Speed up your Macros

 

Today I delivered a Webinar on Macros for GPUG. I loved doing it, but there are so many things to cover that an hour just doesn’t do it justice. I talked about adding the ShowAdvancedMacroMenu=TRUE switch to your Dex.ini file to reveal additional functionality that can make macros a lot more robust. No new software to buy, just an extra line (called a switch) in the Dex.ini file.

Even with this switch, a macro still can’t throw up dialog boxes with yes/no/never mind buttons on it, but you can make your macros run significantly faster using this tool. It speeds them up to run at least twice as fast. This is especially useful if you’re doing large imports or mass changes. Macros running under this mode took half the time of others. For longer macros, it was even more astonishing.

After you add the above switch to your Dex.ini file, the Advanced Macro menu becomes an option on your Macro menu. Once you update your Dex.ini file, your menu will look like this:

All of the goodies are in the Status window. Pictured below is the Status window. I’ll go through this window and point out the things that I like to use.

Below I’ll try to define each of the items numbered above:

1. Shows you the name of the macro currently being recorded and what line it’s on.

2. Shows you the name of the macro currently being played, and what line it’s on.

3. This is the magic checkbox that turbo charges your macro. Checking this box turns off the complete redraw and hides the interface flash thereby making the macro run twice (at least) as fast.

4. The line in the macro you want to jump to. This is a great way to find out what was going on when your macro fails at line 7463 for example. You can put that value in this field and the results will display in the scrolling window at the bottom. You can also restart a macro to begin playing at the jump to line.

5. The number of lines to display in the scrolling window.

6. Indicate where you want the macro to pause while it’s playing. This is a good way to debug the macro or stop it from executing after a certain point is reached

7. The actual lines of the macro according to the lines displayed.

The easiest way to make this feature work is to click on the ellipses [. . .]button and browse for your macro file.

Once the macro is loaded, check the No User Interface Flash checkbox and then press the OK button. Your macro will launch running at lightening speed!

If there’s interest out there, I can go through each of the menu items on the Macro menu and the Advanced Macro and explain how to use it and what it does.

Live the Dream!

Leslie

Report Writer–copying package files, beware

 

I had a client call me today who was trying to copy the layout of the Check with stub on top and bottom- Graphical to the layout of the Check with stub on top. It wasn’t working.

She changed the top line of the package file  to read Check with stub on top and it imported beautifully. She could open it up in Report Writer and everything looked good. However, when she tried to print it she got something very foreign looking. It had switched to a graphical report, and it had a stub on top, but it didn’t produce the face of the check, and the dollars where all messed up.

Below is the only thing that printed after the import of the ‘new’ package file:

It’s got a nice looking stub on top, but the rest of the check was missing. Something had gone terribly wrong.

Further investigation revealed that the Check with stub on top report, before it was modified, contained 7 tables. The Check with stub on top and bottom- Graphical contained only 5. We could import just fine between two of the formats that had the same 7 tables, but the formats that had only 5 needed to be imported into a format that had the same 5.

We needed a check format that contained the same 5 tables as the Check with stub on top and bottom- Graphical. Luckily, the Check with two stubs on top matched up perfectly. 

So, if your modified reports coming from edited package files don’t appear the way you think they should, check the tables. If the tables are not compatible, the report will not work the way you want.

Until next time!

Leslie

Vote for being able to do a credt card 'check run'

YAY! This one made it into Dynamics GP!

I'm happy to report we have 31 votes to add a feature to GP that would allow us to do a 'credit card run' just like we do a check run. I would love to see a credit card that acted like a checkbook - including reconcile capabilities just like bank accounts.

31 votes is a good start, but we need more. If you agree that this functionality would be awesome, please vote on Microsoft connect for the item below:

vhttps://connect.microsoft.com/dynamicssuggestions/feedback/details/763004/gp-perform-a-credit-card-run-just-like-a-check-run

We've gotten two other items in the product because of popular support, so this method really works!

Let's go for it and get this feature added too!

Live the dream!

Leslie

When things go wrong - Missing or Invalid Date on SOP Edit List

 

This error kept coming up at a client whom was using the Sales Document Consolidation product from Binary Stream.

As it turned out, the problem was because the DUEDATE field in the SOP10100 table was showing a value of 1900-01-01 00:00:00.000, that is not a valid date in the Dynamics GP SOP posting world. This situation came about because (as near as we could tell), the customer did not have a default payment term assigned to them.

If you get this error on your SOP Edit List, go take a look at that field.

Kind regards,

Leslie

Backup Withholding on 1099 Payments

Gotcha’s on using the withholding feature in Dynamics GP

Lately, I’ve been fielding several questions from clients regarding the ability to track Backup Withholding using Dynamics GP. The short answer is that you can do it, you’ve just got to be careful.

Here are a few tips:

1. First, turn it on by entering a 1099 vendor ID in the Company Setup Options window:
   
   Administration | Setup | Company | Options Button
   
   
2. Open the Vendor card for the Vendor subject to backup withholding, push the Withholding button, and check the box indicating the Vendor is Subject to the Withholding Deduction .
   
   
   
3. After entering, posting and paying some transactions subject to withholding, print the Form 1099 for the vendor on whom you have withheld. Make sure box 7 has not been reduced by amount withheld.
4. The Vendor must be marked as a 1099 vendor on the date of the transaction subject to withholding or it will not make it onto the 1099. Neither the ‘update’ utility, nor the PSTL utility will fix it.
5. Using the Update ‘1099 Information’ utility does not move the withheld amount to the new form.
6. The ‘Edit 1099 Transaction Information’ window will likewise not move nor create the withholding information.
7. If you enter any amounts in the 1099 details window and then reconcile, the amount not supported by a transaction will return to zero
8. The withholding vendor will not withhold on itself even if you have it set up as a 1099 vendor subject to withholding.

Bear in mind, this withholding feature was not designed for the United States. If you are using it for US Backup Withholding, be sure to test it after each service pack release.

Live the Dream!

Leslie