Dynamics AX Sustained Engineering

Improve your chances for fast case turnaround

Carl Gibson — Mon, 13 May 2013 20:21:00 GMT

I’m going to share a few tips and tricks with you on how to improve your chances for getting fast case turnaround times. These are especially important if you are reporting a bug.

Behind the Scenes

What I’m about to reveal is top secret, so don’t share it with anyone outside your immediate team! The diagram in Figure 1 describes the end-to-end workflow that happens when you file a problem report with Microsoft support.

Figure 1 Problem Report End-to-end Workflow

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that if you have discovered a bug and you need a hotfix in the shortest possible time, you have to get your problem report to the Product Group as fast as possible.

Here’s another secret. To ensure the most effective use of the Product Group’s time, they require the 2^nd-level support team to submit problem reports in a special format. We call this format the “Good” Problem Report Template.

We’ve provided an Excel template of the Problem Report Template.

Entry	Comment
ACCURATE, DESCRIPTIVE TITLE?	Does the problem report have an ACCURATE, DESCRIPTIVE TITLE?
PROBLEM DESCRIPTION?	Does the problem report have a business focused PROBLEM DESCRIPTION?
BUSINESS PROCESS/SCENARIO	Does the problem report describe the BUSINESS PROCESS/SCENARIO in an implementation free manner?
IMPACT STATEMENT	Does the problem report have an IMPACT STATEMENT that is short and to the point?
REPRO STEPS, with ACTUAL RESULTS and EXPECTED RESULTS?	Does the problem report have clear REPRO STEPS, with ACTUAL RESULTS and EXPECTED RESULTS?

Figure 2 the 'Good' Problem Report Template

Submitting a request

Use this format when you submit a New Support Request, in the Please tell us about your problem section.

In the Brief subject line field, enter an accurate, descriptive title.

In the Detail of question or problem field, enter the following: Please see attached Problem Report Template.

Submit your problem report template in the Additional file attachments section.

Example 1

Consider the following two problem reports: which has the best chance for a quick turnaround--Problem Report A or Problem Report B?

Problem Report A:

When opening Kanban Schedule Board I get an error. The error is an - Unhandled exception: Unable to cast object of type 'System.DBNull' to type 'System.String'

Problem Report B:

ACCURATE, DESCRIPTIVE TITLE	Error when opening Kanban Schedule Board - Unhandled exception: Unable to cast object of type 'System.DBNull' to type 'System.String'
PROBLEM DESCRIPTION	Error when opening Kanban Schedule Board - Unhandled exception: Unable to cast object of type 'System.DBNull' to type 'System.String'
BUSINESS PROCESS/SCENARIO	The customer does not use Product Dimensions and has disabled them in license configuration to prevent them from being used.
IMPACT STATEMENT	The customer is forced to enable product dimensions in order to use Kanbans.
REPRO STEPS, with ACTUAL RESULTS and EXPECTED RESULTS	1. Unmark the following License Configuration options System administration > Licensing > License Configuration Product dimension – color Product dimension – Configuration Product dimension – Size Click Apply Click Ok Click Yes Click Continue 2. Exit Dynamics AX Client 3. Restart the AOS 4. Relaunch AX Client 5 Open Kanban schdule board window Production Control > Lean Manufacturing > Kanban schedule board Pick any Work cell if prompted Actual Result: Unhandled exception: Expected Result: No Error

Example 2

Consider the following two problem reports: which has the best chance for a quick turnaround--Problem Report A or Problem Report B?

Problem Report A:

Can’t change the category selected in the expense category combo box if it is selected in the Itemization page. Is this a known problem?

