Creating an alternate report

Creating an alternate report involves changing table relationships for the report prior to making actual changes to the report layout. This is necessary if you use a third-party table with the Microsoft Dynamics GP report. Changing table relationships ensures that the alternate report retains all associated table relationships once you’ve transferred it to your application dictionary using Dexterity Utilities.

To create an alternate report, complete the following steps.

Open your development dictionary using Dexterity and display the report definition for the report you’re customizing.

1. Ascertain the main table for the report.

Note the main table and the table’s first key. For the sample alternate report, this information is in the following table:

2. Duplicate the main table.

Use the Duplicate Utility in Dexterity to duplicate the main table for the report you selected in step 1. Be sure you rename the duplicate table differently from the original table. In the sample alternate report, the duplicate table is IG_Customer_MSTR.

3. Change the display name of the duplicate table.

Open the Table Definition window for the table you duplicated in step 2 and change its display name so the name isn’t the same as the original table.

4. Create a new table relationship.

Click Relationships to open the Table Relationship window, then click New. Using the Table Relationship Definition window, define a relationship between the duplicate table and the main table.

Once you’ve defined the relationship for the duplicate table and original table, define additional relationships between the duplicate table and any third-party tables you want to add to the relationship.

Since the sample alternate report displays contact history information, an additional relationship must exist between the duplicate (primary) table (IG_Customer_MSTR) and the secondary third-party table (IG_Contact_History_MSTR).

Once you’ve finished creating relationships, close the Table Relationship Definition, Table Relationship, and Table Definition windows.

5. Ascertain the existing table relationships for the report.

Open the Report Definition window for the report you want to customize and click Tables to display the Report Table Relationships window. Note all the report table relationships that exist for the main table. For the sample alternate report (RM Customer Report), the relationships look like the following:

After you’ve noted the report table relationships, close the Report Table Relationships window.

6. Switch the main table for the report to the duplicate table.

In the Report Definition window, switch the main table for the report from the original table to the duplicate table. A message will appear asking whether you want to change the main table. Click OK. For the sample alternate report, the duplicate table (IG_Customer_MSTR) replaces the original main table (RM_Customer_MSTR).

7. Add table relationships to the new main table.

Click the Tables button and use the Report Table Relationships window to add the table relationships you noted in step 5. For the sample alternate report, relationships must exist for the following tables:

• RM Customer MSTR
• Customer Master Summary
• RM Period Setup
• RM Customer/Class Report TEMP
• Customer Statements E-mail Addresses Temp
• User Language Master

In addition, create new report table relationships for any third-party table(s) you related to the duplicate table in step 4. In the sample alternate report, a new report table relationship for the third-party table IG_Contact_History_MSTR exists for the RM Customer Report. When finished, the report table relationships for the sample RM Customer Report look like the following:

Once you’ve created the report table relationships, close the Report Table Relationships window.

8. Lay out the report

In the Report Definition window, click Layout and make changes to the report layout by adding fields from the third-party table(s) you created report relationships for in step 7.

Once you’ve made all your changes, test the report in a test mode environment. To do this, simply print the report as you normally would. To test the report in a multidictionary environment, follow the instructions in the following section.

Testing alternate reports in a multidictionary environment

Use the following utilities in Dexterity Utilities to build your application dictionary and test alternate reports in a multidictionary environment:

Refer to Packaging Your Application, for information about using Dexterity Utilities to package and install an application in a multidictionary environment.

Documentation Feedback

---