Management Reporter for Microsoft Dynamics ERP - How detail levels can influence report design
Display dashes for zero amounts on reports in Microsoft Dynamics Management Reporter
Define insights and meet customer expectations through Microsoft Dynamics AX
Microsoft Dynamics AX Mobile Capabilities
Last Call for Early Bird Registrations - AXUG Summit 2014 St. Louis
Save $200 when you sign up for AXUG Summit 2014 this week! Don’t wait any longer…Early Bird discounts expire this Monday, June 30.
With more than 200 Dynamics AX sessions, nearly limitless opportunities for networking, and an Expo Hall packed full of great Dynamics AX add-ons….it’d just be silly to miss this event. Register now!
Remember to also register for your Pre-conference Training courses from AXUG Academy. You’ll save $50/course when you sign up by Monday, June 30. Browse the courses and reserve your spot right away!
P.S. Dynamics Partners - Early Bird discounts are also expiring Monday for The Partner Connections Event 2014. Reserve your seat at this great Partner-only event today!
Resource Page for Financials Management in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012
Provides relevant resources as it relates to understanding the Financials Management application areas in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012.
On this page:
Critical HotfixesThere are several known issues in the Financials management applications area of Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 for which we have released a variety of different hotfixes. It is highly recommended that you are on the most recent updates for Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012. Listed below are several of the critical hotfixes for AX 2012 Financials management. NOTE: This article contains early information about hotfixes that were released by Microsoft. Therefore, the referenced KB article may not yet be available. The KB article, if available, provides more detail about the issue, the resolution, and the hotfix availability. You can request individual hotfixes by contacting Microsoft Support (https://support.microsoft.com/contactus). Please refer to the Still Having Trouble section for instructions on requesting a hot fix.
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Related Resources
This white paper walks through the steps you’ll need to complete in both Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 and Management Reporter for Microsoft Dynamics ERP to create consolidated financial statements. This white paper describes:
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Still having trouble... |
Partners – Global Support Contacts (requires PartnerSource login) Customers – Global Support Contacts (requires CustomerSource login) |
Error Message when trying to remove a benefit from a worker
HR - How to remove a benefit from a worker
In working with benefits setup in Dynamics AX, I found myself struggling with an error message that was not very descriptive every time I tried to remove a benefit from a worker. That being the case, I researched it and found a solution. Note - although the Microsoft Human Resources training manual includes a section where it references "removing" a benefit - it does not show you how to do that.
The error message is: "The enrollment ending date of the benefit selected is after the current date and cannot be deleted. Change the enrollment ending date to a date prior to today, and then delete this benefit".
The purpose of this posting is to explain the mandatory steps needed to remove a benefit from a worker in Dynamics AX 2012. (Note - this is not in any of the Microsoft documentation or training manuals).
Worker Benefits
In Microsoft Dynamics Ax 2012, benefits are assigned to a worker in the “Maintain Benefits” form.
Access: Human Resources > Common > Worker > Personal Information (Related Information area) > Benefits
This is the form where you can assign, expire, or remove benefits from a worker. Assigning a benefit and related information is pretty straightforward, but removing a benefit is a bit tricky.
If you simply select the benefit and then the "Remove" button, you will get the following error message:
"The enrollment ending date of the benefit selected is after the current date and cannot be deleted. Change the enrollment ending date to a date prior to today, and then delete this benefit".
In order to remove a benefit from a worker and get past that pesky error message, you will need to complete the following steps:
1. Select the Benefit in the left column.
2. Select the “Maintain Versions” button to open that form.
3. Highlight the coverage start date and select the “Pencil” (Edit) icon at the bottom left hand corner of the screen.
4. Select the “Coverage End date” field and update it to a previous date and time.
5. Tab off the field.
6. Close the “Maintain Versions” form.
7. You will now notice that the “Maintain Benefits” form is no longer showing that record. Do not be misled. The benefit is still associated with the worker. It has just “Expired” and is no longer showing. In order to see that record again, you will need to change the “filter” in that form.
8. Select the icon in the top left hand corner to access to display “Advanced options for displaying records in this form.”
9. After selecting that icon, you will now see the following:
11. The screen will now show all records – current and expired. Select the record you would like to remove. Note that it now has an updated end date that is making it expired (non-current).
12. Select “Remove”.
13. Confirm the decision to remove the record when prompted accordingly. That record is no longer associated with this worker.
