Dynamics AX 2012 R3 Retail Error when running Distribution schedule job: 'Class RetailCDXChannelSpecificData_AX63 does not exist

Are you getting an error when attempting to run an AX 2012 R3 Retail data distribution scheduler job (Figure 1)? Is it 'Class RetailCDXChannelSpecificData_AX63 does not exist'? Does it look like the one in Figure 2 below? Do you like things actually working correctly? Hey, friend! If your answer was Yes to the questions above, I might be able to hook you up.

To fix the issue, navigate to the Retail Channel Schema (hint: its on the Scheduler job setup in the field 'Retail Channel Schema'. You can right click on this field for the job in question and go straight to the record and form to generate those magic classes the error has told you all about.

NOTE: This process will generate code in AX AOT so you'll want to be in the correct layer/model for this process

When you click 'Generate classes' (Figure 3), you'll be prompted to what it will do (Figure 4) so make sure you are in the right layer and it will generate the classes you need as you'll see in the AOT (Figure 5).

You will need to do the Incremental CIL build after this or you may get weird issues, but I always do a full as I still don't trust the incrementals from earlier experiences.

Figure 1 - Running the Data Distribution Scheduler job manually

Figure 2 - A delightful little nugget of goodness raining on your parade

Figure 3 - The 'Generate classes' button in the Retail Channel Schema form

Figure 4 - The confirmation for generating the scheduler job classes

Figure 5 - The classes generated in the AOT

Figure 6 - Go grab a beer and celebrate. Or get back to work...

Dynamics AX 2012 R3 Retail Error when syncing metadata: 'The table [Table] does not exist'

You may see the error 'The table NoSaleFiscalDocumentTransaction_BRT does not exist' when attempting to sync the metadata via the 'Sync Metadata' (Figure 1) in AX 2012 R3 Retail (Figure 2)

This is because the temporary table for the tables in question need to be run. The '...T' at the end of the error (.._BRT in this case) indicates its temporary for the main table. The tables where these are created are determined through the subjobs for that PJob. So you'll need to do this when you add tables to sync back/forth between the POS and AX.

You generate these temporary tables by clicking on the 'Create staging table' button in the scheduler job form (Figure 3). You only need to do this for 'Pull' type schedule jobs. You can determine which these are via the 'Is Upload' check box. Best practices dictates that your Pjobs should always be named with the prefix 'P-...' if the 'Is Upload' box is checked.

NOTE: When you click 'Create staging table', there are AOT objects created. Make sure you are in the correct layer/model where you want these created.

Upon clicking on the 'Create staging table' button, you will see the information in Figure 4. The tables are created in the AOT. You can verify if you want. Then go back and hit the 'Sync metadata' button and you'll see the successful sync in Figure 5.

Figure 1 - 'Sync metadata' button on the Retail Scheduler parameters

 Figure 2 - The Error thrown when attempting to sync the metadata

Figure 3 - The P-Job with 'Create Staging table' button

Figure 4 - The TempDB tables created from 'Create Staging table' button

Figure 5 - What you see when you successfully sync metadata

Project Madeira Extensions: Extension Marketplace (Microsoft AppSource)

You may need functionality considered 'extra' when using Project Madeira for your implementation. 'Extras' can be considered functionality that is 1) not base to the Project Madeira application and 2) may be business vertical specific.

You can 'extend' your Project Madeira applications by implementing these 'extensions' to your code base. Do this from the main menu in Figure 1 below. From there, you can view the 'Extension Marketplace', as well as navigate to AppSource directly and auto-filter the apps by app (Figure 2). Once in AppSource, you can see all the available apps you can add to your application (Figure 3). 

Figure 1 - Adding extensions to your code base

Figure 2 - the apps you can browse from the Microsoft AppSource store

Figure 3 - The navigation to AppSource, filtered for the specific application

 

Project Madeira

Microsoft has a cloud offering in the SMB space called Project Madeira. It is currently in Beta. There is not estimation as to when it will be Released To Web (RTW). Read the welcome to Project Madeira here: https://madeira.microsoft.com/en-us/documentation/madeira-get-started/ 

You can download the app to your Office365 account. As of July 2016, its fairly basic but it should expand its functionality down the road. There is no plans for on-premise deployment.

