Hi guys - We’re starting to test the upgrade from 10.0.700.4 to 10.2.300.3, and I noticed that our customized forms have issues with overlapping fields (although no errors generated during the upgrade itself). Many of the groups have been shuffled around in Quote Entry.
What’s best practice to fix this?
Is there some way to do it in 10.0.700.4, so it upgrades cleanly? Or do I fix it in our 10.2 testing environment, export out the XML, and re-import all the files every time we refresh (planning on a monthly cadence for testing). Or is this what the Solutions Workbench is for?
We’ve got dozens of modifications… Thanks for the advice!
Exactly. Fix them, then add them to a solution and every time you refresh, import that solution.
The downside (for us) is that if you make changes in your live, the solution will import old layouts. You would have to import the solution, make the same changes from live, then save it to a new solution.
The good news is the forms shouldn’t really change much between the 10.2.300.x series until you go to .400 at least.
Keep good notes of what changes/additions you make to forms. I have an excel workbook for each form. I have field mappings for any added fields, any custom code added to the form, etc. It’ll help if (when) you need to rebuild.
If you can avoid it, don’t change too much of the stock screen. Instead make a user tab to house your fields.
If you must change a stock screen, to to hide an existing group box and replace it with one of your own.
Randy - Would you mind sharing that spreadsheet (or a screenshot)? Now is the time for us to get organized, as we go through it all while testing. I’ve started a list using the ERP Analyzer output, but we need to keep a lot more details. I’m still trying to decide if we should use that as a starting point to manage the list of customizations.
I’m not sure I can share it as technically, the company I work for “owns” it, but I can totally tell you what’s on each tab and show you some mock-up screen shots so you can make your own.
Tab 1 is always “Change Log” and (in theory) is always filled out whenever changes are made to the form. If you have multiple people who edit forms add a column for Name of who did what, as well as Date and Description of what the change is. I suggest --and I should add this now while I’m thinking about it-- a column for Who requested it as sometimes when I go back later, or get asked, “Who” I don’t always remember.
Then there are tabs for every “screen” we change. So one for “Lines” like in the example screen shot below. This tab has two items: One, a screen shot taken with Windows “Snipping Tool” with highlights on our changes. Two, a table on the page that describes the added items (screen shot) Also note any standard groupboxes or other items you “hide” as well.
Plus there a tab for any custom C# code added to the form, it’s a copy/paste of the whole code. Descriptions are inside the code so nothing else is added here.
There are also screen shots if any of the “List” views are changed from defaults. We have a few cases where we’ve customized the columns in the users’ “List” views.
Finally there is a tab for Notes. For our Quote example it explains a bit about the SalesForce Integration we have and the basic flow of what fields “SalesForce” has Read/Write and “Read Only” access.
I know on our PCC we have a Client Solution Register that Epicor provided. Randys document it should help. Ask your CAM about the Client Solution Register, or it may be on your Project Control Center already.
We’re making good progress. Using the ERP Analyzer, I have a list of 60 UI’s that we’ve customized. In our 10.2 July testing environment, I’ve fixed them, and exported the XML files. We have a new 10.2 August environment that I’d like to batch import them using Solutions Workbench, but I’m not sure of the settings to use, and help file confused me.
Here’s the workflow that I figured was needed:
In 10.2 July, create a solution, and turn on solution tracking, and select that solution.
Go through every UI in developer mode, import the XML.
In SWB, move the tracked to the solution
This gave me an error - What solution type do I use? All ICE elements? I figure it’s not RDD… Here’s a screenshot from my 10.0 testing:
Use this cab file to import in the new environment.
Do I care about XXXChunk and XXXDef, if all I want is the xml files? I assume it’s Epicor ICE stuff behind the scene, and I should let it do it’s thing…
Can I manually add the xml files to import, or will Epicor not know where to place them? Is that using the Add File > Customization element (XXXDef)?
Is there a tutorial with an example I can follow? I didn’t see anything in the EDU pdf’s besides the SysAdmin Tech Ref that walked you through how to use Solution Workbench.
