#SQL Parsing data out of Note Text Fields

Today, I was asked by a consultant how to parse specific data out of the record note associated with a transaction or master record in Microsoft Dynamics GP using a SQL Server query.

GP uses the SY_Record_Notes_MSTR (SY03900) Record Notes Master table to store a text field of up to 32767 characters linked to master or transaction record using the Note Index (NOTEINDX) field. The next available Note Index is stored in the SY_Company_MSTR (SY01500) Company Master in the system (DYNAMICS) database and is assigned to new records when they are created.

#GPPT Tracking changes to Customer and Vendor Cards Version 3

This is a further update to the previous versions of the change tracking projects for Customer and Vendor cards:

• #GPPT Tracking changes to Customer and Vendor Cards Version 2

Based on the version 2 projects, this update adds tracking to the Vendor and Customer EFT Bank Maintenance windows.

#MSDynGP Lapsed Microsoft Dynamics GP customers should renew their enhancement plans before April 2025

On the 4^th April 2023 Microsoft made an announcement about the future of licensing for new customer sales of Microsoft Dynamics GP. The details of this announcement, my thoughts on it and links to other related articles are available from:

• #MSDynGP Microsoft Announcement April 2023

On Friday 14^th April 2023, MS Dynamics World and Dynamics User Group held a panel discussion on what the announcement means to the customer base, and it raised the concern that prompted this article.

#Dexterity Announcing Dexterity Training before Community Summit 2023 in Charlotte, NC, USA

As is becoming a tradition, I will once again be running the 5-day Dexterity training class in the week before the Community Summit conference in Charlotte, North Carolina, USA in October. Please register for the training now and plan to be in Charlotte for the week before the conference.

Dexterity is the development environment that Microsoft Dynamics GP is built on and the best tool to use for any customization to the user interface of the product. Knowledge of Dexterity is vital for anyone customizing Dynamics GP even when using other development tools such as GP Power Tools – Developer Tools module, Visual Studio Tools (C# or VB .Net) or “End of Life” VBA (Visual Basic for Application).

#MSDynGP Microsoft Announcement April 2023

On the 4^th April 2023, Microsoft made an announcement about the future of new Microsoft Dynamics GP sales. While the details of the announcement are primarily behind “partner only” links, I wanted to explain the main points and how the announcement has very little effect for existing Microsoft Dynamics GP customers.

For existing Microsoft Dynamics GP customers nothing has really changed. Microsoft has committed to continuing support and development of Dynamics GP to 2028 and beyond.

#GPPT Changing and Recalculating SOP Tax Rates

Back when Australia introduced its Goods and Services Tax (GST) in July 2000, I designed and developed the Business Activity Statement (BAS) Tax reporting tool which also contained a utility to update tax schedules and recalculate taxes on unposted Sales Order Processing Transactions.

This code was re-used in October 2010 when New Zealand changed its GST tax rate. The code from the BAS reporting tool was copied and placed into Runtime Execute scripts for the Support Debugging Tool (see original article).

This week I was contacted by James Bacon from Green Rubber – Kennedy Ag as he wanted to use the code again to update some transactions when a tax rate had changed. While the code did “mostly” work, this was an opportunity to update the code to improve it and use more features in GP Power Tools.

#GPPT Adding Multi Factor Authentication to the Microsoft Dynamics GP application

Microsoft Dynamics GP has added support for Multi Factor Authentication (MFA) to the emailing functionality inside Dynamics GP to allow it to connect to Microsoft Exchange, now that simple authentication is no longer supported.

However, there is no MFA functionality for logging into the Microsoft Dynamics GP application itself… until now.

Using GP Power Tools Developer Tools module, with a single after login trigger, it is possible to force the request to connect to Microsoft Exchange and close GP if the connection is not authenticated.

#DynamicsCon Fun Fact Challenge

Winthrop Development Consultants is the proud Title Sponsor of #DynamicsConVIRTUAL happening March 15^th and 16^th.

Join our Fun Fact Challenge for a chance to win a $100 USD Amazon gift card!

#DynamicsCon Announces Winthrop Dexterity Consultants as Title Sponsor for Dynamics GP Track

Yes, you heard correctly. Winthrop Development Consultants is thrilled to be Title Sponsor of the March 2023 DynamicsCon Virtual Conference taking place on 15^th and 16^th of March 2023.

Make sure you register to attend this free online conference to learn more about Microsoft Dynamics GP and related products and technologies.

