What I learned today

вторник, 20 июля 2010 г.

Dynamics AX : Document handling
The following solution is to use the document handling feature of AX and generate a word document by populating data into a word template. Following is the detail on how to do it .
When we create a new word document through document handling , we can transfer data from tables in Microsoft Dynamics AX to bookmarks in the new document. This is done by creating a template with some standard text and some bookmarks where the data from tables are to be inserted. For example we can transfer the address and contact information for a customer to the letter head in a Microsoft Word document when creating a new letter for that customer.
Prepare a Word template :We need to create a Word template with bookmarks where the data should be inserted. Then we set up the document type by linking the document type to the template and by adding the data fields to be transferred to the individual bookmarks.
Step A : Create a new Word template
1. From the Start menu, click All Programs > Microsoft Office > Microsoft Office Word.
2. In the new template, add the text and graphics we want to appear in all new documents that we base on the template.
3. Place the cursor where we want to insert data from Microsoft Dynamics AX and then click Insert > Bookmark.
4. Type a meaningful name for the bookmark and click Add.
5. Repeat step 3 through 4 for each bookmark that we want in the template.
6. On the File menu, click Save As.
7. In File name, type a name for the new template.
8. In Save as type, click Document Template, and then click Save.

Note : It is important to use a table where more than one row of data is needed. e.g. if we are expecting to insert more than one invoices for a vendor as shown in the above screen shot. This will help maintain the format when the data is populated by the system. Otherwise the data will be distorted.
Step B : Link the template to a document type
1. Click Basic > Setup > Document management > Document types.
2. Select the document type that we want to link to a template.
3. Click Options.
4. In the Table list, select the table to associate with the template.
5. In the Template file list, type the path to the template file or use the browse button to locate the file on the computer or network.
Class description: Create Word document via COM
Group: Document
Step C : Add bookmark information to table fields
1. Click the button “Option”.. In the Options form, On overview tab give the name of the table and path of the template file
select the table that is linked to the template that we want to use.
2. Select the Fields tab.
3. Press CTRL+N to add a field to be transferred.
4. In the Data table list, select a table to get data from.
5. In the Data field list, select the data field to get data from.
6. In Bookmark, type the name of the bookmark we have inserted in the document where the data will be inserted.
7. Select Hard return to insert a line break after the data inserted (optional).
8. Repeat step 3 through 7 to add more data fields to the list.
Note : The table we get the data from does not have to match the table selected on the Overview tab, but the two tables have to be related.
The Document handling feature can only create one letter per invoice.
On Field tab select the AX table and fields as shown below in the screen shot . For each field give the Bookmark from the template.

Step D : Test the report
Go to vendor master and select a vendor whose invoices have been pending / on hold.
Click document handling button. In document handling click the Button New and select the document type created in previous Step B.
A word document will be created with data for the vendor
Verify the data on the document. Note that the invoice number date and amount fields are nicely aligned . If the bookmarks had not been in a table in the template then the invoice details would have been distorted. ( try using a template with bookmarks without table and see yourself )

I hope the above will be of help to many AX consultants in avoiding a few report customisations.

вторник, 18 мая 2010 г.

Using AIF web services with multiple AOS instance installed in single computer

Problem:
If we have multiple AOS’s, how the business connector works is, Business connector will log on to Microsoft Dynamics using the first available configuration from the registry and use it.

For example if we have AOS-I and AOS-II and in registry the active one is AOS-II.

But we want to work with AOS-I, like using AIF –Web Services and Enterprise Portal. How we can achieve this problem?

Solution is here:

Create the client configuration file for AOS-I and save it in local disk.
Second AIF on the same box:
Duplicate the "shared directory" and create the associate web site on ISSConnect the client to the desired AOS instance and configure.Setup AIF web site in AX Basic ->Setup -> AIF -> WebSitesUpdate web.config file for AIF site

For AIF Web Services: Go to the IIS àWeb sites à Default websites àMicrosoft DynamicsAxAif50
Find the web.config file and open for edit and add following lines by finding the tag in that config file.

For EP: Go to the IIS and select the corresponding virtual folder for the share point portal and select the web.config file for edit and add the following lines to that web config file.

In this way, we can work with selective AOS, even though we have multiple AOS’s.

четверг, 7 января 2010 г.

Oracle Primavera® P6™

Overview
Primavera is a project management product that is implemented using client/server architecture with a centralized project database. It can be used to manage projects, resources, and methodologies. It consists of the following components: Project Management Client Module; Methodology Management Client Module; Web Access Application Server; Web Client Module; Timesheet client application; Group Server (Timesheet server); Integration API.

