Service Pack 1 for Extender 2013 Released Today!

We have released Service Pack 1 for Extender 2013 today. 

A Huge Thanks goes out to the customers and partners that helped us in testing a few of the fixes in the service pack.

Download:
The Extender Service Pack 1 install can be downloaded form the following URL:
http://www.eonesolutions.com/Products/Extender/Downloads.aspx

Frequently asked questions:

1.  Is this a full install or just an update to a previously posted build? 

• This release is a full install. It can be used to install Extender as a new install, update from a previous release (10 or 2010), or just to update an existing Extender 2013 install to the latest build.

2.  Can I use this install to install Extender 2013 for the first time?

• Use this Service Pack 1 install for Extender 2013 to install Extender on each of your Microsoft Dynamics GP 2013workstations.  The Installation steps in the Extender 2013 that is found at the same download URL will walk you through the process.

3.  Can I use this install to update to Microsoft Dynamics GP 2013 from a previous release?

• Service Pack 1 is a full install so you can be used to update Extender Standard or Enterprise from Microsoft Dynamics GP 10.0 or 2010.  The installation and update steps in the Extender 2013 manual will walk you through this process and can be downloaded from the same link above.

4.  What if I am already using Extender on Microsoft Dynamics GP 2013?

• You can install this build and it will update what you already have installed. To install it, you are going to want to run the installer you downloaded on each workstation pointing it to your Microsoft Dynamics GP 2013 installation directory.  When launching Microsoft on each workstation, it is going to ask you to include new code.  Say yes to include the new Extender code.  

5.  How do I verify that Service Pack 1 is installed:

• You can verify that Service Pack 1 for Extender 2013 is installed by going to Microsoft Dynamics GP - Tools - Extender - About.  The Extender 2013 build there should read 12.00.0088.

 6.  What is fixed in Service Pack 1?

• There are multiple fixes in this build.  A couple of them include:
• Maintaining the Detail Window data when transferring SOP Quotes to Orders and Orders to Invoices.
• Fixes in the SQL Scripting and the use of Parameters
• Changes to the Dexterity Scripting allowing you to call other resources that aren't currently open.

If you have any questions on the installation or usage of Service Pack 1 for Extender 2013, feel free to contact support at 888-319-3663 or support@eonesolutions.com.

Where to Send Your Questions on SmartList Builder

By now, you've most likely heard our recent announcement on SmartList Builder coming home to eOne. We are thrilled to have SmartList Builder moving back in house and can't wait to unveil some of the new features we'll be adding to the product.

Please continue to watch our blog and website for more details on SmartList Builder moving back. In the meantime, if you have any questions you need answered right away - feel free to email us at SLB@eonesolutions.com. We have a team dedicated to assist with all your SLB questions.

Have a great Wednesday!

Tech Tuesday: Extender Window Inquiries

This week's Tech Tuesday features Extender as our Extender Product Specialist, Nicole Albertson, walks us through creating an inquiry window to display an Extender window on a second window in Microsoft Dynamics GP. This video utilizes Extender in Microsoft Dynamics GP 2013.



Interested in learning more about Extender for GP 2013? Feel free to reach out to us at sales@eonesolutions.com or check out our Knowledge Base!

SmartConnect & Extender Training before Tech Airlift

Alright, partners...who is heading to Fargo, ND in a few weeks for Microsoft's Tech Airlift event? Hundreds of you are making the journey to the place where GP started and we are truly looking forward to seeing you.

If you are coming in early, we'd love to spend some time with you, but we want to do more than shoot the breeze. Please join us for TRAINING the day before the event begins. We are hosting a full day of SmartConnect training and a full day of Extender training on September 17th and would love to have you join us.

Our training sessions are geared toward the technical folks out there who want to dive deep into the products. At the sessions we'll focus on making you the expert - which helps you drive the billable services you need and come up with amazing solutions for your customers.

Ready to sign up? Let me know by emailing sales@eonesolutions.com and I'll send you all the details you need.

I look forward to hearing from you!

SmartList Design Feature from Microsoft vs SmartList Builder

I took some time to play with the SmartList Designer feature that released with Microsoft Dynamics GP 2013 SP2 recently.  While it is a nice addition to SmartList from Microsoft and features such as the Results preview and the ability to create new SmartLists from the default SmartLists, it is still missing a lot of features that SmartList Builder has already.

