Creating Extender Records automatically using Extender Actions

We all know how to create an Extender window and track additional information.

Recently there was a customer request to track the Revision Level whenever an item is purchased. In order to track the Revision Level, an Extender window has been created and linked with the Purchase Order Detail Entry window as shown below.

During the Item purchase, the Revision Level can be tracked by entering data into this Extender Window.

So far good. However, the customer requirement has a twist. The Revision Level for the purchased Item has to be automatically created once the Purchase Order line is saved by retrieving the value from Item Engineering Data window.

Out of the box, Extender will not do this. However, it is possible by creating actions using Extender Actions. Extender Actions allow a window or form to perform specific actions based on user input. (Note: - Extender Actions are only available with the Extender Enterprise license). Here, the Extender Action will trigger a script whenever a Purchase Order line is saved in Dynamics GP. The trigger processing script will create Extender record for the Purchase Order line.

To create an Extender Action, select an Extender Solution, choose Actions and click “New” button. (Microsoft Dynamics GP -> Tools -> Extender -> Extender).

The Extender Action is set it up as shown below:

Choose the Add button and select “Run Dynamics GP Script”

The Description can be anything. However, it would be nice to have a descriptive name indicating what the script will be doing.

Also, select the Product as Extender. This product was selected because the tables referenced in the script are from Extender product.

Script for the Action

The highlights of the Script are

• Get the Extender key values from the PO Line table buffer.
• Get the Revision Number for the Item from Item Engineering table in manufacturing module.
• Call GetRecordFromJoinedKeys () function to find the Record ID of the Extender record. If the Record ID returned by the above function is zero then no Extender record has been created.
• If the Extender record was not created, call GetNextRecordID () function to get the next Extender Record ID.
• Save the retrieved Revision Number for the Item to the Extender table.
• Remove the Extender activity for the Record ID.

After creating the Action, exit Dynamics GP and log in back to have the Action enabled. The new Action works as expected as shown below.

If you have any questions or need help creating Extender Records using Extender Actions, please contact FMT Consultants by filling out the form below.

That is all for now. See you again in another interesting blog post.

Happy Developing...