MBS Navision Tips & Tricks

Dynamics NAV 2009 Web Service

2010-10-29T22:50:00.001+08:00

Recently I have a chanced to work with a POS system solution provider to link back to NAV.

The POS System is developed using .NET platform, and they need to write back sales transaction and payment from the frontend (shops) back to backend, which is NAV.

This is our first time using MS Dynamics NAV Web Service for system integration.

What I have done is to publish the pages required which is the Sales Order page and Cash Receipt Journal Page. With these two pages published, the POS can insert & updata data into these two pages. Whatever fields that we published inside the page can be accessed by external.

For posting, we cannot just publish standard posting codeunit. There will be errors because normally for posting routine, we will pass the whole table record into codeunit. But from external, there will not have the record variable.

Thus, what I did is to create a new codeunit for any functions that I want to published to POS. For an example, for Sales Posting I have write a function to call standard posting Codeunit with 4 parameters as per below:
1. Document Type
2. Document No
3. Ship (Boolean)
4. Invoice (Boolean)

So the POS just need to my customized codeunit's posting function with the above mentioned parameters.

Still something new to us, but is it fun to explore.

: )

BI Tools for NAV

2009-03-11T16:10:00.002+08:00

Heard of TARGIT before? Originated from Denmark with ready connector to NAV.

Saw the demo before, very interesting and powerful.

AGS Consulting is the TARGIT solution provider for Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia. For more info, can visit their website at www.agsconsulting.com.my

For Targit Denmark website, click here.

Simple Tricks on Disable F4 Function

2007-02-10T23:39:00.000+08:00

Recently, I need to disable a F4 (Delete) function in Warehouse Shipment Screen. One of the simple way, is to add a Shortcut in Form and assign F4 to it. This will overwrite Navision Standard F4 function.

Example, I have added an option under Shipment Menu Button with Caption . , F4 as Shortcut Key and Action as blank (without running anything).

So by doing this, when user press F4 in Navision Warehouse Shipment Screen, nothing will happen.

Navision Dimensions-Multiple Feature

2007-01-03T09:04:00.000+08:00

In Navision, there is actually a faster way to set default dimensions for more than one records. Example, in Navision Chart of Accounts, lets say we need to set 2 dimensions (Agency and Department) for G/L Accounts 6110 to 6230.

Thus, instead of set default dimensions one by one, which is very time consuming. We can actually use function Dimensions-Multiple to do it all at one go. I will illustrate it below:

First, we will highlight all the G/L accounts from 6110 to 6230. Then click button Account --> Dimensions --> Dimensions-Multiple.

Then in Default Dimensions-Multiple screen, we will choose AGENCY and DEPARTMENT Dimension Code and tagged in Dimension Value Code and Value Posting. Click OK and we are done. Navision will actually set default dimensions for Agency and Department for G/L Accounts 6110 to 6230.

This great feature can be applicable not only in Chart of Accounts, it also can be used in places like Customer List, Vendor List, and Item List.

Happy New Year 2007 to all of you.......

Navision SQL - Recovery Model

2006-12-30T16:51:00.000+08:00

Navision with SQL Server 2000 - Recovery Model

(You can access to the above setup screen from Menu File --> Database --> Alter)

Navision SQL Option allow 3 types of Recovery Models in the case of database failure. Different models will have different procedures or impacts in our SQL Server database operations. The explanation is below:

The available options are:

Bulk-Logged
Full
Simple

Bulk-Logged

For Bulk-Logged, the transaction log will only contain limited information about certain large-scale or bulk copy operations. The Bulk-Logged recovery model provides protection against media failure combined with the best performance and the minimal use of log space for certain large-scale or bulk copy operations.

The backup strategy for bulk-logged recovery consists of:

Database backups.
Differential backups (optional).

Full

In Full recovery model, the details of every transaction are stored in the transaction log, and this information can be used when you apply transaction log backups. The Full recovery model uses database backups and transaction log backups to provide complete protection against media failure. If one or more data files are damaged, media recovery can restore all the committed transactions. Incomplete transactions are rolled back.

