For some who have been working in the SalesLogix LAN client for years, the transition from using SQL queries to retrieving data using a repository with the entity model can be a difficult change. This post will look at some common data retrieval methods and the SQL equivalents to help you get your head around how to get work done using the entity model. Read more

Ever since Sage released their official SalesLogix community website & forums, I've wanted a better way to search and browse the forums. I've been working on a desktop client that does just this in a better, faster, and more efficient way. So, I'd like to announce the public release of Community Explorer. Read more

I have released a big update for Git Extensions for SalesLogix. This new version includes a ClickOnce installer and will keep itself up to date automatically. The installation of Git Extensions for SalesLogix is now brain-dead easy. You just access a URL and click the Install button. Not only that, you'll automagically be updated to new releases as they become available. Read more

Showing a message to a user in SalesLogix Web is an easy task. It should be, right? Of course - and it is, however, you might need to know where to look to do it. This post will take a look at how to do this from both a Code Snippet Action and a C# Snippet Action. Read more

The Account Hierarchy for SalesLogix Web module has a new home. I have moved the source to Github to make a public repository for the code and make it easier for others to get the latest source as I make changes to it. I released a public download of the Account Hierarchy module almost a year and a half ago for SalesLogix 7.2. Since that time it has had hundreds of downloads. I have make some tweaks over time and decided there needed to be a better way to share those tweaks. The Github repository will be the permanent location for this module going forward. Read more

For anyone who uses Git Extensions for SalesLogix, I've released a small update that adds some core functionality and makes it possible to complete the entire scenario of setting up and using Git with a SalesLogix project - all from within the SalesLogix Application Architect! Read more

Whether you're using Git, or some other source control system, there are certain files in a SalesLogix model that you do not want to include in your source control. Many part of the files in an exported SalesLogix model are automatically generated by the Application Architect and by the build process when you build your web platform. Having these files under source control would only complicate things when working with multiple developers since you'd each need to merge these automatically generated files with each pull/checkout from source control since they change every time. Read more

The official Sage SData Specification has not been released. SData (which stands for "Sage Data") is a Sage communication protocol. Using SData you have a common protocol that defines data access, consumption, and exchange between Sage application and 3rd party applications as well. The SData specification is now released and public. Read more

Yesterday I announced my new project Git Extensions for SalesLogix. I received a lot of e-mails from people who read that post, so I thought it would be a good idea to record a quick video so you can see it in action and get a better idea how it works. This quick 4-5 minute video will show you how to commit changes in Application Architect to a Git repository and push the changes to an online repository as well, all from inside Application Architect using Git Extensions for SalesLogix. You'll also get a peek at a few other pieces of functionality as well. All in all, if you already use Git Extensions then this will be a no-brainer to use. If you're new to Git, or to source control at all, then this will lower the learning curve significantly and make things much easier to get into. Read more

This blog post is the first of many that will cover the topics of using source control with SalesLogix development, Customer FX's open source initiative, and the new Git Extensions for SalesLogix module for Application Architect. These are three things I am completely excited about. Using source control with SalesLogix development in Application Architect is a necessity if you want to do it right. Git Extensions for SalesLogix is the first of the Customer FX open source initiative that builds on the idea of using source control with SalesLogix development to make it even easier to use Git source control right from inside Application Architect as a natural, built-in part of the application. Read more

I just came across some new info that has been added to SalesLogix 7.5.2 (currently in beta). The ability to add custom controls to Application Architect for use on QuickForms. This is a completely welcome and awesome addition to the SalesLogix Application Architect. The following is taken from the 7.5.2 AA help files... Read more

A question came up from a person attending our current Report Writing class about how to flatten out data that exists as multiple rows in the database to a single string in a report. There is a really cool trick you can do in SQL to accomplish this which I previously outlined in a post on my personal blog where I outline a technique that can be used to make a query append each value from the rows in the query to a variable. Without using cursors, you will end up with a variable that has the values appended to it as one single string which can easily be used in reporting. Read more

