Technology Framework

Technology Framework PDF Fact Sheet

The Microsoft Dynamics-Navision Technology Framework is the constellation of technology components that make up Microsoft Dynamics-Navision. These technical elements are arranged in a particular architecture, and each component plays a role in the solution. Although their functionality is distinct, no component stands alone.

The Technology Framework is the sum of all the components working together to deliver the complete Microsoft Navision solution. As all the components are interconnected, they all help deliver common values to the Microsoft Navision user. These five common values are: adaptability, openness, efficiency, reliability, and collaboration.

This fact sheet focuses on the benefits of all the technology components as well as how you can use them to grow your business. The five values each comprise a main section in this fact sheet. Together, the technology components make Microsoft Navision a solution that is trusted by thousands of customers and can be relied upon for the future.

Sections:

• C/SIDE
• Tools to Manage C/SIDE
• Microsoft Dynamics-Navision Application Server
• C/ODBC and C/FRONT
• The Client
• Microsoft Dynamics-Navision Database Server
• Microsoft SQL Server Option for Microsoft Navision
• Commerce Gateway
• Commerce Portal
• XBRL
• .NET

ADAPTABILITY

The components that deliver adaptability ensure that Microsoft Navision can be customized to support your business now and in the future. They help keep the solution problem-free and working as you expect it t.

C/SIDE

The core of Microsoft Navision is the Client/Server Integrated Development Environment (C/SIDE). C/SIDE is the foundation for all the business management functionality of Microsoft Navision. It is made up of seven building blocks, called object types, which are used to create the application. These seven object types are shared throughout Microsoft Navision to create every application area, and give it a unified, consistent interface.

C/SIDE makes the application code open to developers so thatMicrosoft Navision fits to your unique way of doing business.

Your Microsoft Certified Business Solutions Partner can customize the Microsoft Navision application code so that all the application areas support the particular routines, processes, and methods your employees use throughout your business.

Any level of customization is possible with Microsoft Navision. C/SIDE can be customized to support the simplest workflows of individual employees – how they organize their data and the steps they go through to complete their tasks – as well as that of a whole department.

Microsoft Navision is a solution that is straightforward to customize and maintain.

It is cost-effective for you to customize Microsoft Navision because the source code in C/SIDE is open to your Microsoft Certified Business Solutions Partner. It provides just as much functionality as competitor’s products but with fewer lines of code for your Microsoft Certified Business Solutions Partner to work through. So you get the tailored Microsoft Navision solution you need, when you need it. Microsoft Navision has all the tools you need to maintain it at its most robust and adaptable level.

With Microsoft Navision, you have one interface for all your employees to learn to use and one interface to link your business.

Microsoft Navision has a consistent interface throughout, which makes it easy for employees to learn and to switch from one application area to another.

Your business now has one solution for all information and departments. Your employees work in the same type of interface throughout all the application areas. The new navigation pane can be tailored and personalized to match the individual needs of your employees. Information is centralized, and more easily shared across departments, so people can work more efficiently. The workflow of individual employees and departments is supported, and everyone is connected via Microsoft Navision.

Tools to Manage C/SIDE

Microsoft Navision has a number of tools, mainly used by Microsoft Certified Business Solutions Partners, to manage, upgrade, and debug the development environment for you. There are both internal tools (tools that are built into Microsoft Navision) and an external tool.

External Tool: The Developer’s Toolkit

The Microsoftâ Business Solutions–Navisionâ Developer’s Toolkitâ enables your Microsoft Certified Business Solutions Partner to upgrade your Microsoft Navision solution to the latest version. It is used to analyze and upgrade customer and vertical solutions.

The Compare & Merge tool, which is part of the Microsoft Navision Developer’s Toolkit, ensures that when you upgrade, you will still have the solution you know and are familiar with, along with any new features and improvements. All your customizations will remain intact. The Compare & Merge tool helps your Microsoft Certified Business Solutions Partner compare objects from the base version of Microsoft Navision with your customized version of the solution and finally, with the new version of Microsoft Navision. Once a comparison has been made, the Compare & Merge tool enables your Microsoft Certified Business Solutions Partner to merge these versions into a new version including all customized features.

The toolkit makes upgrading to the latest version of Microsoft Navision cost-effective, because it can pull objects directly out of Microsoft Navision. When your Microsoft Certified Business Solutions Partner needs to work with an object they don’t have to export it out of Microsoft Navision and import it into the toolkit; it will already be in the toolkit, and they’ll have access to all features in the toolkit, from Microsoft Navision. The graphical user interface of the toolkit also indicates the work involved in an upgrade and provides you and your Microsoft Certified Business Solutions Partner with an estimate of the time and cost required.

