes to handle differences in behavior between the Desktop and Web Clients.

Please see the last section of Chapter 2 of the User Guide Manual (page 35 of manual, page 45 of PDF file) for details on which features are not available on the Web Client. View the online User Guide Manual, which is also installed as GPPTools.pdf installed with GP Power Tools in the Microsoft Dynamics GP application folder and documentation folder.

Installer Improvements

The GP Power Tools installer for build 28 has been improved to allow for a silent uninstall as well as a silent install. This can be useful when upgrading from a previous release to help with removing the older version of GP Power Tools.

If you want to automate the uninstallation process, you can use the command line options to perform a silent uninstall for the default instance (once the product is removed from the Dynamics.set launch file using the uninstall inside GP or manually):

GPPowerTools_18.00.0028.exe /s UNINSTALL=TRUE TARGETDIR="C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Dynamics\GP2018\"

Note: The syntax is the same as the silent install, with the UNINSTALL=TRUE parameter instead of INSTALL=TRUE. You can add an additional logging option if desired, add /l=<path to logfile> to the end of the command line above. To specify an instance add DYNINSTDESC=”R2″.

Other Enhancements

For a detailed change log, look at the GPPTools.txt file which is also installed with GP Power Tools in the Microsoft Dynamics GP application folder.

More Information

For more information refer to the following pages and articles:

GP Power Tools Downloads (see Benefits Presentation)
GP Power Tools Portal (see Demonstration Videos)
#GPPT Updating GP Power Tools
#GPPT #BPST #VSIT Solution to Registration issues on Winthrop Development Consultants products

The following articles and links have been updated to include the changes for Build 28:

Thanks to all the customer sites who were willing to install build 28 beta code into their live environments and to my amazing team of beta testers especially Arthur Achilleos, Beat Bucher and Geoff Harding for their input in making this build the most awesome to date. Thank you.

A special thank-you must go to Matthew Arp, who generously shared his DictionaryRoot methodology for working with Dynamics GP resources from Visual Studio. Matthew also assisted during the integration of his libraries to extend them when additional functionality was required for GP Power Tools.

Please post comments and feedback. Thank you for your support.

Enjoy

David

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

Winthrop Development Consultants Blog

Winthrop Development Consultants Blog

This blog will keep you up to date with Winthrop Development Consultants and David’s experiences, tips and tricks as a developer and consultant in the Microsoft Dynamics GP community.