Microsoft Dynamics GP Modifications: Dexterity, SDK, VBA – Alba Spectrum Dallas
Alba Spectrum Group
http://www.albaspectrum.com
help@albaspectrum.com, 1-866-528-0577, 1-630-961-5918
Microsoft Great Plains is ERP with long implementation,
customization, integration history and it has large number of installation
across USA and Canada, Australia, New Zealand, UK, South Africa. You should
expect that over the years Great Plains developers used different tools and
methods to modify GP. In this small article we would like to give, programmer,
historical excurse into GP software development.
- Great Plains Dexterity. This tool was designed as the
core of Great Plains Dynamics. In its turn, Dex was created as C-Shell
(application written in C programming language). Main business logic
dictionary is DYNAMICS.DIC, ISV had options to create their own dictionaries
and obtain product ID from Great Plains Software. Around 2003-2004, when
Microsoft Business Solutions had Project Green plan, there were some
opinions that Dexterity will be replaced by direct .Net C# code, even Dex
source code partner program was closed for new GP partners. However later
on in the Summer of 2005, source code program was resumed, which indicates
that Dexterity termination was either postponed or canceled. In dex
theoretically you have unlimited development instruments, however, due to
the fact of being legacy, it is not object oriented language, rather
procedural
- Microsoft Dynamics GP SDK. This tool virtually opens
the door to MS Visual Studio developer to write add-ons to GP, using .Net C#
(or VB.Net). Screens are seamlessly integrated into Microsoft Dynamics GP
Dexterity-written client application and you can utilize the same color
schema and icons collection to imitate GP application windows. You can ask
– maybe this is the replacement to Dexterity. We also were very impressed
by the tool, when watching initial demo. However, later in became clear,
that (and we agree with MS realization) there were no other way, but expose
old-good days Dex forms and objects via .Net libraries, so behind the scenes
you see old dex shell. Real alternative to Dexterity is the possible
advancs in eConnect, because eConnect doesn’t touch dex shell, but instead
works with SQL database side via the set of stored procedures.
- VBA/Modifier. This is when you use Modifier to change
Microsoft Dynamics GP forms: take off some fields, add buttons and attach
VBA scripts to new buttons. VBA scripting were also popular in Ms Excel, MS
Access and other MS tools, exposed as OLE server to developer. Probably
good idea to consider other options, prior to deploying heavy VBA
modification, due to the risk of future upgrade and support termination.
Andrew Karasev, Alba Spectrum Group
http://www.albaspectrum.com
help@albaspectrum.com, 1-866-528-0577, 1-630-961-5918, service US
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