Internal Tools: Client Monitor, Code Coverage, and Microsoft Navision Debugger

The Client Monitor is a tool that identifies performance and locking problems between the database and the client computers that your employees use. It can be used together with Code Coverage, a tool that shows what code is executed when using Microsoft Navision.

The Client Monitor and Code Coverage help keep Microsoft Navision as robust and adaptable as possible. They enable early identification of potential problems. The Client Monitor gathers and displays all the database calls made by a particular client. Your Microsoft Certified Business Solutions Partner can use it to see whether the database has been locked, which prevents employees from completing tasks at the same time. All this data is displayed so your Microsoft Certified Business Solutions Partner can easily analyze it.

Code Coverage is used for debugging Microsoft Navision and testing the code. Together, these tools help maintain a high quality and level of concurrency, so that your employees can all work productively with a reliable database.

Microsoft Navision Debugger is a tool to help you in the process of checking, correcting, or modifying code so that Microsoft Navision can build, run smoothly, and act as you expect.

The debugger is a cost-effective tool for you because your Microsoft Certified Business Solutions Partner can work with it in an organized and efficient way. They can look through code one line at a time. The code is color-coded so it is easier for your Microsoft Certified Business Solutions Partner to see what is built-in functionality and what is customized. Microsoft Navision Debugger allows your Microsoft Certified Business Solutions Partner to isolate and track individual sections of code, so they have a more thorough view of the code and can therefore work more efficiently. In turn, this makes maintenance of Microsoft Navision more cost-effective for you.

Openness

These components help your company exchange information in Microsoft Navision with partners, customers, and subsidiaries. They integrate Microsoft Navision with other applications and programs. They open up Microsoft Navision to electronic trading, which helps a company strengthen their supply chain.

Microsoft Dynamics-Navision Application Server

Microsoftâ Business Solutions–Navisionâ Application Server is a middle-tier server that can run as a Microsoftâ Windowsâ NT service, which is always on and always available. It is positioned between the database and the client.

Microsoft Navision Application Server ensures you and your partners can exchange accurate and thorough information.

The application server reuses the business logic of Microsoft Navision. It ensures your information is correct and that it is arranged in the expected order and in the right fields – even when you are accessing Microsoft Navision information from a separate application. It also ensures that any related information, such as applicable discounts, delivery times, and so on, is also included in the transaction.

For example, if you are subsidiary of a parent company and you regularly exchange information with other subsidiaries, you can use Microsoft Navision Application Server to send and receive information, such as requests for items. The application server in your office imports the request, checks inventory, delivery times and so on, and sends back a reply to your partner. You know that the information you send or receive via the application server is accurate and comprehensive.

Microsoft Navision Application Server helps you secure the loyalty of business partners.

For example, the application server can check to see that information contained on a sales order (credit information, customer name, and so on) is contained in the database. It brings speed and reliability to electronic transactions, helping to keep your business partners satisfied.

Microsoft Navision Application Server helps make it extremely convenient for your supply chain partners to do business with you.

Microsoftâ Business Solutions–Navisionâ Commerce Portal is another e-commerce solution within Microsoft Navision. It provides a company’s customers and business partners with an online Web portal containing all the relevant information and services needed to carry out commercial transactions with each other. In Commerce Portal, Microsoft Navision Application Server helps provide a free flow of information between Microsoft Navision and the Web portal. It helps ensure information accessed through the Web portal is accurate and in real time. For the Web portal user, service is fast, convenient, and reliable, because they always have personalized and up-to-date information. For your employees working in Microsoft Navision, processing information is faster and more straightforward. They do not have to reenter information so errors are reduced.

Microsoft Navision Application Server keeps the lines of communication open and reliable within your organization, between your business partners and throughout your supply chain. It ensures that precise information will reach its destination quickly, so your partnerships are strengthened, and you can focus on your business.

C/ODBC and C/FRONT

Both C/ODBC and C/FRONT enable you to easily use information from Microsoft Navision in familiar programs, such as Microsoftâ Wordâ and Microsoftâ Excelâ.

The Open Database Connectivity driver for Microsoft Navision (C/ODBC) is an application program interface (API) that provides a way for other applications, such as the entire Microsoftâ Officeâ Suite, to send and retrieve data to and from the Microsoft Navision database through the ODBC interface.

