The main goal here is to guide Consultants, Navision Specialists, ERP Administrators, SQL DBAs, NAV Developers and beginners through a Navision installation, deployment, troubleshooting issue and checkpoints, in order to ensure that any problem with a deployment or other issue is managed accordingly. The Navision community will eventually respond appropriately to ensure that the “Q & A” provided within this Blog aligns with the overall goals and that the deliverables are well integrated.
When you open a company, the main menu will appear. If not, you can just click on the Main Menu icon . This menu contains menu buttons which allow you to choose the accounting function you wish to use, such as General Ledger or Purchases & Payables.
To choose an accounting function, click on one of the menu buttons or use the up and down arrow keys to highlight the button and press the space bar. Now you will see the related accounting function menu in the window. Each related menu has several areas such as Maintenance, Journals, Entry documents and Reports. Each menu also includes Navigate, Set-up and Periodic Activities options.
DYNAMICS NAV has a very consistent menu structure from accounting area to accounting area. To choose any option from the related menus, just click on the option or use the arrow keys to highlight the option and press Enter.
As you can see, the menus in DYNAMICS NAV guide you through the system to give you easy access to all the functions you need. You can quickly exit any current window by pressing the Esc key, clicking on the close button at the top of every window, or choosing File, Close.
Dynamics NAV Windows
It’s important to understand the two types of windows used inDynamics NAV. There are Card windows and Tabular windows.
Card Windows
Card windows show only one record per window, and you can scroll through them with the PgUp and PgDn keys, or by clicking on the recorder icons . Typically, there are several fields, many of which are available for data entry. Card windows usually have labeled tabs at the top. If you click on any of those tabs, you will see even more fields specific to that record. Also, many card windows have menu buttons and command buttons at the bottom, which will give you even more related information and easy access to useful functions.
Go to the Sales and Receivables menu, and click on the Customers option. The card window that appears belongs to the first customer from the Customer Table. The Customer card has four tabs called General, Invoicing, Payments and Foreign Trade. When you click on one of these tabs, you will see information related to that tab name. At the bottom of the card, you will see two menu buttons called Customer and Sales. If you click on either of these buttons, you can choose from several options on a pull-down menu. There is one command button to quickly access the Help feature.
The Menu Bar includes the following pull-down menus:
File Edit View Tools Window Help
Each menu can be accessed by clicking with the mouse or by hitting the Alt key simultaneously with the first letter which is underlined. For example, Alt + F will access the File menu. The items listed on the pull-down menus can then be accessed just by pressing the underlined letter. Many of the items in the pull-down menus can also be accessed by using ShortCut keys. We will go over these ShortCut keys and their uses later.
Some of the options listed on the pull-down menus will change or become inactive (shaded-out) depending on what Dynamics NAV function you are currently working in. The following is the initial list of menu options.
File: Most of these functions are related to starting, closing and maintaining the databases and companies used inDynamics NAV.
Close (Esc) - to close active window.
Server - connect or disconnect to server.
Database - create a new database, open an existing database, test a database (usually prior to back-up), expand a database size, delete a database, close a database, and information about database size, connections and active sessions as well as a tables list that shows size and optimization. The functions in this program such as creating and deleting should only be done under the supervision of the system administrator.
Company - start a new company, open an existing company, rename a company, delete a company, and close a company.
Page Setup, Print Preview, Print, and Print Setup - functions relating to printing documents (Print and Preview are toolbar icons ).
1, 2, 3 - List of recently opened companies; click on list to re-open a company.
Exit - To exit Dynamics NAV program.
Edit: Includes several editing features for data entry into and between different Dynamics NAV windows.
Undo - to "undo" an editing error, such as deleting the contents of a field, but will undo preceding action only.
Cut, Copy, Paste, and Clear - standard Windows editing options for moving and removing information (toolbar icons ).
Copy Previous - to copy into a field the exact contents of the field above.
Insert New and Delete - to insert or delete records and fields
(Toolbar icons ).
Select, Select All and Toggle Mark - to select or mark records and fields.
Find and Replace - to locate and/or replace specific contents of fields ( toolbar icon ).
View:Includes functions that affect what is visible in the active window.
Go To - go to first, previous, next or last records (toolbar icons ).
Field Filter, Table Filter and Flow Filter - Dynamics NAV’ functions to filter records in a window based on certain criteria (toolbar icons ).
Marked Only and Show All - to show only certain records in a window or to release filters and show all records again (Show All toolbar icon ).
Sort - to get a quick overview of data by sorting by keys such as customer number or entry number (toolbar icon ).
Toolbar - choose whether the toolbar will be displayed and in what manner. Some options are color, size, and “ToolTips” (cues).
Hide Column and Show Column - for use with windows with rows and columns to choose which columns will be visible.
Tools:Contains the major programming functions and setup options.
Work Date - allows each user to enter a date that the system will use when entering transactions that is different from the system or actual date. For example, you may have several transactions to enter that were dated 11/15/09. However, today's date is 12/15/09. By changing the work date to 11/15/09, you won't have to manually enter a date. You can override the work date when entering transactions by typing "t" for today's date or entering a different date.
Object Designer and Designer - allows the use of the DYNAMICS NAV C/SIDE application development system to modify the application and customize forms or reports. Special permission is required to use these functions.
Debugger - used by programmers when they customize Dynamics NAV.
Client Monitor - used by programmers to monitor the communication between server and clients in a network to ensure effective communication.
Zoom - allows users to see what fields can be inserted so they can be seen in a window; also shows the contents of each field in the current record.
Backup and Restore - allows backup of one company, all companies, application objects, or entire database. Backups can be performed at any time due to the unique feature within Dynamics NAV called Version Management. Before a backup, the system takes a picture of the version at the time of the request and then backs it up. This allows other users to continue processing in the program and means that backups do not have to be done after hours. A backup should be performed every day. If you need to restore a backup, use the Restore procedure to restore a backup made using the Dynamics NAV Backup program.
Security - used to enter users into the system with options of groups, users and password. Each user on the system should be given rights to access menus, windows, tables and functions inDynamics NAV. Each user's name and password (if needed) is entered in this window to have access to the Companies set up in Dynamics NAV.
License Information - shows contents of the license file under which you are working including the license number, who owns it and, if there is a time limit, when the license expires.
Options - contains the program setup options which include DBMS Cache (KB), Commit Cache, Object Cache (KB), Net Type, Status Bar, Close Forms on Esc, Marquee Full Selection.
Window:Contains information related to windows that are currently open.
Close All - will close all open windows.
Arrange Icons - to arrange the icons shown on lower border of the application window that appear when you minimize a window (double-click the icon to maximize again).
Help:Contains many Help options which will be discussed in more detail later.
Microsoft Dynamics NAV Help
C/Side Reference Guide … this option is used by the Dynamics NAV Admin
What’s This... - transforms the cursor to a Help cursor that can retrieve Help for everything on the screen (Toolbar icon ).
Overview of F Keys (F1 – F12) - displays an overview of the function keys in the program.
About Microsoft Dynamics NAV - displays product information, including the version number of the program.
I hope you find this Blog interesting and resourceful. Navision is one of the fastest growing ERP System on the market, therefore it is important that you not only expect some assistant from the Navision gurus but also share your knowledge with everybody else.
More than 25 years of experience in business, system analysis and programming for computer manufacturer (hardware and software), banking business, tour and travel business, car manufacturer, construction and property management companies. During my years as an IT Professional and department head I provided leadership based on my knowledge and experience and by consulting with experts involved in the IT department and other sectors.
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