Full Recovery allows you to recover the database to the point of failure or to a specific point in time. All the operations, including bulk operations such as SELECT INTO, CREATE INDEX and bulk loading data, are fully logged to guarantee that the database is completely recoverable.

The backup strategy for Full recovery consists of:

Database backups.
Differential backups (optional).
Transaction log backups.

The Full and Bulk-Logged recovery models are similar, and many users of the Full Recovery model will use the Bulk-Logged model occasionally.

Simple

And the last model is Simple recovery model, which the database can be recovered to the point at which the last backup was made. But, please take note that you cannot restore the database to the point of failure or to a specific point in time.

Thus, if your company need to do that, please choose either the Full or Bulk-Logged Recovery model.

The backup strategy for simple recovery consists of:

Database backups.
Differential backups (optional).

Cheers and Happy New Year 2007!!!

Navision - Sales History Feature

2006-12-29T09:30:00.000+08:00

As you know, in Navision 4.0 now, we can actually access to Sales History (on the right side) in Sales Order screen. If you click the Sales History, it will show you all History related to the customer by Document Type (Quotes, Blanket Orders, Orders, Invoices, Return Orders, Credit Memos, Posted Shipments, Posted Invoices, Posted Return Receipts and Posted Cr. Memo) .

And you can see a button "Copy to Doc...". This function help you to copy the Sales Lines into your current document. Example, I am creating a new Sales Order 1054 for Customer 10000, and I would like to copy back same lines belong to the Sales Order 1041, and I only want the first two sales lines in Order 1041.

Thus, I will just highlight the first two lines under Order 1041 and I click "Copy to Doc..." button. And Navision will copy the two lines into Sales Order 1054 as unillustrated below.

Hope this tips can help......

Navision Standard Sales Code

2006-12-26T22:59:00.000+08:00

You can use Navision Standard Sales Codes to set up regular sales lines. And Navision allow you to set up any number of standard sales codes, and each of them can consist of any number of standard sales lines. You then specify which standard sales codes to assigned to which customers.

Thus, in a Sales Document (like SaleS Order, Quote, Invoice or Credit Memo), you can call out the Sales Code that belong to the customer and Navision will automatically insert the sales lines into the document.

Let me show you how it works now...

First, we will create a Standard Sales Code called OFFICE (this is a Basic office Package). You can access the setup of Navision Standard Sales Code in Financial Management --> Sales & Marketing --> Order Processing --> Setup --> Standard Sales Code

Second, we will create Standard Salies Lines for Office code. For this Basic Office Package, it will contains 3 items. You can access to the Card by pressing Shift+F5.

Then, we will assigned Office Standard Sales Code for Customer 10000 The Canon Group in Customer Card. You can actually assigned same Navision Standard Sales Code to multiple customers.

Thus, in Customer Card for Canon Group, click Sales button --> Std. Cust Sales Codes --> F6 (in Code Column) and choose Office Code.

The setup now is completed. And you can start using it in any Sales Document.

Example, I created a Sales Order for Canon Group. To call out the Office Sales Code, you can click Functions --> Get Std. Sales Code --> Choose Office Code and click OK. After you click OK, Navision will insert all Sales Lines under Office Code.

Cheers!

Post Dated Checks Bug

2006-12-22T16:34:00.000+08:00

Last month I have found a small bug in Navision Post Dated Checks function.
My client is using Navision 4.0 SP1 MY version and the problem is actually when user try to cancel PD Checks from Cash Receipt Journal, Navision will always delete first line in journal no matter which line you want to cancel.

I will illustrate it below:

1. User transfer 3Post Dated Check entries in "Post Dated Checks-Sales" to "Cash Journal".

2. I will cancel PD Check 1002 of Customer John Haddock Insurance (line 2 in journal).

3. After I cancel it, you can see Line 1 of Cheque 1001 of Canon Group have been deleted instead of Line 2 PD Check 1002 of Customer John Haddock Insurance.