One example of C/ODBC functionality is sending letters to customers. Working from Microsoft Word, you can build queries that let you extract data directly from the Microsoft Navision database. For example, using data in the Customer table, you can create letters notifying customers that they have reached a bonus level where a rebate has been earned.

C/FRONT is a tool that opens up the Microsoft Navision database and allows your Microsoft Certified Business Solutions Partner to develop third-party programs that can access the database. For example, if you want to build a procedure for assembling budgets with spreadsheet functionality, your Microsoft Certified Business Solutions Partner can configure Microsoft Excel to control the transfer of data from the Microsoft Navision database. Figures can then be seamlessly read from Microsoft Navision, manipulated in Excel, and written back to the database.

Both C/ODBC and C/FRONT remove the time-consuming steps of importing and exporting data, so that information can flow seamlessly between applications.

Efficiency

The Windows-based design of Microsoft Navision makes it easy for employees to work efficiently with the solution. Every application area contains online Help so employees can navigate their way through the solution. A personalized home page for every employee with all the information they need helps them stay focused on their work and complete tasks in better time.

The Client

Microsoft Navision incorporates the same Windows-based design elements as you get with the Microsoft Office Suite so the interface will be familiar to your employees. They can learn to work in Microsoft Navision quickly and navigate the application easily because its design is consistent throughout all application areas. So when you switch from General Ledger to Inventory, for example, the interface doesn’t change and you use the same drill-down routines to access information.

Microsoft Navision is one of the first business software management solutions to utilize the design opportunities that Windowsâ XP offers. The application windows in Microsoft Navision, for example, use the same modern color schema as Windows XP. The Microsoft Navision Navigation Pane looks and functions very much like the Navigation Pane in Microsoftâ Office Outlookâ 2003.

Online Help

Microsoft Navision has useful tools to help you work in the program as efficiently as possible. Online Help allows your employees to solve problems and stay focused on the work in front of them. Help is available in all application areas and fields of the application. You can get Help on a general level (such as how to use the overall program), for every application area (such as General Ledger, Inventory and so on), and even for individual fields in windows. If you are unsure of what information is entered in a specific field, for example, the Sell-to-Customer No. field in a sales order, then you simply place your cursor in that field and press F1. A Help window will automatically appear.

Company Notes is a unique feature in online Help. Company Notes are like electronic yellow Post-it® notes: super users can create and post a note in any area of online Help to inform employees of company-specific procedures that might differ from those set up in Microsoft Navision. For example, if creating a sales order in your company involves additional steps not included in Microsoft Navision, such as passing on information to certain persons, then you can create a Company Note in online Help to remind employees in the sales department. Or, you might have changed certain field names in your customizations, a detail you can inform employees about with a Company Note.

Wherever you are in the program, you can get detailed Help so that there is minimal disruption to your work. Employees can find out how to proceed in a particular application area and can work effectively, without being stalled by an area that is new to them.

Multilanguage Functionality

Multilanguage functionality ensures your employees will have a thorough understanding of the information in Microsoft Navision. Colleagues across an international organization will be better connected to each other, because they will all be working in one solution that provides many languages.

With Multilanguage functionality, the field names, report headings and menus of Microsoft Navision can be read in the viewer’s chosen language and changed by a click of a button. An employee working in Germany, for example, can send a report to a colleague in the U.K. who will be able to read the report captions in English.

Hyperlinks

Hyperlinks help information to be transferred and shared quickly. You can easily create hyperlinks to the forms and reports you see on your Microsoft Navision screen. You can execute hyperlinks from external products into Microsoft Navision to application forms and reports. If an employee needs a colleague to view a budget report, for example, they can send them a link to the document, so their colleague doesn’t have to search through the system for it. Information via hyperlinks will always be up-to-date, and your employees will save themselves and their colleagues’ time.

Reliability

Customers can work safely and securely in Microsoft Navision without worrying about their database. It will support all employees’ requests, deliver accurate information, and make rapid calculations so sums and figures are instantly available. Microsoft Navision will support your future growth and help your workday run smoothly.

Microsoft Dynamics-Navision Database Server

With MicrosoftâBusinessSolutions–Navisionâ Database Server, you never have to worry about your database.

The thousands of customers who use Microsoft Navision Database Server, and who trust their company’s processes to run smoothly and safely with it are a testament to its stability.

The database retrieves data very quickly because it was designed specifically for and is tightly integrated with the Microsoft Navision application. Database speed also reflects the fact that there are no complex modules or time-consuming code translations standing between the client and the database.

Microsoft Navision Database Server ensures all your employees can work securely with data.

