AX 2012 R2 & Data Migration Framework Updates

Well I hope that this post finds everyone well rested from last weeks event, knee deep into the AX 2012 R2 Technical conference, and working on Dynamics AX projects! There is a lot to talk about this week, so I thought I would do a kick off post around Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R2 as well as the newly updated Data Migration Framework.



First up lets focus on the latter and move into the great new improvements coming as part of AX 2012 R2. There is a great write up from Microsoft on the newly released DMF, which can be found here.: Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 Data Migration Framework Beta 2.0 is now available on Information source

From the post.:
"Besides the already rich feature set, some of the key new features which have been added in this release are below -

• ODBC as Source – with this it is possible to import data using ODBC.
• AX as Source – It supports export/import , copy company for Data migration Framework entities.
• New entity types – Direct Table and Composite Entity.
• Parallel execution support from Staging to Target.
• Service Interface – DMF can be executed by external applications.
• Error handling enhancements – skipping error rows, and detailed logs.
• Number sequence support.
• Removed requirement to install SSIS on AOS.

"

We can see with the above that the DMF has really increased in it's level of usability. Microsoft is obviously listening to the feedback from those that have tried their respective hands and dove into the current release, building up to what we now see out on InformationSource.

I will cover as more updates are released, including walking through the new version soon myself. Moving right along lets focus now on the on-going Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R2 Tech Conference happening all this week.

I'm actually not able to attend, but have been looking and working with AX 2012 R2 for the past few months now. The following is a list of architecture, technical and BI related updates that I would like to give highlights of.:
Data Partitioning in AX 2012 R2 - This is a very interesting move, and one that will further add for support of options when thinking in terms of scale for larger organizations. In short this new concept works as another container option, or segregation option for legal entities. You can now have a spectrum of single instance, to single instance with partitioning, to multiple instance options. Each bringing their own pro's & con's to the table. A great write up already exist about this concept which can be found here.: To share or not to share… Data Partitioning in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R2



LINQ Provider for AX 2012 R2 - Here we see Microsoft enabling deeper native access to AX, and the Entity Data Model concept with giving us a managed code LINQ provider for AX 2012 R2. This will further enable and allow the consumption of AX 2012 Business Logic and Entity's (think abstraction of tables here) for greater use from the outside world. A great write up on this topic can be found here.: Code Example: LINQ to AX from C# [AX 2012]



Business Intelligence Improvements for AX 2012 R2 - Microsoft has further made improvements around it's stack offering, the BI elements out-of-the-box with AX 2012 R2. As I pointed out, AX 2012 means you have a BI solution. This is further enabled through the usage of native web parts for PowerView elements, to be placed and used on Role Center pages with the release of AX 2012 R2. Further improvements around BI is more built in KPI's, as well as three new cubes. One of those being that of a new Inventory Cube.

All-in-all there is a lot to cover, dive into and talk about with this new update. What I list above is just the tip of the iceberg. There is deep functional net gains across the board, more localization's like China, as well as very deep functional offerings for Human Capital Management (HCM) for everyone!

That's all I have for this post, check back soon as we dive deeper into these new offerings, and cover the details coming out of the on-going tech conference. Till Next Time!


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AX 2012 - Data Migration Framework - Recap

I hope everyone is off to a great start for this new work week. To help kicks things off this afternoon, I wanted to create a recap post focused around the recently released Data Migration Framework for Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012.



I covered the release of this new framework, released via InformationSource, from Microsoft. The following list the post in which contains my full coverage of this topic, to date.:

• AX 2012 - Data Migration Framework (Beta) Released
• AX 2012 – Data Migration Framework: Step-by-step setup
• AX 2012 – Data Migration Framework: Usability to date

From the above I dove into the specifics around the release, a step-by-step setup as well as a usability report on the framework. There were some great questions, and issues that people ran into - which were captured as part of these series of post.

The following are some critical points, that need to be made in relation to the above series of post.:

• AX 2012 R2 & MDS Support - A question was posed to me about integrating Master Data Services with this framework. Though it's technically possible, Microsoft has made it clear that the upcoming release of AX 2012 R2 will have native support for MDS.
• SSIS 2008 Installed on AOS - We learned through the community testing that SSIS 2008 is required. Further this requirement is for having this installed on the AOS that will execute the code.
• SQL Server 2012 No Supported - Further around SQL Server technology, it was stated that SQL Server 2012 has not been targeted or tested for use with DMF.
• Microsoft is listening! - Microsoft is paying attention to anyone trying to successfully use this new framework. Please make sure to use InformationSource to submit any suggestions, or official feedback around the DMF.