...and that's "How To"!
ManagementReporterLinktoMRReport
Error message when trying to set up an item configuration
Recently I was working through one of the AX Trade & Logistics course manuals (actually an R2 updated appendix) reviewing the labs that are in there - since that is what I use with my clients. Since R3 recently released, I wanted to see if the labs were still valid.
However...I kept getting the following error message, even though I had created the appropriate BOM: “"BOM for item XXXXX has not been set up".
I contacted a coworker that had more experience with this and he said it would take a couple of minutes to address, but easier to do in a remote session than via email. We set up a session and well over an hour later...we were still getting the error message.
The other consultant tried it in an R2 release...and got the error message there too.
To set up an item configuration and get past that issue, there are some steps that must be configured first. Those steps are:
Step 1. Inventory and warehouse management -> Bills of materials
• Create BOM
• Create BOM lines w/ Configuration Groups
• Set BOM Configuration route with Configuration Groups
• Set up Configuration rules
• Add item for the BOM under versions (note...we will come back to this. Remember)
• Approve and Activate BOM version/BOM
Step 2. Product information management -> Released products.
• Create Item
o (Set Product Subtype = Product Master)
o Assign a product dimension group (Config – set with all Configuration checkboxes selected).
Step 3
• Configure item configuration for item
o Select the Item
o Select to "edit" that item
o In the action panel … go to "Engineer -> “Maintain configurations” (in the Configuration Group)" which opens the "Maintain configuration" dialog
...This is the point where the error message occurs...
o Click the "Configure" button and you will get the following error message:
"BOM for item XXXXX has not been set up".
To get around that message:
o Exit out of the above screens and...
o ...simply change the "From Qty" in the BOM version top grid to 0
Note: Microsoft admits that there is an issue here and has submitted this item in for a hotfix with bug number 1687252. Until then...you will need to make sure the qty is set to 0 in the BOM version.
Error messages when trying to use Task Recorder in AX 2012 R3
Recently I was working on some documentation in AX 2012 R3 and wanted to fire up the Task Recorder to help me grab some information quickly. Having used it before in AX 2012 RTM and R2 I did not think much of it, but soon encountered several error messages.
The messages that I got were:
Message 1: Microsoft Media Player? ...You can ignore this message. False. Task Recorder will still work without it installed!
Message 2: OK...I did not see this in the bottom of the screen after I selected the node that I was going to be working with, but it is REQUIRED that you additionally specify the module in the bottom left hand corner of the
Errors with MICR check printing?
Here is a really good post on troubleshooting MICR check printing:
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/axsupport/archive/2012/08/28/dynamics-ax-2012-payables-checks-issues.aspx
Also...if you are trying to do a web search on anything related to MICR...put it in quotes..."MICR" or the search engines will assume you mean Microsoft.
Error messages and best practices with AX development
Many folks may already know this link, but for those of you that do not, there is some great information to be had here:
"List of Error and Warning messages (AX 2012)"
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb530207.aspx
For those of you that are not developers, still a good link to glance over. You never know where you'll find your answer when you are looking for that nondescript AX error message!
Errors and known issues? A forum just for that.
Recently I found a forum on another site dedicated to "errors and known issues in AX". Although I mostly follow the Dynamics Communities Forums (AX and GP), what kind of a consultant would I be if I ignored valuable tools I could have in my virtual tool bag?
"Microsoft Dynamics AX/Axapta Known Issues and Errors Forum"
http://dynamicsuser.net/forums/122.aspx
...just remember you found it here ;)
Pointing existing R2 eCommerce to a different CRT DB
Sometimes you might need to point your existing R2 ecommerce deployment to a different CRT DB (which might be connected with a different instance of AX). To achieve that we would need to change CRT DB connection string in 2 components (only those 2 access CRT) - RetailPublishingJob and RetailPublishingPortal site collection. Below are the steps:
1. RetailPublishingJob
As described in the article Update the Publishing Job Configuration [AX 2012] the configuration of the job is stored in SharePoint's configuration DB, so, if you are comfortable with programmatic way to change the ConnectionString you can do so by using the technique described in the article to modify CommerceRuntimeConnectionString.
