Released on: September 30, 2007, 2:53 pm

Press Release Author: Alba Spectrum Group

Industry: Computers

Press Release Summary: Great Plains Software Dexterity platform was designed in
earlier 1990th to be a foundation for Great Plains Dynamics and Dynamics S/C+. Dex
was built on the principles of operating system "independence"

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

Great Plains Software Dexterity platform was designed in earlier 1990th to be a
foundation for Great Plains Dynamics and Dynamics S/C+. Dex was built on the
principles of operating system "independence" (C programming language was in time
believed to provide shell recompilation, including graphical components) and
database platform independence (nobody could say which DB platform will win: MS SQL
Server, Sybase, Btrieve, Oracle, IBM DB2). When Microsoft acquired Great Plains
Software and formed ERP subdivision, Microsoft Business Solutions, these principles
lost their initial focus, as you can suppose, Microsoft turned Great Plains to get
advantages of Microsoft Windows OS source code and MS SQL Server as Microsoft
database. Every action or decision obviously has pluses and minuses. Dex lost
platform independence, but it gained the potential to increase its performance.
Let's take a look at these potentials closer:
1. SQL Aggregation as performance boost. In Dexterity we see Dex native cursors,
these constructions allow you to abstract Dexterity sanscript code from low level DB
query, but we know that cursors are similar to for statement in procedural
programming languages (C, C++, C#, VB, Fortran, etc.). When the fate of GP database
was determined, and Microsoft SQL Server was chosen to be the platform for the
future, Dexterity programmers were encouraged to use select statement and call SQL
stored procedures from Dexterity code. You can argue, that this option was
available in the past, however if you think about GP ISV partners, they had to
balance SQL and non-SQL Server platforms, such as Pervasive SQL and Ctree and
supporting multiple platforms were easier in native Dexterity cursors. If you are
Dexterity developer and you work for the company, deploying Great Plains as ERP,
please feel free to review your Dex modifications and switch Dex cursors to SQL
stored procedures
2. eConnect horizons. eConnect was specially designed for e-commerce application
developers, allowing them to create, delete and modify GP master records and work
transactions. Initially these options were only available to Dexterity programmer,
and with eConnect MS Visual Studio.Net developers got some control over GP logic.
If you have legacy Dexterity custom dictionary, please think about eConnect first as
an option to upgrade your custom logic and port it into eConnect application. Dex
has advantages of being seamlessly integrated with GP user interface and security
model, however eConnect enables web applications to have some GP business logic
3. COM Objects and Web Services. In 1990th Dynamics had just a few compromises from
OS independence principle - VBA would be one of theses. With acquisition by
Microsoft, Dexterity gained new MS and Windows features: COM objects support, for
example (Great Plains Dexterity 7.0 and later versions)

Andrew Karasev, Alba Spectrum Group: http://www.albaspectrum.com
help@albaspectrum.com 1-866-528-0577, 1-630-961-5918, serving Microsoft Dynamics GP
Great Plains customers in USA/Canada nationwide. Local service is available in
Houston, TX: Richmond, Sugar Land, Katy, Rosenberg, Missouri City, Pearland,
Friendswood, Meadows, Mission Bend, Jersey Village; Chicago, IL: Naperville, Aurora,
Bolingbrook, Romeoville, Joliet, Wheaton, Lisle, Downers Grove, Schaumburg, Elk
Grove, Lombard, Woodridge, Darien, Westmont, Batavia, St. Charles, Elgin, Crystal
Lake. Service is also available in Houston and Dallas metros, plus internationally
in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Oceania and UK. USA nationwide we
serve all the states via remote support: CA, NY, WA, PA, FL, IN, MI, MA, MN, GA, AZ,
WI, AL, HA, CO, NV, NM, NC, SC, LA



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

Contact Details: Alba Spectrum Group: http://www.albaspectrum.com
help@albaspectrum.com 1-866-528-0577, 1-630-961-5918, serving Microsoft Dynamics GP
Great Plains customers in USA/Canada nationwide