Hi Bill
I think you would be fine, at the beginning is a little complicated and time consuming but once you have one window/program working, you can do so many things�.The transition from VB6 to .NET is not difficult just a couple changes.
First, I think these are the key things you should know / have:
In Vantage every screen has at least one of the following DLL types: Epicor.Mfg.AD.* (adapter, not use in VB), Epicor.Mfg.UI.* (user interface, not used in VB), Epicor.Mfg.IF.I* (interface) and Epicor.Mfg.BO.* (business Object). The files I use are IF and BOs. For example if you want to create customers you would need the files: Epicor.Mfg.BO.Customer.dll and Epicor.Mfg.AD.Customer.dll
If you want to use any infragistics DLL (for the grids) you need to use those installed in the client folder.
How to use the tracing options (very important!) located in main menu / Options / Tracing Options. Here you will know the DLLs (BOs) , methods and the parameters that Vantage is using.
You should ask Epicor to give you the great useful tool named �BL Tester� (is version specific). With this one you can open any BO and execute any of the methods inside manually. For example you can open file Epicor.Mfg.BO.Customer.dll and execute step by step all methods in the BO to create a new customer. Once you have the proper sequence of methods and data you need, you can duplicated in VB easily.
You would need .net 2003 (maybe it could work in VB6, not tested)
You can start playing with the code provided by Mark Wonsil (that helped me a lot) (http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/vantage/message/53300) Here, you will see in an easy way to connect to Vantage and use the BOs. This code can be run outside Vantage (but using Vantage BOs!). You could use it for one time setups or mass updates!. Basically what I did was to put this code into a control and add the control to a Vantage screen.
Basically the steps for discovery and development would be:
1-turn on tracing option. (use the option �Mark Text� and create the XML file for easier view)
2-Perform the steps of the activity you want to automate using Vantage screens
3-Get the BOs, methods and parameters(optional) used. NOT all methods are needed. Vantage makes a lot of validations that you can skip or do it differently
4-Test the sequence using BL tester. Select BO and run all methods one by one. You could do it directly in VB but is easier with BL tester
5-Once you have test it, you can follow that sequence in VB
Today or tomorrow I will try to put and easy sample of a .net solution with the Vantage customization
Regards,
Jose Ferrer
To: vantage@yahoogroups.comFrom: hoomail4me@...: Mon, 24 Sep 2007 21:19:14 +0000Subject: [Vantage] Re: VB script vs Custom Progress
Yes, I have played with BPM and have a simple 4GL example to generate a V8 part number but any 4GL GUI code fails (Create Window, Define Frame, Buttons, event loops, etc.). Seems very limited to what 4GL code can be run from a BPM directive.Bill--- In vantage@yahoogroups.com, "Chris Robisch" <bluewine@...> wrote:>> Business Process Management (BPM), new to 8.03, allows OpenEdge 4GL code, on a Method Directive. These Directives can be pre/post process to require fields be entered, execute code when the item is saved or a variety of other uses.> > Unfortunately, we've got several open issues regarding BPM not working. For example, it aborts when trying to create a Method for Customer Entry where we want to automatically copy Prices Lists to a customer. We randomly get a LangTran abort on a Quote Save when trying to require Confidence % or Expected Close.> ----- Original Message ----- > From: "hoomail4me" <hoomail4me@...>> To: <vantage@yahoogroups.com>> Sent: Monday, September 24, 2007 1:10 PM> Subject: [Vantage] Re: VB script vs Custom Progress> > > Thanks Carl for your take on this issue.> > My users do run my Progress programs as standalone applications. > What I was hoping for is a way to pass parameters to/from V8 and a > Progress application. I have done this many times when running > Syteline with my applications. Vantage 8 doesn't seem to provide a > way to do this with it's .NET separated business and UI logic. Yes, > it is possible to launch some Progress code but it is still a > standalone application without any communication capibility between > the two.> > An example, with Syteline, I used a RIGHT-CLICK event on the part > number field to trigger my 4GL code that presented a Window to the > user for additional input. After closing this window, I would > populate a number of Syteline screen objects/fields.> > So far, it doesn't look like anyone in the V8 world has figured out a > way to talk to the Vantage 8 UI from 4GL - again, I am talking of a > Windowed 4GL program. I also failed to find anyone able to launch a > Windowed VB application from V8 with the ability to pass parameters > back and forth.> > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]>
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I think you would be fine, at the beginning is a little complicated and time consuming but once you have one window/program working, you can do so many things�.The transition from VB6 to .NET is not difficult just a couple changes.
