Articles

Home > Software  

Troubleshoot Windows with Task Manager

Task Manager is a Windows system utility that displays thetasks or processes currently running on your computer. Toopen Task Manager, press Ctrl+Alt+Del. The Applcations tablists the applications currently running on your computer.A single application may actually consist of several runningprocesses, and many programs that run in the background arenot listed (you can see icons for some of these programs inthe System Tray). Note: With Windows 98 and Windows Me, Ctrl+Alt+Del willopen Program Manager, which allows you only to closeaplications. However, you can download one of the many TaskManager utilities from the Web. The Processes tab displays a comprehensive list of... Read More

Microsoft Great Plains Upgrade ? Version 8.0 Overview for IT Director/Controller

If you have Microsoft Great Plains as main accounting and ERP system you need to know some technical details on Great Plains version upgrade and what is going on behind the scenes, which options do you have in case of Dexterity, VBA, SQL customizations, ctree/Pervasive migration to MS SQL/MSDE. As of right now it is reasonable to upgrade to Microsoft Great Plains 8.0 Is upgrade required? Not actually, but you have to consider these factors ? Technical Support discontinuation - the old version may not be supported - currently if you are on version 6.0 - support is already discontinued.... Read More

Instant Messaging is a Sweet Way to Communicate

MSN messenger is a pretty cool invention. I mean I'm not really into serious discussions on the email, answers to questions can often take a few days to arrive because people are so busy these days. I've just been 'hooked up' into Messenger and it's really a different kind of communication, quick, simplistic and even humorous with the capability to express your feelings with 'emotion' cartoons. With Messenger you can communicate with a group of close friends or business partners instantly whenever they are at their computer. When a message is received you are informed instantly on your desktop, you... Read More

Reduce TCO: The Java Database Way

TCO (Total Cost Ownership) is the buzzword in today's business world. This metric helps enterprise managers assess direct and indirect costs and benefits derived from their investment on IT components and services. A vital component of overall TCO is database management. All information-centric applications need databases for data storage. Also, the storage demands of small and mid-sized companies are growing rapidly, as more emphasis is given on data backup and long-term archival of data disaster recovery. Embedded databases have arrived in this scenario as a major cost-cutting tool. They help organizations in... Read More

Microsoft Great Plains Implementation ? Overview for IT Director/Controller

What is installation in the language of technology? Installation has server and client sides. Server side - Installation creates security environment (logins) on MS SQL Server or MSDE, creates system database - DYNAMICS and then company databases. All these tasks are performed by Microsoft Great Plains Utilities Workstation side - workstation installation copies the client side application, installs current version of MDAC (we need SQL ODBC driver - please... Read More

Software Companies: Generate New Revenue Streams and Decrease Costs with Custom e-Learning Content

It's no secret that software companies operate in a very competitive space where rivalry is increasingly fierce and where profit margins can be razor thin. New, smaller software companies are sprouting up each month and the leading software companies continually make strong advancements forward leveraging massive cash flow reserves. This cycle makes it difficult for the mid-sized software company to compete because (a) they don't typically have the cash flow necessary to take giant leaps forward in the industry and (b) because they need to continually move forward to stay ahead of the smaller software companies that are vying for... Read More

Cisco CCNA Certification: Becoming A Truly Valuable CCNA.

I've been active in the Cisco Certification track for four years, working my way from the CCNA to the coveted Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert title, and during that time I've conducted job interviews and casual conversations with hundreds of CCNAs and CCNA candidates. The CCNA is an exciting beginning to your Cisco career, but just having the certification simply isn't enough. A recruiter or interviewer isn't going to be impressed just with the cert; you've got to have some real-world knowledge to back it up. I've been down that road myself, and sat on both sides of the CCNA job... Read More

Software Piracy

SOFTWARE PIRACY We regularly hear reports about the cost to the software industry of software piracy, but are the claims to be taken at face value? Statistics are notoriously biased towards what the author is trying to say. Types of Software: There are three basic types of software, although these do have their own subsections, as will be discussed later: 1. Commercial software, purchased with a licence for one or more computers. This generally is coupled with some form of support and regular updates to patch errors etc. Sometimes a new version of the software is... Read More

Microsoft Great Plains Integration with Microsoft Access ? Overview for Developer

Microsoft Business Solutions stakes on Microsoft Great Plains as main Accounting/ERP application for US market. At the same time it seems to be staking on Navision in Europe and has Axapta as high end large corporation market competitor to Oracle, PeopleSoft, SAP, IBM. This article is brief review of Microsoft Great Plains integration with Microsoft Access. This is also applicable to Small Business Manager (which is based on the same technology ? Great Plains Dexterity dictionary - DYNAMICS.DIC and runtime DYNAMICS.EXE) and Great Plains Standard on MSDE or MS SQL... Read More

Microsoft Great Plains Reporting ? Overview for Developer

Looks like Microsoft Great Plains becomes more and more popular, partly because of Microsoft muscles behind it. Now it is targeted to the whole spectrum of horizontal and vertical market clientele. Small companies use Small Business Manager (which is based on the same technology ? Great Plains Dexterity dictionary and runtime), Great Plains Standard on MSDE is for small to midsize clients, and then Great Plains serves the rest of the market up to big corporations. There are several reporting tools available and you definitely need to know which one to use for different types of reports. If... Read More

Crystal Reports for Microsoft Great Plains ? Overview for Developer

Microsoft Great Plains is main accounting / ERP application from Microsoft Business Solutions, targeted to the US market. It serves the whole of vertical and horizontal market: most of the industries and company sizes. Crystal Reports on the other hand is the leader in the reporting software industry and Microsoft is willing to use Crystal as main reporting tool for Great Plains, Solomon, Microsoft CRM, .Net platform, etc. If you are developer who is asked: how do we extend Great Plains ReportWriter with somewhat more sophisticated ? read this and you will have the clues on where to... Read More

