Menus for Visual Studio Tools Build 9 Released

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David Meego - Click for blog homepageWell, it has taken a little longer than orginally planned, but I am pleased to announce that Menus for Visual Studio Tools build 9 has now been released for Microsoft Dynamics GP 10.0 and Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010 (v11.0).

When Menus for Visual Studio Tools for Microsoft Dynamics GP 10.0 was first released, the plan was that it would only be available for version 10.0.  The idea was for menu integration to be added to the next version of Visual Studio Tools for Microsoft Dynamics GP.  Due to resource constraints it was not possible to get the functionality built into Visual Studio Tools, so the decision was made to release Menus for Visual Studio Tools for Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010 as well.

We have had a number of requests from developers for Menus for Visual Studio Tools for GP 2010 and told them to watch the blog for a release announcement. So thank you for your patience and ... here it is.

I had originally planned to add some additional functionality to Menus for Visual Studio Tools which would be included in the release for GP 2010 and also rolled back into the GP 10.0 version.  The development of these extra features was taking longer than I had planned as I have not been able to put as much time into this project as was needed.  So a decision was made to release two builds of the tool.  The first release is Build 9 which provides a version compatible with GP 2010, fixes a minor bug (only one person ever hit it) and adds a few extra functions to the API (see below).  A possible second release with additional functionality is "planned" for some time in the future, depending on your feedback (see below).

 

What's New in Build 9 

Below is a list of features added to Menus for Visual Studio Tools for both GP 10.0 and GP 2010.

  • Support for Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010. That's a surprise .... not.
     
  • For GP 2010 only: An alternate method of registering the two events needed using functions instead of field events.
     
  • Addition of a simplified menu registration system which can add items to the bottom of any menu in core Dynamics, Project Accounting, Field Service, Manufacturing and Human Resources.  This simple registration system requires only two parameters; the name of the menu's Command List and the text for the menu item.
     
  • Additional functions to check the application security settings for a Dexterity form and to display the standard Security Error Dialog.

 

What's Planned for the Next Release 

At this stage there may or may not be a next release.  We need your feedback to know if the planned features are something that you want and would use. Please have a think about the features listed below and if you want to see them, post a comment on this blog page. 

Below are the features that we are thinking of adding to Menus for Visual Studio Tools:

  • Support for Toolbar Integration, so that commands defined in Menus for Visual Studio Tools can be added to existing or new Toolbars.
     
  • Support for Navigation Pane and Area Pages Integration, so that commands defined in Menus for Visual Studio Tools can be added to existing or new Navigation Panes and Area Pages.
     
  • An additional Security system which would allow Visual Studio Tools WinForms to be added to the Microsoft Dynamics GP security model.  Security access can then be checked before opening the WinForm.  This would allow WinForms to have independent security rather than the current model which inherits security from a Dexterity form.

If you would like to see these features, please let us know.

 

Downloads

For downloads, please see the Menus for Visual Studio Tools Portal Page:

Menus for Visual Studio Tools Portal

 

Support Information

Technical support for Menus for Visual Studio Tools for Microsoft Dynamics GP 10.0 can be obtained through the standard Dynamics GP Support channels. Information on contacting support can be found in the support area of the MSDN Dynamics GP Developer Center.

https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics/gp/bb468042.aspx

For customers or partners on a Dynamics specific support plan, please use the following link from CustomerSource or PartnerSource to log a "Visual Studio Tools-Developer Toolkit" case.

https://mbs.microsoft.com/support

 

More Information

For more information, please see the Menus for Visual Studio Tools Portal Page:

Menus for Visual Studio Tools Portal

 

Additional Notes

Menus for Visual Studio Tools is designed to allow a Visual Studio Tools developer to integrated with the commands and menus of the Microsoft Dynamics GP application level menus.

The Additional menu is used when additional menus are created using Dexterity Form triggers or the equivalent AddMenuHandler() method from Visual Studio.

Look at the Chapter 15: Forms of the Visual Studio Tools for Microsoft Dynamics GP Programmers Guide (VSTDGPProgrammersGuide.pdf) for more information on the AddMenuHandler() method.

 

Please provide feedback using comments on this post. We really want to know if we should put the time and resources into developing the next build. 

David

03-Nov-2010: Added information on "Additional" Menu and AddMenuHandler() method.

16-May-2013: Changed More Information and Downloads to go to Menus for Visual Studio Tools Portal Page.