Book Image

Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2009: Professional Reporting

Book Image

Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2009: Professional Reporting

Overview of this book

Microsoft Dynamics NAV is widely used in enterprises with its enhanced reporting features, but there still isn’t a book that covers reporting in depth, until now. This book will show you what’s possible and exactly how to develop reports for Dynamics NAV 2009. Learn why reports are designed in a specific way and then apply this knowledge to your advantage. Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2009: Professional Reporting is an essential guide to understanding the effort involved in creating reports in Dynamics NAV 2009, and all of the available reporting possibilities. Reading this book will result in a better understanding and it will help you save time during development.The book starts with an overview of what kind of reports you can create without a developer using charts, dimensions, and analysis views. The next chapter will introduce the new architecture of Role Tailored Client (RTC) reports and the basics on how to create them or have them generated. Moving on we will discuss data visualization, where you will learn how and when to implement all the available Visual Studio controls. Document reports and other types of specific reports are covered next, and you will get to know all the best workarounds for getting them to work correctly.Knowing other related features is vitally important to obtain a helicopter view of all the reporting possibilities of Dynamics NAV, and the next chapter will introduce Business Intelligence concepts and available technologies that could be used in combination with the Dynamics NAV database. Technology is evolving rapidly and new versions of Dynamics NAV are in the pipeline, so the book will also provide you with a view to the future and how to prepare for it.
Table of Contents (15 chapters)
Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2009: Professional Reporting
Credits
About the Author
Acknowledgement
About the Reviewers
www.PacktPub.com
Preface
Index

Knowing your data and database


Before you try to connect an external tool to the Dynamics NAV application, some knowledge about the database can get in your way in understanding what's available in SQL Server and how to use it to your advantage.

First, we will investigate the structure of the internal NAV database. It is important to understand the database and tables and how they are related to be able to use them with reporting tools that will directly access the tables in the database.

Then, let's focus on the SQL database, because although you can access the native database via the NODBC driver, it is not recommended.

Note

The NODBC driver

A common use of NODBC is for example to allow UPS or FedEx software to access and read the shipping address information in the Sales Header or the Sales Shipment Header table.

But, the NODBC database driver is not optimized for performance. If you use it to transport a lot of data, it can slow down the Dynamics NAV application. Also, the NODBC driver...