How to Upgrade Dexterity Customization ? Tips for IT Manager

If you have Microsoft Great Plains and support it for your company and have light or heavy Great Plains customization, written in Dexterity ? you need to know your options in upgrading Great Plains or migrating it from ctree/Pervasive to MS SQL/MSDE. Great Plains Dexterity is proprietary programming language/environment, which was created in early 1990-th to provide platform / database / graphical interface independence for Mac and Windows based Great Plains Dynamics. Today it is legacy and Microsoft Business Solutions is phasing Dexterity out. However Great Plains 7.5 and even 8.0 is Dexterity based application, so you... Read More

IT Department Skills to Support Microsoft Great Plains and Microsoft CRM

Microsoft Great Plains as ERP and Microsoft CRM as Client Relation Management system is very robust combination and could serve midsize to large corporation as Business System. Being VP IT or IT Director you need to foresee the positions to have in your IT department to do internal MS Great Plains and MS CRM support. Let us give you the directions, based on our research and consulting practice. Microsoft SQL Server Specialist ? we specially do not name this position as MS SQL DBA, because both Great Plains and MS CRM are not very complex from the... Read More

SQL: Querying Microsoft Great Plains ? Overview for Database Administrator/Developer

Looks like Microsoft Great Plains becomes more and more popular, partly because of Microsoft muscles behind it. Now it is targeted to the whole spectrum of horizontal and vertical market clientele. Small companies use Small Business Manager (which is based on the same technology ? Great Plains Dexterity dictionary and runtime), Great Plains Standard on MSDE is for small to midsize clients, and then Great Plains serves the rest of the market up to big corporations. There are several reporting tools available and you definitely need to know which one to use for different types of reports.... Read More

Microsoft CRM Custom Design & Development: SDK, C#, SQL, Exchange, Integration, Crystal Reports

Microsoft CRM is new player on the CRM software market. The whole conception behind CRM seems to be different. In case of traditional CRM software (Siebel, Oracle) - the application was designed with platform independence in mind. Microsoft CRM is dedicated to Microsoft technology and so deploys all the Microsoft tools: Windows Active Directory, Microsoft Exchange 2003/2000, SQL Server, Crystal Reports Enterprise, Biztalk server, Microsoft Outlook, Internet Explorer, Microsoft Great Plains as backend, etc. If you are software developer, database administrator or web designer who is asked: how do we customize Microsoft CRM ? we are giving you... Read More

Cisco Certification: Five Things To Do DURING Your CCNA Exam

There are plenty of articles out there about how to prepare for the CCNA exam. However, there are also things you can do to increase your chances of success on exam day during the most important part of the entire process -- the time that you're actually taking the test. I've taken many a certification exam over the years, and helped many others prep for theirs. Here are the five things you must do on exam day to maximize your efforts. 1. Show up on time. Yeah, I know everyone says that. The testing center wants you there 30 minutes... Read More

Upgrading Great Plains Dexterity Customization ? switching to new technologies: SQL, Crystal, eConne

1. Replace Dexterity cursor with SQL Stored Procedure Dexterity was designed as multiplatform technology (primarily Btrieve, Ctree, SQL Server, potentially Oracle). Dexterity data retrieving mechanism is based on Range start, Range End, Get First and Get Next clauses. It is in fact similar, however a little bit slower to cursors in Transact SQL. Long ranges in Dexterity are good candidates for replacement by SQL stored procedures with update clause. For example, consider to replace following Dexterity code: Range clear SOP_HDR_WORK. Clear 'SOP Type' of table SOP_HDR_WORK. Clear 'SOP Number' of table SOP_HDR_WORK. Range start... Read More

Choose your Java Wisely

Java has come along a long way. Many would agree with this. I did not until the Java 1.5 "Tiger" hit me. The tiger had several new features, and more importantly, it has new syntax. Six major upgrades that the tiger presents are certainly the generics, enhanced for loop, autoboxing (unboxing), improvement on Typesafe enum, Static import and the metadata. Of course there are many more, which can be found at java's official site. Out of these six, at least four would be used in my daily "programming" life. From java 1.1 to 1.4, it seemed more like new frills... Read More

Microsoft CRM Programming Secrets ? Tips For Developers

This article is for advanced Microsoft CRM SDK C# developers. It describes the technique of direct SQL programming, when SDK doesn't have the functionality to do the job.Introduction. Looks like Microsoft CRM becomes more and more popular, partly because of Microsoft muscles behind it. Now it is targeted to the whole spectrum of horizontal and vertical market clientele. It is tightly integrated with other Microsoft Business Solutions products such as Microsoft Great Plains, Solomon, Navision (the last two in progress). Here we describe the technique of creating closed activity-email using MS CRM SDK and direct SQL programming.Imaging something like this.... Read More

Microsoft Great Plains Integration with Legacy Systems ? Overview For Developer

Looks like Microsoft Great Plains becomes more and more popular, partly because of Microsoft muscles behind it. Now it is targeted to the whole spectrum of horizontal and vertical market clientele. Small companies use Small Business Manager (which is based on the same technology ? Great Plains Dexterity dictionary and runtime), Great Plains Standard on MSDE is for small to midsize clients, and then Great Plains serves the rest of the market up to big corporations.If you are developer who is asked: how do we implement Great Plains integration/interface with your legacy or other system ? read this and you... Read More