EDI: Electronic Document Interchange for Microsoft Great Plains ? Overview for Software Developer/Pr

Microsoft Great Plains - Microsoft Business Solutions accounting and ERP system, originally targeted to mid-size - now, with advancements and increasing reliability of its database - Microsoft SQL Server, Great Plains is attractive solution for large corporation. Big companies usually have purchasing and order processing automation via so-called Electronic Document Interchange or EDI. EDI was introduced long time ago for UNIX systems and in most of the cases appears in the form of Header, Lines and Trailer of predefined fixed position fields.

We would like to give you - programmer, software developer, database administrator the primary clues on producing EDI formatted text from Microsoft Great Plains database. Please, note however that Great Plains here is taken as the example, similar approach will work for other SQL based systems: Navision (SQL Database or C/SIDE database), Microsoft RMS, Solomon as well as Oracle and other non-Microsoft products. In the case of non-SQL system, such as old Great Plains Dynamics, ACCPAC on Pervasive SQL - IDE interface will involve ADO/ODBC or Microsoft Access programming.

1. Sample Query ? The query below uses CAST construction to make the result fixed length and meet the positioning. Plus the unionizing allows to produce Header and Detail in one select statement. Here we are dealing with work Sales Documents

select

case

when b.LNITMSEQ=c.LNITMSEQ+1 and b.CMPNTSEQ=c.CMPNTSEQ+1 then CAST('Header' as char(10))

else CAST('Detail' as char(10))

end

as FIELD0,

case

when b.LNITMSEQ=c.LNITMSEQ+1 and b.CMPNTSEQ=c.CMPNTSEQ+1 then cast(a.CUSTNAME as char(65))

else cast(cast(b.QTYDMGED as decimal(19,5)) as char(65))

end

as FIELD01,

case

when b.LNITMSEQ=c.LNITMSEQ+1 and b.CMPNTSEQ=c.CMPNTSEQ+1 then CONVERT(char(51), a.DOCDATE, 101)

else cast(b.ITEMDESC as char(51))

end

as FIELD03

--Additional fields go here

from SOP10100 a join SOP10200 b on a.SOPTYPE=b.SOPTYPE and a.SOPNUMBE=b.SOPNUMBE join

RM00101 d on a.CUSTNMBR=d.CUSTNMBR

join

(select SOPTYPE as SOPTYPE, SOPNUMBE as SOPNUMBE,

LNITMSEQ

as LNITMSEQ,

CMPNTSEQ

as CMPNTSEQ from SOP10200

union

select SOPTYPE as SOPTYPE, SOPNUMBE as SOPNUMBE, MIN(LNITMSEQ)-1 as LNITMSEQ, MIN(CMPNTSEQ)-1 as CMPNTSEQ from SOP10200

group by SOPTYPE, SOPNUMBE

) c on a.SOPTYPE=c.SOPTYPE and a.SOPNUMBE=c.SOPNUMBE

and ((b.LNITMSEQ=c.LNITMSEQ and b.CMPNTSEQ=c.CMPNTSEQ) or (b.LNITMSEQ=c.LNITMSEQ+1 and b.CMPNTSEQ=c.CMPNTSEQ+1))

left join SOP10106 udf on a.SOPTYPE=udf.SOPTYPE and a.SOPNUMBE=udf.SOPNUMBE

where a.ADDRESS3'Exported' and

a.SOPTYPE=3 and upper(d.USERDEF2)='YES'

order by a.SOPTYPE, a.SOPNUMBE, b.LNITMSEQ asc

2. Mark processed documents - for this reason we use SOP10100.ADDRESS3 field - which was not used in Great Plains Dynamics/eEnterprise version 6.0:

update SOP10100 set ADDRESS3='Exported' where SOPTYPE=3

3. Communication with UNIX EDI Client or Server ? each case requires individual approach. You may have to assign the file directory, exposed to the UNIX system or use old DOS command to move the file, or you can have automatic email. Good idea is to write communication application in your favorite programming language

4. Scheduled DTS Package - you should probably create DTS package to do all the steps: call SQL Query and save it as a file, then call DOS command or simple EXE application - which does communicate with UNIX

Happy programming! if you want us to do the job - give us a call 1-866-528-0577! help@albaspectrum.com

About The Author

Andrew Karasev is Chief Technology Officer in Alba Spectrum Technologies ? USA nationwide Great Plains, Microsoft CRM customization company, based in Chicago, California, Colorado, Arizona, New York, Texas, Florida, Georgia and having locations in multiple states and internationally (www.albaspectrum.com), he is Dexterity, Transact SQL, C#.Net, Crystal Reports and Microsoft CRM SDK developer; akarasev@albaspectrum.com

---

Beware of The Pirated Software E-Mail Scams!

