Customizing Integration Manager Logs - Part 1

Just recently, I took on a question on the Microsoft Dynamics GP Partner Online Technical Forum where the original poster asked if it was possible to customize the logs produced by Integration Manager ("IM").

Before we get into the customization aspects of the log, let's start by remembering that IM already offers 4 levels of log customization out of the box: a Summary log, a Document level log, a Trace level log and, if you consider no log an option, then None. In the case of a Document level log, information about every integrated record is logged, including the document number (keep in mind that document here refers to the entire envelope of data regardless of whether it's an actual document or a master record). The Trace level log, in addition to the Document level information, examines and outputs all the steps performed by IM to get the document into Microsoft Dynamics GP, including any errors or warnings that Microsoft Dynamics GP may send back to IM.

IM Properties window - Logs tab

At this point, the above options are out of the box and do exactly what Microsoft developers intended. However, what if you really want to extend the capabilities of the log to provide some additional information that is not currently covered by the Document or Trace level logs? It is possible to provide this extra piece of information if you are familiar with IM event scripts.

IM Properties window - Scripts tab
In particular, the Document Warning, Document Error, and Integration Error event scripts allow you to make use of the VBScript scripting editor to extend the information you may include in the log file, regardless of log trace level. As the events suggest, the Document Warning event will fire when IM receives a warning from Microsoft Dynamics GP in response to an attempt to integrate a document, i.e., a missing distribution account when integrating a journal entry. While the journal will still integrate, it means that further editing work will be required in Microsoft Dynamics GP to add the missing account and balance the journal transaction before posting is possible.

In contrast, the Document Error event fires when Microsoft Dynamics GP cannot accept the master record or transaction being imported due to inconsistencies with the data. For example, a SOP invoice is submitted with missing required field, causing the document to be rejected by Microsoft Dynamics GP. In this case, this response is captured as document error by IM, causing the Document Error event to fire.

Finally, the Integration Error event fires each time an error occurs for the integration process as a whole.

This is not to say you can't add additional information to the log at any other point or event within Integration Manager, but you will want to remember that most times when you are dealing with logs, you want to mostly target exceptions within the integration process and not necessarily every single event.

Tomorrow, I will focus on the scripting options available to enhance/customize the logs. Also remember that this and many other topics will be covered during my GPUG Summit 2014 session on Integration Manager. Please register and attend the session.

Until next post!

MG.-
Mariano Gomez, MVP
Intelligent Partnerships, LLC
http://www.IntelligentPartnerships.com

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