Project Madeira is based on Navision and even says 'Navision' when you get a permissions error trying to log into the application [see below].

I see this being positioned into the Quickbooks, GnuCash (my open source preference), and Peachtree area. I can see it eventually going the way of NetSuite and other Cloud-based ERP solutions once the mobile story is more enhanced and functionality is increased.

The program is still in beta so this could change radically by the time the product is released, but I figured it would be good to document where the product is at currently.

Here is the list of actions you can do to date:

• Business Areas
• Finance
• Banking
• Sales
• Purchasing
• Users/General
• emails/logging
• Office Addins
• Financials
• Dimensions
• Account Schedules
• COA and GL
• Receivables
• Automatic Paymnets and reconciling bank accounts
• Collections
• Sales Tax
• Payables
• Payments
• Bank accounts
• year closing
• Sales
• Create Quotes/Sales
• Invoicing
• Selling products
• Correct or cancel unpaid invoices
• Sales returns/cancellations
• Create customers
• Purchasing
• Create POs
• Purchasing products
• Correct or cancel unpaid purchase invoices
• Purchase returns for cancellations
• Create Vendors
• Inventory
• Create Items
• Adjust inventory
• Adjust item costs
• Post inventory cost to GL
• Relationship Management 
• Dynamics CRM connection
• Marketing and Contact Mangement Setup
• Contacts
• Interactions
• Segments
• Sales Opportunities
• Across Business Areas
• Number Sequences
• Extended Texts
• GL Management
• Send Documents by Email
• Use Allocation Keys in General Journals
• Schedule a report to run
• Report Layouts
• Workflows
• Incoming Documents (Manage/Setup/Process)

How to: Create a new Yammer Group on Yammer

From time to time you will need to create a 'group' within your organization. That 'group' will need to talk. I'd suggest doing two things to help in communication: 1) Create a distribution group via email and 2) create a Yammer group. There are more yes, but these two are key.

If you need to create a Yammer Group:

1. Navigate to Yammer
2. Once in your group, you should see a grey bar on the left hand side
3. At the bottom of that bar, you should see a plus sign (+) and 'Create a new group'. 
4. Click and enter the name of the group
5. Add the user to the group. 
6. Let people know in either hte yammer or email distribution group to invite whoever else might be relevant. 

Figure 1 - 'Create a new group' under the Office 365 Yammer Group

Dynamics AX User Group (AXUG) Twitter Promotion Optimization

Here are a few ways to make sure your Dynamics AX User Group (AXUG) tweets on Twitter are viewed by the most people possible:

1. When tweeting about your chapter, include: @AXUG and #AXUG.
2. Follow other AXUG chapter leaders and members of Dynamics Communities
3. Use the following hashtags
1. #MSDynAX - Microsoft Dynamics AX products
2. #AXUG - AX User Group Hashtag
3. #AXUGSummit - The AXUG Summit official hashtag
4. #AXUG<YourCity> - To link specific posts to your chapt
5. Use a # that links to the key topics in your tweets such as #EDI, #Retail, #Manufacturing, #SupplyChain, etc
6. Include other twitter users at the meeting in the tag via '@'

Make sure to follow Scott Steinmetz on twitter at @ScottAXUG

Dynamics AX R3 very large text in modules in RDP

When logging into Dynamics AX 2012 R3 (or other versions) via RDP, you'll sometimes see very large text in the modules and object names (Figure 1). The big text is annoying and doesn't really make navigation a delightful experience.

You can fix it through the below:

• Right click on the Dynamics AX icon on your desktop
• If you don't have an icon, do the following:
• Go to the Start menu
• Type Dynamics AX
• Right click on the icon in the search window results
• Click ' Open File Location'
• Create a shortcut from that Dynamics AX program link to the desktop (right click and create shortcut to desktop, copy paste, etc)
• Select 'Properties' (Figure 2)
• Under 'Compatibility' tab, check the 'Disable display scaling on high DPI settings' checkbox (Figure 3)
• Reopen Dynamics AX via this icon (Figure 4)

Figure 1 - AX with 'big' navigation names

Figure 2 - Right Click on AX icon and select properties

Figure 3 - 'Compatibility' tab and 'Disable display scaling on high DPI settings' box

Figure 4 - The corrected AX navigation