Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2013 R2–What’s new?

Long time passed since my last blog article and many things happened. We have bought new flat (which we are now preparing for us to move there), I have lot of work with our developers to make the development more smooth and more and more…

But today is big day for Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2013, because new release (R2) is right now presented to public on Directions EMEA. Because that, NDA is dropped and I want to show you the main changes which it brings. And some of them are not only some “facelifts”.

New and modified features of NAV 2013 R2

Multitenancy

What is it? It is feature which allows you to separate the Business logic into separate database on SQL and apply it to more data databases (e.g. each for customer). It means you maintain one set of objects, but you are using them for multiple databases. And these databases are accessible through one or more NAV Servers (one NAV Server can now work with multiple databases). This feature is mainly for hosting partners which can now serve many customers in separate databases with much less effort. E.g. upgrade of the data database is done “just” b moving the database from one tenancy to another. Of course, there are many technical issues with this separated business logic from the data (some data are still part of the business logic database –mainly the system wide settings etc.) like changing table definition, because this change must be done in many databases which can take time (and some data databases could be off-line during this change) and thus this change is done off-line by the engine in background.

Of course, you can still use the NAV 2013 R2 as you are used to, as one SQL database. Who need that, can use it. But I think, not many partners will start use the multitenancy in near future.

Help Server

To solve problems with accessing on-line help from web client, Microsoft added the Help Server component into the product. During install of NAV you can install it to your IIS server. It will include all what is part of the on-line help in older versions as plain HTML pages with some engine around (search, jump list…). Partners can modify and extend the help with their own pages as they are used to, but now you do not need to update the local help on all clients. Same help is accessed from Windows client and from web client.

The URL of the help server is entered when installing clients (in web.config of the web client and in the local config of each Windows client), thus do not forget to enter correct URL and use e.g. public URL when the client will be used outside your local network (and you need to publish the help server for such an users).

On-line document storage integration

NAV 2013 R2 is prepared for integrations with e.g. Office 365 service. You can use these services to store your documents and link them into NAV or Export to Excel using the Office 365.

Writable OData

OData protocol is now writable, thus external applications could use this protocol to write into NAV in easy way.

Dynamic flat file XMLPort

XMLPort used as replacement for old dataport (importing/exporting flat files) have new features which allows developers to create more dynamic import/export. Last field in XMLPort could be set as “Unbound” (you do not know how many fields will be there) and trigger is fired for each column, until developer calls currXMLport.BREAKUNBOUND. Thus generic import export functions could be done and this feature is used in the new Banking module in NAV 2013 R2 for importing the Bank statements and exporting Bank payments.

You can change the field/record/table separator, field delimiter and encoding for the XMLPort in run-time through new properties.

Modern style UI

Of course, the UI of both clients (web and windows) was re-designed to match the Microsoft Modern Style. The design is now much simpler. If you like it or not, it is on you…

Extended Web client

The web client is now much better. It could include charts now and you can extend it by add-ins written in JScript. You can use the on-line help thanks to Help Server. Only small tip: if you want to see help topic for field, keep cursor over the field label until the hint is displayed and the cursor changes to cursor with question mark.

New C/AL commands and properties

• GetURL – create the URL for specific client, company, object and record
• TENANTID – ID of the Tenant under which you are running
• COPYCOMPANY – you can copy company from one name to another from C/AL
• Report-PreviewMode property – you can select which layout is default for preview (default or Print Layout)

Report Builder

Developers can now use Report Builder to design the layout for report. This could be enabled in the Options of the Development Environment. It means no Visual Studio is needed to design the reports.

Closing

And I think that there are many things I not mentioned. I expect that there will be much more info about each new thing i next days on blogs and tweets. I wish you many happy hours with NAV 2013 R2, because I think it is best ERP today!

Türkiye'nin İlk Dynamics NAV 2013 Projesi Başladı

Microsoft Dynamics NAV Türkiye yerelleştirmesi çalışmaları ile faaliyete geçen Pargesoft Türkiye’de bir ilki daha gerçekleştirdi.