Architectural Information
Primavera is intended to be used to plan and control projects. Project data is stored in a central project management database that is located in the IT environment. The TOE provides the following specific capabilities.

Project management—allows users to plan and control projects. Project management capabilities include centralized resource management, including resource timesheet approval and the ability to communicate with project resources via web-based timesheet interfaces

Methodology management—allows users to author and store methodologies, which are also called project plan templates. Methodology management capabilities include providing the ability to define project management methodologies, which are called ―best practices‖, and store them in a central methodology management database

Timesheets—allows users to enter and track time in a timekeeping system. Team members use timesheets to enter information for assignments across projects, including recording time against a project.

Subsystems:

Project Management subsystem—used to plan and control the projects, resources and methodologies defined within the TOE

Timesheet subsystem—allows users to enter and track time in a timekeeping system
Web Project Management subsystem—provides user interfaces to access project management and timesheet review/approval functions

Integration subsystem—provides the user with Java language interfaces to the TOE’s business rules and underlying database

Database subsystem—provides an internal interface for interacting with the database

The Project Management subsystem comprises the Project Management Client Module and the Methodology Management Client Module. These are ―heavy‖ clients that execute as applications in user space in a Windows operating system environment. They use DbExpress in the IT environment to establish database connections to the centralized database (also in the IT environment). The Project Management Client Module loads all the projects that the user is authorized to access and enforces controls on the operations the user is authorized to perform on specific project data. Similarly, the Methodology Management Client Module loads all the methodologies the user is authorized to access and enforces controls on the operations the user is authorized to perform on specific methodology data. Additionally, both the Project Management and Methodology Management Client Module enforce restrictions on the security management capabilities available to users.
The Timesheet subsystem comprises the Group Server and the Timesheet Java Application Module. The Group Server executes as a Windows Service on a Windows operating system and provides the server side component of the Timesheet subsystem. It manages resource security, data integrity and business rules. It connects to the centralized database using ActiveX Data Objects (ADO) in combination with Object Linking and Embedding, Database (OLEDB), both of which are in the IT environment. The Timesheet Java Application Module provides the end-user interface to the Timesheet subsystem and is used to enter time worked against particular tasks.
The Web Project Management subsystem comprises the P6 Web Access Application Server module and the Web Client module. The P6 Web Access Application Server module is the server-based business rule and security engine for the Web Project Management subsystem, providing browser-based access to project management and time approval functions. It is a Java application that is deployed on an application server (in the IT environment) and uses Java Database Connectivity (JDBC) (also in the IT environment) to connect to the centralized database. The Web Client module is the end-user browser-based interface to the Web Project Management subsystem. It comprises Java applets and HTML pages that are presented to the user in the context of a web browser (which is in the IT environment).
The Integration subsystem comprises a single module, the Java Integration API module, which provides a Java programmatic interface to the objects and business rules exposed in the P6 Web Access Application Server module. The Java Integration API module in turn consists of client side and server side libraries. In the evaluated configuration, the client side modules can be installed on the end user’s local computer, while the server side libraries are to be installed on a remote, physically secure server. In this configuration, the Integration subsystem uses Java Remote Method Invocation (RMI) in the IT environment for communication between the client and server sides. As with the P6 Web Access Application Server module of the Web Project Management subsystem, the server side libraries use JDBC to connect to the centralized database.
The Database subsystem comprises a single module, the Primavera Stored Procedures module, which provides mechanisms for automating database tasks, including: stored procedures that
aggregate multiple database commands into atomic behaviors; triggers, indexes, and database integrity constraints; views; and relational table data and LOB data.

SOLUTION SCHEMATIC
The diagram provides a logical overview of the core components and the connections between them.

Core Component Details

Database (Oracle/SQL/SQL Server Express) - Central Database

Web App Server (Tomcat/JBoss WebLogic/WebSphere) - Host for Web Client

Collaboration Server - Document Management and Collaboration for Web Client

Group Server (Win 2000/3 Service) - Application Logic for TimeSheet Module

Job Service (Win 2000/3 Service) - Run defined jobs on project data at specified intervals

Primavera Compression Server - Reduce bandwidth utilisation between database (Oracle only) and Client

The following figure illustrates the relationship between P6
components.

среда, 25 ноября 2009 г.

Data mining

The extraction of hidden predictive information from large databases.
Generally, data mining (sometimes called data or knowledge discovery) is the process of analyzing data from different perspectives and summarizing it into useful information - information that can be used to increase revenue, cuts costs, or both.
Data mining software analyzes relationships and patterns in stored transaction data based on open-ended user queries.