Another way to update the job's configuration is to directly use SQL statements against SharePoint_Config database:
a) Query existing configuration by executing the statement below in SQL Management Studio:
SELECT Properties
FROM SharePoint_Config..Objects
WHERE NAME = 'RetailPublishingJobSettings'
As a result you will see a column Properties with the XML in it. Copy its value (right click and then select 'Copy') into clipboard and then save it into a text file (use Notepad.exe for instance) just as a backup in case you need to revert back to an original state.
b) Open new window in SQL Management Studio and paste (but don't execute yet) there the following template:
UPDATE SharePoint_Config..Objects
SET Properties = ''
WHERE NAME = 'RetailPublishingJobSettings'
Place cursor between quotes (near SET Properties line) and paste there the content of the property you extracted in the step (a), do not apply any formatting, keep the text and formatting as is.
Now search (you can use CTRL+F key combination) for "CommerceRuntimeConnectionString" - you will find the CRT DB connection string, modify what you need to modify, for instance Server's name. One more time - do not apply any auto format because it might make the XML not usable. Once you modified the connection string, or, basically, you can modify anything else in the configuration you need, execute the UPDATE statement.
Once the steps above are done you don't need to restart anything - the changes will automatically be picked up next time the job is executing (it loads the configuration each time prior to executing).
2. RetailPublishingPortal - this Site Collection is technically ASP.NET web site with its own web.config file, the CRT DB configuration is stored there in standard section ConnectionStrings, the name of the string is CommerceRuntimeConnectionString, so, update it to reflect your changes. No any restart is needed. Please note that there are 2 web sites for the Publishing Portal - internal and external, update both of them, this is how you can access the web.config:
This completes all required steps to repoint your deployment to a different CRT DB.
Note that in R3 the SDK contains an GUI utility which greatly simplifies changing RetailPublishingJob configuration, more information will be available in one of next posts.
Dynamics AX & Microsoft Project Siena
Error message when trying to launch AX
One of the most common error messages that I have encountered, but not always known by end users how to fix is ... "The server is unavailable. Check the configuration and network connection and try again". It can also be one of the easiest to fix!
Translation? Often the reason is that your "Microsoft Dynamics AX Object Server Service"...is not running.
To start that service...do this:
- Click Start > Administrative Tools > Server Manager.
Expand Configuration, and then click Services.
In the details pane, select Microsoft Dynamics AX Object Server 6.0$ InstanceName, and then click Start, Stop, or Restart, as applicable.
Resource Page for Data Import, Export, and Migration in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012
This page provides a list of published documentation, known issues, solutions, and tips and tricks to help you import, export, or migrate data for Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012.
This page contains the following sections:
- Recent news
- Choose a tool
- Common problems and solutions
- Featured videos
- Popular blogs
- Still having trouble?
Recent news
Data Import/Export Framework
A new example of how to use the Data Import/Export Framework is available at: Importing a General Journal using Data Import/Export Framework AX 2012.
The Data Import/Export Framework was release as part of AX 2012 R3. It includes the following features:
- A new security group for the Data Import/Export Framework, Microsoft Dynamics AX Data Import Export Framework Service User.
- Additional entities: Resource requirements, Operations, and Route relation.
- Staging-level validation of data that contains role separators.
- Support for SQL Server 2014.
- Additional data sources when you use Data Import/Export Framework as an Application Integration Framework (AIF) service. These include files, ODBC, and other Microsoft Dynamics AX instances. You can also now use a Data Import/Export Framework as an AIF service to export data to a file.
- Staging-level conversion of fields that use the GUID data type.
- The Custom Entity wizard now creates the class and functions of a new entity, in addition to the staging table, project, and query.
For more information about the Data Import/Export Framework, see the Data import/export framework user guide and What's New: Data import/Export Framework.
Test Data Transfer Tool
The Test Data Transfer Tool is used to install the AX 2012 R3 demo data. For a tutorial on how to use it, see Walkthrough: Import demo data for AX 2012 R3 by using the Test Data Transfer Tool.
Choose a tool
To learn more about how to import, export, or migrate data into Microsoft Dynamics, review the following resources.
Task | Resources |
Choose the best tool for your task | |
Get tools |
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Read documentation |
Common problems and solutions
This section lists common issues encountered when importing, exporting, and migrating data.
