Dynamics AX 2009 - Calling X++ logic from SSRS and C#

Recently I wrote the following blog entry:
Calling a Custom Dynamics AX 2009 SSRS report and passing parameters - From X++

This was to address a set of questions from a reader, where he stated it was not clear about how to call a report from X++ and send in parameter data. The above post, shows you exactly how to do that.

This is the blog entry, in which those comments where left.:
Dynamics AX 2009 - Reporting Possibilites

The next thing in the readers comments, was making use of display methods, or methods in general from X++. This also can be done, an there is great examples of this through some of the out of the box Report's, and also the new Environmental Dashboard that came out during the spring.

I am going to pull from the environmental dashboard, and show an example of this being used.

So if we open our reports project, we will see something similar as follows, and notice the report, has a section for data methods.



Looking at these data methods that are part of the EnergyCost report, we see we have this one, with some parameters / variables that need to be sent in.

On double clicking of the method, takes us to the Business Logic section, and we see our C# code here, along with the .Net Business Connector Assembly, and AxaptaWrapper Object being used.



As you can see we have access to make calls to static methods, and normal non-static business logic. So this could easily be changed and made use of as a template for working with X++ methods, that we need access to for our report purposes.

Now moving back to the report design, I have highlighted the field in the report design, which happens to be a Matrix Cell, that makes use of this datamethod. The expression where this data method is called, is the following.:



=Cdbl(GetEnergyCost(Fields!SourceProcessId.Value, Fields!DestinationProcessId.Value, Fields!SubstanceId.Value, Parameters!EnergyCost_Filter.Value))

So we can see our datamethod being called, to fill this field, and see how the parameters are being sent in. Even one being referenced from the parameters that are sent in to this report.

This is a really good example, that can be expanded upon, and used as a template for such custom needs of datamethods, and access X++ business logic and display methods for a Dynamics AX 2009 SSRS Report.

I hope this helps, and look for more soon. See you next time!




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Sunrise Technologies, Named as Inner Circle and Presidents Club

Sunrise Technologies, Inc. the Microsoft Gold Certified VAR I am a part of was named to the Presidents Club for the third year in a row, and was also named as part of the Inner Circle.

Here are links to the two press releases:
Sunrise Technologies named to 2009 Microsoft Dynamics President's Club

From the Press Release:
"“Microsoft is proud to congratulate Sunrise Technologies on being named to the 2009 Microsoft Dynamics President’s Club,” said Doug Kennedy, vice president, Microsoft Dynamics Partners. “This accomplishment is a result of Sunrise Technologies demonstrating unparalleled commitment by investing in the success of Microsoft Dynamics, our customers and solutions."

Sunrise Technologies named to the 2009 Microsoft Dynamics Inner Circle

From the Inner Circle Press Release:
"“We’re thrilled to acknowledge the dedication Sunrise Technologies has shown to providing an unsurpassed level of service and commitment to Microsoft Dynamics customers,” said Doug Kennedy, vice president of the Microsoft Dynamics Partners team. “As a result of its continuous dedication and contributions to the overall success of Microsoft Dynamics and companies worldwide, we’re proud to congratulate the company on being named to this year’s Microsoft Dynamics Inner Circle.”"

And...
"John Pence, President of Sunrise Technologies comments; “This award truly recognizes Sunrise as one of the elite Microsoft Dynamics partners in the U.S. and globally. This is the highest recognition possible and a real testament to the on-going success of our focused business model.”"

Way to go Sunrise, and fellow Sunrisers! A big congrats is in order, as this is a whole company effort to get these two awards, and it takes everyone. I feel honored to not just work for Sunrise, but that I am a part of Sunrise.

Well Check back soon, I have some great post coming out...




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Microsoft WPC09 in full swing

This years WPC is in full swing, with today being the third day of it. This year, a lot of great and new information is being discuess, from the new Microsoft Partner Network, to reviews of the next wave of products coming.



Dynamics and Dynamics AX has it's spot lights as well, and Sunrise Technologies, Inc. is there as well.

