There are many tools
available from Microsoft to help troubleshoot or add functionality to
Dynamics GP. In this section we will go over the following tools:
Professional Services Tools Library
The Professional Services Tools Library (PSTL)
is a suite of tools created by Dynamics GP support, development, and
professional services teams to add functionality to Dynamics GP. The
PSTL can be installed during the Dynamics GP application installation or
added as an additional component later. Some of the tools in the PSTL
are free, others require payment, but all are installed together and the
tools that are not free are activated by registration keys.
More information and downloads for the Professional Services Tools Library can be found on CustomerSource (login required): https://mbs.microsoft.com/customersource/downloads/servicepacks/noam_pstl.htm?printpage=false&stext=professional%20services%20tools%20library.
Most of the tools can be tested in the sample Fabrikam company without
having to buy them. In this section we will highlight some of the more
useful tools and go over the steps to install the PSTL for an existing
Dynamics GP installation.
Free tools
Some of the more useful free tools in PSTL are:
SOP PO Number Checker: Checks for duplicate customer PO numbers during transaction entry in Sales Order Processing.
Default Add Item POP/SOP: Defaults the Add Item option on SOP and POP windows—without this, users would need to manually select the Add Item option every time a user opens a SOP or POP window.
Doc Date Verify: Checks that the dates entered on payables and receivables transactions are in an existing and open fiscal period.
Update User Date:
Automatically updates the user date at midnight if Dynamics GP is left
open, otherwise a pop up would ask if the date should be changed.
Minimum PO/Receipt Number:
In some cases Purchase Order Processing transactions (POs and receipts)
will attempt to reuse an old number if it has been deleted. This tool
will prevent that from happening by specifying a minimum number for POs
and/or receipts.
Item Reconciler:
This can improve performance of the Inventory Reconcile routine, as
only items that need to be reconciled will be included in the
reconciliation routine instead of all inventory items.
Other useful tools
The following tools are not free, but they can be well worth the money if you need to make changes to your Dynamics GP data:
Account Modifier/Combiner:
This tool will go through all posted and unposted transactions
throughout Dynamics GP and change or combine General Ledger account
numbers. Often this tool is used after a reorganization, when the chart
of accounts needs to be changed significantly to accommodate the new
company structure. It can also be helpful to clean up a chart of
accounts when many new accounts have been added.
Master Record Triggers:
Available for GL account numbers, vendors, and customers, these tools
can be set up to automatically copy new GL accounts, vendors, or
customers to other companies when they are created in one master
company. This can be a great way to save time and avoid errors if you
want to keep the same chart of accounts or list of vendors and customers
in multiple Dynamics GP companies.
Checkbook Modifier: Renames an existing Checkbook ID throughout the system.
Vendor Modifier and Vendor Combiner:
Typically these two tools are bought together, allowing changes to a
Vendor ID or combining multiple vendors into one on all transactions in
Dynamics GP. Vendor Combiner can be useful if multiple users are
creating vendors and may have inadvertently created multiple Vendor IDs
for the same vendor. Vendor Modifier can be used when a vendor changes
their name if you are using Vendor IDs that are not numerical or if a
mistake is made during vendor creation.
1099 Modifier:
This tool will mark all transactions for a vendor as 1099 transactions
and will update the 1099 summary amounts to show the new totals. If 1099
vendors were not set up properly prior to posting transactions for
them, this tool can help quickly correct the 1099 information and
totals.
Customer Modifier and Customer Combiner:
Similar to the Vendor Modifier and Vendor Combiner, these tools are
often purchased together and allow Customer IDs to be changed or
combined on all transactions throughout Dynamics GP.
Receivables Management Transactions Unapply:
When AR transactions are moved to history they can no longer be
unapplied or voided. This tool allows historical receivables
transactions to be unapplied and moved back to an open status to allow
voiding, entering an NSF, or changing apply information.