I recently saw an issue where groups would not load in SalesLogix 7.5.1 web. Not a single group would load. You'd see the spinning circle as if it were attempting to load the group. However, that would disappear and then...nothing. No group data would appear. Not just the data, but not even the group definition, so you wouldn't even see any column headers. With a little troubleshooting the problem was easy to track down, and the solution turned out to be a simple one. Read more

It is useful at times to be able to programatically determine at runtime if a user has read access, write access, or no access to a particular field at runtime. There are many different ways this information can be used to ensure you're giving the current user the best, and most understandable experience based on that particular user's security settings allow for. Luckily, with the introduction of the FieldLevelSecurityService in SalesLogix 7.5 this is an easy task. Let's take a look. Read more

Creating modules for SalesLogix Web is something that is likely something that is often overlooked or not used because they are assumed to be too complex or are just not understood. A module is an assembly that you've added to a page or the portal that adds functionality to the page. The great thing about a module is that you can change things about the page without needing to resort to doing something like modifying the deployed pages or SmartParts. This article will look at how to create a module to conditionally hide a menu item at runtime. Read more

There are many reasons why extracting a SalesLogix Report from the SalesLogix database might be useful. There are possibilities of integration, automated running of reports, as well as the need to generate a PDF from some code on a server using a SalesLogix Crystal report. This post will show you how and show you the code to do it. Read more

One of the keys to reusing a form for both inserting new records and displaying existing record detail is the ability to determine if the form is currently in insert mode or detail mode. There are several ways to determine this at runtime so you can take the necessary steps depeding on the current form mode. Read more

The transition from using pre-version 7.5.1 "C# Snippet Actions", where the code is placed inline in the form, and the new "Code Snippet Actions", where the code is compiled into a separate DLL and a psudo-form reference is passed in, can be frustrating at times. I ran into yet another instance of that today. Before, we were spoiled using the C# Snippet Actions. We had access to everything on the form. Everything. That's no longer the case with Code Snippet Actions. While in a Code Snippet Action, I needed a reference to the current parent entity (not the current entity that is exposed via form.CurrentEntity, but it's parent). This Code Snippet Action was on a LoadAction of an Insert screen so the parent had not yet been set. Let's take a look at how to solve that. Read more

Usually by the third time I see a question asked, I realize it needs to be a blog post. I've been asked by a couple of customers how to add a default sort to the products list on the Add Opportunity Products form in the SalesLogix Web client. The question of how to add a default sort to the list of products in the Add Opportunity Products form in the web client surfaced again today so I am posting the answer here. Read more

Binding a DataGrid at runtime is something that many SalesLogix developers are used to doing while working in the LAN client. This task is every bit as easy in the web platform as well. Let's take a look at how to put this together. Read more

In today's SalesLogix Web Developer class, we discussed an issue that someone in the class was having at runtime with a relationship that had a property that started with lower-case letters. Here are the details of that issue and the fix. Read more

A while back I wrote an article on setting the sort for a DataGrid in SalesLogix Web at runtime. That solution worked great in SalesLogix 7.2. However, things changed in SalesLogix 7.5 so I thought it was time for an update to that original post. Let's see what changed and how to make it work again. Read more

I was out at InfusionCon today, the annual user conference for Infusionsoft , for the public unveiling of the Infusionsoft Outlook Integration with Patrick Sullivan . I've been really excited for the Outlook integration to get into the hands of the... Read more

Five years ago I wrote a post about how to determine if a user is a member of a team in SalesLogix LAN scripts that is still referred to today. I've been asked on occasion how one would go about doing the same in the SalesLogix Web platform, so I thought it was time for a follow up post. In this post I will demonstrate how to use a HQL query to create a reusable function in the SalesLogix Web platform to determine whether a user is a member of a specified team. Read more

There are likely many cases in SalesLogix Web where you need to access properties on the User and Security related entities that are not included in the entity by default, meaning that there is no public property exposing the value. For example, the IsManager property on the User entity. Modifying these entities won't work, so how do you get to these properties? This post provides an explanation of why you can't modify these entities and how to get to these property values. Read more