ArcherPoint Dynamics NAV Developer Digest - vol 199
The NAV community, including the ArcherPoint technical staff, is made up of developers, project managers, and consultants who are constantly communicating, with the common goal of sharing helpful information with one another to help customers be more successful.
As they run into issues and questions, find the answers, and make new discoveries, they post them on blogs, forums, social media…so everyone can benefit. We in Marketing watch these interactions and never cease to be amazed by the creativity, dedication, and brainpower we’re so fortunate to have in this community—so we thought, wouldn’t it be great to share this great information with everyone who might not have the time to check out the multitude of resources out there? So, the ArcherPoint Microsoft Dynamics NAV Developer Digest was born. Each week, we present a collection of thoughts and findings from NAV experts and devotees around the world. We hope these insights will benefit you, too.
Systems Models: A TED Talk
Jon shares, “Designing anything, simplified.”
Have a Wicked Problem? First, Tell Me How You Make Toast
Matt replies, “I do a similar thing with the interns during boot camp. I have them write the steps to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich (or a Pop-Tart sometimes). It is designed to bring out assumptions and how programs do not do anything the developer doesn’t tell them to do (like twist a lid with your right hand counterclockwise until it comes out…a repeat until loop). Maybe I’ll bring this in next year.”
Jon responds, “Awesome!”
Is a Dynamics NAV Single-Instance Codeunit Created Once Per User?
Kyle asks, “Is a single-instance codeunit created once per user, or once per service tier?
Matt T. answers, “Once per user session unless something has changed recently.”
Kyle states, “I just wanted to confirm that if I run a codeunit, and then you come along and run the same codeunit, you do not see my global variable values.
It makes no sense that it would be for the whole service tier, because that would create a bizarre boundary if you have more than one NST. But I thought I would ask.”
Matt replies, “I think it’s a valid question, especially given how service tiers share and cache data between themselves.”
Creating a Master Company in Microsoft Dynamics NAV
Jodi wants to know, “Has anyone designed a ‘Master Company” in NAV?
I have a customer that has multiple companies in the database, most share the same GL accounts and Vendors. The idea and requirement for a customer is to have a ”Master Company” that would be used to create other new companies but more importantly to be the central location for all existing and new Master records. When a new GL or Vendor is added to the Master Company, you would have the option to “push” that new record to the other companies in the same database. New Master records would only be created in the Master Company. The GL accounts would stay consistent across all companies providing for easier roll-up financial reporting. Regarding Vendors, for example, the ABC Company would be V-000100 across all of the companies. This would allow for reporting across all companies to see the total spent for this one vendor to provide Finance the knowledge for pricing negotiations and analysis.
If this is something you have done or are aware of please send me an email, I would love to discuss with you rather than reinventing the wheel from scratch.”
Venessa answers, “There are two options here, which I believe work well in version 2017 and 2018:
- Create a Master Template for Company creation. This would have the system setups and possibly the COA if they are used by all companies. This company would not have Master Records such as Vendors or Customers, but be used as a template (golden) for creating new companies. No posting or transactions would be done in this company, as it is just a template.
- Master (Data) Company for Vendors/Customers/Items etc. This company could be created from the above and would house the Master Records. All Master Data would be setup in this company. The options to move records to another company can be done in one of two ways:
- The records would be pushed to another company from the Master Data Company or
- They can be pulled from the Master Data Company to the other companies.
I like the pull process, as it allows the setup to be selected, so only those Master Records applicable would be pulled into the new company. New Master Records cannot be created in any company but the Master Data Company.”
Joe Shields adds, “Hi Jodi, I have done this as Vanessa described, but slightly different. I created the template company that has all the setups, etc. but then for the Master Data I created rapid start packages to import the required data to the new company after creating it.”
Feel free to share your ideas in the comments below.
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Read the “How To” blogs from ArcherPoint for practical advice on using Microsoft Dynamics NAV, and contact ArcherPoint if you need assistance with Dynamics NAV.