Advanced Lookups are a core part of Microsoft Dynamics GP, introduced
back in version 6.0. These are the standard lookups that have always been part
of the core functionality, and are driven by the user clicking on the
looking/magnifying glass icon to the right of a key field, such as a Customer
Number.
1.
Optionally enter part of the beginning of the
Customer ID in the Customer ID field.
2.
Press the Looking Glass icon.
3.
A new lookup window displays, sorted by the
Customer ID and starting with any value that was optionally entered in step 1.
4.
Scroll, search, and find the customer desired.
5.
Press Select and the Customer ID is returned to
the window.
Auto-Fill is a function introduced in Great Plains 7.5 and is now fully
functional with almost all key fields in Dynamics GP. This feature “remembers”
common entries typed into key fields, and then auto-fills appropriate values as
suggestions as you type. At first, the “remembered” list is empty, but grows as
you add values. Suppose you have “CAB001” and “CAR001” as values that are
“remembered” in your list.
The process would work as follows:
1.
Type “C” into the Customer ID field. Immediately
“CAB001” will fill into the field, with your cursor between the “C” and the
“A.” The first portion will be white as typed; the last portion will be
reversed black-on-white to let you know it was auto-filled. If you press TAB,
the entire value will be typed into the field.
2.
Continue typing an “A” into the field. The same
value will stay, but the cursor will move between the “A” and the “B.”
3.
Continue typing an “R” into the field. The field
will now change to “CAR001,” with the cursor after the “R.” You can continue
typing additional characters to change the ID, or press TAB to select what is
auto-filled.
SmartFill takes an entirely different approach to lookups. We believe
that users often do not know the Customer ID, but almost always know the Customer
name; therefore, by typing part of the Customer name into the Customer
ID field, the user experiences both an auto-fill and/or a filtered lookup
depending on what they type. Suppose a Customer exists with a Customer ID of
“MAIN001” and a Customer name of “Main Street Bakery.”
The process works as follows:
1.
Type “Bakery” into the Customer ID field. Note
we are entering the Customer name into the ID field.
2.
Press TAB. Immediately “Bakery” is replaced with
“MAIN001.”
The simplicity of SmartFill makes it much easier to use, more
intuitive, and extremely efficient. Given the scenario above, additional
actions may occur. If there was another customer in system with a name of
“Happy Time Bakery,” when the user presses TAB a shortened list of “Main Street
Bakery” and “Happy Time Bakery” will appear. Only these two entries will appear
because they are the only two customers that contain “Bakery” in their names.
The user can then choose one of the two customers and press the Select Button,
and the value will be returned to the window and replace the word “Bakery” with
the Customer ID that was selected.
Optionally, the user can also type in “Bak” into the ID field, and both
these bakeries would be listed, along with any other Customer whose name
contains the three sequential letters “Bak.”
Until Next Time,
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