Development Matters Blog

Merit Solutions is proud to announce the development of the Vendors Journal Snap-In for Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009. A leading Microsoft Gold Certified IT consultancy and software development firm specializing in Microsoft Dynamics, Merit Solutions will launch the Dynamics AX 2009 Vendors Journal at Microsoft Convergence 2009 Booth #840.

Today’s business environment requires more on-site visits and time spent out of the office in meetings, and, therefore, off of the network. To optimize the time spent at these meetings, it is essential for your employees to know as much as possible about the history of the relationship and the status of all on-going transactions. Additionally, any commitments made during the meeting need to be accurately recorded for future reference.

The Vendors Journal Snap-In allows an employee to quickly view and capture a complete view of your organization’s relationship with a vendor from data within the Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 system. This data is available to be taken to a meeting in order to view, add to or edit that data all while off of the network. Once back on the company network, the employee can easily update the changes into Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009. The ability to work offline provides your employees many benefits:

• Increase the productivity of meetings, providing access to important information when needed.
• Increase the accuracy of your records by updating them while offline.
• Minimize duplication of effort and possible errors in data entry by uploading changes when online.

The Vendors Journal Snap-In functions by capturing the vendor information in a Microsoft Office InfoPath® 2007 form that pulls the data from Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009. This gives you the ability to capture critical data from the Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 system and then refer to it from within the Office environment whenever offline. Make edits to the profile, and easily update all changes once back in the office.

Stop by Convergence Booth #840 to be one of the first to see the Vendors Journal in action. Be sure to ask our representatives how you can get a copy of the Vendors Journal FREE.

Contact Merit Solutions to request a meeting at Convergence.

About Merit Solutions

Founded in 1999, Merit Solutions, Inc. is a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner and a leading provider of Microsoft Dynamics and custom application solutions. Based in the western Chicago suburb of Wheaton, IL, Merit Solutions is a Certified Microsoft Solution Developer, offering Microsoft Dynamics AX Development services to companies in need of customized software.

http://www.meritsolutions.com/axsnap/

Layers are a hierarchy of levels in the application source code that enable you to make modifications and additions without interfering with the application objects in the next lower level. When you make an object modification on one level, the modification overshadows the object on a lower level. You could, for example, decide to add e-mail information to a standard form. The addition would be saved on your level only. The revised form replaces the standard form. However, you can always return to the original form at the next lower level by removing the new form.

Three customer groups have an interest in adding and modifying application objects:

• Application developers who create the standard application.
• Business partners.
• End users of Microsoft Dynamics AX.

Here are descriptions of the application object layers in Microsoft Dynamics AX:

USR – User – Individual companies or companies within an enterprise can use this layer to make customizations unique to customer installations.

CUS – Customer – Companies and business partners can modify their installations and add the generic company-specific modifications to this layer.

VAR – Value-Added Reseller - Business partners use this layer, which has no business restrictions, to add any development done for their customers.

BUS – Business solution - Business partners develop and distribute vertical and horizontal solutions to other partners and customers.

SL1-SL3 – Certified solutions – Partners certified under the Microsoft Dynamics Industry Solution (MDIS) program distribute their solutions in the SL layers.

HFX – Hotfix – The Dynamics AX team delivers critical hotfixes using the HFX layer.

GLS – Global solution – The Dynamics AX Global Development and Localization team provides a set of GLS layers that contain country-specific functionality for regions in which Dynamics AX is released.

SYS – System – This is the lowest model element layer and the location of the standard Dynamics AX application. Only Microsoft has access to the element definitions at this layer.

Objects defined at higher levels of the stack override objects defined at lower levels of the stack. That means USR Layer Object will cast a shadow on the same object in, for example, the VAR Layer. Objects are stored in a separate file (*.aod) on each layer whenever they are saved from the MorphX development environment client. Element definitions are read from these files and dynamically composed by the Dynamics AX runtime. Object instances are created on either the server or the client based on the model element definition.