Further, the following is a recent post from Munib that covers the topic Creating a custom entity for migration. Resource link.: Create a custom entity mapping using the Data Migration Framework [AX 2012]

It's a high level coverage of the topic, but still valuable to have, in order to help complete the current picture, understanding and use of the Data Migration Framework.

As previously stated, I will circle back around on this topic as we have new information, news or releases that relate. Further, I invite anyone to a leave a comment here on any other resources you find useful for this topic and I will review / include them. That's all for today! Till Next Time!
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AX 2012 – Data Migration Framework: Usability to date

I hope everyone is having a great week thus far! Being head strong into summer and WPC12 behind us all, it’s time to take the biggest year in Microsoft Product history and unleash an unprecedented amount of value on the world. Microsoft Dynamics AX customers will benefit from all the great products, from SQL Server 2012, Windows Server 2012 and Visual Studio 2012. Let us also not forget about the value proposition that Windows 8 will bring for Phone, Tablet, PC and more!

With that said, today I wanted to wrap up my review of the recently released Microsoft Dynamics AX Data Migration Framework. I started this coverage early this week, with the following two post covering the release and step-by-step setup.:

• AX 2012 - Data Migration Framework (Beta) Released
• AX 2012 – Data Migration Framework: Step-by-step setup

With this now understood, I spent some time looking into the current usability of this beta release for the Data Migration Framework.



Lets point out again, that this is the beta release and therefore there will be bugs, issues and it’s not a complete offering. With that, when we start to look at the use of this framework, we must start with the types of sources we can work from. We do this from the Data Migration Framework > Setup > Source Data Formats.



I want to point out that as you open the form, we can see there is a Type field. In looking at this closer however we can’t change this from the type of File. You can see this type in the above referenced screen shot. Further inspection of this form, and it’s table DMFDataSource and we see that the field type does not allow edit. This is shown in the screen shot below.



In looking at the Base Enumeration that this field represents, being that of DMFSourceType, we do find out that there are two other types.



These types are of Ax and ODBC. We can see that there are plans then for allowing both ODBC source types, as well as enabling AX-to-AX, source-to-target usage of this framework. Just not yet! Again this is a beta, which I would think will be getting a refresh pretty soon to enable these other type source types.

Moving along, since this is file based on source types for the Data Migration Framework, out-of-the-box usage for the framework is limited. It’s powerful, and has a lot of great possible value, specifically when the AX and ODBC types are fully added. Further the framework does work well with the file sources, as I’ve tested and imported products via. If your source data is in flat files, or you can export to flat files, then you can start getting a lot of use from the framework now.



Just to show that Microsoft does plan on really helping to enable this framework to have a multitude of sources, you can see proof in the naming of .Net assemblies that come as part of the install. Specifically the below screen shot of the ‘Microsoft.Dynamics.AX.DMF.SSISHelper’ .Net assembly reference.



In looking for how this is currently used in the X++ code that is delivered along with the install of the model file, we find the ‘DMFGenerateSSISPackage’ class. As you can see from the below screen shots however, this is only targeted for file based sources, for now.







With all of this stated, if you have more complex data import needs, or your already well under way with the concept of using services to import data for Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 there still is value is the data migration framework for your needs.



If we take the above screen shot, we can see the installed DMFProductEntity table. This is the staging table for products. This table, along with other staging tables, can be targets of such services or import targets for more complex importing scope.



Finally on this topic around value, there is a ‘Create a custom entity for migration’ wizard that can be called to target any out-of-the-box entities or custom ones that you may have. This is shown in the screen shot above. Further the screen shot below shows the Wizard in action with what table should be the target of a custom migration entity.



With everything said, it’s a great start to helping fill a need. As I mentioned before we have been using this approach for over 2+ years now on Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 projects. What this helps with is enabling a true framework, that is repeatable and everyone can build from. Like all things in AX, you can customize this, and for your custom entities you most likely will.

Well that’s all for this post, and my current coverage of the newly release Microsoft Dynamics AX Data Migration Framework. I will come back to this topic, at a later date when Microsoft has updates that are worth sharing around this topic. Further, starting tomorrow I will get back to my regularly scheduled topics around the Cloud, BI, EP Development – and our theme of Creating a System of Engagement with Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012. Till Next Time!
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