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I was really not expecting to embark on a customization project. But, as it turns out, it was the only way to show a side panel on a Customer Form to show that customer's invoices. I learned that this is all possible starting with 2020R1.
Just reporting here that the customization project was pretty painless.(I blogged the details here: https://dquest.com/acumatica-side-panel-invoices-customer/)
Doing this first small customization was a helpful exercise.
First, I have been SO burned by other software that I just did not expect it to just work without a long, parched quest through the desert. Instead, I wrote my Inquiry (I will do all I can to avoid calling it a GI), couched it within the customization project framework, and published.
Second, doing a small customization project helps build the skills and open your mind about how larger ones would work.
Third, they are surprisingly portable. I moved this from a local instance to a production instance (same version) with no issue.
Curious what other people's experiences have been. And if you read the blog & want this customization I could export it for you.
I have tinkered in this area slightly only going as far as adding extra fields, tabs and my current limit of understanding got me as far as adding a report to the AP Bills screen under Reports button. All of this done pre 2020 but I should re look at this and keep an eye out for the improvements in this area that are coming, I like the quote "low code / no code customization" so it will be interesting how far this can be simplified further.
For anyone who has not added an extra field in Acumatica and who have in the past built MS Access databases you will love how easy this is.
Here is an example of some of the cool things you can do through a customization, http://myobexo.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/38243/kw/38243/session/L3RpbWUvMTU4ODU1Mjk2My9zaWQvKjVSMUMtSG8%3D
And I seriously love the ability to add reports, forms, Inquiries through the customization project.
I wrote my Inquiry (I will do all I can to avoid calling it a GI), couched it within the customization project framework, and published.
Word of warning: Be careful doing this. (Note: this is from my own experience! And please excuse my vent/ranting haha!)
When you put a GI into a customization project, it will get pushed out every time you do a "Publish". This is great initially, when you want to GI to travel to a new instance. Later, as your system changes and grows, and you are asked to add a new column, add sorting, sidepanels, or whatever other request to this GI, this customization can become a time bomb. The customization project does *not* update itself automatically with the most recent copy of the GI as you go. If you go to publish your customization again after some time, it will push out your GI as it was when the customization was last updated. You can update the GI schema in your customization by clicking the [Reload from Database] button in the Generic Inquiries section. This alone is all pretty manageable, though...
The time bomb can go off when these changes happen, and you have more than 1 customization. When you publish, it will push out all customizations, not just the one you are working on. So you could be working on customization B, and the GI from customization A will overwrite unexpectedly when you try to publish B.
It can also go off if you have a "dev" system that you edit and test the Custom parts of the customization, but do GI changes right on Production. You can fire up working on your Dev machine, and make your change to the customization. When you export that customization onto your production environment, the GI will be a stale picture from dev, and your changes to the production GI will get blown away.
GIs in your customization are fine if you are packaging for a resale, or for that first move into production. But, I recommend avoiding the management hell and potential for lost Inquiry work by keeping the GIs out of your customization. This same thing can also be said for Reports, Dashboards, Import/Export Scenarios, Shared Fitlers, etc. Anything with the "Reload from Database" button. /rant
And with that, welcome to the world of Acumatica Customizations @arline-welty!
@Wyatt.ERP (I *just* got that) :
You know, one thing I noticed that I wasn't expecting, was that when I published from dev to live, was that I just expected the inquiry to "come along" as part of the package. But the first time I went to the screen (in my case, the Customers form), I was able to open the side panel, but it did throw an error. I realized that I needed to actually import the Generic Inquiry from dev to live to get the whole customization to work. I wasn't expecting that. Isn't the point of a customization "Project" that you've got everything you need in a single project? But it sounds like I avoided the pitfall you're mentioning by keeping the Inquiry (unintentionally) separate.
This makes me think about the value of process in our organizations.
I initiated this practice at our company: any custom generic inquiries we write should be documented and stored in our documentation space. I think it's risky to just hope all your Inquiries will stay forever intact.
Do you store your inquiries in an external system? How do you do it? I just started a common template for inquiry documentnation. It shows:
- XML of the Inquiry
- Acumatica Company name where the inquiry is published
- Screen ID
- Inquiry title
Interested to know what others are doing too.
@arline-welty Sure, I can go over some of this.
But the first time I went to the screen (in my case, the Customers form), I was able to open the side panel, but it did throw an error.
Don't quote me on this, but I think you need to also include the SiteMap part of the Customization. Your customization, I think, is looking for a Screen ID, but the GI portion of the Customization may not include that and would needed added in the SiteMap portion.
This makes me think about the value of process in our organizations.
It sounds like you have a good handle on this. We do not store our GIs outside of the system, but then again, we are a Customer. This answer would be very different if we were a Vendor or VAR, and I would like to keep my GIs in a version control system if that were the case, organized by Company/Partner. You should be able to store all the info you'd want in the filename of the XML and then pop it into a git repository or another version control system when you have changes.