Web Integration

[Borvik]

Hello all,

I currently have implemented a solution to allow customers to track their order history - this works fairly well, and shows the customer the status of each line item, plus any invoice(s) and tracking numbers their orders may have.

This solution also allows the customer to enter an order - however the order is sent as an e-mail to that customer's salesperson, who then enter's the order into the system.

I'm looking for a way to automate that process - to allow the customer's order to be entered directly into Great Plains, whether by direct SQL queries, stored procedures, or what have you.

 

[jazgeek]

used to be a product called eOrder. Not sure if it's still available anymore.

If you're doing a text file/email anyway.. why not use integration manager?

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and they wonder why they call it Great Pains!

jaz

 

[Borvik]

I saw eOrder on the MS website - but they give very little information on it - other than that's what it's used for.

Well, I'm not using integration manager - mainly because I don't know how to use integration manager. And actually it appears disabled in my menu - I must need rights to it (should be easy enough to grant to myself ).

The data isn't actually coming in as a text file - it's actually in the body of the e-mail message.

How would I go about using Integration manager?

 

[jazgeek]

of course it's one of those "extra's" you have to buy.

it's fairly simple to use, check your install cd for some documentation on it's use.

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and they wonder why they call it Great Pains!

jaz

 

[Borvik]

Thanks jazgeek - I'll look into that and see if I can't find some documentation on it, I did manage to find and install it so. I'll be back, depending on how helpful the documentation is.

 

[Borvik]

Well from what I can see Integration Manager looks like a manual process (except for scheduling it to run from the command line - yech, automating GP login -um no).

I've decided to try and write it myself.

I found the Trace option on the SQL server, and on the Test database I input a dummy order with this running. So now I have a list of all the SQL commands that GP sent to the database to enter this order. It's just a matter of sorting through it all to figure out how to duplicate it the way I want.

I've already got the code to get the Master Number, and SOP Number - I just have to wade through the rest of it.

Thanks for the info on Integration Manager jazgeek - maybe I'll look into it again sometime - apparently I like to do things the difficult way .

 

[jazgeek]

don't give up too easily. There are other ways. Continuum is a way. Excel integration with continuum was a way I used to get forecast work orders into GP.

there's also

estore by advantage

http://www.nodustech.com

scribe has something too

http://www.scribesoft.com/products/AdapterForGreatPlains.asp

there's others out there too. Check customersource for third party packages.



-----------
and they wonder why they call it Great Pains!

jaz

 

[Borvik]

Oh no - I'm not giving up (I'm a programmer - if it doesn't work, I write something to make it work), but I don't think I'm going to need a third party program that we would need to pay for in order to get this to work. Shoot in fact - when my boss knows that I can do it instead of paying for a module that will do it, I would be stuck doing it anyway.

I almost have done several PHP functions that take care of everything that Great Plains does when entering an order.

I think I have the Line Items and the Customer code to add (Customer will be easy - I already know where to grab that information and where to put it, same with line items) - I really have SQL Profiler to thank getting me all the SQL for these functions, actually most of it is stored procedure calls.

Plus once I have this done and confirmed working, I'm willing to post it all here so that anyone can easily integrate inputing orders.

I so agree with your signature by the way. They made the database so large and confusing with the obscure naming of all the tables. As a laugh I found a typo in the database too - IV00102 the quantities table. The column for storing the Quantity Allocated is ATYALLOC - looks like someone missed typing the Q for an A (every other quantity column is a Q).