Dynamics AX 2012 Excel Add-in - Issues and Solutions (Method UpdateRecIdVisibility not found)

Dynamics AX 2012 Excel Add-in – Issues and Solutions (Method not found: ‘Void Microsoft.Dynamics.AX.Framework.OfficeAddin.DataSourceContainer.UpdateRecIdVisibility(Boolean))

Purpose: The purpose of this document is to outline some issues you may encounter when using Dynamics AX 2012 Excel Add-in for import of data and provide solutions to resolve them.

 

Issue: ‘Method not found: ‘Void Microsoft.Dynamics.AX.Framework.OfficeAddin.DataSourceContainer.UpdateRecIdVisibility(Boolean)’

 

Reason: After you initially install Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R2 Office Add-ins and then install Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R2 CU1 the old Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R2 DLLs related to Office Add-ins may still be present in the file system. The system uses old Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R2 DLLs related to Office Add-ins DLLs which causes this issue

 

Dynamics AX Error

 

For example, on the latest (as of today, April 24, 2013) Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R2 CU1 Demo VM this error occurs when you launch Excel 2013, define connection Options and then try to Add Table or Add Data  

 

Please note that Microsoft Dynamics AX 212 R2 CU1 build number is 6.2.1000.156

 

In fact if you look for UpdateRecIdVisibility method in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R2 CU1 Microsoft.Dynamics.AX.Framework.OfficeAddin.dll assembly you will be able to find it there

 

So the real problem is in the fact that the system uses old Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R2 Microsoft.Dynamics.AX.Framework.OfficeAddin.dll assembly instead of new one

 

Please note that Microsoft Dynamics AX 212 R2 build number is 6.2.158.0

 

And if you check the version of Microsoft.Dynamics.AX.Framework.OfficeAddin.dll assembly

 

in C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\assembly\GAC_MSIL folder

 

You will see that it’s 6.2.158.0 which corresponds to Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R2

 

Solution: Please delete highlighted above Microsoft.Dynamics.AX.Framework.Office.Addin folders in C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\assembly\GAC_MSIL folder to get rid of old versions of DLLs   

 

If you get a message that Microsoft.Dynamics.AX.Framework.Office.Addin.dll is being used by another process when you try to delete it, please stop Microsoft Dynamics AX AOS and try again

 

Result: As the result you will be able to Add Tables and Add Data in Excel workbook

 

Options

 

Add Tables

 

Field Chooser

 

Specials Thanks is for Chris and Jason for helping to resolve this issue

Please check out Chris’ blog for more interesting articles here: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/chrisgarty/

 

Tags: Dynamics ERP, Dynamics AX 2012, Excel, Dynamics AX 2012 Excel Add-in, Data Import, Data Conversion, Data Migration, Application Integration Framework, Issue, Problem, Solution, Resolution.

 

Note: This document is intended for information purposes only, presented as it is with no warranties from the author. This document may be updated with more content to better outline the issues and describe the solutions.

 

Author: Alex Anikiev, PhD, MCP

 

 

Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 Excel Add-in – Questions and Answers (Business Logic)

Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012

Excel Add-in – Questions and Answers (Business Logic)

 

Purpose: The purpose of this document is to provide answers to frequently asked questions related to Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 Excel Add-in.

 

Question: How can I execute additional business logic using Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 Excel Add-in?

 

Answer: Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 Excel Add-in uses AIF Web Services for publishing the data into Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012. In order to automate certain processes or execute additional business logic you can override updateNow method in appropriate AIF Document class and implement necessary business logic in X++. In this document to illustrate main concepts I will use General journal (LedgerGeneralJournalService) and Customer Payment journal (LedgerCustPaymJournalService) Web Services in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012.

 

Details

 

Every AIF Web Service has corresponding Document class in AOT, usually these classes are prefixed with Axd. For example, General journal Web Service Document class is AxdLedgerGeneralJournal class and Customer Payment journal Web Service Document class is AxdCustPaymJournal class. Focusing on Business Logic aspect in this investigation we'll take a closer look at Framework classes implementing create and update operations.

