Released on = April 29, 2007, 12:44 pm

Press Release Author = Alba Spectrum Group

Industry = Computers

Press Release Summary = Microsoft Great Plains was designed as Dexterity application
in earlier 1990th. At this time ReportWriter was the platform-independent Dexterity
based GP module and as we see through about 15 years - it still is and does the job.
Of course, there are others reporting tool: Crystal Reports, Microsoft SQL Server
Reporting Services or SRS

Press Release Body = Alba Spectrum Group, http://www.albaspectrum.com
help@albaspectrum.com 1-866-528-0577, 1-630-961-5918

Microsoft Great Plains was designed as Dexterity application in earlier 1990th. At
this time ReportWriter was the platform-independent Dexterity based GP module and as
we see through about 15 years - it still is and does the job. Of course, there are
others reporting tool: Crystal Reports, Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services or
SRS. In this small article we will try to give you additional tips on Report
Writer:
. Trivia. REPORTS.DIC - this dictionary stores all your so-called modified reports
for main dictionary DYNAMICS.DIC. If you install third party dex application or
create your own customization - ReportWriter will be given the option to modify
third-party or your custom reports. Consider storing Reports.dic in central
location, on your file server for example and modify Dynamics.set file - specifying
the path to this central dictionary
. Dexterity security realm. The nice thing about ReportWriter report is the fact
that you control report access via GP security. Compare to Crystal Reports - here
you base your report (as a good practice) on SQL Stored Procedure or SQL view -
which means that you use SQL Server security. Just to remind - GP security system
is stored in Dynamics database and it translates into SQL Server security - in SQL
you can not directly use GP userid - due to the fact that user password (which you
use to login GP) is encrypted in SQL
. Simple data export tool. Besides GP SmartList or Explorer, you can simply create
Report Writer custom report, base it on the table you need and add the fields from
the above table - run this custom report and data is ready to be saved into text
file
. Popular Customized reports. SOP Invoice Long form if one of the most modified.
Here you typically place your company logo, change address format, add comments.
The second customization candidate is Purchase Order. The reason you use custom
report writer reports is simple - you like to print Invoice or PO from SOP Entry or
POP entry forms directly, rather than launch Crystal Report and provide invoice
number as a parameter
. Version Upgrade. In most of the cases upgrade works fine. However, assuming we
are upgrading GP custom reports - sometimes you need help. When GP report in new
version uses different calculated fields - you will need to analyze calculated
fields of the old report and compare them to the one for new one and make changes.
. SRS & Crystal Reports. We often hear questions - which tool should we use, or
even more direct - should we walk away from all our Crystal Reports and redesign
them in SRS? The answer is - probably you should wait, when SRS will be better
integrated into GP model. From the reporting tool power aspect - both CR and SRS
require good SQL base query design, so data manipulation logic is typically out of
the scope (sql view or stored procedure) - the rest of the reporting job - list
query results and group them by certain criteria - both tools are good in it.


Web Site = http://www.albaspectrum.com

Contact Details = Andrew Karasev, Alba Spectrum Group, http://www.albaspectrum.com
help@albaspectrum.com 1-866-528-0577, 1-630-961-5918, serving GP customers in their
modifications upgrade, integration, reporting USA/Canada nationwide: Los Angeles,
Miami, San Francisco, Detroit, Milwaukee, Montreal, Toronto, Calgary, New York,
Seattle, Provo, Las Vegas, Atlanta, Orlando, Minneapolis, Austin, San Diego. Local
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