Four types of relationships in data mining:

Classes: Stored data is used to locate data in predetermined groups.

Clusters: Data items are grouped according to logical relationships or consumer preferences.

Associations: Data can be mined to identify associations.

Sequential patterns: Data is mined to anticipate behavior patterns and trends.

Techniques

Artificial neural networks: Non-linear predictive models that learn through training and resemble biological neural networks in structure.

Decision trees: Tree-shaped structures that represent sets of decisions. These decisions generate rules for the classification of a dataset. Specific decision tree methods include Classification and Regression Trees (CART) and Chi Square Automatic Interaction Detection (CHAID) .

Genetic algorithms: Optimization techniques that use processes such as genetic combination, mutation, and natural selection in a design based on the concepts of evolution.

Nearest neighbor method: A technique that classifies each record in a dataset based on a combination of the classes of the k record(s) most similar to it in a historical dataset (where k ³ 1). Sometimes called the k-nearest neighbor technique.

Rule induction: The extraction of useful if-then rules from data based on statistical significance.

http://www.thearling.com/index.htm#wps - Information about data mining and analytic technologies
http://www.statsoft.com/textbook/stdatmin.html - white papers about data mining, etc.

http://www.thearling.com/dmintro/dmintro_frame.htm - data mining introduction presentation

Data schemas

Star schema

The star schema (sometimes referenced as star join schema) is the simplest style of data warehouse schema. The star schema consists of a few fact tables (possibly only one, justifying the name) referencing any number of dimension tables. The star schema is considered an important special case of the snowflake schema.

Model
The facts that the data warehouse helps analyze are classified along different dimensions: the fact tables hold the main data, while the usually smaller dimension tables describe each value of a dimension and can be joined to fact tables as needed.

Snowflake schema

In the snowflake schema, however, dimensions are normalized into multiple related tables whereas the star schema's dimensions are denormalized with each dimension being represented by a single table.

The star and snowflake schema are most commonly found in dimensional data warehouses and data marts where speed of data retrieval is more important than the efficiency of data manipulations.

вторник, 24 ноября 2009 г.

Data Warehouse

Data warehouse is a repository of an organization's electronically stored data. Data warehouses are designed to facilitate reporting and analysis

Data warehouse architecture

Operational database layer

The source data for the data warehouse - An organization's Enterprise Resource Planning systems fall into this layer.

Data access layer

The interface between the operational and informational access layer - Tools to extract, transform, load data into the warehouse fall into this layer.

Metadata layer

The data directory - This is usually more detailed than an operational system data directory. There are dictionaries for the entire warehouse and sometimes dictionaries for the data that can be accessed by a particular reporting and analysis tool.

Informational access layer

The data accessed for reporting and analyzing and the tools for reporting and analyzing data - Business intelligence tools fall into this layer.

Benefits of data warehousing

A common data model which makes it easier to report and analyze information than it would be if multiple data models were used to retrieve information such as sales invoices, order receipts, general ledger charges, etc.
Prior to loading data into the data warehouse, inconsistencies are identified and resolved. This greatly simplifies reporting and analysis.
The information in the warehouse can be stored safely for extended periods of time.
Data warehouses provide retrieval of data without slowing down operational systems.

Disadvantages of data warehouses

Not the optimal environment for unstructured data.
There is an element of latency in data warehouse data.
Maintenance costs are high.
Data warehouses can get outdated relatively quickly.
Duplicate of functionality that must be developed in the data warehouse in the operational systems

вторник, 20 июля 2010 г.

вторник, 18 мая 2010 г.

Using AIF web services with multiple AOS instance installed in single computer

четверг, 7 января 2010 г.

Oracle Primavera® P6™

среда, 25 ноября 2009 г.

Data mining

Data schemas

вторник, 24 ноября 2009 г.

Data Warehouse

What I learned today

Архив блога

Поиск по этому блогу

вторник, 20 июля 2010 г.

вторник, 18 мая 2010 г.

Using AIF web services with multiple AOS instance installed in single computer

четверг, 7 января 2010 г.

Oracle Primavera® P6™

среда, 25 ноября 2009 г.

Data mining

Data schemas

вторник, 24 ноября 2009 г.

Data Warehouse

What I learned today

Архив блога

Поиск по этому блогу

вторник, 20 июля 2010 г.

вторник, 18 мая 2010 г.

четверг, 7 января 2010 г.

среда, 25 ноября 2009 г.

вторник, 24 ноября 2009 г.