search

(773) 860-0643  

  • "It’s been really nice working with you, Jamie and Ruby! Thank you for your continued support to Frank, Rimerman Consulting."

    Beverly MCSM (GP Partner)

  • "Thanks for the late-night support the other night!... Client was operating as it should this morning!   WOOO HOOOO !"

    Maureen ACAE (GP Partner)

  • "Have I told Alba-Spectrum this year yet how F A S T the newsletter selection is now ???? Wow. Thank you very much!"

    Dennis Westbrook

  • "We were successful last night in completing the production deployment of Terminations WF. Ricardo was fantastic and we could not have done this without him"

    Tawna KProject Manager (Credit Management)

  • "[We are] so grateful for Jeff’s help, and Jeff has been so good to...ZTrim in all of his support."

    John ECFO (Agricultural Ingredient Technology)

  • "First off, thanks for all the great suggestions. I’ll let you know what we find out. Many thanks for your help"

    Mark BDeveloper (Telephone Company)

  • "I will e-mail you back to let you know I was successful with HJE – which I expect to be. I really appreciate how you helped me."

    Michele DurkinConsultant (GP Partner)

  • "...thank you both for taking some time out to help me troubleshoot the issue of creating a project directly into the GP tables without the benefit of using the web services."

    Jesse CPrincipal (GP Partner)

  • "For example, when an AE calls to confirm rates, there’s not a 30 second pause waiting for the billing schedule to open. It’s absolutely immediate, literally, click, click, click. It’s a huge difference."

    Vince FCredit Manager (Media Data Service)

  • "So far everything seems to be working fine. We have had it in production now for almost a month and have not experienced any problems."

    Mark MFinance Manager (Custom Woodwork)

  • "Alba will always be my choice for quality innovation on ANY project you put in their lap from websites to Great Plains implementations, customizations and people who think 'outside the box'. "

    Robert DCEO

  • "Rod, your team’s flexibility and quality of service have been appreciated."

    Nicholas NController (Financial Trading)

  • "I most heartily and sincerely recommend him and his firm for any software implementation task."

    John PCFO (Tourism Association)

  • "[the] team delivered several enhancements to Great Plains, significantly improving our sales order entry process, shipment routing, and handling of catch-weight items."

    Eddie HPresident (Food Products)

  • "You have come very highly recommended by other companies. I have been impressed with your professionalism and attention to detail."

    Timothy CPresident (Uniform Manufacture)

  • "I am very happy that Andrew was able to fix our invoice system. Your company is very professional and performs excellent service."

    Allen ZCFO (Oil Company)

  • "I don't know who your company president is, but you guys did great job and I hope he/she sees this email."

    Nathan M.Finance (Marketing Communications)

  • "I heartily recommend Alba to any developer or end user seeking to make the most of their GP investment."

    Brett GPresident (Software Development)

  • "Thank you for all your patience and hard work getting this all processed. Here at Friedr Dick Corp we are looking forward to a wonderful professional relationship."

    Jill DAccounting Manager (Home Furnishings)

  • "I think we are going to be a great team working forward on the Miami project."

    Jesse CPrincipal (GP Partner)

  • "As usual, superb product and service!! Everything is working great and all my users love the modification. Thanks again!"

    Michael LController (Healthcare Storage)

  • "[W]e thought your product GP Posting Server was the better solution. The interface is better, it is easier to understand, and there are more options considering the auto transfer feature. We compared it to the Envisage Post Master Enterprise software."

    Tom BSenior IT Administrator (Medical Implements Company)
Customer Feedback

  • "It’s been really nice working with you, Jamie and Ruby! Thank you for your continued support to Frank, Rimerman Consulting."

    Beverly MCSM (GP Partner)

  • "Thanks for the late-night support the other night!... Client was operating as it should this morning!   WOOO HOOOO !"

    Maureen ACAE (GP Partner)

  • "Have I told Alba-Spectrum this year yet how F A S T the newsletter selection is now ???? Wow. Thank you very much!"

    Dennis Westbrook

  • "We were successful last night in completing the production deployment of Terminations WF. Ricardo was fantastic and we could not have done this without him"

    Tawna KProject Manager (Credit Management)

  • "[We are] so grateful for Jeff’s help, and Jeff has been so good to...ZTrim in all of his support."