Vinola (Plasform Plastik ve Metal Endüstri A.Ş) ile Türkiye’deki ilk Microsoft Dynamics NAV2013 Projesine başladı. Türkiye lokalizasyonunun da Pargesoft tarafından gerçekleştirildiği NAV2013 çözümü ile Vinola, hem yasal hem de yönetsel tüm ihtiyaçlarını NAV’ın uluslararası işlevselliği ve teknolojisi ile karşılıyor olacak.

Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2013
Microsoft Dynamics NAV özellikle orta-büyük ölçekte firmalarda uygulanan güçlü finans/muhasebe, satış/pazarlama, satınalma, depo yönetimi ve proje yönetimi modülleriyle, “Business Essentials” olarak adlandırılan temel paketiyle bile bir çok firmanın gereksinimlerini karşılar. Üretim ve ileri seviyede “Müşteri İlişkileri Yönetimi” ni de içeren “Advanced Management” paketiyle ise üretim ve ileri müşteri ilişkileri yönetiminizi gerçekleştirebilir.

Vinola Hakkında
1994 yılında Merzifon’da kurulan firma plastik enjeksiyon baskısı yaparak faaliyetlerine başlamıştır. 2000 yılında Organize Sanayi Bölgesine taşındığında 16 kişilik bir kadroyla 600m2’lik alanda faaliyetlerine devam etmiştir.

Yıllık 1000 ton plastik hammadde işleme kapasitesine sahip firmamızda farklı kapasitelerde toplam 11 enjeksiyon makinesi bulunmaktadır. 2004 yılında Avrupa Birliği destek projesi kapsamında hazırladığı “Alüminyum filtre üretim tesisi” konulu projesinde başarılı olan firmamız; Avrupa Birliği’nden almış olduğu destek fonu ile alüminyum filtre üretim tesisini kurmuştur.

Tesis yıllık 400 ton alüminyum işleme kapasitesine sahiptir. 2009 yılına gelindiğinde ankastre ocak üretimi alanında pazardaki eksikliği tespit eden yönetimimiz fizibilite çalışmalarını tamamlayarak yatırım kararı ve 15.000m2'si kapalı olmak üzere toplamda 35.000 m2 alana ulaşmıştır.. Şirketimiz 150 kişilik ekibiyle; sürekli innovasyon anlayışıyla ve pişirici cihazlar alanında devreye girecek yeni projelerle yatırımlarına devam etmektedir. www.vinola.com.tr

Pargesoft Hakkında
2002 yılında Microsoft Dynamics NAV Kurumsal Kaynak Planlaması Yazılımı’nın Türkiye yerelleştirmesi faaliyetlerini yürüten ekip tarafından kurulmuş olan PargeSoft; ERP uygulamaları geliştirme ve danışmanlığı konularında hizmet vermektedir. Satış sonrası hizmetler personelinin ortalama sektör deneyimi 10 yıldan fazla olup, firma personel istihdamında ağırlığı satış sonrası hizmetler ve eğitim üzerinde yoğunlaştırmıştır.

Total, GFK, Do&Co, G4S, Honda Trading, IKEA, MCT, Adecco, BodyCote, TEB Arval, Nunhems, Houghton Kimya, Renault Trucks, Vatan Kablo, 2M Kablo, Fleetcorp gibi global firmalarda başarılı projelere imza atan ve G4S ERP Projesiyle dünya genelinde bir başarı hikayesi yakalayan PargeSoft, Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2013 ve Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 yazılımlarının Çözüm Ortaklığını yapmaktadır.

Microsoft Dynamics Zirve 2012 Davet

Deloitte, Yönetim Destek Hizmetleri ile dışarıdan muhasebe kayıtları tuttuğu 180 firma için Microsoft Dynamics NAV kullanıyor. Hızlı ve kolay kullanılan Microsoft Dynamics NAV’ı yakından tanımak için zirvemize katılın.

