RoleTailored

Benchmarking Results: NAV 2013 Outperforms All Previous Versions

  • Reading time:17 mins read

imageMarketing is nice as long as it matches the reality. With Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2013, Microsoft has promised a lot of improvements, but how well does NAV 2013 stand the reality test?

Apparently, outstandingly well.

Over the past two days, I have intensively tested NAV 2009 and NAV 2013 through a series of five different tests that measure different aspects of NAV data handling. My conclusion is clear: NAV 2013 is faster than any NAV you have ever seen, including the Classic client on the native database.

Continue reading to find out more about my findings and testing approach.

Continue ReadingBenchmarking Results: NAV 2013 Outperforms All Previous Versions

Status of Stratus

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Stratus - an actual screenshot of the Role CenterI’ve been asked too many times why I am not blogging more about Stratus, the web client for NAV developed by my company. People really want to know about it, and I am really keeping it far too silent.

Let’s change that. Instead of sending a ridiculous amount of e-mails every day, I’ll just keep you all posted through this blog.

Continue ReadingStatus of Stratus

Definitely not normal

  • Reading time:5 mins read

It all started with Waldo and his Dynamics NAV 2009 R2 is not a “normal” release … beware! post two weeks ago. Waldo did not complain (much Smile), he explained what R2 is and what it isn’t, and it turns out that it isn’t many of the things people hoped it was.

Then Luc followed with his Dynamics NAV 2009 R2 is … post, in which he again says NAV 2009 R2 is not normal.

I’m sorry to say, but I am definitely joining this “not normal” party, ‘cause there is something strange going on with NAV, and I believe there will soon be either a SP(how does NAV 2009 R2 SP1 sounds?), or a series of hotfixes.

Continue ReadingDefinitely not normal

Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2009 R2 ships

  • Reading time:6 mins read

imageI’m growing increasingly impatient as the progress bar on my File Transfer Manager is approaching 100%. Behind the cryptical download title—Dynamics.NAV60R2.HR.1097366.DVD.zip—hides the much awaited Microsoft Dynamics 2009 R2 HR (Croatian) release of Microsoft Dynamics NAV.

Yes, Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2009 has officially shipped, and you can download your copy at Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2009 R2 download page. You can also access the NAV 2009 R2 Launch Portal.

This is the first time ever, that any NAV product has shipped simultaneously in 43 countries in the world. For many countries, mine included, this is also the first release of NAV 2009.

Continue ReadingMicrosoft Dynamics NAV 2009 R2 ships

Was it necessary to kill the Classic client?

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dinosaurAbsolutely.

The world needs to move ahead. The technology advances. Who doesn’t want to keep up with the progress, stays behind. That’s how it has worked since the dawn of civilization.

I can’t know the exact reasons why Microsoft has decided to stop support for the Classic client with NAV “7”, but I can offer my view and position on why I believe this was absolutely necessary.

Continue ReadingWas it necessary to kill the Classic client?

Death of Classic (C/SIDE) Client

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tomb_guardYesterday, during a coffee break at the What’s New in Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2009 Technical for Application Consultants training in Vilnius, Lithuania (a fabulous place, by the way), a discussion arose around the destiny of the Classic (or C/SIDE) client in NAV. Some participants stated that “it’s never going to go away” because “Microsoft would not dare shutting it down”.

Unfortunately, it is going away, and quickly. Maybe it wasn’t too obvious at first, because Microsoft never actually said explicitly that “Classic client is going to be discontinued”, but if you read the latest Statement of Direction for Microsoft Dynamics NAV, it’s there.

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Keyboard shortcomings of RoleTailored Client in NAV 2009

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I am one of those people who only use keyboard with NAV. Classic, of course. Seriously, I can keyboard my way through NAV and do literally everything—and I am dead serious about the everything part of it—with only my keyboard. With Classic, mouse is quietly resting under piles of papers. In RTC, mouse is an active animal.

Yes, absolutely, this is the number one reason why I never adopted the RoleTailored Client and I still use the Classic one extensively. (Another one is a minor and an irrelevant fact that NAV 2009 still isn’t available in my region.)

So, in hope that this blog finds its way to the right address in Vaedbek, Denmark, I’m compiling a list of less-known or less used keyboard shortcuts that I use to navigate through Classic client, which mostly can’t be achieved (or can’t achieve exactly the same goal) in RTC.

Continue ReadingKeyboard shortcomings of RoleTailored Client in NAV 2009

RoleTailored Client – you’ve finally got me aboard!

  • Reading time:5 mins read

TheCloudRoleTailored client for Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2009 was one of those things for me that looked really nice in presentations, but in real-life, I didn’t see much value there. It looked good from far, but far from good. I would dare saying it saw more runtime at conferences and presentations than in real life. For partners, it was difficult to sell it. With new customers, okay, there were considerable chances the RTC would convince them. With old customers, you were been better-off not showing it at all.

IMHO, RTC wasn’t market ready. For me, it looked like a proof of concept. A darned good one, but still just a proof of concept.

Have you noticed I have been talking in past tense? It’s intentional.

Because I’m changing my mind today, and I’m doing it lightning-fast.

Continue ReadingRoleTailored Client – you’ve finally got me aboard!

Strange errors in RoleTailored Client RDLC reports

  • Reading time:3 mins read

olddogWe old dogs really have to learn new tricks with RTC (RoleTailored Client), as I found out couple of days ago. A customer of mine asked me for a quick report. I don’t typically do reports, but I thought—“not a big deal, it’s just a report”—so I fixed it, tested it, made sure it worked, then deployed it to production.

And then I found out it was not just a report.

It just didn’t want to execute in production. Whatever I did I just got a strange error message, something I never saw before. Ever.

Continue ReadingStrange errors in RoleTailored Client RDLC reports

Abusing filtering for a lightning fast posting setup

  • Reading time:3 mins read

Microsoft Dynamics NAV Classic client has some features which are simply unbeatable when it comes to productivity and speed, one of them being primary-key filtering. When you set a single-value filter on primary key fields in a table, and then insert a new record in the same table, primary key fields are automatically populated with values from the filter.

Yeah, and?

Well, there are so many ways to (ab)use this feature, that sometimes it has a potential to save ridiculous amounts of time. As it just did for me, so I felt an irresistible urge to share it with you. Even though it is so ridiculously simple.

Continue ReadingAbusing filtering for a lightning fast posting setup