Built into the database is a version principle, which allows people to generate correct reports without locking other users out of the database. Each time a transaction takes place, a new version of the database is created. The database allows different employees and applications to access and modify it at the same time. This means you and your employees can count on getting consistent and accurate data whenever you need it.

You can instantly have the figures and sums you need with Microsoft Navision Database Server.

A unique feature of the database is SumIndexFields (SIFT). SIFT enables the database to rapidly perform numerous calculations on complex data. With SIFT, calculating sums for numeric columns in tables is extremely fast, even in tables that contain millions of records. SIFT not only instantaneously calculates totals, it allows you to break down those totals so you can see where they came from. Therefore, you can easily go in-depth with data and manipulate sums, figures, and statistics as you need to.

Microsoft Navision Database Server frees you to focus on your business.

The Microsoft Navision Database Server supports the unity throughout Microsoft Navision, which means if you are working in one part of the application, you can easily switch to another area without exiting the system. You’ll save time, effort, and you will more easily be able to stay focused on your work.

Microsoft Navision Database Server is also easy to set up and configure. It doesn’t require a lot of maintenance or expensive hardware. You do not need a dedicated person maintaining it. Once the server is installed, you can leave it alone, let it go to work and focus on your business.

Microsoft SQL Server Option for Microsoft Navision

Microsoft Navision can also run on Microsoftâ SQL Serverâ. Microsoft SQL Server is integrated with C/SIDE and provides you with additional features you can utilize.

Microsoft SQL Server can integrate Microsoft Navision with a wide variety of third-party products and applications.

Microsoft SQL Server can integrate Microsoft Navision with other applications so that information is centralized within the solution. You can integrate Microsoft Navision with applications you were using before you implemented it. If you are a subsidiary of a larger company, Microsoft SQL Server can integrate your Microsoft Navision solution with that of your head office. Many of our customers running Microsoft Navision on Microsoft SQL Server have integrated their solution with corporate reporting systems, human resources applications, and other third-party applications.

Microsoft SQL Server Option for Microsoft Navision gives you tools, such as Online Analytical Processing (OLAP) and data warehousing.

OLAP allows Microsoft SQL Server to draw upon table relations within Microsoft Navision, enabling a multidimensional view of data. For example, you could analyze data collected from your e-commerce site to better gauge customers’ buying patterns. With these tools, you can make informed and precise plans for new marketing campaigns, target individuals or a group of customers, and be aware of new trends concerning your customers and products.

Microsoft SQL Server Option for Microsoft Navision gives you the support to securely grow your business.

Your employees can work concurrently with accurate data when they need to, and it securely integrates Microsoft Navision to any other systems and applications you use. All areas of your organization are then truly linked together and are able to share information easily and with accuracy.

Collaboration

Microsoft Navision makes it extremely easy for your partners, customers and vendors to do business with you. It uses the Internet and XML to exchange and distribute information easily and cost-effectively. It helps you bring in new partners and customers, while reducing costs internally and helping employees to work more efficiently. The new XMLport objects in Microsoft Navision allow you to easily exchange documents with your business partners. In addition, XMLports improve the overall performance of the solution when handling XML document exchanges and they enable easier customization of data exchange with Microsoft Navision.

Commerce Gateway

Commerce Gateway is an XML-based solution within Microsoft Navision that facilitates the electronic exchange of business documents between business partners and marketplaces.

Commerce Gateway allows you to participate as a supply chain partner cost-effectively.

Commerce Gateway uses Microsoft Navision Application Server, XML schemas and Microsoftâ BizTalkâ Server to map and trade business documents between Microsoft Navision and other systems. It can map any data between different formats such as XML, EDIFACT, SAP IDOC, and flat files using the XML industry standard. Documents are mapped and exchanged between partners quickly and reliably. You can easily add new documents and new information to existing documents.

Commerce Gateway speeds up and simplifies your company’s purchasing and selling process. It helps reduce the amount of time your employees spend on manual reentry of information, which in turn reduces errors. Companies who use Commerce Gateway have shown the processing time can be reduced by over 50 percent.

The loyalty of your business partners will be further secured with Commerce Gateway. Daily business processes are made simpler and more straightforward for them, without compromising reliability.

You can respond to the changing requirements of any trading partner with Commerce Gateway.

Larger trading partners that have switched to an ERP system that supports electronic exchange will often demand that their smaller partners follow suit. The mapping abilities of Commerce Gateway allow you to connect to larger companies as well as to any online market hubs that they may have set up for their suppliers and vendors.

Commerce Gateway orchestrates business processes smoothly within and between business organizations.