This minor is due a bug in Codeunit PostDatedCheckMgt --> CancelCheck Function.
The code that give problem is:
The code FIND ('-') , will cause Navision to alway delete the first line. So what we can do here is to change FIND ('-') to FIND ('=').

Cheers!

Navision Shorcut Keys

2006-12-01T08:53:00.000+08:00

Navision Shortcut Keys at Glance:

F1 = Help
F2 = Edit
F3 = New Record / Lines
F4 = Delete
F5 = List
F6 = Lookup / Drill down
F7 = Field / Column Filter
F8 = Copy Previous
F9 = Statistics
F11 = Post
F12 = Start / Menu

Ctrl + C = Copy
Ctrl + X = Cut
Ctrl + V = Paste
Ctrl + F = Open Find Box
Ctrl + P = Print
Ctrl + Z = Undo
Ctrl + F2 = Designer
Ctrl + F4 = Close
Ctrl + F5 = Ledger Entries
cTRL + F6 = Next Window
Ctrl + F7 = Table Filter
ctrl + F8 = Zoom
Ctrl + F11 = Release Document

Shift + F5 = Card
Shift + F7 = Flow Filter
Shift + F8 = Sort
Shift + F11 = Post & Print
Shift + F12 = Object Designer

Cheers!

Payment Application - Did you press Esc?

2006-11-21T21:51:00.000+08:00

In Navision Payment Journals or Cash Receipt Journals, we can actually apply the payment to multiple invoices, by clicking Functions --> Apply Entries --> F9 to tag invoices that we want to knock off.

But you must be aware after you finish matching (F9) which invoices to knock off, you must click OK button to confirm. Don't ever press ESC to close the Apply Entries screen.

Look at below correct example. Pay attention to "Applies-to ID" column in journal screen, after we do matching (F9) and click OK, the "Applies-to ID" column will be tagged with "Document No." OR-30001.Thus when we post the Cash Receipt Journal, Navision will apply the Payment and Invoices.

Look at below second example, which is incorrect. After we do matching (F9), we press ESC instead of OK button. By pressing ESC, the "Applies-to ID" column was not updated with "Document No." OR-30001 even though in our "Apply Customer Entries" screen, "Applies-to ID" have tagged with OR-30001. Thus when we post the Cash Receipt Journal, Navision will not apply the Payment and Invoices.

So never press ESC!!! : ) Cheers

Navision - F8 Copy Previous

2006-11-17T17:22:00.000+08:00

In Navision, we can actually use F8 key to Copy Previous line's text / description. This can help to speed up during data entry.

In 2nd line's Description column, I press F8 key and Navision will copy previous line description to current line. See below screenshot.

Hope this small little tips can help. Have a nice weekend!

Navision Recurring Journal - Auto update Description

2006-11-16T15:48:00.000+08:00

In Navision - Recurring Journal, we can actually let the Description field to be updated automatically by the system. Of course, we are also allow to manually enter a fixed text that is used everytime the journal is posted.

To have Navision update the description automatically, you can use the following codes:

Code Enter:

%1 Current day (for example, Friday)
%2 Current week (for example, 38)
%3 Current month number (for example, 11)
%4 Current month name (for example, November)
%5 Current accounting period name (for example, August).

For an example, I enter Description as "Consultant Services for the month of %4".

After I posted the Recurring Journal, you can see the Description is posted as "Consultant Services for the month of January" in "General Ledger Entries".

Hope this small little tips of Navision can help. : )

How Much Time Users Work Daily?

2006-11-15T15:13:00.000+08:00

In Navision, we can actually track how long a user use Navision daily.

If we want to track all users, then we can activate it in our "General Ledger Setup" (Image 01) or it is only for selected users, then we can activate for individual users in "User Setup" (Image 02). Make sure "Register Time" field is tick.

Image 01

Image 02

After we activated it, Navision will keep tracks how much time user spents in Navision in minutes per day. You can view it in "Time Register" screen.

Cheers!

