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Microsoft Dynamics GP 10.0 Software Development notes – Alba Spectrum

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

As Microsoft Great Plains consultant or programmer, you should be familiarized with GP modification, customization, reporting and data conversion migration tools. Expecting the situation, when you are new employee who was brought into GP world with something like Microsoft Visual Studio C#, or VB.Net expertise, plus strong MS SQL Stored procedures development skills, read this article to understand your options and future steps. If you are coming from Java and Oracle eBusiness Suite world, we recommend you to get sufficient training and certification in such tools as Microsoft SQL Server 2005, Sharepoint, Microsoft Great Plains Business Portal software development, especially Requisition Management, Order Management, and HR & Employee Self Service. GP is based on former Great Plains Software Dexterity platform, which is in turn written as the IDE shell in C programming language
1. Microsoft Dynamics GP Business Portal 10.0. Again, if you are comfortable with Sharepoint, SQL Server Stored Procedures (in DYNAMICS database), integration with Microsoft Exchange, or even feel that you are Microsoft developer or IT specialist, who has experience installing and integrating Microsoft technologies for numerous years, go ahead and install and play with Business Portal on your own
2. Microsoft Dexterity 10.0. Typically these signals you don’t hear directly from such companies as Microsoft. In 2001 Microsoft announced Project Green, where several ERP should be unified into one project: Navision, Great Plains, Axapta, Solomon to form Microsoft Suites: Manufacturing, Financials, Distribution, Human Resources, Project Management. On the technical level this would mean GP, AX, SL to be rewritten in .Net C#, however as time goes, this concept is still not realized. More likely Microsoft faced high cost of MRP applications to be rewritten and in fact rearchtectured. This is why we believe we are entering in Dexterity Renaissance era
3. C# Programming Language. This language was designed somewhere around 2000 as a path for Microsoft to attract large pool of Sun Java developers to switch from Java (remember recession time in 2000-2004)
4. COM objects. As XML web services came to the scenes around 2000, Dexterity faced the dilemma to support this internet technology. COM objects support was introduced in GP version 7.0 in 2003
5. eConnect. This tool was initially dedicated to eCommerce software developer and web designers, who had intentions to integrate eCommerce web site with Great Plains back office. eConnect has certain restrictions, especially in posting area, which is known fact and is excused by GP Dexterity architecture
6. Dexterity Sanscript scripting language. Besides Dex forms, reports, tables and data types, you as software developer have the option to program GP interface with Dex scascript scripting. Sanscript was designed back in earlier 1990th, so you should be patient, especially if you are coming from Object Oriented Programming

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 service is available in Houston/Dallas: Richmond, Katy, Sugar Land, Galveston, in Chicago: Naperville, Warrenville, Aurora, Plainfield, Niles, Schaumburg, Addison, Itasca, Joliet, Romeoville, Morris, Ottawa, LaSalle, De Kalb, Montgomery