First, I think these are the key things you should know / have:
In Vantage every screen has at least one of the following DLL types: Epicor.Mfg.AD.* (adapter, not use in VB), Epicor.Mfg.UI.* (user interface, not used in VB), Epicor.Mfg.IF.I* (interface) and Epicor.Mfg.BO.* (business Object). The files I use are IF and BOs. For example if you want to create customers you would need the files: Epicor.Mfg.BO.Customer.dll and Epicor.Mfg.AD.Customer.dll
If you want to use any infragistics DLL (for the grids) you need to use those installed in the client folder.
How to use the tracing options (very important!) located in main menu / Options / Tracing Options. Here you will know the DLLs (BOs) , methods and the parameters that Vantage is using.
You should ask Epicor to give you the great useful tool named �BL Tester� (is version specific). With this one you can open any BO and execute any of the methods inside manually. For example you can open file Epicor.Mfg.BO.Customer.dll and execute step by step all methods in the BO to create a new customer. Once you have the proper sequence of methods and data you need, you can duplicated in VB easily.
You would need .net 2003 (maybe it could work in VB6, not tested)
You can start playing with the code provided by Mark Wonsil (that helped me a lot) (http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/vantage/message/53300) Here, you will see in an easy way to connect to Vantage and use the BOs. This code can be run outside Vantage (but using Vantage BOs!). You could use it for one time setups or mass updates!. Basically what I did was to put this code into a control and add the control to a Vantage screen.
Basically the steps for discovery and development would be:
1-turn on tracing option. (use the option �Mark Text� and create the XML file for easier view)
2-Perform the steps of the activity you want to automate using Vantage screens
3-Get the BOs, methods and parameters(optional) used. NOT all methods are needed. Vantage makes a lot of validations that you can skip or do it differently
4-Test the sequence using BL tester. Select BO and run all methods one by one. You could do it directly in VB but is easier with BL tester
5-Once you have test it, you can follow that sequence in VB
Today or tomorrow I will try to put and easy sample of a .net solution with the Vantage customization
Regards,
Jose Ferrer
To: vantage@yahoogroups.comFrom: hoomail4me@...: Mon, 24 Sep 2007 21:19:14 +0000Subject: [Vantage] Re: VB script vs Custom Progress
Yes, I have played with BPM and have a simple 4GL example to generate a V8 part number but any 4GL GUI code fails (Create Window, Define Frame, Buttons, event loops, etc.). Seems very limited to what 4GL code can be run from a BPM directive.Bill--- In vantage@yahoogroups.com, "Chris Robisch" <bluewine@...> wrote:>> Business Process Management (BPM), new to 8.03, allows OpenEdge 4GL code, on a Method Directive. These Directives can be pre/post process to require fields be entered, execute code when the item is saved or a variety of other uses.> > Unfortunately, we've got several open issues regarding BPM not working. For example, it aborts when trying to create a Method for Customer Entry where we want to automatically copy Prices Lists to a customer. We randomly get a LangTran abort on a Quote Save when trying to require Confidence % or Expected Close.> ----- Original Message ----- > From: "hoomail4me" <hoomail4me@...>> To: <vantage@yahoogroups.com>> Sent: Monday, September 24, 2007 1:10 PM> Subject: [Vantage] Re: VB script vs Custom Progress> > > Thanks Carl for your take on this issue.> > My users do run my Progress programs as standalone applications. > What I was hoping for is a way to pass parameters to/from V8 and a > Progress application. I have done this many times when running > Syteline with my applications. Vantage 8 doesn't seem to provide a > way to do this with it's .NET separated business and UI logic. Yes, > it is possible to launch some Progress code but it is still a > standalone application without any communication capibility between > the two.> > An example, with Syteline, I used a RIGHT-CLICK event on the part > number field to trigger my 4GL code that presented a Window to the > user for additional input. After closing this window, I would > populate a number of Syteline screen objects/fields.> > So far, it doesn't look like anyone in the V8 world has figured out a > way to talk to the Vantage 8 UI from 4GL - again, I am talking of a > Windowed 4GL program. I also failed to find anyone able to launch a > Windowed VB application from V8 with the ability to pass parameters > back and forth.> > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]>
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