Localizing the Technical Demonstration Toolkit VPC Image

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David Meego - Click for blog homepageLast week, the Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010 RTM "Core-MR" Technical Demonstration Toolkit was released to the partner community.  This VPC image is based on a US installation of Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010.  To truly demonstrate Microsoft Dynamics GP for your customers, you should change the VPC image to localise it for your country or region.

Today, a partner asked me how to localise the VPC image for Australia.  After explaining what was required, I decided that this would make a great blog post.  In this post, I will explain how to modify a US installation to make it behave as though it is an Australian install.  However, the techniques used can be adjusted for other countries or regions as desired.

Disclaimer: This method should not be used for a live production system. The reason is that the changes made to the install are not recorded in the registry and so will not be updated when installing a service pack or using the "repair" feature.

So... what are the differences for an Australian install?  This is documented in the Knowledge Base (KB) article I wrote below:

The summary is that we need to install the following:

  1. AUERR.CNK - to change the terminology (Check -> Cheque, Customer -> Debtor, Vendor -> Creditor, etc.) and phone format.
     
  2. A4.CNK - to change the graphic reports and portrait reports to fit on A4 paper instead of US Letter paper.
     
  3. BAS_RPRT.CNK - to install the Business Activity Statement (BAS) and Pay As You Go (PAYG) Withholding reporting for Australian taxes,
     
    To allow the BAS & PAYG report code to install we also need the following:
     
  4. DU2199.CNK - Dynamics GP Utilities code for the BAS_RPRT.CNK.
     
  5. SQL\2199\ folder- containing Install.dll, Lesson.dll and Upgrade.dll files used by Dynamics GP Utilities.

The next question is where to find the files.

If you don't have an Australian installation somewhere already, you will need to install Microsoft Dynamics GP and select Australia as the country.

The SQL\2199 folder can be found underneath the Microsoft Dynamics GP application folder (default path: C:\Program Files\Microsoft Dynamics\GP).

The *.CNK files are a little harder to find.  This is because chunk files are automatically extracted during the installation and so cannot be "grabbed" from the application folder before launching Dynamics for the first time.

The "trick" here is knowing that the chunk files are stored on your system (to be used when selecting the repair option).  They are available from the C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Dynamics GP\{DC90A0A6-2D90-493E-8D13-D54AD123B9FD} folder. 

Note: The GUID might be different on your system.  If you look at the properties of the chunk file, the dictionary tab can confirm the version number. Also on a 64 bit system, use the C:\Program Files (x86)\ instead.

Now we have the files, it is just a matter of copying them to the application folder on the VPC image, then launching Dynamics GP Utilities to allow the tables for the BAS & PAYG reports to be created. After launching Dynamics GP, the chunk files will be extracted.

Voila... you have an Australian install.

David

Related Posts:

Knowledge Base Article

This Knowledge Base (KB) article might assist if you get posting issues caused by the TRN vs TRX issue.

22-Oct-2010: Add related posts.

21-Apr-2011: Added Knowledge Base article for Audit Trail codes issue.