Problem Report B:

ACCURATE, DESCRIPTIVE TITLE?	Unable to change the category selected in the expense category combo box in EP once it is selected in the Itemization page
PROBLEM DESCRIPTION?	Once the expense category is selected in the Itemize fast tab in the itemization page it cannot be changed any longer. If you click on the dropdown again, no categories are shown in the lookup, only an OK and Cancel button.
BUSINESS PROCESS/SCENARIO	It is possible to change the category of the itemized line once the line has been added to the itemized lines grid. Therefore it should be also possible to change it before it gets added to the grid, because people might have made a mistake and want to correct it before they add the itemized line.
IMPACT STATEMENT	This causes confusion for users entering expense reports. This is a common scenario.
REPRO STEPS, with ACTUAL RESULTS and EXPECTED RESULTS?	Login to EP Click button "New Expense" Click button "Continue" Enter any string as the Expense Purpose Click button "Add new expense" and select Expense category as "Hotel" Enter the Transaction Date as "Today" Enter the Transaction amount as "70" Click button "Itemize" Select from the lookup Category = Room Service Click on the Category lookup for the second time Actual Result: Not able to select the category for the second time Expected Result: Should be able to select any category for the second time

More Tips

Submitting an additional repro document with screen shots, or a repro video can also greatly speed up our triage process, and the movement of a problem report through the end-to-end process.

A repro video of the issue occurring can also assist the team to run through the scenario during the triage meeting quickly.

Important: Even if you describe the repro steps in detail in a supplemental repro document, or attach a video, you should still summarize the steps in the repro section of the Problem Report Template. Attachments don’t replace repro steps—they just make them easier to understand.

Announcing Cumulative Update 5 for Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 & Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 Feature Pack 1

Archana Prasad — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 01:32:00 GMT

The Dynamics AX In-Market Engineering team released Cumulative Update 5 for Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 (6.0.1108.4316) on April 29, 2013. This release includes all previously released Cumulative Updates for Dynamics AX 2012 plus additional hotfixes and improvements based on feedback from our customers and partners. This cumulative update is applicable for both Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 RTM (6.0.947.0) & Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 Feature Pack 1 RTM (6.0.1108.0).

Before you install this cumulative update package, we recommend that you read Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 Cumulative Update 5 release notes carefully.

For more information on Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 Cumulative Update 5 release, please refer KB2828929.

Announcing Compatibility Certification of SQL Server 2012 and SQL Server 2012 SP1 with Dynamics AX 2009 SP1

Murtaza Chowdhury — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 06:48:00 GMT

Dynamics AX In-Market Engineering Team is proud to announce the following compatibility of released version of Dynamics AX with SQL Server 2012 and SQL Server 2012 SP1.

Required Hotfix with KB Number: 2836535

Microsoft Product	Dynamics AX Versions
SQL Server 2012 and SQL Server 2012 SP1	Dynamics AX 2009 SP1

The System requirements of Dynamics AX 2009 SP1 have been updated.

Follow the Dynamics AX In-Market Engineering blog for the latest updates. For further information, feel free to contact axsect@microsoft.com.

Announcing Compatibility Certification of Windows 8, Microsoft Office 2013 and Internet Explorer 10 with Dynamics AX 2009 SP1

Murtaza Chowdhury — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 21:03:44 GMT

Dynamics AX Sustained Engineering is proud to announce the following compatibility between a released version of Dynamics AX and Windows 8, Microsoft Office 2013 and Internet Explorer 10.

Microsoft Product	Dynamics AX Versions
Windows 8, Microsoft Office 2013 and Internet Explorer 10	Dynamics AX 2009 SP1

The System requirements of Dynamics AX 2009 SP1 have been updated.

Follow the Dynamics AX Sustained Engineering blog for the latest updates. For further information, feel free to contact axsect@microsoft.com.

Announcing Cumulative Update 1 for Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R2

Priyaa Nachimuthu — Sat, 02 Mar 2013 01:53:41 GMT

The Dynamics AX Sustained Engineering released Cumulative Update 1 for Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R2 on February 25, 2013. This cumulative update is available via Partner Source and Customer Source.

Cumulative Update 1 contains a number of hot fixes and improvements based on feedback from our customers and partners.

For more information on Cumulative Update 1 for Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R2 release, inclusive of the release notes and how to download, please refer to KB2807685.

Announcing Compatibility Certification of Windows 8, Microsoft Office 2013 and Internet Explorer 10 with Dynamics AX 2012

Murtaza Chowdhury — Sat, 02 Mar 2013 00:20:00 GMT

Dynamics AX Sustained Engineering is proud to announce the following compatibility between a released version of Dynamics AX and Windows 8, Microsoft Office 2013 and Internet Explorer 10.

