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

Using Microsoft Excel with Dynamics NAV


Microsoft Office Excel is still the preferred reporting tool for business analysts. In this section, I will explain how to use Excel in combination with Dynamics NAV. Power pivot is a new tool available in Office 2010, which can extend the possibilities of Excel reporting even further.

When you open Microsoft Office Excel, there should be a Data tab in the ribbon at the top. In previous versions of Office that do not have the ribbon interface, you can find a Data Menu Item. In there you have the possibility to fetch data from another data source, like for example a Dynamics NAV database.

For example, you can select the Data Connection Wizard to connect to your Dynamics NAV database. In the first window, you will have to enter the connection information to your database, as in the next example:

When you click Next the following window opens:

After you enter the connection information, click on Next and then you can select a database and a table to connect...