http://www.microsoftdynamicszirve.com

Ad Hoc Reporting with Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2013

To make a difference in this competitive world, users of today’s ERP solutions want to easily perform analysis and produce reports based on their ERP data to make informed business decisions. They need an easy to use, intuitive environment to help them perform the necessary analysis on their ERP data. In some cases, they also need the ability to enhance the analysis with data from multiple sources or the ability to share the insight of the analysis.
The most popular tool for performing data analysis is Microsoft Excel. Excel is rich with built-in analysis capabilities, such as pivot tables, array formulas, charting, and filtering, all familiar mechanisms to the Excel user.
Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2013 offers simple and advanced ad hoc reporting options.
Simple Ad Hoc Reporting
Microsoft Dynamics NAV Excel Add-in
The Microsoft Dynamics NAV Excel Add-in is the solution for those users who want a simple user-friendly ad hoc reporting experience. You simply choose the information you want to analyze and report from predefined lists in Microsoft Dynamics NAV. The add-in ties into and expands the existing integrated Send to Excel functionality. It enables you to work with data and format a report and then to keep the data updated. You can share the report, but it is important to note that a user can refresh the report only if the user has access rights to the given area of the application.
The following is a short introduction to the new Microsoft Dynamics NAV Excel Add-in.
1. You can begin analysis from a list in Microsoft Dynamics NAV, for example, Customer Ledger Entries. When you chooseSend to Microsoft Excel, the export to Excel will reflect your filtering and choice of columns. In this case, all customer ledger entries are exported, but only the columns chosen by the user.

2. The exported data is formatted in a data region that you can easily use for pivot analysis. For example, you can use pivot formatting capabilities to see an aggregated view of the ledger entries by month. You can use filtering to view analysis only on open customer ledger entries. So, in this example, you can display expected receivables over time formatted nicely, as well as show the details per transaction.

It is very easy to create this kind of report – it only requires that you know where to find the data in Microsoft Dynamics NAV and have skills in formatting data in Microsoft Excel. To ensure better access to data, all relevant ledger entry pages have been added to navigation in the role centers.
Jet Reports Express for Microsoft Dynamics NAV
In some cases, you may need more than working from list pages provides. You may need to perform many business calculations to get to the correct data – this is typically true when you work on “By Period” data that needs to calculate balances.
Through the powerful Jet Reports Express for Microsoft Dynamics NAV reporting solution, you have a simple way to create these types of self-service reports. You can use the intuitive interface of Jet Reports Express and simple formulas in Excel to create high-impact reports.
Jet Reports Express comes with multiple report templates out-of-the-box and presents findings in a single, well-formatted report.

Advanced Ad Hoc Reporting
For more advanced analysis scenarios, you may need to access more data than what is shown on pages in Microsoft Dynamics NAV. In some cases, this is easily solved by simply adding fields to the list pages. In fact, this has been done by many of our partners.
But in some scenarios, this is not sufficient. Your report may require calculations and dimensions for your analysis, which are typically not relevant for the users of the ERP system. In other cases, adding a field can impact application performance, which you probably do not want to do if it’s only for reporting purposes. So consider using the new query object combined with PowerPivot for Microsoft Excel, which can solve this quite efficiently.
One of the strengths of the new query object is its capabilities in retrieving and aggregating data. In scenarios where data is stored in a variety of tables and databases, it is very important to be able to store, manage, and retrieve this data easily and quickly.
Building on the example from above, suppose that you wanted to add information about the customer name, dimensions, or territory. This is possible through query integration to PowerPivot:
1. Creation of a query requires access to the Microsoft Dynamics NAV development environment, but once the query has been defined and exposed through web services, it is very easy for an end user to manipulate the data in Excel. For those interested in the query definition and design, see other posts on using the Query object for reporting and BI on the Microsoft Dynamics NAV Team blog.
2. PowerPivot connects to the Microsoft Dynamics NAV database through OData web services. The link to the correct web service needs to be provided to the user, but after that, the user has access to the data quite easily. When you connect, it is possible to see all queries that are available, from which you can pick and choose.

Conclusion
Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2013 provides you with two approaches to data analysis, a simple and an advanced reporting scenario:

• The Microsoft Dynamics NAV Microsoft Excel Add-in and Jet Reports Express are designed to be used in end-user scenarios. There are no development requirements involved. Data available from any table and on list pages can easily be accessed and used for analysis.
• The definition and creation of the query does require knowledge of how to combine tables and how to get the right data. But when the query has been created and made available through a web service, the data is easy to access and use through PowerPivot for Microsoft Excel.

Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2013 provides a great set of opportunities for doing ad hoc reporting in Microsoft Excel.