Important: If you encounter a problem when importing, exporting, or migrating data, we recommend that you use Issue Search on Microsoft Dynamics Lifecycle Services to research it. Issue Search is a search engine that you can use to quickly search for KB articles, hotfixes, and workarounds for reported issues in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 and Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R2. You can see which reported issues are in the process of being fixed and see notifications when a hotfix is released for a specific functional area in Microsoft Dynamics AX. You can download released hotfixes, see which code objects are affected, and see the code changes introduced by the hotfix. In order to use Issue Search, you must have a CustomerSource or PartnerSource account, and have created a project. For more information, see the Lifecycle Services User Guide.
Data Import Export Framework
Version: The following issues are found in the version of the Data Import Export Framework for AX 2012 RTM and Feature pack from InformationSource
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Issue: Some customers have recently been unable to install some hotfix packages for Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R2 if they are running a release before CU7, have a DMF model in the FPK layer, and are installing a hotfix released after CU7. Customers see the error "Violation of PRIMARY KEY constraint 'PK_ModelElementData_ElementHandle'".
Resolution: Follow the instrucitons in the blog post Violation of PRIMARY KEY constraint 'PK_ModelElementData_ElementHandle' error installing some hotfixes on Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R2.
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Issue: After installing the Data Import/Export Framework you get a number of compile errors related to missing macros.
Resolution:
In the AOT, examine the macros node. There should be AxdAdvancedLedgerEntryDCT and AxdCustomerTransactionDCT macros in the node. If you do not see these macros, then do a compare on the DataContainerTypes macro to make the macros visible.
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Issue: When you enter Setup > Data import/export framework parameters you get the error message: "Assembly containing type Microsoft.Dynamics.AX.DMF.ServiceProxy.DmfEntityProxy is not referenced".
Resolution:
Create the structure c:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Assembly\GAC_MSIL\Microsoft.DynamicsAX.DMF.ServiceProxy\v4.0_1.0.0_31bf3856ad364e35\
and then paste the file Microsoft.Dynamics.AX.DMF.ServiceProxy.DLL, from C:\Program Files\Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 Data Import Export Framework Server Component.
Restart the AOS, and compile into CIL.
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Issue: Importing Ledger Dimensions in Data Import/Export Framework in AX 2012 R2 does not function. You get the message "Financial Dimension 0 does not exist" when importing ledger dimension values.
Resolution:
Contact support for a workaround.
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Issue:
Unable to select ODBC connections created as System DSNs. You get the message: “System.NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object.”
Resolution:
Create a User DSN instead.
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Issue: Creating a custom entity that imports to a table with a primary index that allows duplicates will import only one record.
Resolution:
Contact support for a workaround.
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For additional troubleshooting information that is regularly updated, see Lifecycle Services Issue Search.
Suggested alternate search terms:
Data Import Export Framework: DMF, DIEF, DIXF
Featured videos
RapidStart for Retail (InformationSource)
Related blogs
We recommend the following blogs:
- AXSupport: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/axsupport/
- AX Solution Architecture: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/axsa/
- Chris Garty's blog (Excel Add-in): http://blogs.msdn.com/b/chrisgarty/
- Dynamics AX 2012 Data Import using Excel Add-in: http://ax2012exceldataimport.blogspot.com/
Still having trouble?
If you’re still having trouble, you can get assistance in the following ways:
- Search for your issue on the Lifecycle Services site. You must know your CustomerSource or PartnerSource login, and create a project before you can search for issues.
- Post your questions on the Ask the Community site and a member of the Microsoft Dynamics AX community might respond.
- Contact your partner.
- If enrolled in a support plan directly with Microsoft, enter a new support request with Microsoft Dynamics Technical Support.
You can enter a support request on CustomerSource or PartnerSource by selecting Support> New Technical Support Request.
You can also contact Microsoft Dynamics Technical Support by phone using these links for country/region-specific phone numbers:
- Partners – Global Support Contacts (requires PartnerSource login)
- Customers – Global Support Contacts (requires CustomerSource login)
Microsoft Dynamics AX & Microsoft Project Siena
Management Reporter Link to MRReport in Microsoft Dynamics
Error when using production scheduling
Recently I came across the following error...: "A CLR error occurred while invoking the scheduling engine".
To address this issue, do the following:
- Go to Start and find the Admin tools.
2. Locate the Server configuration service
3. Double-click on it.
4. Make sure this parameter is NOT checked. That should may take care of it. Note: I have seen other cases for this a error as well.