Dynamics GP 2013 New Features - Drill Down Builder | ERP Software Blog

Altico digs into the rarely used Drill Down Builder. Just to be clear, this isn't new functionality in GP 2013. It's there in 2010.

Weekly Dynamic: Drill Down in Dynamics GP

A couple of different question have come up around drilling back in data in Dynamics GP from Microsoft Excel. This came with around exports to Excel from Management Reporter in our CFO special interest group, for example.
Dynamics GP provides an option to drill back into the application via a special hyperlink. So you can drill back into Dynamics GP data from Microsoft Excel, SQL Server Reporting Services, a web page, SharePoint, etc.

• You do NOT have to own Drill Down Builder to make this work. More about that in a minute.
• You DO have to have Dynamics GP open and the logged in user has to have access to the window you are drilling back to.

This second point means that there aren’t any licensing issues around this because you are using a license when you open Dynamics GP.
The basic format looks like this:
dgpp://DynamicsGPDrillBack/?DatabaseInstance=SQL_Instance&ServerName=Server_
name&CompanyID=Database_Name&ProductID=3830&ActionType=OPEN&FunctionName=Drill_Down_ID&Param_Name=Value
Here is a quick example:
I want to open the item inquiry window from an Excel file. I have an Excel file with item number ACCS-HDS-1EAR in cell A2.
I add a formula in cell C2 to do the lookup. It looks like this:
="dgpp://DynamicsGPDrillBack/?DatabaseInstance=&ServerName=mpolino2011&CompanyID=TWO&ProductID=0&ActionType=OPEN&FunctionName=OpenItemNumber&ITEMNMBR="&A2&"&LOCNCODE=WAREHOUSE&CallerID=0&FocusWindow=true"
Before you freak out, lets break it down.

• ="dgpp://DynamicsGPDrillBack/? – this is building an Excel formula (= sign and quotes) with the base drill back URL
• DatabaseInstance= – This is the server instance. If you are not using an instance, nothing goes after the equal sign like you see here.
• ServerName=mpolino2011 – this is the server name
• CompanyID=TWO – this is the company ID. In this case it’s the Fabrikam test company.
• ProductID=0 – This is the product ID from the Dynamics Set file. 0 is Dynamics GP. This would be different if you were drilling down into Project Accounting or something else.
• ActionType=OPEN – This is the action we want to take. It looks like OPEN is the only option.
• FunctionName=OpenItemNumber – This is the function. We want the Open Item Number function.
• ITEMNMBR="&A2&" – Here we get our item number from cell A2.
• LOCNCODE=WAREHOUSE – in optional parameters we set which Warehouse we want to use.
• CallerID=0 – I have no idea what Caller ID does
• FocusWindow=true" – This activated the window but for some reason the window may still be hidden down on the taskbar under the GP icon.
• & – this is used to string the elements together.

A working URL looks like:
dgpp://DynamicsGPDrillBack/?DatabaseInstance=&ServerName=mpolino2011&CompanyID=TWO&ProductID=0&ActionType=OPEN&FunctionName=OpenItemNumber&ITEMNMBR=ACCS-HDS-1EAR&LOCNCODE=WAREHOUSE&CallerID=0&FocusWindow=true
The Hyperlink function in Excel can be used to tied this link with our description.
=HYPERLINK(C2,A2)
The spreadsheet looks like this:

Clicking the link in cell B2 opens the Item Inquiry window for this item and warehouse.

For example, if accounts and balances were exported to Excel from Management Reporter, a user could grab a copy of a URL that was prebuilt and copy into the Excel sheet. This would provide a live link to recipients to allow them to drill back into GP.
The only documentation I’ve found around this is Appendix A of the Smart List Builder User Guide. It’s literally one page long.Based on piecing things together there are number of pre-built drill drowns. If you want to create drills downs to other forms, you need Drill Down Builder.
Jared Hall was kind enough to point out that the views created when installing Smart List Builder (whether you have a license or not) include the hyperlink as a field.

This provides a great shortcut.
We still need more information around:

• Action Type
• Function Name
• Parameter Name

I’ve asked and no one seems to have any additional documentation so if you know of anything please speak up.I checked Accolade’s Builder book and the contents don’t show Drill Down builder.
So I’m looking to build some resources around the dgpp:// hyperlink. If you play with this and have some insights please drop me a note.

Feature of the Day: Drilldown from SQL Reporting Services Reports - Inside Microsoft Dynamics GP

Inside Microsoft Dynamics GP rolls out another feature coming in GP 2010 R2. This time its Drilldown from SQL Reporting Services Reports.

Make sure to check it out along with all of the other great blog posts coming out of the GP Tech Conference in Fargo.

Troubleshooting "General Error" when using Drill-Down Builder - Part 2

Mariano finishes off the solution to my little Drill Down Builder issue in Troubleshooting "General Error" when using Drill-Down Builder.

Troubleshooting "General Error" when using Drill-Down Builder in Dynamics GP

Mariano takes a look at an issue I had with Drill Down builder throwing a General Error. He tackles it in two parts, part one is up now at Troubleshooting "General Error" when using Drill-Down Builder - Part 1. Now my Drill Down Builder demo will work at the GPUG Summit. Whew!

Drill Down Builder Deep Dive

ComputerationDynamics has a nice look at GP 2010’s new Drill Down builder in their GP 2010 Feature #6: Drill Down Builder Deep Dive post.