Here is a list of features I found that SmartList Designer DOES NOT give you that SmartList Builder DOES.

• Summary:  It does not have an option to create a Summary SmartList so I can see a quick overview of the data and drill down into the detail if I need.
• Multicompany:  There is no option to pull data from multiple companies into one SmartList.
• Re-order Columns:  While you can go into the SmartList Options window to change the order of columns, it doesn’t allow you to reorder the columns as you want when you are building the SmartList.
• GoTos: There is no option to add GoTos so that you can drill down to the Microsoft Dynamics GP windows directly from SmartList.
• Import/Export:  I cannot setup the SmartLists on my development environment and get them exactly how I want and then import them into my live system.  They would have to be setup again from scratch.
• Extender:  There is no option to add in my Extender resources.  I would have to use Extender Views to get the data into the SmartList.
• SQL Objects:  It can only add SQL Views from the company database that I am logged into and the system database.  It doesn’t allow you to pull in tables from the company and system databases or anything from other databases you have on your SQL Server.  In saying this, it also gives the users automatic access to the SQL Views in the databases.  There isn’t a way to control the access to the views other than changing permissions in SQL.
• Restrictions:  They exist in the Designer, but they are limited compared to those with SmartList Builder and they cannot applied to specific users.
• Matched Tables:  There is not an option to match tables between work, open, and history, unless that is what the cross join option is designed to do.  I cannot get it to function in that manner though.
• Column Display:  It doesn’t give me the option to specify which columns I want to have available to use if I need and which ones to display by default.  I can only pick the ones to display by default.
• Account Indexes and Note Indexes:  If you modify an existing SmartList, it will display the Account Index as an Account Number for you.  If you create your own though, you cannot display the Account Number instead of the Account Index.  The same goes for the Note Index.
• Formatting:  There really isn’t any sort of formatting you can do to the fields.  You cannot select the number of decimals, the display of currency symbols, define lists that aren’t defined, or create masks for strings.  You also cannot format the dates to remove the 1/1/1900 dates.
• Security:  While I can lock down security to SmartList and the designer window in general, there is not individual security to what a user can do in the Designer.  They either get it or they don’t. This means that everyone who gets it will automatically have access to preview the SmartLists they build and be able to see any data, especially payroll, in the system.  They don’t have to have access to the actual SmartLists to view the data.
• Excel Report Builder/Navigation List Builder/Drill Down Builder:  SmartList Designer doesn’t have any answer for building your own Excel Reports, Navigation Lists, or creating Drill Downs to GP.

With all that being said, SmartList Designer does do a few things that SmartList Builder doesn’t.  I mentioned earlier that it has a Results option and does allow you to modify the default SmartLists. 

Now that SmartList Builder is coming back home to eOne, (click here for message) we can include some features that should make everyone happy.  Here is a couple of things we plan to add:

 

1. A preview feature so that you can see the data in SmartList Builder without having to go to SmartList each time to view it.  The plan is to add this to SmartList Builder, Excel Report Builder, and Navigation List Builder, but make sure that there is security around it so that it can be restricted so users cannot view data they shouldn’t be able too.
2. Ability to create new SmartLists from the default SmartLists without having to import the setups that are available from Microsoft or eOne.
3. A Table Finder feature to help with finding the tables that you are looking for when building a new SmartList.
4. And of course, we will have the ability to modify the SmartLists that have been built in SmartList Designer.

Look for more information on these and other features to come in future blogs from eOne.

Demystifying Extender

Throughout the next two weeks our very own Product Director, Martin Olsen, is going to be starting a video series titled "Demystifying Extender" where he will reveal all there is to know about Extender. Below is the introduction video to the series:



Have any questions regarding Extender? Feel free to email sales@eonesolutions.com for more information!

Tech Tuesday: Error Logging in SmartConnect - Part 1

This week our Senior Technical Consultant, Chris Hanson, will take us through Part 1 of error logging in SmartConnect. There are multiple error logging option within SmartConnect that we can make use of. This first video will explain the default logging options of SmartConnect along with how to turn on the ability to record and the map errors or successes, along with a method of processing failed source data.

Have any questions or comments regarding SmartConnect error logging or it's other features? Make sure to check our our Community Forum and join in the discussion!