Backup your Navision License File

2006-11-13T17:56:00.000+08:00

If you cannot remember where you keep your Navision License File, or you do not have a backup, then you can actually export out from Navision.

Go to menu Tools --> License Information --> Click Export --> Put in a file name and Save.

It is always advisable for users to keep a copy of their Navision License File.

Cheers!

Object Cache

2006-11-12T01:20:00.000+08:00

If you have encountered some slow performance on Navision for only a particular client computer, then maybe you can increase the Object Cache.

Object cache, like cache (memory) , allows Navision to work faster. Object Cache are used to store objects such as code, descriptions and windows that will be used on the client computer.

This means that the client computer only needs to retrieve these objects once from the server.

Good Night!

Navision SQL - Single Login

2006-11-10T08:49:00.000+08:00

Good morning!

Sometimes, we might want to login to Navision exclusively, maybe to do database backup or run some important batch job like "Adjust Cost - Item Entries".

So in Navision SQL, we can actually activate "Single User" under Menu --> File --> Database --> Alter --> Options Tab --> Tick Single User --> Click OK

By doing so, you are actually prevent other user to login to Navision. But in order to activate "Single Login", you must make sure all users have logout first. And after finished, don't forget to untick it, so other users can login back.

Cheers and have a nice day!

Navision - Standard Text Code

2006-11-09T22:42:00.000+08:00

A small tips about Navision Standard Text Code.

As you know, we can actually setup some commonly use text in Navision.

Example, I have setup a standard text called TE with description of "Travel Expenses".

So in the Description field of any forms like Sales Invoice, Sales Order, Purchase Journal, etc we can actually type ? follow by code TE and it will give us Standard Text Description.

Instead of I click F6 from No. column to choose Text Code, it is much faster that I just just type ?te and hit Enter. Then it wil give the full description of Travel Expenses.

Another way, is to key in ? and hit enter to get a list of Standard Text Code.

Cheers! Will post some others tips soon. : )

Microsoft Dynamics NAV 4.0 SP3

2006-11-08T21:07:00.000+08:00

Navision 4.0 SP3 will be released on these date:

Group 1 countries was released 2^rd October 2006 - Upgrade toolkit will follow early November
Group 2 countries (GR2) is expected to release ^th November 2006 - Upgrade toolkit will follow 20^th November
Group 3 countries (GR3) is expected to release ^th December 2006 - Upgrade toolkit will follow 18^th December

Group 1 countries list:-
AU - Australia, CA - Canada, DE - Germany, DK - Denmark, ES - Spain, FR - France, IE - Ireland, IT - Italy, MX - Mexico, NL - Netherlands, NZ - New Zealand, RU - Rusia, UK - United Kingdom, US - United States, W1

Group 2 countries list:-
AT - Austria, BE - Belgium, CH - Switzerland, CZ - Czech Republic, EE - Estonia, FI - Finland, LT - Lithuania, LV - Latvia, NO - Norway, PH - Philippines, PL - Poland, PT - Portugal, SE - Sweden

Group 3 countries list:-
BG - Bulgaria, CS - Serbian & Montenegro, GR - Greece, HR - Croatia, HU - Hungary, ID - Indonesia, IN - India, IS - Iceland, MY - Malaysia, RO - Romania, SG - Singapore, SL - Slovenia, SK - Slovakia, TH - Thailand, TR - Turkey

Last Updated: 8 Nov 2006

Welcome to MBS Navision Tips & Tricks Blog

2006-11-08T14:43:00.000+08:00

Dear all Navision Users,

I always believe in this, the more someone share his / her knowledges with other peoples, the more he / she can remember and learnt.

Thus, I have created this blog "Navision Tips & Tricks" to share some of my experiences on Navision. I work as a Solution Consultion with one of Navision Partner in Malaysia. Been working with Navision since version 2.60 till the latest version 4.0 SP3.

Navision have go thru a lot of improvements and great enhancement since then. And I believe MBS Navision will have a better growth in the coming future.

I need to continue my work now. Doing some functional customisation on the Navision for one of the project currently managed by me.

I will post some Navision tips soon.