Well, it has taken a little longer than orginally planned, but I am pleased to announce that Menus for Visual Studio Tools build 9 has now been released for Microsoft Dynamics GP 10.0 and Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010 (v11.0).
When Menus for Visual Studio Tools for Microsoft Dynamics GP 10.0 was first released, the plan was that it would only be available for version 10.0. The idea was for menu integration to be added to the next version of Visual Studio Tools for Microsoft Dynamics GP. Due to resource constraints it was not possible to get the functionality built into Visual Studio Tools, so the decision was made to release Menus for Visual Studio Tools for Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010 as well.
We have had a number of requests from developers for Menus for Visual Studio Tools for GP 2010 and told them to watch the blog for a release announcement. So thank you for your patience and ... here it is.
I had originally planned to add some additional functionality to Menus for Visual Studio Tools which would be included in the release for GP 2010 and also rolled back into the GP 10.0 version. The development of these extra features was taking longer than I had planned as I have not been able to put as much time into this project as was needed. So a decision was made to release two builds of the tool. The first release is Build 9 which provides a version compatible with GP 2010, fixes a minor bug (only one person ever hit it) and adds a few extra functions to the API (see below). A possible second release with additional functionality is "planned" for some time in the future, depending on your feedback (see below).
What's New in Build 9
Below is a list of features added to Menus for Visual Studio Tools for both GP 10.0 and GP 2010.
What's Planned for the Next Release
At this stage there may or may not be a next release. We need your feedback to know if the planned features are something that you want and would use. Please have a think about the features listed below and if you want to see them, post a comment on this blog page.
Below are the features that we are thinking of adding to Menus for Visual Studio Tools:
If you would like to see these features, please let us know.
Downloads
Menus for Visual Studio Tools for Microsoft Dynamics GP 10.0 (CustomerSource) - Old linkMenus for Visual Studio Tools for Microsoft Dynamics GP 10.0 (PartnerSource) - Old link
Menus for Visual Studio Tools for Microsoft Dynamics GP 10.0 (CustomerSource)Menus for Visual Studio Tools for Microsoft Dynamics GP 10.0 (PartnerSource)
Menus for Visual Studio Tools for Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010 (CustomerSource)Menus for Visual Studio Tools for Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010 (PartnerSource)
Support Information Technical support for Menus for Visual Studio Tools for Microsoft Dynamics GP 10.0 can be obtained through the standard Dynamics GP Support channels. Information on contacting support can be found in the support area of the MSDN Dynamics GP Developer Center. http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics/gp/bb468042.aspx For customers or partners on a Dynamics specific support plan, please use the following link from CustomerSource or PartnerSource to log a "Visual Studio Tools-Developer Toolkit" case. https://mbs.microsoft.com/support More Information
Support Information
Technical support for Menus for Visual Studio Tools for Microsoft Dynamics GP 10.0 can be obtained through the standard Dynamics GP Support channels. Information on contacting support can be found in the support area of the MSDN Dynamics GP Developer Center.
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics/gp/bb468042.aspx
For customers or partners on a Dynamics specific support plan, please use the following link from CustomerSource or PartnerSource to log a "Visual Studio Tools-Developer Toolkit" case.
https://mbs.microsoft.com/support
For more information, please see these related blog articles:
Menus for Visual Studio Tools for Microsoft Dynamics GP 10.0
Menus for Visual Studio Tools - The wait is over
Additional Note
Menus for Visual Studio Tools is designed to allow a Visual Studio Tools developer to integrated with the commands and menus of the Microsoft Dynamics GP application level menus.
The Additional menu is used when additional menus are created using Dexterity Form triggers or the equivalent AddMenuHandler() method from Visual Studio.
Look at the Chapter 15: Forms of the Visual Studio Tools for Microsoft Dynamics GP Programmers Guide (VSTDGPProgrammersGuide.pdf) for more information on the AddMenuHandler() method.
Please provide feedback using comments on this post. We really want to know if we should put the time and resources into developing the next build.
David
03-Nov-2010: Added information on "Additional" Menu and AddMenuHandler() method.
Posting from Mark Polino at DynamicAccounting.net
msdynamicsgp.blogspot.com/.../menus-for-visual-studio-tools-build-9.html
Excellent work!
The planned features would all be useful for the tighter integration of our product. I assume this means we can skip the additional menus and actually have our own toolbar on specific windows?
I can also see how creating a new navigation pane/area page would be useful for product specific integration rather than being buried inside the default GP menus.
Independent security is also a very useful thing as it would make licencing much easier.
Hopefully the managers will allow us to get these things implemented if the next release is able to happen, would make things look much more slick!
Thanks for the feedback Nigel.
Kudos! This build perfectly complements the functionality of Visual Studio Tools.
With respect to future features, I would respectfully request both Toolbar Integration and Navigation Pane and Area Pages Integration. (Security, while compelling, is easily implemented otherwise.)
Thank you again, David.
It would be great to have the ability to add custom Navigation Panes!
Thanks, David.
We are using Application.MenusForVisualStudioTools.dll (version 11.00.0218.000 ). Is a strong named assembly available? We are in process of getting our ISV solution certified for Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010. Certification guidelines require all assembles to be strong named.
Hi Abhishek
The file version of Application.MenusForVisualStudioTools.dll is 11.0.9.0. And the dll is signed.
The following links should help with the Certified for Microsoft Dynamics process.
mbs.microsoft.com/.../msd_cfmdprocesscallinfo.htm
mbs.microsoft.com/.../msdcertifiedppcon.htm
Hi David,
This tool is very useful, Thank You.
Becasue I have not worked with all the potential menu paths in GP, it would be helpful to have a list of all the potential form references and commands for the forms.
For example when I invoke my form using
MenusForVisualStudioTools.Functions.GetTagByName.Invoke( DYNAMICS, "Command_XXXX", "CL_FXXXXX");
It would be helpful to have al ist of all Form Names and Command Names on the GP menu, do you know where I can get such a list?
Thanks
Sue
I did find the menu list in the Dexterity Integration Guide.
Posting from Ian Grieve from Azurecurve
www.azurecurve.co.uk/.../menus-for-visual-studio-tools-for-microsoft-dynamics-gp-2010
msdynamicsgp.blogspot.com/.../menus-for-visual-studio-tools-for.html
This tool is extremely useful. It takes menu customization away from dexterity-capable-elite and puts it in the hands of the programming masses.
Hi Doug
Thanks for your comment. That is why I created the tool.
Dexterity knowledge is not that hard to obtain and will help any VSTools developer to understand how Dynamics GP works behind the scenes. It is a worthwhile investment.
Hi,
I would love to see the ability to interact with the Action Pane, Nav Lists, etc from Visual Studio.
Thanks,
Aaron
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