    John ECFO (Agricultural Ingredient Technology)

  • "First off, thanks for all the great suggestions. I’ll let you know what we find out. Many thanks for your help"

    Mark BDeveloper (Telephone Company)

  • "I will e-mail you back to let you know I was successful with HJE – which I expect to be. I really appreciate how you helped me."

    Michele DurkinConsultant (GP Partner)

  • "...thank you both for taking some time out to help me troubleshoot the issue of creating a project directly into the GP tables without the benefit of using the web services."

    Jesse CPrincipal (GP Partner)

  • "For example, when an AE calls to confirm rates, there’s not a 30 second pause waiting for the billing schedule to open. It’s absolutely immediate, literally, click, click, click. It’s a huge difference."

    Vince FCredit Manager (Media Data Service)

  • "So far everything seems to be working fine. We have had it in production now for almost a month and have not experienced any problems."

    Mark MFinance Manager (Custom Woodwork)

  • "Alba will always be my choice for quality innovation on ANY project you put in their lap from websites to Great Plains implementations, customizations and people who think 'outside the box'. "

    Robert DCEO

  • "Rod, your team’s flexibility and quality of service have been appreciated."

    Nicholas NController (Financial Trading)

  • "I most heartily and sincerely recommend him and his firm for any software implementation task."

    John PCFO (Tourism Association)

  • "[the] team delivered several enhancements to Great Plains, significantly improving our sales order entry process, shipment routing, and handling of catch-weight items."

    Eddie HPresident (Food Products)

  • "You have come very highly recommended by other companies. I have been impressed with your professionalism and attention to detail."

    Timothy CPresident (Uniform Manufacture)

  • "I am very happy that Andrew was able to fix our invoice system. Your company is very professional and performs excellent service."

    Allen ZCFO (Oil Company)

  • "I don't know who your company president is, but you guys did great job and I hope he/she sees this email."

    Nathan M.Finance (Marketing Communications)

  • "I heartily recommend Alba to any developer or end user seeking to make the most of their GP investment."

    Brett GPresident (Software Development)

  • "Thank you for all your patience and hard work getting this all processed. Here at Friedr Dick Corp we are looking forward to a wonderful professional relationship."

    Jill DAccounting Manager (Home Furnishings)

  • "I think we are going to be a great team working forward on the Miami project."

    Jesse CPrincipal (GP Partner)

  • "As usual, superb product and service!! Everything is working great and all my users love the modification. Thanks again!"

    Michael LController (Healthcare Storage)

  • "[W]e thought your product GP Posting Server was the better solution. The interface is better, it is easier to understand, and there are more options considering the auto transfer feature. We compared it to the Envisage Post Master Enterprise software."

    Tom BSenior IT Administrator (Medical Implements Company)

Dynamics GP Development Tools

Dexterity

Dexterity is the development tool used to create Microsoft Dynamics GP Application. It can be utilized by software developers to create both user interface and database integrations. The most highly-integrated products are created with Dexterity.

Note: Extensions developed using Dexterity are supported on both GP Standard (Desktop) and Web Clients.

Extender

Extender is a customization tool that can be used to modify Microsoft Dynamics GP without requiring the developer to write code. It allows you to "extend" Microsoft Dynamics GP by adding data entry windows that work alongside the GP windows already in the system.

Note: Forms developed using Extender are supported on both GP Standard (Desktop) and Web Clients.

Visual Studio Tools

Visual Studio Tools for Microsoft Dynamics GP is a development SDK that allows developers to add custom windows to Microsoft Dynamics GP. It provides three main capabilities:

Custom Windows Forms: Developers can add .NET Windows Form that can be accessed via menu options & shortcuts inside Dynamics GP. The appearance of the WinForms matches the appearance of Dynamics GP.

Dynamics GP Dictionary Access: Applications developed using Visual Studio Tools have access to the numerous resources available in Microsoft Dynamics GP dictionaries including forms, windows, window fields, table fields, global variables, commands, procedures, and functions.

Dynamics GP Event Notifications: Applications can be notified of events such as a open window, or change of focus in Dynamics GP. This allows developers to perform actions like verifying field values or opening additional windows.

Note: Forms developed using VST are supported on GP Standard (Desktop). They could also be made to work with GP Web Client but require special considerations and code modifications.

Continuum & sanScript

Continuum is the Component Object Model (COM) API that is available for Microsoft Dynamics GP. Development Environments that support COM can use the Continuum API to interact with Microsoft Dynamics GP.

Dynamics GP COM objects used by Continuum API provide two basic actions.