You will be able to handle sales orders immediately and therefore cut the response time to your trading partners. Your employees won’t have to spend a lot of time learning a new application – they can browse trading agreements by clicking and drilling down in the same intuitive and consistent way as in the rest of Microsoft Navision.

You can use Commerce Gateway to improve internal operations and extend the life of your legacy systems. Using XML and Commerce Gateway, you can share meaningful data between Microsoft Navision and other enterprise systems in your organization.

Commerce Portal

Commerce Portal is an Internet-based solution within Microsoft Navision. It provides a company’s customers and business partners with an online Web portal containing all the relevant information and services needed to carry out commercial transactions with each other.

Commerce Portal lets you improve your responsiveness to vendor and customer demands.

Customers and business partners can serve themselves anytime, from any Microsoft Web browser. Every partner of yours has their own role-based portal through which they can do business with you. You design portals based on roles: consumer, business-to-business partner, vendor, external sales agent, and so on. The products they buy, catalog information they need, account information they have, and so on, can be personalized so that each Web portal user gets a service that fits exactly to their needs. You can give all your Web portal users personal profiles, customized catalogs, and unique offers.

You can make it extremely convenient for supply chain partners to do business with you by serving themselves through a personalized Web portal.

Self-service with Commerce Portal enables customers and vendors to get the information they want and to complete the whole order process when they want. Customers can see their real-time account status. They can have access to personalized, up-to-date information on orders, quotes, shipments, invoices, product catalogs, product availability, and so on. Your vendors can maintain their catalog information directly from Commerce Portal. They can also take part in reverse auctions. Your purchasing employee enters information on the desired item, quantity, and delivery time, and the system automatically accepts the offer from the vendor with the lowest bid.

As a distributor, for example, you can easily set up an online shop directly from Microsoft Navision. On one end, your customers place their own orders, access their statements of account, and so on, while on the other end is your major vendor, updating catalog information that is then seamlessly passed along to the customers. Here, your online store serves as a conduit, providing a way for information to flow along your supply chain.

Commerce Portal helps you reduce costs by automating commercial transactions.

Information flows freely between your front-office Web portal and your back-office Microsoft Navision solution. Employees do not have to spend time reentering information. Commerce Portal also reduces the amount of time your employees will have to spend answering requests on the phone or via the fax machine and organizing information on paper. For example, if you have information that must accompany your products, such as health and safety information, the Web portal can be used to make this information available to customers and to other partners. This reduces the cost and time of shipping such information on paper, while ensuring that it is easily available.

External sales agents, such as resellers, can easily help customers. They’ll have access to critical information about their accounts with all the information about their customers on screen.

With Commerce Portal, Microsoft Navision brings convenience and speed to your business transactions while ensuring reliable service to meet the needs of your supply chain partners.

Note: Microsoft BizTalk Server 2002 and Microsoft Commerce Server 2002 both require the Microsoft .NET Framework to be installed in order to run. The .NET Framework is a programming model of the .NET environment for building, deploying, and running Web-based applications, smart client applications, and XML Web services.

Programming languages, such as Microsoft Visual Basic and C #, can be utilized with the .NET Framework. Microsoft Business Solutions developers can use these languages to develop their own third-party solutions that can interact with Commerce Gateway and Commerce Portal.

The .NET Framework can be installed on your Windows 2000 platform whether or not you run Microsoft Commerce Server 2002 or Microsoft BizTalk Server 2002.

XBRL

Extensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) for Microsoft Navision enables simple and dependable distribution of all a company’s financial information and ensures smooth and accurate data transfer. XBRL is an XML-based specification that uses accepted financial reporting standards and practices to export financial reports across all software and technologies, including the Internet.

XBRL lets you easily distribute financial information.

You can map the information directly from your Microsoft Navision General Ledger to the XBRL tags. For example, if you need to submit your figures for approval of a loan, you can simply export the required data using XBRL with its underlying XML-based tags, and the bank and the receiving system will import your information automatically.

XBRL can reduce the time and effort spent on tax returns and other regulatory and industry reporting requirements. As long as you have a template for the relevant authority, your financial data can be easily mapped to the required format and swiftly sent off in an e-mail to its destination.

With XBRL you can present information using the Web.

With XBRL, presenting your financial information on the Web becomes a natural step in your financial information supply chain. It is useful for investor-dependent companies or for new companies that are trying to nurture new investor attention because it will be easy for analysts not only to view but also receive information.

XBRL lets you leverage the power of the Internet to do financial reporting and makes the distribution of financial information simpler and more dependable.

.NET