Developers can save a tremendous amount of time when moving modifications from the Development to the Test and Live environments, especially when the change involves
multiple objects and/or projects. While coding and testing, we can easily lose track of that simple little change or we could be wasting time switching back and forth between our
development environment and our developmental tracking worksheet. If that wasn't enough, imagine the time wasted if we were to document a piece of code but have to make changes later or
even scrapping it altogether!
By utilizing this application, developers can save the heavy documentation steps for later or even save the large, detailed documentation with regards to a change, outside of the code objects to
keep the codes clean. Once all coding is done and the initial testing is good, use this application to review all objects that were modified and compare the difference between the Development and Live
environments. Quickly see where there's a difference and determine whether a detailed explanation or documentation is needed.
Managers can utilize this application to track and estimate development without having to involve the developers and/or consultants. They can assign and prioritize projects,
see the stages of completion, see what's under development and what's in the testing phase, all without having to check in with each developer and/or consultant.
Developers and consultants can utilize the Time Tracking module to record the time spent on an object, within each respective project. Managers can rely on this information for billing
and estimating future projects.
Customers will find this to be a great transparency tool, the key to a long and trusting relationship. With little effort and without having to bother anyone, customers can
get a quick overview of where a project is in its development and set their own priorities.
Customers can quickly tell which project may be ready and is pending their own employee's involvement,
under testing, oftentimes a major cause for delays. As a matter of fact, some projects can be ready but is never moved to Live because developers are done with the project and have moved
on to other developments while the finished project is pending test. If this is a low to medium priority project, the employee forgets to test,
and developers assume the work is done, this can be lost until someone revisits the project.
Features
- Projects
In a busy environment or during the initial stages of implementation, modifications can easily overlap. When more than one developer, working on different projects, are modifying the
same object, it's hard to tell which change was for which project. When it comes time to transfer the objects to the Live environment, we can be wasting valuable time figuring out
which could or couldn't be moved due to the overlapping developments. This application addresses that with a built-in project management system, where multiple objects can be linked
to multiple projects at the same time. We can easily tell that an object has overlapping development if they're linked to more than 1 project and we can easily transfer all related objects
with a Batch Transfer.
- Collaboration
A project will almost always involve communication from multiple parties. With multiple parties and multiple projects, it can be hard to keep track of who said what and when.
If your primary source of communication is through emails, the clutter caused by multiple responses can make it time consuming to read and to respond to. Even worse is a
response that can be lost due to being part of a response in an email that addresses multiple responses but doesn't contain the original response. This application aims to address
that by introducing a text message-like form of communication for everyone. No more digging through emails to find a particular question or response and no more lost communications,
just scroll through and see the entire collaboration history.
- Notes
Public notes can be added to each object to highlight or let everyone know about something, without it being part of any particular project. Similarly, a private note
can be added to each object but is visible only to the owner of the note. Use it to make a note of what has already been done, where you left off on development, something to
follow-up on, or even notes for an upcoming meeting.
- Time Tracking
Easily track the time spent on an object by each developer and/or consultant, in each project. Use it for future project estimation, budgeting, or billing.
- Source Control, Transfer History, and Object Restore
Not only will you have better source control but you will have transfer histories, and know exactly who made the transfer. Unlike other source safes out there, this app
will save a FOB version of the Live object prior to replacing it with the Development object so that you can easily restore the object from a recent transfer that have
unexpected results. Compare, export, and review notes associated with each transfer.
- Code Comparison
Compare codes between different environments and get a quick overview of the differences right before every transfer to ensure no overlapping changes are accidentally
transferred, and that documentation exists for critical changes.
- Code Search and Where Used
Unlike any out there, this application not only gives you the ability to do a Where Used to find where an object may be referenced but it also gives you a powerful tool
to search codes across all objects within the development environment. Use the Advance Find option to search where an external function in an object may be referenced
by another object or where a Control Add-in (Microsoft.Dynamics.Nav.Client.WebPageViewer), for example, may be referenced.
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Need to know where an external procedure or table field may be referenced? While not perfect, you can use the Advance Find in conjunction with the Where Used to limit
the results to where the object is used and a function with the same name or field is found.
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Need to know where a table's field value may be set? Enable the V()/:= option to search where the field exists with a VALIDATE(Field...) or Field :=.
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Got a support request and given an error message? Quickly find out where that message may be referenced to know exactly where to begin troubleshooting, and quickly
know why the error was shown.
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Got a request to be added to an email coming from NAV but don't know where it came from? Try finding it by key phrases used in the subject or body of the email.
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The list goes on and on...
Please visit our User Guide to learn more.