The videos are a bit of sales pitch but they are free.  Well done to MIG for providing these

This is an indepth video which is 23 minutes long and goes through some of the features in detail like the new filtering functionality (which is excellent by the way)

Metaphorix have successfully implemented numerous projects intergrating Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 and NAV 2009 R2 using the Connector for Microsoft Dynamics

If you are interested in finding out more visit the Metaphorix website for more details

One minute it’s working and the next minute none of the maps are running.

So what happened.

Looking at the logs (a NAV/CRM connector users best friend) I noticed there were some errors about a field I had deleted  on the CRM entity but was still mentioned in one of the maps.

Oddly it wasn’t a map that was running and the field didn’t have a value being mapped.

I restarted the CRM/NAV Connector and then looked at the event viewer applications log.  When you start and stop the connector it writes a value to the log.

Here I found an error

An unexpected error occurred while loading maps for site [Metaphorix \ Metaphorix]. Object reference not set to an instance of an object.

Now if you read my blog or have been searching for CRM/NAV connector errors then you will know I have seen this error before

http://crmbusiness.wordpress.com/2012/01/19/crmnav-connector-object-reference-not-set-to-an-instance-of-an-object/

This highlights the confusion you can have when using the connector the same error can mean something different has broken and the error messages are not easy to understand.

What I think this error was complaining about  a field which was mapped which no longer existed.

To resolve this problem you have to run the configuration tool again to remap all the fields correctly.

I will add a word of warning, the connector configuration tool might forget if you had added entities to the mapping, so check to make sure they are ticked.

So there we go another error and another solution.  hopefully if the Dynamic community can keep blogging solutions to the CRM/NAV connector problems then it will make using it easier.

This useful video runs through configuring the portal once you have installed it, unfortunately I couldn’t find any videos which run through the installation process

The channel is worth looking at if you are just starting out using Jet reports and I have selected a few below.  If you are interesting in purchasing Jet reports or would like some consultancy regarding Jet reports please go to the Metaphorix website for more details, we would love to hear from you.

Intro video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rk-kDIqqt0U&feature=related

Build a Report

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pO8V-3jgPk&list=UUYkEGisWptKIjtvNm4YKxlw&index=2&feature=plcp

Sales

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzNnH0-saDo&list=UUYkEGisWptKIjtvNm4YKxlw&index=9&feature=plcp

Finance

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMX1ehT9fjc&list=UUYkEGisWptKIjtvNm4YKxlw&index=10&feature=plcp

It  mentions some very interesting points about the cloud policy from Microsoft regarding the ERP products.  The main theme of the article is Microsoft are definitely going to put these products in the cloud but isn’t going to pressure customers to use it.

I was also interested to read Microsoft Dynamic ERP products will be using the same update system as the CRM product which is two major releases a year.  This is a definite acceleration of enhancements from Microsoft and will make working Dynamics NAV even more interesting.

Metaphorix believe to take advantage of these improvements it’s important to have a great support desk, skilled NAV consultants and a great working relationship with their clients.

Metaphorix also believe in keeping up to date with any new functionality and version of NAV so we will be able to use the functionality effectively and produce the best solutions for a our customers.

please click here to visit the Metaphorix website and contact us for more information

please be careful about doing this and make sure the relevant files are backed up before making any changes

Here is the code

netsh http add urlacl url=http://+:7047/DynamicsNAV user=domain\user (of the web service) or use user@FQDN

If you are a user of miraclePAY or miraclePAY LITE we would like to recommend that you click on the link below to read more about why it’s a good idea to upgrade, when the software will be available and what the upgrade will entail.

Miracle Upgrade Information

If you have any particular queries or would like us to arrange a quote, please contact your account manager.

or the package Download the 2621054 package now.

The all import KB article is here 2621054

Microsoft have done a really good job with this video and it made doing an upgrade a lot easier having watched someone do it.

it’s interesting that you only need to run the upgrade and not have to change anything for the upgrade to work.

Key take aways for this process include:

• Valid settings only need to be supplied for the new Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 adapter if you are changing your Microsoft Dynamics CRM deployment to one that was not previously supported. If you are only upgrading your installation you can simply click the “Apply” button when propted for new adapter settings after luanch the client again after an upgrade.
• If you are changing your Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 deployment you will need to create a new integration using the latest template for your ERP
• This new integration can start over and sync all of your data again, starting from 1/1/1900, or it can be be set to query into the source with the last run time from the old version of a given map