Welcome to Microsoft Dynamics AX user assistance. The Microsoft Dynamics AX Help content sets have been streamlined to provide a more efficient approach to accessing and using Microsoft Dynamics AX Help content.

The following Help content sets appear in the Microsoft Dynamics AX product:

  • Microsoft Dynamics AX System and Application Setup

  • Enterprise Portal Administration

  • Microsoft Dynamics AX Applications and Business Processes

System and Application Setup

The Microsoft Dynamics AX System and Application Setup content set contains all of the procedures (administrator, basic, and application) that are needed to set up and configure a Microsoft Dynamics AX implementation from the point of completing the installation to the point at which the system is ready for data entry. Help topics in this content set include the system setup Help topics, as well as a subset of the topics that contain tasks that must be completed before using the Microsoft Dynamics AX applications.

The audience for this content set is primarily system and application-savvy administrators.

Enterprise Portal Administration

The Enterprise Portal Administration content set contains information about configuring sites and security for Enterprise Portal for Microsoft Dynamics AX in an intranet, extranet, or Internet environment. This content set also contains information about configuring and maintaining Enterprise Portal, including how to specify parameters, set up Search, and manage documents.

The audience for this content set is Enterprise Portal administrators who have some familiarity with Microsoft Dynamics AX, Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services or Microsoft Office SharePoint Server, and Microsoft Internet Information Services.

Applications and Business Processes

The Microsoft Dynamics AX Applications and Business Processes content set contains Help topics that map to the business process or business processes for an application or set of applications.

The audiences for this content set are information workers, partners, implementers, and developers. These audiences use this content in order to accomplish or understand specific tasks that are associated with processes.

The Microsoft Dynamics AX Applications and Business Processes content set is organized by functional area and then by business process and business process component tasks. The Help topics include business process information, forms information, conceptual and task-based Help topics, reports information, and a list of country/region-specific topics.

The Microsoft Dynamics AX Applications and Business Processes content set is organized by business process and then by business process component tasks. For each application business process or set of business processes, there is a process flow diagram that represents the business process or set of business processes.

Each functional area contains sections that cover business process information, forms information, conceptual and task-based Help topics, and reports information.

To make country/region-specific content easily identifiable, country/region-specific topics have been identified by using the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) three-letter country/region code in parentheses at the beginning of topic titles for those topics that contain any country/region-specific content. In addition, a list of country/region-specific topics by country/region appears in a separate topic.

Note Note

The following content sets do not map to the new content model organization for this Microsoft Dynamics AX release. The Help content for these content sets is menu-driven as it has been for earlier releases of Microsoft Dynamics AX Help. These content sets are Balanced scorecard, Cost accounting, Product builder, Project, and Questionnaire.

The following sections list and discuss the new table of contents sections in the Microsoft Dynamics AX Applications and Business Processes content set.

Overview topic

The Overview topic for each application or group of applications provides an overview of the application or group of applications and illustrates the business process flow for that application or group of applications.

Setting up and maintaining section

The Setting up and maintaining section contains conceptual and task-based Help topics that support setup and maintenance tasks that are performed when an application is started for the first time or tasks that can be performed throughout a business process, such as adding or modifying a business relation. This section contains a list of forms that support application setup and maintenance tasks.

Information that you need for setting up and configuring a Microsoft Dynamics AX implementation to complete the installation to the point at which it is ready for data entry appears in the System and Application Setup content set.

Working with section

The Working with section contains overviews of each business process component and contains lists of forms that support each business process component. This section is organized by business process component and contains conceptual and task-based Help topics for each business process component.

Reporting section

The Reporting section provides an overview of the report types that are delivered with Microsoft Dynamics AX. Each Reporting section also provides a list of the reports that are delivered for an application.

Terms used in the new content model

Some terms have been introduced in the new content model. The following table lists these terms and their definitions.

Term

Definition

application (also referred to as module)

A discrete area of functionality.

Examples:

  • Accounts receivable

  • Human Resources

business process

Business processes accomplish a task or meet a need that can be accomplished by using an application.

business process component

A constituent element of an application-level business process task.

business process diagram

A process flow diagram that illustrates a business process or a component of the business process.

business process overview

A structured topic that contains all or some of the following elements, depending on the placement of the overview:

  • Business process diagram

  • Conceptual information

  • High-level integration considerations

component

A constituent element of a business process. A component comprises a collection of tasks that supports one element of the business process.

description statement

A statement that appears in a reports table that describes what a report includes.

Example: Summarizes responses to a telemarketing campaign.

overview

A high-level general summary.

usage statement

A statement that appears in a forms table that describes the function or purpose of the form and what the form enables the user to do.

Example: Update customer billing information.