#GPPT Running SQL Scripts for All Companies, such as a smarter GRANT script

This article has two purposes. The first is to highlight a very useful script published by Michael Krasivsky from The Resource Group back in 2016. The second is to explain how easy it is to use the GP Power Tools SQL Execute Setup window to execute scripts against multiple databases.

Microsoft Dynamics GP provides access to all the SQL Resources (Tables, Views, Stored Procedures, etc.) using the DYNGRP SQL role. For this technique to work correctly, all GP users need to be assigned to the DYNGRP role and all SQL objects need access “Granted” to the same DYNGRP role.

#MVPbuzzChat by Christian Buckley with David Musgrave

Back in mid-January, I had fantastic long chat with Christian Buckley from buckleyPLANET about my journey to becoming a Microsoft MVP (Most Valuable Professional), my time with Microsoft, my work since starting Winthrop Development Consultants and my hobbies with music, Lego and robots.

We actually spoke for quite a while before the recording started and it was really enjoyable to compare notes with Christian as some elements of our respective career paths were very similar.

#MSDynGP 2023 Report on the Future of Dynamics GP

I received a very interesting email yesterday. AccountingWare, the people behind the ActivReporter reporting tool for GP, created a report on the future of Dynamics GP based on the results of a survey of 164 Microsoft Dynamics GP customers.

This report supports anecdotal evidence that most of the Microsoft Dynamics GP customer base is happy staying with Dynamics GP for the foreseeable future.

#GPPT Automating Printing and Emailing of Sales Order Processing Documents

Microsoft Dynamics GP has the ability to output Sales Order Processing transactions to a printer so the documents can be sent via “snail” mail, or you can send the documents via email. You can even send documents both to email and the printer.

However, two issues have been found which make the functionality less than perfect. This sample project for GP Power Tools resolves these issues and restores the perfection.

#GPPT Installing GP Power Tools Build 29 or later can break older Windows Applications

A recent support case was reported where a site updated to GP Power Tools Build 29 and after the installation a separate Windows Application stopped working.

Initially, the only way the customer was able to get this application working again was to rebuild the workstation by re-imaging back to a clean Windows installation. After a bit of troubleshooting, we were able to identify the cause of the issue.

#GPPT Ensuring Custom Triggers Cannot Be Disabled

If you are using GP Power Tools in your Microsoft Dynamics GP system and have the Developer Tools module registered you can use the custom trigger in this article to ensure that GP Power Tools triggers cannot be disabled using the Customization Status window.

This will protect mission critical customizations written using GP Power Tools with triggers from being disabled manually.

#GPPT Why Does The Report Writer Screen Close Automatically?

With the release of build 29 of GP Power Tools, a feature was added that will automatically close the Report Writer Screen Output window after a period of time.

As customers have been upgrading their systems to the latest GP Power Tools build they have been noticing that the Report Writer Screen Output closes by itself.

This article explains how to change the timeout setting and why this new feature is so important.

#MSDynGP Microsoft Dynamics GP Crashing on Launch

I recently had a partner contact me when they were doing an upgrade and Microsoft Dynamics GP was crashing upon launching the application. As Winthrop products were installed, we were looking initially to see if the problem was caused by GP Power Tools or Visual Studio Integration Toolkit.

Short Answer: Removing the Winthrop products did not fix the problem …

#MSDynGP Winthrop Products and Microsoft Dynamics GP 18.5 Year End 2022

Last week, Terry Heley from Microsoft announced that the Microsoft Dynamics GP 18.5 Year End 2022 service pack has been released.

• Microsoft Dynamics GP U.S. Year-End Update 2022 RELEASED!!

Since then, we have been asked numerous times if the Winthrop products are compatible with this new 18.05.1596 release. The short answer is yes.

#MSDynGP Microsoft, Stop Scaring Microsoft Dynamics GP Customers

You might have heard about the “announcement” made by Mike Morton (Vice President, Dynamics 365 Business Central and SMB, Microsoft) during the Microsoft Dynamics GP General Session and his subsequent retraction and clarification.

I decided to write this article to provide my thoughts on what happened and the bigger issues it raises.

#MySummitNA Clarification of Microsoft Dynamics GP Lifecycle

Mike Morton (Vice President, Dynamics 365 Business Central at Microsoft) has clarified the Microsoft Dynamics GP Lifecycle after his comments at the GP General Session during the Community Summit 2022 conference.

Dynamics GP’s lifecycle is still 2028 and beyond and does include new features as well as tax, compliance and security updates. Since GP is a mature and stable product, don’t expect large new features or new modules. The large ISV community will continue to develop additional functionality to make GP a viable system for many years to come.