For those of you, like myself, that can not attend, there is the new digitalWPC.com

This is actually a great site, that has Vision and Value keynote speeches ready to be watched on demand. I recommend checking these out as you have time, because there is a lot of great information in these.

Also post WPC, all sessions, keynotes, etc. that were videoed will be up there for watching.

I plan on taking the Dynamics Value Keynote speech, and possibly others, and going over what is covered, and possibly going deeper into these items.

Check back soon, and for those at WPC, enjoy and get connected!




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X++ Team Blog: Some highlighted changes for X++ Langauge

The X++ team did a post recently about some changes that are 'forthcoming' in the next release of Dynamics AX 2011.

Here is the direct link.:
Forthcoming changes to the X++ language

From the entry:
"We are continually looking at what we can do to make the value proposition of the X++ language stronger. We have identified that several changes are needed to avoid a number of runtime problems, and to make future alignment with managed languages possible. As always, we realize that any changes we make to the core language are a mixed blessing to people who maintain a large code base: On one hand the new semantics cause the compiler to catch more errors earlier, but on the other hand they will invariably cause changes to existing code."

A summary of the changes from that post are here.:

• Covariance vs. Contravariance


• No compilation error is issued when parameters without default arguments follow default arguments.


• The X++ compiler allows two methods with the same name where one is static and the other not.


• No visibility rules are enforced for access of overriding methods


• Abstract methods can be reached through a SUPER() call.


• Static constrictors are not diagnosed


• Abstract class implementation.


• Interfaces.


• Open array assignments.

So these are some great moves to help bring X++ forward into some of the same great functions, abilities and desires for X++.

I can't wait to see more from the X++ team blog, thanks for the update!

Check back soon, as more great post are to come.




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ZDNet: Microsoft to integrate Twitter into its Dynamics CRM

Well Microsoft just put on the press lines, about its new 'Social Networking Accelerator' component for Dynamics CRM.

Here is the direct link to the ZDNet Article on this:
Microsoft has integrated Twitter functionality into its customer relationship management software.

And from the article:
"The company announced on Friday that its Dynamics CRM software will have a 'Social Networking Accelerator' component which will allow companies to monitor what customers are saying on Twitter, and to provide information about products and services based on that data.

In a Microsoft statement, Ovum analyst Warren Wilson said: "In this market, insight into what customers are saying is extremely valuable."

While starting with Twitter, Dynamics CRM will have further social-networking components added to it in future releases. Social Networking Accelerator will be available "in the next few weeks", Microsoft said"

This is a great example of an application in the cloud, being used with a Dynamics line product. This is a great move, and just really the very tip of the ice berg for such services and cloud apps to be integrated into Dynamics product line.

Check back for more soon!




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DotNet Reactive Framework (Rx)

Since DotNet / .Net is very much a part of Dynamics AX in 2009 and even more so in 2011 version, I thought it would be nice to take deeper steps into the .Net world, and learn some new ways to achieve things that might help you in your development efforts.

In these .Net post, I plan on doing pratical post about things that can be used in today's world, and also future talks.

Something that call my eye, for a not-to-distant future .Net framework, is the .Net Reactive Framework (Rx)

That link will take you to a Microsoft Ch. 9 posting for an Expert-to-Expert video on the Rx Framework.

From the site.:
"The .NET Reactive Framework (Rx) is the mathematical dual of LINQ to Objects. It consists of a pair of interfaces IObserver/IObservable that represent push-based, or observable, collections, plus a library of extension methods that implement the LINQ Standard Query Operators and other useful stream transformation functions."

A mouthful I know... worth the time to watch the video. In short it adds to one's desire's to make use of LINQ for event based development needs, vs. traditional coding.

Check back soon!




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Calling a Custom Dynamics AX 2009 SSRS report and passing parameters - From X++

Recently, I have been doing post about making use of Custom SSRS reports with Dynamics AX 2009.

The most recent post, was the following.: Dynamics AX 2009 - Reporting Possibilites

In that post there was a comment left by someone talking about some of the limits that still exist with the custom SSRS reports.

