A lot of times you have some interface to Axapta
and want to upload data from a text file and post the journals into
Axapta.
For e.g.
"We are interfacing a Payroll system with Axapta. A text
file will be generated from the Payroll system containing one line
ledger a/c Dr. and 2nd line bank a/c cr.
But the journal number and Voucher number should be generated by
Axapta."
What do you do in this case? Write a lot a lot
and lot of code. For eg. creating ledger journal table, ledger journal
trans, getting the journal number and voucher numbers, calling the
code that posts the journal etc etc etc. That's a lot of code. Further,
this code is not upgrade proof, something changes in the next version
and you do not notice it, poofs your journal is being posted with the
wrong data.
Do you know there is a simple way around?
Just run an instance of the form, hide the form
from the user and manipulate it in the back ground. The zip file contains a txt file that has the following line
11005,2,11010
basically you want to post a line in journal
debiting '11005' and crediting '11010'.
The zip file also has a xpo file containing a
class and a menu item, import this into standard axapta, run the menu
item, specify the file to be uploaded (the file mentioned above) and
check the posted journals.
Now check the code in the xpo file, its
unbelievably simple, there is not a lot of code and its upgrade proof.
cheers!
******************************************************
What
follows is transcript of an email questioning the basics of this
project and my answer to this email
My
answer aptly describes the philosophy behind this site. Please do let
me know if you do not agree with anything on my site.
******************************************************
Q. Why
is this project not done through code and classes? Simply, it not the
best of practices to load a form, hide it, and then manipulate the
form. It's better to work with classes, and tables directly when doing
such a task.
A. trust me, sometimes its better to do such
upload thingys thru hidden forms.
The biggest advantage is that you do not have write a
lot of code and it becomes completely upgrade proof.
Further, you are always sure that all the validations
that are associated with the table are always performed. This is so
because practically speaking you are emulating what a user does when
he creates the journal manually.
I have upgraded about 20 Axapta systems so far and upgradeability
for me has the highest priority than anything else.
Coming back to best practices. I always prefer to
follow best practices, but you have to understand that best
practices is something that is 100% applicable to code written by
Microsoft. When it comes to partners, sometimes you have to deviate
from best practices.
A partner never has enough testing resources. If you
write the code as above then you have to do a lot less testing
compared to the code that actually invokes the classes.
There is one more scenario where the code I have
written will be applicable:
(I have actually written this code for someone). My client wanted
real transfer journals between warehouses (not the instantaneous one
in Axapta). In this case the only choice I had was to create a
completely new module. But I used the 'hidden form' concept
like this:
Create a new table with fromwarehouse -
interimwarehouse - towarehouse - quantity
Create a new table holding two lines
1st line from warehouse - interimwarehouse - date of
transfer
2nd line interimwarehouse - towarehouse - date of
transfer
At this point of time I linked the two lines to
normal inventory transfer journals (a separate journal for each
line) and used hidden forms to emulate the functionality.
There was no way I could write an entire module for
this functionality (from upgradeability point of view). But this way
it was a piece of cake, 8 hours of programming and I could deliver
exactly what the client wanted.
Last but not the least: I never
expect that code on this site will go live, it is meant to
give new direction in which one can think. I Hope it serves the
purpose.
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Version 1
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I received a lot of emails asking me how to
manipulate data in the table that is not returned via datasource()
method on the form.
I also discovered a bug where the modified method
on the field is not being called automatically. I remember fixing this
issue long time back but somehow cannot get this done this time (do
not have a lot of time to spend on this). However, I have fixed this
issue in a round about way.
I also received an
email asking me how to assign journal name if its not specified in the
data being uploaded.Remember that you are emulating exactly what a
user does if he creates a journal manually. So in this case give a
dialog box to user asking him to select the journal.
Import
this xpo file into v3s3 system with demo data. The project will create
inventjournaltable and then inventjournaltrans (of type profit and
loss). It will assign good old "B-R14
" , quantity of 10, warehouse "MW" and
post the journal.
Cheers!