 

Classes\AxdBaseCreate\Methods\deserializeDocument

 

Call Stack:

<![if !supportLists]>-          <![endif]>Classes\AxdBase\Methods\updateNow

<![if !supportLists]>-          <![endif]>Classes\AxdBaseUpdate\Methods\postProcessDocument

<![if !supportLists]>-          <![endif]>Classes\AxdBaseUpdate\Methods\deserializeDocument

<![if !supportLists]>-          <![endif]>Classes\AxdBaseCreate\Methods\createDocumentList

<![if !supportLists]>-          <![endif]>Classes\AxdBase\Methods\createList

<![if !supportLists]>-          <![endif]>Classes\AifDocumentService\Methods\createList

 

Classes\AxdBaseUpdate\Methods\postProcessDocument

 

Call Stack:

<![if !supportLists]>-          <![endif]>Classes\AxdBase\Methods\updateNow

<![if !supportLists]>-          <![endif]>Classes\AxdBaseUpdate\Methods\postProcessDocument

<![if !supportLists]>-          <![endif]>Classes\AxdBaseUpdate\Methods\deserializeDocument

<![if !supportLists]>-          <![endif]>Classes\AxdBaseUpdate\Methods\updateDocumentList

<![if !supportLists]>-          <![endif]>Classes\AxdBase\Methods\updateList

<![if !supportLists]>-          <![endif]>Classes\AifDocumentService\Methods\updateList

…

 

updateNow method in Document class will be executed as a last step (post-processing) after AIF message processing which allows you to execute additional business logic

 

For example, after General journal will be created or updated via General journal Web Service certain fields such as Journal balance, etc will be updated

 

Classes\AxdLedgerGeneralJournal\Methods\updateNow

 

For comparison in Rich Client when you post General journal Journal balance update is triggered from Form in "Validate" (and "Post") button clicked method

 

Forms\LedgerJournalTransDaily\Designs\DesignList\ButtonCheckJournal\Methods\clicked

 

Another example is Customer Payment journal when after its creation or update in certain scenarios it may be necessary to generate Settlements against Customer invoices

 

Classes\AxdCustPaymJournal\Methods\updateNow

 

Typical requirement for automation is when you need to automatically post General journal after its successful creation. Please see below how you can implement this requirement in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012

 

LedgerJournalPost::postJournal(LedgerJournalTable, false);

 

Classes\AxdLedgerGeneralJournal\Methods\updateNow

 

If you face with this requirement I'd also recommend introducing dedicated parameter in UI to control whether it's required or not to automatically post General journal when General journal AIF Web Service is invoked

 

Once you change necessary Document class please generate CIL because all AIF Web Services related code in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 is executed in CIL on the server

 

Please also note that if you use Tables (Add Tables) in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 Excel Add-in the system will use Generic Document Web Service at the back-end

 

Version: Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R2

 

Tags: Dynamics ERP, Dynamics AX 2012, Excel, Dynamics AX 2012 Excel Add-in, Data Import, Data Conversion, Data Migration, Application Integration Framework, Question, Answer, Business Logic.

 

Note: This document is intended for information purposes only, presented as it is with no warranties from the author. This document may be updated with more content to better outline the issues and describe the solutions.

 

Author: Alex Anikiev, PhD, MCP

Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 Excel Add-in – Questions and Answers (Validation Logic)

Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012

Excel Add-in – Questions and Answers (Validation Logic)

 

Purpose: The purpose of this document is to provide answers to frequently asked questions related to Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 Excel Add-in.

 

Question: How does Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 Excel Add-in implement Validation Logic?

 

Answer: The way the system implements Validation logic in Excel Add-in varies depending on AIF proxy classes implementation for particular business entities. In this document to illustrate main concepts I will use General journal (LedgerJournalTrans) business entity in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012. Also some special controls for interactive validation are provided in Excel Add-in for certain types of information, for example, financial dimensions combinations.

 

Details

 

LedgerJournalTrans Table in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 has corresponding AxLedgerJournalTrans AIF Proxy class. All AIF Proxy classes extend AxInternalBase class. AxInternalBase class in its turn implements some core methods related to data manipulation. One of core methods in AxInternalBase class is doSave method. Focusing on Validation logic in this investigation we'll take a closer look at validateFields and validateWrite methods where Validation logic is usually implemented.

