When Great Plains Software was designing and developing Great Plains Dynamics/Dynamics CS+/eEnterprise - it placed several fundamental principles into the system
1. Computer platform independence. If you consider the situation in the computer software industry those days (earlier 1990-th) - nobody knew which office computer platform will be the winner: IBM PC clones with Microsoft Windows, Apple Macintosh with Mac OS or something like Sun SPARC. This is why graphical multiplatform idea was popular among software developers. Also there was a myth about C/C++ languages, working similar on all computers.
2. Database platform independence - there was the need for future surviving. Competition on the database market was also very tough: Oracle, Ingress, Sybase, DB2, Ctree/Faircom, Btrieve (Pervasive SQL 2000 later on)
In order to realize these two principles Great Plains Software created its own development environment and programming language - Great Plains Dexterity (DYNAMICS.DIC, REPORTS.DIC, FORMS.DIC are Dexterity dictionaries).
At this point customization standards were clarified:
1. If you need seamless integration with Great Plains Dynamics, working in the realm of Dynamics security and database independent data access/modification - you do it in Great Plains Dexterity.
2. If your customization should be light then you appeal to the customization tools coming with your computer platform. Very soon Microsoft Windows took the market, so VBA was the way to go.
3. As soon as Microsoft Windows kicked Mac OS from the office computers market, standard third party Microsoft-friendly tools were recommended - good example is Crystal Reports
4. When Microsoft SQL Server won the database market - Great Plains Software began migration campaign from Ctree/Faircom, Btrieve/Pervasive SQL to MS SQL Server 7.0 and later 2000
Finally, when Microsoft bought Great Plains Software, Microsoft Business Solutions turned to be more concerned about its ERP products migration and transformation into so-called suites: Microsoft Financial, Microsoft Logistics, Microsoft Manufacturing, Microsoft Human Resources and pretty much abandoned the promotion of traditional tools: Great Plains Dexterity, VBA, ReportWriter, Continuum, Integration Manager. As a temporary patch to enable .Net programming it released such tools as eConnect.
Right now (2004-2005) we are in the transformation phase when old tools, such as Dexterity are still playing important role, but if you are thinking about customization, you probably better consider SQL Server scripts/views/stored procs, if you have customization budget - make a research on eConnect. Try to make as much web publishing in Visual Studio.Net as possible. Use Crystal Reports design and our recommendation is to base Crystal Report on SQL View or Stored Procedure.
Good luck with installation, implementation, customization, development, upgrade and if you have issues or concerns ? we are here to help! If you want us to do the job - give us a call 1-866-528-0577! help@albaspectrum.com
About The Author
Andrew Karasev is Chief Technology Officer in Alba Spectrum Technologies ? USA nationwide Great Plains, Microsoft CRM customization company, based in Chicago, California, Texas, Florida, New York, Georgia, Washington, Minnesota, Colorado, Canada, UK, Australia and having locations in multiple states and internationally (help@albaspectrum.com), he is CMA, Great Plains Certified Master, Dexterity, SQL, C#.Net, Crystal Reports and Microsoft CRM SDK developer. You can contact Andrew: help@albaspectrum.com; help@albaspectrum.com
Ashton group transportation logistics management ..Passwords protect your most sensitive personal, financial and business information.... Read More
Microsoft Great Plains serves the wide spectrum of horizontal markets.... Read More
What is 'adware'?Adware is basically software or scripts that are... Read More
Java has come along a long way. Many would agree... Read More
Microsoft Great Plains is becoming more and more popular and... Read More
No matter how much you enjoy your favorite screensavers, sometimes... Read More
While several preventive maintenance software manufacturers offer free trials for... Read More
If you would like to pick something from Microsoft, or... Read More
Document Manager and Version HistoryIn previous articles I have discussed... Read More
An integral part of any quality CRM system is lead... Read More
The world of small business accounting software can be a... Read More
Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains has substantial market share and... Read More
This is intermediate level SQL scripting article for DB Administrator,... Read More
The term "document management" and "paperless office" is the subject... Read More
In linux, one of great commands for finding out information... Read More
Microsoft CRM is relatively new player on the now becoming... Read More
When you double-click a layer in the Layer Palette, you... Read More
What is Spyware?Spyware monitors your surfing habits and sends the... Read More
Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains was designed back in the... Read More
The major reason I recommend getting your hands on real... Read More
Microsoft Great Plains is now standard mid-market ERP application, serving... Read More
For a long time now Microsoft's Internet Explorer has ruled... Read More
Internet worms. Is your PC infected?If your computer has become... Read More
Assertion facility is added in J2SE 1.4. In order to... Read More
NOTE: Please take time to read on - it may... Read More
group transportation logistics management Highland ..So let's begin crunching down these 300 images using Adobe... Read More
Microsoft bought Navision, Denmark based software development company, along with... Read More
Hi, Guys,I believe a lot of programmers are trying to... Read More
Microsoft Business Solutions Navision serves both European and American megamarkets.... Read More
With this small article we are continuing Microsoft Business Solutions... Read More
We've all seen the ads on TV for Netzero 3G.... Read More
Microsoft CRM is now on the scene and it is... Read More
Microsoft CRM has built-in conversion tool, however you should probably... Read More
We were recently faced with a decision: either to let... Read More
If your company has regional and worldwide operations, you might... Read More
If someone entered your home, uninvited and installed numerous cameras... Read More
Before being able to choose a secure Internet communication system,... Read More
Buying accounting software is a major investment. It's an important... Read More
If you have Great Plains Dynamics/eEnterprise (version 6.0 or earlier)... Read More
As we could imagine, if you are reading this article... Read More
According to a survey conducted by InfoTrends/CAP Ventures entitled "Content-Centric... Read More
TCO (Total Cost Ownership) is the buzzword in... Read More
Microsoft CRM is new player on the CRM software... Read More
While Ukraine is becoming a new popular IT outsourcing destination,... Read More
Find out why Spyware Removal from computers is important and... Read More
Microsoft Great Plains is main accounting / ERP application... Read More
Lotus Domino/Notes ? Microsoft Great Plains tandem as ERP with... Read More
Which Type of Shop Can Rely On A Home Built... Read More
This article will not attempt to advocate the use of... Read More
The Windows registry is a huge database that ensures normal... Read More
Software |