In contrast to other small business and mid-market ERP packages Business One allows you to create so-called user defined tables and add user defined fields to existing tables directly in user interface
Simple interface is added automatically to edit newly created user defined tables as well as added user defined fields. If this is all you need then no custom coding is required and enjoy deploying these custom objects and include them into queries and even Crystal Reports. However often you are creating user defined fields and tables to participate in integration with external database or application. If this is your case then you may need limited SDK programming. Let’s review customization technology:
1. User Defined Tables. Here is how you create the one: Tools -> Customization Tools -> User Defined Table Setup. When you are done with table creation it could be immediately accessed Tools -> User Defined Windows. As you can imagine the table is now included into SB1 metadata and all the future life including version upgrades will be respecting new table
2. User Defined Fields. What is also amazing is the fact that you can also add fields to existing tables. Let’s look at how you do it: Tools -> Customization Tools -> User Defined Fields Management. Let’s expand Master Data and Business Partner. Highlight Business Partner and click Add button. Follow your intuition from this point in creating your important new fields. When you are done let’s open the interface to fill the values in the fields. In main menu expand Business Partner and open Business Partner Master Data form. In the menu on the top please click on View and check User-Defined Fields. Immediately simple form will show up to the right of the Business Partner main screen where you User Defined fields are available for editing. Also if your field is part of the table which is forming scrolling window on the form as it is Marketing Documents Rows you can add your field directly on such forms as Sales Order or Invoice then you can add the field on the scrolling window by clicking on Form Settings and Table Format
3. Custom Coding. If you are happy at this point and you do not need any integration then you may decide to stop reading. For the rest of us let’s take a look at SB1 Software Development Kit. One of the recommended tools is Microsoft Visual Studio and code samples are available in C# and VB.Net. But technically programming could be performed in every .Net compliant languages and we saw scenarios in Delphi for example. Popular scenario is when you are opening SAP B1 for integration from non-Microsoft platform such as Linux where you might have something like PHP programmed and hosted in MySQL DB ecommerce website. Good idea here is to create set of SOAP XML web services in MS Visual Studio and call them from Linux as web service is XML based and computing platform neutral. Another method to open B1 to Unix based legacy system where you call Java applet is HTTP Post, which was kind of predecessor of the web service technology
4. Alternatives to Custom Programming in Integrations or Data Transfer Workbench. If all you need to do is feed in records into custom table then coding could be potentially avoided. DTW could work via on-demand or scheduled. Here you have the alternatives either to fill up CSV template file or open connection via ODBC
5. Second Opinion. If you are reading so far and your SDK coding project was screwed up by somebody who decided to use your project to sponsor the learning curve feel free to contact consulting firm with expertise
6. Modification projects exposed to international business. Business One code was originally architected and programmed in Israel and this is probably why it is very popular internationally including such regions as Brazil, Russia, India, China, Latin America and Europe. In the United States B1 is facing fierce competition from such Small Business ERP as QuickBooks, Peach Tree, MAS 90 and probably Microsoft Dynamics GP (however here scaled down version of Small Business Financials is abandoned and the last available version was 9.0). If you are deploying SAP BO in the USA based headquarters and expanding internationally the good news is the fact that this Small Business ERP is localized in the majority of key countries
7. Please call us 1-866-304-3265, 1-269-605-4904 (for international customers, where our representatives pick up the phone in Naperville and St. Joseph, MI call centers). help@efaru.com. We have local presence in Atlanta, Chicago, Southern California, South West Michigan, Houston and Dallas areas of Texas. We serve customers USA, Canada, Mexico and Brazil nationwide and internationally via web sessions and phone conferences (Skype is welcomed). Our consultants speak English, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian and Chinese. One of our experiences is international Corporate ERP and Consolidated Financial reporting
Dexterity Customization for Dynamics GP Evaluation Level Paper
When you are developer it is always a good idea to read technical manuals. But if you was just assigned to the IT team to decide if Dexterity is the right tool to customize your ERP application then first you need something which is in style of ‘easy reading papers’ or FAQ
Planning Dynamics GP Customization in Large Corporation
If you are reading this page then chances are high that you were not able to find ISV add-on and need customization project. Let’s talk about planning, quality assurance and future event such as version updates.
Dynamics GP Invoice Logo Attributed to Specific Company or Crossing the Borders of Three SOP Forms
Initial Great Plains Dynamics architecture had three SOP Invoice forms: Long, Short and Blank. Modern GP is popular in scenarios where you have more than three companies under one business entity umbrella