As I point out there are pro's and con's with the custom SSRS reports for Dynamics AX 2009, however one of the things the reader pointed out was passing parameters to the custom SSRS report.

So I thought it would be worth while to do a post on exactly how to do this.

In this example I have created a custom SSRS report for Dynamics AX 2009 instance.



In this you will see I have a Query, that was used for my report, and also a report library I created using Visual Studio 2008 Dynamics AX 2009 Reporting template.

The query, has a Range of SalesId, and in doing that, this was auto added to the report parameters, in the VS2008 projects. (see below image)



This is the name of the parameter in the report def., and therefore important to note for our exercise.

So the task was to take and pass values to reports from X++. I took and create a job that does exactly that. It takes and call my custom reports, output menu item, and pass it a value for the SalesId parameter. The code follows.:


MenuFunction CustRptMI;
Args Args;
;

CustRptMI = new MenuFunction(menuItemOutputStr(srsCustomRpt),MenuItemType::Output)
Args = new Args();
Args.parm("qryCustomSSRS_SalesId=*SO-100004*");
CustRptMI.run(Args);
CustRptMI.wait();


Notice the name of the parameter is exactly the name it is in the VS2008 project for the report def. 'qryCustomSSRS_SalesId'. Then simply and = and then . You can add multiple parameters here with commas, and there you have the report being called, ran, and from X++, parameters being passed and the report generated. (See image below)



So as you can see, you can make use of X++ to call custom SSRS reports, pass in paramaters, and do this pretty simply. You just have to know the exactly parameters names, and you can go from there.

Check back soon, as more post are coming!




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Welcome Back Arijit Basu - DAXGuy

I wanted to kick off this week, with giving some highlights to Arijit Basu, better known as the Guy behind the DAXGuy.blogspot.com blog.

Arijit has come back, it seems, in full force and is already got some great post out there.

The two I want to highlight right now is:

- AX Intelligent Data Management Tool : Inside look



This one Arijit took the time and has taken the pre-release of the IDM tool for Dynamics AX 2009, and has given us a first look. As he points out this should not be used in production.

- AX EP Role Centre inside Outlook



In this one Arijit took and made the Home page of outlook be the Role Center for the RC tied to his given user id. This is actually a great idea, easy to do, and can be done for any clients making use of Outlook along with Dynamics AX 2009 and Role Centers.

Thanks Arijit, for coming back and giving us some great post at the DAXGuy.blogspot.com blog!

Looking forward to seeing a lot more from you!

Also check back here, as I have some great post in the works for you.




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Back at it again

Well I am back home, and had made some most wonderful memories with my wife and kids down at the beach.

It was wonderful, it truly was sunburns and sandals. I swear a little part of me is always at the beach, or at least wants to be.

There was a first for me this time down, me and my oldest girl were out at around chest deep on me, I am 5'10", and around a 3-4 foot sand bar or mako (not sure which one) came up on us, in the middle of the day! It was 5-7 feet away from us when I saw it and I grab my little girl and ran for the beach... it was crazy, because I frooze for a full second when I saw it... I was in shock.



Luckily, the little guy had no interest in us, as I am sure if he did he would have had no issues taking a chunk out of us. Then the next day, we saw three more sharks, one smaller and two a lot bigger. All around mid day, which is not suppose to happen.

Either way we got back out, clear waters and it felt great!

I plan on starting back writing, as of today, with having some more great post about Dynamics AX 2009, as well as starting to look at DAX 6.0, or Dynamics AX 2011.

Hope everyone is doing well, check back later!




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Sunburns and Sandals

Well it's that time of year, about the only time I get to go for some 'Sunburns & Sandals'.

It's beach time, and I hope you all have a great 4th of July week. I will not be writing a single thing next week, but plan on coming back strong with some great post.

This also ends the FY09 of Microsoft, and when I am back we will be in FY10. So that means we will start looking a lot closer at Dynamics AX 6.0, now being called Dynamics AX 2011. We will also be looking at pratical usage of Dynamics AX 2009, and all the possibilites that expands on.

For now though, it's kick back time... Sunburns & Sandals!




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