Report Writer configurations

Two common configurations are used with the Report Writer. One configuration has the reports dictionary stored locally on each workstation. In the other configuration, the reports dictionary is stored in a network location accessible by all workstations.

Storing the reports dictionary locally

In this configuration, each workstation has its own reports dictionary. Typically the reports dictionary is stored in the Data folder for the Microsoft Dynamics GP installation. This configuration is also used for single-user installations. This configuration has the following advantages:

Each workstation can have its own unique set of new and modified reports.
Users can access the Report Writer at any time.

It has the following disadvantage:

New and modified reports can’t easily be shared by multiple users. This issue can be partially resolved by making modifications on one workstation and then distributing the modifications to other workstations.

Storing the reports dictionary on a network

In this configuration, one reports dictionary is stored in a network location that can be accessed by each workstation. This configuration has the following advantages:

The same new and modified reports are available to all users.
Any new reports or modifications users make are available to other users.

It has the following disadvantages:

Only one user can access the Report Writer at one time.
All workstations are dependent on a single reports dictionary. If this dictionary is not available or becomes damaged, all users are affected.
Users can’t have different sets of new or modified reports.

The configuration you choose depends on how many reports you want to modify, whether individual users will be creating new reports or modifying existing reports, and how you want to share new and modified reports among users.