Using the electronic signature feature to prevent mistakes

04 Saturday Jul 2015

Posted by Ludwig Reinhard in Miscellaneous

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Database log, Dynamics AX 2012, Electronic signature

Within the previous two blog posts I showed you the setup of the database log and how it can be used to trace changes that have been made to different tables / fields in Dynamics AX.

While the database log helps you identifying the ones who made “mistakes” in the system, the Dynamics AX electronic signature feature can help you preventing those mistakes in the first place. In order to realize this, I use the standard Dynamics AX electronic signature functionality slightly different than intended. (For details on how to use the standard Dynamics AX electronic signature functionality, see e.g. the following TechNet site). I will illustrate you this slightly different usage of the electronic signature feature based on the following example.

Example:
In the organization administration module, I setup an electronic signature requirement for changes – other than inserts – to the inventory posting table.

If somebody tries to change the inventory posting setup for example by altering the main account that has been setup previously…

… the electronic signature window pops up.

As no valid electronic certificate has been setup, the electronic signature window can only be left with “Cancel”, which triggers the following infolog and discards any changes that have been made to the original setup:

In summary, by setting up electronic signature requirements without the required electronic signature certificates, critical Dynamics AX tables/fields can be locked for changes without making system modifications.

Database log – important fields from a finance perspective (2)

20 Saturday Jun 2015

Posted by Ludwig Reinhard in Miscellaneous

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Database log, Dynamics AX 2012

Against the background of the changes illustrated in the previous blog post, I logged the following tables/fields that are in my opinion the ones that should – from a financial perspective – be tracked at a minimum.

Fixed Assets
Setup section

Fixed AssetsValue modelsFixed asset identifiers (if used)

Inventory
Setup section

Items

Accounts Payable
Setup sectionVendors

Accounts Receivable
Setup sectionCustomers

Cash and bank management
Setup sectionBank accounts

General Ledger
Setup section

Please note that the previously illustrated tables that should get logged from a financial perspective represent my opinion. This selection is not meant to be exhaustive nor definite and aims to provide you with a starting point for setting up the database log.

Please also note that you should avoid logging transaction tables as logging them might have a negative effect on system performance.

If you miss important tables/fields that should be logged in any Dynamics AX setup and country-environment, feel free to leave a comment on this site to help other Dynamics AX users getting their setup right.

Database log – important fields from a finance perspective (1)

20 Saturday Jun 2015

Posted by Ludwig Reinhard in Miscellaneous

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Database log, Dynamics AX 2012

If you ever used the Dynamics AX database log you might have realized that it can be pretty hard to find the correct tables and fields that you need to log. One of the underlying reasons for those difficulties is that the elements that you can find in the database log window use labels that differ from the names that you can find in the AOT. Due to the use of labels, some of the elements that you want to have tracked do even appear double in the database log setup window (see the following screenshot for an example).
To overcome this issue and to alleviate the identification of the correct tables and fields that should be logged from a financial perspective, I made the following changes:

1. The first change made ensures that the AOT table names rather than labels are referred to. This can be realized by making the following adjustment (see the next screenshots).
Through the changes illustrated in the previous two screens, I ensure that the ConfigKeyLabels refer to names rather than labels.

2. The second change that I made is including the AOT name in addition to the label name in the Logsetup section of the database logging wizardThis change allows identifying the AOT table names and the original labels used and helps ensuring that the correct tables and fields get logged.