Most boring things to do in NAV

Belias

this is a list of the most boring thing a developer can face when working with nav:
1. Set the "parent control" properties of a "tabular report" when adding a new section :?
2. Add a new column in a 20 columns excel sheet (and you have to add the column in A:A Range ) :x
3. Object merging
4. Obtaining "There must be an 'END' in a 'BEGIN...END' structure..." error message in a 200 lines function ](*,)
...Continue...

kriki

5. you have a form with 20 controls and in each control you need to change the same property to the same value
...

Belias

6. modeling grids (horzlines and vertlines in a report) in order to fit a "non 423x150" section designer layout
7. indentation in versions <5.0
8. (this is great): The "self-debugging debugger" of older versions of navision

kine

9) Setting permissions as strictly as possible
10) Creating report with frame which will cover whole page automatically
11) Adding one new column into report which is already full and is printed already in landscape

ara3n

1. Setting up checks to print correctly on printer.
2. debugging tracking/serial/lot cryptic errors.
3. doing another integration for bring files into nav.
4. building an xmlport. Although the tool on mibuso saves me a lot of time.
5. Writing another dataport for bring open balances.
6. Merging objects for upgrade/service packs.
7. debugging adjust cost issues.

bbrown

Anything that's non-billable. :whistle:

David_Singleton

Belias wrote:

2. Add a new column in a 20 columns excel sheet (and you have to add the column in A:A Range ) :x

Why :-k

Belias wrote:

4. Obtaining "There must be an 'END' in a 'BEGIN...END' structure..." error message in a 200 lines function

Maybe you shouldn't be writing 200 line functions. Though I guess if the BAD team can get way with it... :whistle:

ara3n

bbrown wrote:

Anything that's non-billable. :whistle:

Actually one of the enjoyable things I do is non-billable. Learning how to do things in nav and answering nav question on mibuso.

bbrown

ara3n wrote:

bbrown wrote:

Anything that's non-billable. :whistle:

Actually one of the enjoyable things I do is non-billable. Learning how to do things in nav and answering nav question on mibuso.

Yes, that part can be fun when I find the time. But aren't you doing that in hope that one day you can bill someone based on the skills/knowledge you've acquired?

I was referring more to non-billable client time.

DenSter

Actually some of the most satisfying work I've done is help pulling project out of the mud, which was non-billable a lot of the time. I like merging objects, so that's definately not on my most boring list.

About the BEGIN and END indentation searching issue, which also includes searching for start and end curly braces {}, depends on whether I wrote the offending code. If I did I don't like it at all, but if someone else wrote it I find it quite amusing

Probably debugging 'standard' functionality is high on my list. I agree that debugging cost adjustment or item tracking is definately boring, as is debugging some of the better known add-on products that use TONS of redundant code. The worst though is having to wade through all the frickin' Dimension crap and the frickin' caption class crap every single time you have to troubleshoot an issue. DANG!

bbrown

Yes, but that non-billable time was invested becuase there was hope of turning that customer around and into a revenue generator. Last time I checked I don't work for a charity.

ssingla

Reconciling Customer/Vendor/Item(value entry) ledger with the G/L because somebody forget to remove direct posting from the control accounts or changed the posting groups (without considering the impact) ](*,)

Luc_VanDyck

Explain, the first week of January, how to setup No. Series

Belias

David Singleton wrote:

Belias wrote:

2. Add a new column in a 20 columns excel sheet (and you have to add the column in A:A Range ) :x

Why :-k

Belias wrote:

4. Obtaining "There must be an 'END' in a 'BEGIN...END' structure..." error message in a 200 lines function

Maybe you shouldn't be writing 200 line functions. Though I guess if the BAD team can get way with it... :whistle:

2. Ask my customer (after telling him that it will be costing, and that he can move the column in three secs)
3. After you modify codeunit 12 in 10 points...(yes, it was my fault, but i hope it won't happen again)

kapamarou

Creating a huge report with a specific layout that must be printed to a Text printer, and adjusting the layout...

garak

kapamarou wrote:

Creating a huge report with a specific layout that must be printed to a Text printer, and adjusting the layout...

And every control must have a special font ](*,)

David_Singleton

Belias wrote:

David Singleton wrote:

Belias wrote:

2. Add a new column in a 20 columns excel sheet (and you have to add the column in A:A Range ) :x

Why :-k

2. Ask my customer (after telling him that it will be costing, and that he can move the column in three secs)

:?: so if its 3 seconds work that's OK right? What am I missing here?

Belias

first of all, i am talking about modify a process that exports data from nav to excel...
I tried to tell the customer that it's better that he move the column manually instead of paying to move all the 20 columns after the one i inserted...or is there a trick to step over this tedious work?
if so, please let me know, i'll save a lot of time

David_Singleton

Belias wrote:

first of all, i am talking about modify a process that exports data from nav to excel...
I tried to tell the customer that it's better that he move the column manually instead of paying to move all the 20 columns after the one i inserted...or is there a trick to step over this tedious work?
if so, please let me know, i'll save a lot of time

Aha, yes for me inserting a new column would be 3 seconds of work, which is what I thought you meant.

when creating the matrix in C/AL code, I maintain a variable for XLRow and XLCol so the line

XLCol =+ 1;

moves everything one to the right.