Microsoft Product	Dynamics AX Versions
Windows 8, Microsoft Office 2013 and Internet Explorer 10	Dynamics AX 2012

The System requirements of Dynamics AX 2012 have been updated.

Follow the Dynamics AX Sustained Engineering blog for the latest updates. For further information, feel free to contact axsect@microsoft.com.

Inconsistency in the way financial dimensions default from Purchase Requisitions when editing and transferring to a Purchase Order

Archana Prasad — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 03:56:00 GMT

ISSUE: When a Purchase Order is created from a Purchase Requisition, the financial dimensions are transferred from

the dimensions that were input manually entered on the Purchase Requisition line, if the Purchase Requisition was created with a single line
the dimensions associated to a vendor, if the Purchase Requisition was created with multiple lines

CAUSE: The functionality of transferring Requisition lines to a Purchase Order is optimized in such a way that, if all requirement lines have identical financial dimension combinations, the Purchase Order header will be assigned the same dimension set. However, if the multiple lines do not have the same dimension combinations on all the lines, the business logic will not have a clue as to which financial dimension to pick up from which requisition line. Hence, it falls back on the vendor associated with the Purchase Order and updates the header with the dimensions from the vendor. The dimensions on the header may subsequently be updated manually, if applicable.

The former scenario of applying dimensions from the requisition line, on the Purchase Order header is to support scenarios such as - A certain department is purchasing some equipment and they should have the transportation charges, which are associated to the purchase order header, accounted for, to the same dimensions in the General Ledger. This enables the user to be able to reflect all the actual spending in this context.

Announcing Compatibility Certification of SQL Server 2012 SP1 with Dynamics AX 2012

Priyaa Nachimuthu — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 19:56:00 GMT

Dynamics AX Sustained Engineering is proud to announce the following compatibility between the released versions of Dynamics AX and SQL Server 2012.

Microsoft Product	Dynamics AX Versions
SQL Server 2012 SP1	Dynamics AX 2012, Dynamics AX 2012 R2

The System requirements of Dynamics AX 2012 and Dynamics AX 2012 R2 have been updated.

Follow the Dynamics AX Sustained Engineering blog for the latest updates. For further information, feel free to contact daxsecom@microsoft.com.

Enterprise Portal will not display the packing slip for more than one Sales Order, when packing slip updating the Sales Orders at the same time, unlike rich client.

Archana Prasad — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 04:35:00 GMT

ISSUE: When more than one Sales Order are packing slip updated in rich client, the packing slips associated with the individual Sales Orders can be seen in the packing slip journals. When repeated the same process in Enterprise Portal, the packing slip is displayed only for the first Sales Order.

CAUSE:

If a Form object’s FormTemplate property is ‘ListPage’, it is not possible to change the Interaction Class property of the form in any other layer, besides the layer it was created in. Most of the List Page forms will have an interaction class (which extends the class ListPageInteraction), which can be modified to add any additional logic.

In this scenario, CustPackingSlipJournalListPage Form is the object used in Enterprise Portal and it cannot be edited in any layer higher than SYS. It also does not have an interaction class associated to it, which makes it impossible to add any additional logic to fix this issue.

RECOMMENDATION:

Create a new ListPage Form and associate it to a new interaction class in AX Client and deploy to EP.

Recommendation is to use \Forms\CustPackingSlipJournal\DataSources\CustPackingSlipJour\Methods\init() as reference for implementing the required logic in the new interaction class.

Announcing Cumulative Update 4 for Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 & Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 Feature Pack 1

Brian King - MBS — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 20:58:00 GMT

The Dynamics AX Sustained Engineering team released Cumulative Update 4 for Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 on December 2, 2012. This release includes all previously released Cumulative Updates for Dynamics AX 2012 plus additional hotfixes and improvements based on feedback from our customers and partners. This cumulative update is applicable for both Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 RTM (6.0.947.0) & Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 Feature Pack 1 RTM (6.0.1108.0).

It is recommended to read the release notes prior to installation of Microsoft Dynamics AX2012 Cumulative Update 4 (6.0.1108.2423).

For more information on the Cumulative Update 4 for Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 release, inclusive of the release notes and how to download, please refer KB2765124.