 

General journal

 

Rich Client

 

Out-of-the-box in Rich Client on a Form when you change the value for certain field and move the focus to another field the system does auto-save of record and at this time the validation is performed

 

For example, if Currency value is changed on General journal line the system may throw validation error

 

In this particular case X++ validation logic was executed and as the result the user will see the following error

 

Call stack:

<![if !supportLists]>-          <![endif]>Classes\LedgerJournalEngine\currencyModified

<![if !supportLists]>-          <![endif]>Forms\LedgerJournalTrandDaily\Data Sources\LedgerJournalTrans\Fields\CurrencyCode\Methods\modified

 

In some cases validation errors may be caused by data model itself and not X++ validation logic

 

"The currency ALX does not exist" was caused by Relation between Currency and LedgerJournalTrans Tables

 

Tables\LedgerJournalTrans\Relations\Currency

 

X++ validation logic related to LedgerJournalTrans Table can be found in validateField and validateWrite method. validateField is executed when any field is changed and validateWrite method is executed for the entire record upon save 

 

Tables\LedgerJournalTrans\Methods\validateField

 

Tables\LedgerJournalTrans\Methods\validateWrite (validateWrite_Server)

 

Call Stack:

<![if !supportLists]>-          <![endif]>Tables\LedgerJournalTrans\ Methods\validateWrite

<![if !supportLists]>-          <![endif]>Forms\LedgerJournalTransDaily\Data Sources\LedgerJournalTrans\Methods\validateWrite

<![if !supportLists]>-          <![endif]>Forms\LedgerJournalTransDaily\Data Sources\LedgerJournalTrans\ Methods\leaveRecord

 

The principal difference between Rich Client and Excel Add-in is that in Rich Client some code is executed on the client which allows for interactive data validation (stateful behavior) and Excel Add-in will have to go through formal AIF interface every time the data is published into Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 (stateless behavior). Please note that when you deal with Form in Rich Client you already deal with predefined dataset as opposite to Excel Add-in where you have to define your dataset first. That's why in Rich Client it's possible to execute Validation logic from Form interactively.

 

Excel Add-in

 

AxLedgerJournalTrans AIF Proxy class implements Validation logic in validateField and validateWrite methods

 

Classes\AxLedgerJournalTrans\Methods\validateField

 

Classes\AxLedgerJournalTrans\Methods\validateWrite

 

Please note that validateField and validateWrite methods in AxLedgerJournalTrans AIF Proxy class will eventually trigger validateField and validateWrite methods in LedgerJournalTrans Table

 

Currently out-of-the-box in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R2 (September CTP) LedgerGeneralJournalService Web Service and LedgerJournalTrans Table can't be used due to error shown below

 

General journal – Add Data (LedgerGeneralJournalService)

 

General journal – Add Tables (LedgerJournalTrans)

 

That's why for the sake of General journal Validation logic demo I'll use Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 FPK

 

Example of X++ validation logic error

 

Before publishing

 

After publishing

 

Example of data model validation logic error

 

Before publishing

 

After publishing

 

Excel Add-in also provides special controls for interactive validation for certain types of information. For example, financial dimension combination may be validated using "Select dimension attribute values" control

 

 

 

Please note that Segmented control in Rich Client shows different value lookup (Ledger account, Vendor, Customer, etc} depending of Account type = {Ledger, Vendor, Customer, etc}, however corresponding "Select dimension attribute values" control in Excel Add-in is only tailored for Ledger accounts 

 

Versions: Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R2, Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 FPK

 

Tags: Dynamics ERP, Dynamics AX 2012, Excel, Dynamics AX 2012 Excel Add-in, Data Import, Data Conversion, Data Migration, Application Integration Framework, Question, Answer, Validation Logic.

 

Note: This document is intended for information purposes only, presented as it is with no warranties from the author. This document may be updated with more content to better outline the issues and describe the solutions.

 

Author: Alex Anikiev, PhD, MCP