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Microsoft Great Plains version 10.0 was released in Summer 2007. If you support GPERP in your organization, the question of GP version upgrade is probably the one youhave to face in foreseeable future. Reports upgrade is also required step in thewhole upgrade planning and implementation. Good news for you should be the fact,that Microsoft Dexterity remains the base for Microsoft Dynamics GP architecture, asit was for earlier versions of Great Plains: 9.0, 8.0, 7.5, etc. Microsoft alsomentioned old and formerly traditional reporting tool Crystal Reports as one ofthe reporting options for GP 10.0; if you remember the introduction of GP 9.0, whenMicrosoft recommended SQL Server Reporting Services or SRS as the replacement toCrystal Reports. Below we will try to give you reporting tools highlights:1. ReportWriter this is as you know Dexterity module, which came all the long waywith Great Plains since the earliest versions of the product in earlier 1990th. Traditionally MBS gives you the list of RW reports, which are not upgradeable andshould be redesigned in new version from scratch. We know that it is possible to upgrade the reports from this list by comparing calculated fields in the new andold version of the each report. Sometimes we see the situation, when Reports.dicbecomes corrupt and the cure is import all reports into new version of Reports.dicin Report Writer import functionality2. SRS & Crystal Reports. If you plan to deploy complex tables linking in thesetools, meaning the creation of really complex report, then we would wish you goodluck, however we recommend different approach base your reports on SQL StoredProcedure or SQL view. In this case you control your reporting logic in SQL, whichis always a way more powerful, versus any reporting tool. Considering SQL storedprocedure based reports both tools are somewhat similar to provide parametersentry form and group the results. Typically CR and SRS are easy to upgrade, as GPtables structure changes in the way of adding new fields and very rarely in renamingor removing fields. We see more and more SRS reports designed for GP one of thereasons might be free licensing versus required CR license3. Smart List and Excel. Especially considering such tool as SmartList Builder,where you can use smart list to display the results from custom view this makessmart list very powerful for end user, who is not comfortable to do ad hoc SQLqueries in Query Analyzer. Plus, for version 10.0 Microsoft recommended Excelreporting, where you do direct connection via ODBC to GP databases4. Custom Dexterity Reports. Dexterity reporting was very popular, when GreatPlains was available for Ctree and Pervasive SQL, and when Crystal Reports were notyet common reporting option for GP in the second half of 1990th. The advantage ofDex reports is tight integration with GP security and you don t have to pay foradditional licensing (Crystal Reports). One of the minuses is the necessity to upgrade Dex code for the new version
Andrew Karasev, Alba Spectrum Group http://www.albaspectrum.comhe lp@albaspectrum.com 1-866-528-0577, 1-630-961-5918, serving GP customers inIllinois: Naperville, Aurora, Plainfield, Niles, Elgin, Batavia, Chicago downtown,Joliet, Villa Park, Addison, Schaumburg, Downers Grove, Lisle, Wheaton. Remotesupport is available to USA and Canada customers: California, Florida, Texas (wehave office in Houston), New Mexico, Colorado, Washington, New York, Quebec,Ontario, British Columbia, Arizona. International support is available forAustralia, New Zealand, UK, South Africa, Pacific.
