In this chapter, we discussed the various challenges of developing reports. Once those challenges have been considered, the next step is finding our data. Even though some reporting tools do not require understanding the SQL database structure of GP company databases, we can still use our knowledge of GP data structures to build better reports.
To that end, we've used this chapter to explore some of the conventions surrounding how GP data is stored. We began at the database level by exploring the differences between the DYNAMICS database and the various company databases. Then, we moved on to understanding the naming and numbering convention for tables found within these databases. At first glance, the numbering convention used for GP tables can be confusing, but by this point, we are familiar with some general naming conventions that can help us in most cases.
Finally, we looked at some tools that can be used for finding this data. Some tools, such as Table Resources, Table Import...