Item Number Modifier and Item Number Combiner:
These two tools allow inventory items to be renamed or combined, and
can be useful for cleaning up inventory lists or when renumbering
inventory items.
Database Disabler:
Allows an administrator to temporarily disable any existing Dynamics GP
companies when running maintenance or other updates, so that users
cannot log into those companies.
The preceding list
illustrates some of the more useful tools, there are many other tools
available in the Professional Services Tools Library that may help with
your specific needs.
Installing the Professional Services Tools Library
The Professional Services
Tools Library does not need to be installed on every computer where
Dynamics GP is installed—you can choose to install it only on computers
where you will want to use it. If Dynamics GP is already installed on a
computer where you want to use the PSTL, you can install the PSTL by
following these steps:
1. Run the Dynamics GP setup by launching the setup.exe file.
2. Choose Microsoft Dynamics GP under the Install section.
3. On the Instance Selection window, choose your existing Dynamics GP installation under Maintenance from the list on the left and click Next to continue:
4. Choose Add/Remove Features on the Program Maintenance window.
5. Select Professional Services Tools Library on the Select Features window and click Next:
6. Click Install on the Install Program window.
7. When done, the Installation Complete window will open, click Exit to finish.
Once finished with the
installation, SQL objects for the PSTL need to be created in your
Dynamics GP companies, a registration key needs to be entered, and a
shortcut needs to be created to allow users to access the tools. The
following are the steps to do this:
1. Launch Dynamics GP and choose Yes on the pop-up message to include new code.
2. Log into Dynamics GP as sa.
3. On the Home menu right-click anywhere on the Navigation Pane and choose Add | Add Window...:
4. Under Available Windows navigate to Technical Service Tools | Project | Professional Services Tools Library:
5. Click Add, then Done. This will add a shortcut to the Professional Services Tools Library on your Dynamics GP home page.
Shortcuts in Dynamics
GP are user-specific and global to all companies, so the same shortcut
will show up for the user logged in when it is created, no matter what
Dynamics GP company the user logs into. Steps 3 through 5 should be
repeated for any Dynamics GP user who will need access to the PSTL.
6. Click the Professional Services Tools Library
shortcut to open the PSTL menu. You will see a progress window while
the PSTL installs needed components. (This may take a few minutes and
may look like it is paused on some of the objects.)
8. Enter your registration code and click OK.
While the registration code is
global to your entire installation, the components needed for PSTL need
to be installed for every Dynamics GP company. If you have multiple
companies, you will need to open the PSTL menu in each company while
still logged in as sa to complete the installation for each company.
Tools from Microsoft's Professional Services Team
The Microsoft Professional
Services Team has created many customizations for Dynamics GP customers
over the years. Some of these customizations have been packaged into
tools that can be requested or purchased.
A list of the tools available as of writing can be found in Appendix B.
Brief descriptions are included, but to get more detail and pricing for
these tools, contact your Dynamics GP partner or the Professional
Services Team. They can be reached by phone at (888)-875-9071 or by
e-mail at ProfessionalServices@microsoft.com.
Support Debugging Tool
The Support Debugging Tool for Dynamics GP was created by David Musgrave (http://www.microsoft.com/asia/css/peoplestories/david.aspx),
a key contributor to the Dynamics GP community. The Support Debugging
Tool is written in Dexterity and contains a number of very useful
utilities for helping with support, troubleshooting, and reporting in
Dynamics GP. Information and download links for the Support Debugging
Tool are on David's Developing for Dynamics GP blog: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/developingfordynamicsgp/archive/2008/07/30/support-debugging-tool-for-microsoft-dynamics-gp.aspx.
Dynamics GP partners can download the Support Debugging Tool for Dynamics GP 2010 on PartnerSource (login required): https://mbs.microsoft.com/partnersource/support/selfsupport/productreleases/MDGP2010_SupportDebuggingTool. Customers need to ask their Dynamics GP partner to obtain the Support Debugging Tool for them.
Some additional links for the Support Debugging Tool:
