A question around Organization Modeling for AX 2012

I hope that you have had a productive week thus far, filled with all things Microsoft Dynamics! As promised earlier this week, I wanted to post today about a specific question that came from my post on AX 2012 - Understanding & Extending the Organization Model.



The question posed by a reader of that post, is around the modeling of their organization for business units, and associating released products to specific Business Units.

Lets take this possed question a little further, and assume that the business unit association is desired to limit the use of released products.



Since released products, with AX 2012 out-of-the-box, are legal entity specific entities, that is the level of separation that comes as offered. Further out-of-the-box, with configuration, you can have business units used as financial dimensions. Meaning that we could then associate a released product, within a legal entity, to a business unit.



Having this association however, would not by itself limit the use of products, for users of AX, that work within specific business units. We have added something new here right? We can associate business units with released products, as financial dimensions. However the new element that we need to try and achieve is limiting the released products in a legal entity by business unit.

Now let us think about this. We could easily jump right into code driven design, that would allow for releasing products to business units, within legal entities. But why do that? The idea with Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 is to model more and code less.

Our secret to success in this endeavor then, would be to think in terms of modeling. This includes having Organizational modeling that has an operating model, that gives us legal entities, with business units under them. Further having the financial dimensions modeled and configured so that business units are used as financial dimensions. Finally, we need to model security with the use of Extensible Data Security Framework (XDS).



Now with this, I must warn that there are very specific warnings when using XDS for modeling security. The idea is that it would only be used with Master Data elements, according to best practice. With that warning in mind, my next post on this topic will go into greater detail of how this can be achieved with modeling, and minimum code. Till Next Time!
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Revisit with Version Control for AX 2012

Well I hope everyone is doing well! I admit I have been super busy, and realized that I've not posted in two weeks. I typically try and post at least 2-3 entries a week, but my recent schedule both professional and personal has kept me from this passion.

With that, I wanted to get back cranked up posting, with a revisit of sorts around the topic of Version Control for Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012. I wrote about this sometime back, around the options we have, located here.: AX 2012 & TFS 2010, along with other Version Control Options



In that post I cover the major options, as well as other resources around the topic of version control. This revisit, I believe is deserved for two main reasons. One, it's a topic that I still get asked about from a true options perspective. Two, there is a new release from Joris, fellow Dynamics AX MVP and blogging peer for his AX TFS Build Library v0.2.0.0.



Starting with point one, it is true that TFS is not the only valid option to use for Dynamics AX 2012 version control. As picture above, and what the above picture is meant to represent, shared development enabled with MorphX VCS is still a valid option. Typically we see this with shops that don't have the resources for a Full Time Employee (FTE) who can be dedicated to the administration of TFS.

Make no mistake about it, TFS is an investment which requires an FTE who thinks, and lives TFS for an organization. This person can also do development work, but depending on the size of the development team or teams, might have a zero time for anything else but TFS.

When thinking about the options for version control, a great resource that I previously highlights can be found here.: Version Control System [AX 2012]

That resource has a nice table that lays out the options, and value points of what each option can offer you. Going back to MorphX VCS being a valid option, this does mean there are some limits. The biggest is the fact that this only helps control version's of objects that are apart of the AOT. If you think about this, say their are outside services you create as part of your total solution. What about SSIS packages that make up your solution? These will not be apart of a MorrphX VCS instance.

Further other draw backs are how report development for AX 2012, as well as Enterprise Portal Development takes place.

There are still ways to develop for each, but what the TFS option enables is developer instances of AX for each developer. Where as the MorphX VCS enables a single shared development instance of AX 2012.

Finally on to point two, with Joris updated release of the AX TFS Build Library. You can directly download the latest release from Joris, here.: Codeplex: Dynamics AX Build Scripts. And further, his latest post on the topic.: New release of AX TFS Build Library Beta (v0.2.0.0)

Most notable in this release is Joris' focus on fixing several label related issues, allowing for Visual Studio Projects to be imported, and splitting out system classes at the end of a build cycle to help avoid stability issues.

Well that all for this post. Feels good to get back into the swing of things and writing again. Check back soon, as I will post again this week - next up a look at a specific question that came from my post on Understanding & Extending the Organization Model. Till Next Time!
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AX 2012 - Understanding & Extending the Organization Model

I wanted to take the time today, and point out some great resources around the concept of extending the Organization Model in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012.



Before we dive right into the mix of common task that are typically associated with customer implementations of Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012, I would first like to point out a great learning webinar around the topic of Modeling Your Organization with AX 2012. What I'm speaking about can be found here.: Modeling your Organization: Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012

The above link will take you through a nice webinar that really gives you a feel for the thought process of modeling an organization with AX 2012. This is the 'unified natural models' that Microsoft speaks about a lot. I should correct that really and say one of the unified natural models. See.: Enabling Agility through Unified Natural Models



When we start to think about extending the organizational model that comes out-of-the-box in AX 2012, there are two common task that are typically done for customers. The first task is around adding custom Operating Units. Microsoft has a done a good job at creating the following walk through.: Walkthrough: Create and Use a Custom Operating Unit Type [AX 2012] I will add that this walk through does leave out specifics, for example if you want the new Operating Unit to appear under the GL > Setup > Organization for management of said new custom operating unit.



The second most common extension that takes place for customers is around the creation of custom purposes. The following resource from Microsoft is a nice walk through as well, for this topic.: How to: Create a New Purpose [AX 2012]



Adding a new custom purpose for organization hierarchies helps further shape and allow customers to truly model AX as they run their business. Purposes for hierarchies can help relate policy and reporting needs.

With all of this one of the best resources for understanding how to implement and extend the organization model for AX 2012 can be found here.: Implementing and Extending the Organization Model in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012

Update: I wanted to take the time and update this post, to include the fact that InformationSource located at InformationSource.Dynamics.com has some good resources on this topic as well. This includes some video's, which the webinar is based on. Further a specific PowerPoint artifact that I would like to point out.:



The above PowerPoint has some good information around understanding the concepts of organization modeling, as well as common task involved with the process. Further it has common task typically associated with extending the organization model offering for AX 2012. It mentions further task around Security with XDS, and relating Master as well as transaction data.

Now With the above information and resources, someone familiar with Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 can extend the organization model(s) for a customer. Further, if your an ISV there could be good reason to include in your IP offering extensions to the organization model offerings. Keeping in mind that a customer could have a need for several organization hierarchies in their instance. Powering everything from Operations, reporting, relating to security, workflow approvals and more.

That's all for this post, but check back soon as I will continue with my focus around BI for AX, extending the reach of AX with Office 2013 and more! Till Next Time!
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SQL Server 2012 - SSAS Tabular Modeling

In my last post about SQL Server 2012 & the Future of BI with Dynamics AX, I mentioned that we would start with the introduction of concepts and continue to dive deeper. With that in mind, lets dive a little further into Tabular Modeling with SQL Server 2012 - SQL Server Analysis Services.



I have referenced several times, the above image, and what it shows is the current AX 2012 Analysis Services Architecture and how OLAP Cubes are consumed and made use of within an AX instance.

It's very important to understand how the out-of-the-box AX 2012 OLAP Cubes are created, and consumed, to help understand how the new offerings coming with SQL Server 2012 might be enabled by Microsoft. Keep in mind the current target for the use of SQL Server 2012 with Dynamics AX is 2013 with the release of Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 RC2.

The purpose of the following post, was to point out how BI Analytics for AX 2012 currently works and can be used: AX 2012 - Diving into BI Analytics



With this understanding, we can move forward with looking at what's going to be new for SQL Server 2012, specifically relating to Analysis Services - Tabular Modeling. To help us understand these concepts a little better, we have a few resources already out there. First off, lets get connected to the Microsoft Published resources for this topic.

The current resource we have from Microsoft, which we can use with the download of SQL Server 2012 RC0, is the following: Tabular Modeling (Adventure Works Tutorial).

From the Tutorial:
"To better support the data analysis needs of sales and marketing teams and of senior management, you are tasked with creating a tabular model for users to analyze internet sales data in the AdventureWorksDWDenali sample database."

Taking this, there are a good bit of key concepts that you can start to understand for the use of Tabular Modeling, with a realistic scenario. The big picture parts that should have special attention applied during this exercise is around the parts that make up a Tabular Modeling Project.

Applying this understanding of SQL Server 2012 Tabular Modeling Projects, along with how OLAP Cubes are created and consumed in AX 2012 today, we can piece together how Microsoft might take advantage of this technology with Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 RC2. Further we also can get a glimpse into PowerPivotV2 which plays a critical part in the consumption of Tabular Models from SQL Server 2012.

Finally, I will point out on this topic a book that was recommend to me, and one that I personally ordered yesterday: Applied Microsoft SQL Server 2012 Analysis Services: Tabular Modeling



The Author of this book, Teo Lachev, by far, has the most exposure and expertise on this topic right now that I can find. I expect this book to get high ratings for myself personally once I'm done with it.

Well that's all for this post, but continue to check back as we look into the future of BI with Dynamics AX, along with many, many other topics. Till Next Time!

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AX 2012 - Hiding a form control without code

With Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012, the whole concept of Model more and code less is in full affect. The idea behind modeling, is that you cut down on the need to create custom code, to achieve needs. This is a great overall concept, and we are seeing this in Workflows, and well as Security.



So taking this to heart, and running with it, lets say you have a request to hide a form control, based on some context. Lets pick a functional one, in that we don't want users, who have read only access to a form, to see a specific form control.

In the past, real simple steps could be taking to do this, and a popular way of handling such a request, would be to (a) Make sure the control had AutoDeclaration set to yes, and (b) override the init() method of the form, and work with the forms .visible() property. This would be based on either, say the company, or a security key in the pre-AX 2012 days.

This however has changed with AX 2012, and we can achieve this need, without any code actually. How you may ask? Well check out the following Microsoft resource: Security Permissions Properties for a Form [AX 2012]

"To see a particular control on a form, the user must have a permission to the control that is at least as strong as the permission the control requires.
For example, suppose a control has its NeededPermission property set to Update. A user who has only Read permission does not see the control on the form. But the control is visible to another user who has Update or Delete permission to the control."

So lets explain this a little bit then, shall we? To start, we have a need Permissions node that lives under the form objects now.



With this, we see, as mentioned in the above resource, the Read, Update, Create and Delete Permission nodes. Each of this are in order of weakest to strongest security. In that, if a user has a privilege that enables them to have Read access to the form, and then control had the needed permission of Update, the user Would not see the control on the form. Since this is the desired scope, then we understand how we can relate privilege's to NeededPermission.

When looking under these nodes, you would not drag or drop controls under each. Nor do you create new elements, under the Controls node. If, we want to take a control, and have it's NeededPermission to be set as Update, then we must go to that Control, open the properties, and set the NeededPermission value as so.



On saving of this property change, we can now see that under the Update node of the Forms Permissions, contained within the Controls section, we see now our 'Control2' has appeared.



Now through proper security setup, when users only have Read level permissions to our form, they will not see the Control2, form control. So we have used security modeling aspects of AX 2012, and not code, to enable the visibility of a control on a form. Pretty powerful huh?

Well that's all for this post, I hope this helps someone out. Keep checking back as we continue to dive more and more into AX 2012.

Till next time!

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