  1. Allow actions to be executed in Microsoft Dynamics GP, such as pushing a button or setting the value of a window field.
  2. Notify the integrating application when certain events occur in Microsoft Dynamics GP, such as when a form opens or the value in a field changes.

SanScript is the language used by the Dynamics GP Dexterity development system. Using Continuum API, developers have the ability to call Dexterity functions from Dynamics GP dictionaries.

Note: Extensions developed using Continuum and sanScript are only supported on GP Standard (Desktop). 

Modifier with VBA

Modifier is a customization tool that can be used to modify appearance and functionality of any Dynamics GP window. It can be used to make three basic types of modifications: modifying the appearance of windows, making global changes to the interface, and adding new fields.

All changes and additions made via Modifier are stored in the Forms Dictionary separate from Dynamics GP Dictionary. They can be enabled or disabled using Alternate/Modified Forms and Reports window in GP Setup.

Note: Forms updated or created using Modifier are supported on both GP Standard (Desktop) and Web Client provided they do not use VBA. VBA scripts are only supported on GP Standard.  

Direct SQL Access

External applications can use ADO.NET & other ODBC interfaces as well as SQL Scripts & SQL Jobs to access Dynamics data directly. The Direct SQL Access does require more sophistication to set up and use, especially when data is being written to the Dynamics GP database.

Knowledge of the Dynamics GP database and table structures is essential when using this method.

Note: External application developed using .NET or other technologies that do not utilize one of the above supported methods will not work on GP Web Client.  

Infographics: Dynamics GP Development and Integration Tools

Infographics: Dynamics GP Development and Integration Tools

 

Dynamics GP Integration & Automation Tools

Web Services for Microsoft Dynamics GP

Web Services for Microsoft Dynamics GP provide an ideal way for external applications to integrate with Microsoft Dynamics GP. They provides access to primary documents and transactions in the Dynamics GP system. Through Web Services, integrating applications can retrieve documents, create new documents, update existing documents, and delete or void documents.

GP Web Services use eConnect to get access to Dynamics GP data, but no knowledge of eConnect is required to use the web service. The Dynamics GP web service interface completely isolates the web service developer from eConnect. The eConnect interfaces can still be used when the Dynamics GP web service is installed.

Another advantage of GP Web Services is that its fully integrated with Dynamics GP Security. The administrator of the Web Services can configure security so only specified users are allowed to perform actions like creating or updating sales documents.

Web Services are also development tool independent. They can be used from any development environment that supports calling .NET WCF or Standard SOAP Web Services.

eConnect

eConnect is a collection of tools, and APIs that allow applications to programmatically interact with Microsoft Dynamics GP. It uses XML to import or export data leveraging existing transaction-based business logic of Microsoft Dynamics GP. The key eConnect components and interfaces include:

  1. .NET API
  2. Microsoft BizTalk Application Integration Component (AIC)
  3. Microsoft Message Queuing (MSMQ) services

These eConnect interfaces allow external applications like web storefronts, web services, point-of-sale systems, or legacy applications to integrate with Microsoft Dynamics GP. It allows external applications to perform actions like creating, updating, retrieving, and deleting back office documents and transactions.

Note: Although eConnect includes a large number of documents, not all Microsoft Dynamics GP transactions & routines are available through eConnect.

Integration Manager

Integration Manager for Microsoft Dynamics GP is a GUI-based data integration tool designed to move data quickly and easily into Dynamics GP without the need for custom programming or extensive knowledge of application databases.

Integration Manager allows users to create an integration by specifying sources, destinations, and destination mappings. Sources include the data to integrate into a destination, such as text files or ODBC databases. A destination indicates where to integrate the source data within Microsoft Dynamics GP, such as General Journal or Payables Transaction.

Order Connector

Alba Spectrum’s Order Connector is a set of SQL Stored Procedures coupled with Web Services that provides integration between e-commerce & sales order entry system to back office Dynamics GP environment.

It does not use eConnect or GP Web Services and can be deployed with minimum effort. It currently supports Sales Document, Customer & Item integration into Dynamics GP.

Advanced Workflow

Advanced Workflow framework can be used to collect, review and integrate data into Microsoft Dynamics GP. It provides support for workflow-enabled web forms that can collect data from the users and route it through hierarchy of review & approval steps before integrating it into Dynamics GP.

Advanced Workflow can effectively provide configurable business process automation across the enterprise. More information is available in the Workflow section of our web site.