You have gotten those E_Mails buy software at deep discounts.... Read More

PHP On-The-Fly!

IntroductionPHP can be used for a lot of different things,... Read More

Free Microsoft Word Online Training Tutorial Resources

Microsoft Word is one of the most popular office applications... Read More

Monitoring Software Can be Used for Spying as Well

We all already got used to computer monitoring both at... Read More

Microsoft CRM Programming Secrets ? Tips For Developers

This article is for advanced Microsoft CRM SDK C# developers.... Read More

Microsoft Great Plains Upgrade ? Things to Consider and FAQ

If you have Microsoft Great Plains and support it for... Read More

Microsoft Blues

With the advent of 'Service Pack 2' for Windows XP... Read More

Selecting Microsoft Great Plains Partner/VAR/Reseller: ERP Implementation & Customization ? Overview

In the case when you represent mid-size or mid-size-to-large business,... Read More

Design a Web Album Using Adobe Photoshop- Part 2

So let's begin crunching down these 300 images using Adobe... Read More

Microsoft CRM Conversation Gateway: VoIP - Implementation & Customization

Microsoft CRM is winning market share step-by-step from such the... Read More

International Support - Microsoft Great Plains VAR/Partner Selection ? Overview for V.P. IT

Looks like Microsoft Great Plains becomes more and more popular,... Read More

Most Common Ways to Accumulate Spyware (where It is Downloaded to Your PC)

It is possible that if one avoided all sources of... Read More

Reporting for Microsoft Great Plains/Dynamics/eEnterprise: RW ? ReportWriter ? Tips for Developer

Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains is written in Great Plains... Read More

Microsoft Great Plains: Dexterity vs. eConnect ? FAQ

Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains, former Great Plains Software Dynamics/eEnterprise... Read More

Microsoft Great Plains SOP: Sales Order Processing

Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains is marketed for mid-size companies... Read More

Destination: Desktop for Google

First we had the original Google search that evolved into... Read More

Groupware: Answers the 5 Questions of Document Collaboration

Every organization which creates collaborative documents, whether they are budgets,... Read More

QuarkXpress Tips: How to Move Content Between Print and Web Layouts

Since its release in 1987, QuarkXpress had made an immediate... Read More

Artificial Intelligence And Intuition

The intuitive algorithm.Roger Penrose considered it impossible. Thinking could never... Read More

OLAP, An Alternative Technology Over Spreadsheets

Are Spreadsheets Robbing your Enterprise of Competitive Advantage?'90% of "average"... Read More

When is a Software Engineer Not a Software Engineer?

The title of "software engineer" has got to be among... Read More

Oracle Development: JDeveloper 10G ? Java, J2EE, EJB, MVC, XML - Overview For Programmer

In 2004 Oracle, Inc. made its new step toward J2EE... Read More

Microsoft Great Plains Subcontracting ? Overview for Microsoft Business Solutions Partner

Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains is very popular ERP/MRP applications... Read More

3 Reasons Why Medical Billing Software is Leading the Way

Since technology changes so quickly, it is hard to begin... Read More

CRM 101: Customer Relationship Management for Beginners

Customer Relationship Management, abbreviated "CRM," is the term for a... Read More

IT Strategy for Midsize Business: Microsoft vs. Java, Great Plains & CRM

Midsize business or non-profit organization should decide if one-vendor solution... Read More

Linux Vs. Windows

This article will not attempt to advocate the use of... Read More

A Symons Mark II Function Point Counting Example

I provide, here clear explanations and a count of function... Read More

CROOK: A Methodology for the Refinement of Forward-Error Correction

Table of Contents1) Introduction 2) Related Work 3) Framework 4)... Read More

Groupware: Avoid the Ad Hoc Shuffle

GroupwareEfforts are continually made to manage the unavoidable ad hoc... Read More

Software Piracy

SOFTWARE PIRACY We regularly hear reports... Read More

SQL Administrator Skills Required to Support Microsoft Great Plains

Microsoft Great Plains is becoming more and more popular and... Read More

The Top 5 Wrong Reasons For Not Hiring Testers

Considering whether or not your software company should hire a... Read More