Since I have been doing that since NAV first cam out, I just assumed everyone did it that way.

Belias

xlApp.Range('A6').Value := 'Blahblah';
xlApp.Range('B6').Value := 'Blahblah';
xlApp.Range('C6').Value := 'Blahblah';
xlApp.Range('D6').Value := 'Blahblah';
xlApp.Range('E6').Value := 'Blahblah';

this is the code (not done by me) that i modified (it's a very old code i think).
with this pattern, a developer have to change a ton of lines of code...this is the really tedious work...
i didn't explain well, sorry...i also use the method you said

DenSter

bbrown wrote:

Yes, but that non-billable time was invested becuase there was hope of turning that customer around and into a revenue generator. Last time I checked I don't work for a charity.

True, but that is an entirely different discussion. The question was "what is the most boring work", and most non-billable work I have been involved with has definately not been boring.

David_Singleton

OK, back on topic, and if I could correctly we have 23 suggestions above, so...


24. Sitting in anticipation around 8am on the 1st Monday of each month expecting from one particular customer the emails I will get from AT LEAST THREE users saying something to the effect of:

SUBJECT: Crazy error message, bug in Navision.

I can not work because of a new bug in Navision. The error message says : "<date> is not within your range of allowed posting dates". We have never seen this bug before. We can not ship goods.

EVERY MONTH!!!!

ssingla

David Singleton wrote:

OK, back on topic, and if I could correctly we have 23 suggestions above, so...


24. Sitting in anticipation around 8am on the 1st Monday of each month expecting from one particular customer the emails I will get from AT LEAST THREE users saying something to the effect of:

SUBJECT: Crazy error message, bug in Navision.

I can not work because of a new bug in Navision. The error message says : "<date> is not within your range of allowed posting dates". We have never seen this bug before. We can not ship goods.

EVERY MONTH!!!!

Belias

25. manage bad layouted excel files when doing RIM importations...especially when you say: "description must be at least 30 chr" and you find "ASTA P.SALVIETTE CM.35 TAGLIATA/PIEGATA/TRANCIATA/PULITA x 8221/35" in the field ](*,) (sometimes seems that customers don't listen to you at all)
26. Solve RIM issues with some decimals and date fields

djswim

David Singleton wrote:

OK, back on topic, and if I could correctly we have 23 suggestions above, so...


24. Sitting in anticipation around 8am on the 1st Monday of each month expecting from one particular customer the emails I will get from AT LEAST THREE users saying something to the effect of:

SUBJECT: Crazy error message, bug in Navision.

I can not work because of a new bug in Navision. The error message says : "<date> is not within your range of allowed posting dates". We have never seen this bug before. We can not ship goods.

EVERY MONTH!!!!

Awesome... one of my favorites is in my signature... I've taken to telling clients that if they call me with this I'm going to charge them a minimum of two hours... the users may not remember but you can bet that the person responsible for approving support time does

Also, I can not believe that no one has mentioned increasing the length of a field! That has to be more boring than anything else mentioned here... and yes, I know it shouldn't be done, but it's how I was hazed into development... my PM made me do it I swear!

kapil4dynamics

Quote:
SUBJECT: Crazy error message, bug in Navision.

I can not work because of a new bug in Navision. The error message says : "<date> is not within your range of allowed posting dates". We have never seen this bug before. We can not ship goods.



EVERY MONTH!!!!

Toooooooooooooooo Gooooooooodddddddddd Lol

Belias

messages when opening nav:
1: your program license will expire
2: database "demo nav2009" can't be used with this version of the client (i am using 4.01 today)
3: select the db
4: your program license will expire
5: company 'XXX' does not exists
6: accept the license agreement
7: open my test company 'CRONUS...' -> the cronus company is a test environment.......(or something like this, i've never read it)

phew...i'm already tired to work today!

kine

Solution is to use different ZUP for different NAV versions... :-)

Belias

kine wrote:

Solution is to use different ZUP for different NAV versions... :-)

i know, i'm using CGS for some database i use more frequently...but i'm too lazy to create zups for different dbs that i use only occasionally :whistle:
i know how to do it and i know it's easy...but my lazyness overcome everything...

ssingla

I have been doing one for more than a week now:
A Client went live with a parallel system running for sales invoices. The requirement of sales invoices were not direct fit in NAV and NAV was very badly customized. Further the requirements were not gathered in the first place resulting in lot of onsite modifications with and without authorization. The results as anybody's guess is that there is lot of difference between NAV and legacy system and the partner needed to do a reconciliation. The client submitted the results of legacy and asked the partner to rectify. On finding that it will be a nightmare I was called in.
I started studying the customizations, suggested the possible re-designing of the system but the problem of posted data still remains. For more than a week I have been trying to reconcile using excel and it surely is one of the most boring things. My NAV knowledge is not required and I am back to normal accountancy job.

Belias

(not only in NAV)
working with a mosquito bite on the forefinger's fingertip...i'm seriously thinkin on turning on the video keyboard ](*,)