Here is an example of a great customization:

By Kevin Hartman

Editor’s note: the customizations module must be registered at your site in order to follow these instructions. Check under utilities, registration, to see is this module is owned by your company. The customization module is a must have module to unleash to flexibility of your Solomon software.

One of the simplest and most useful customizations is to make a convenient button to allow for printing a report straight from an entry screen. To illustrate this technique, we will use the AR Invoice and Memo screen and create a button that prints the invoice or memo shown on the screen on the Invoice/Memo Forms.

Note: It is preferable to do your customization work in a test database and then copy it into production. If you make a mistake while customizing a screen it can become unusable until that customization is removed.

Log into Solomon as someone with rights to customize screens and set the customization level to All Users so that everyone will be affected by the changes.(menu: customizations, then menu select level). Next, open the AR Invoice and Memo screen (08.010) and start customization manager. (Menu: Customization, then menu: customize mode). Next click on the menu customization, then select object wizard. Pastes a new button named ButtonQuickPrint onto the screen and move the button to the bottom of the screen.

You can also change the caption property of the button to something more useful like Print Invoice/Memo.

The next step is to add event code logic on the print button so this event (i.e. printing a copy of the invoice) occurs when the button is selected. This can be accomplished as click on the new button, then right click and select properties Start the Visual Basic Editor and put this code in a new routine (Note: try a copy and paste to the Visual Basic editor)

Private Sub ButtonQuickPrint_Click()

Dim CmdLine$ 'Create a variable to save the command we will use to access the report.

Dim CustId$, RefNbr$, DocType$ 'Create some other variables to store record information.

CustId = GetObjectValue("ccustid")

RefNbr = GetObjectValue("crefnbr")

DocType = GetObjectValue("cdoctype")

If Len(Trim(RefNbr)) > 0 Then 'Only call the report if there is an invoice number.

CmdLine = "ROI.EXE " 'Solomon's report-running program.

CmdLine = CmdLine + PRMSEP + "08760/RUN" 'Add in the report number we want to run.

CmdLine = CmdLine + PRMSEP + "08760/FORMAT" 'Add in the format we want to use.

'The next four lines create the selection criteria.

CmdLine = CmdLine + PRMSEP + "ARDoc.CustId =" + SParm(CustId) + "And "

CmdLine = CmdLine + "ARDoc.RefNbr =" + SParm(RefNbr) + "And "

CmdLine = CmdLine + "ARDoc.DocType =" + SParm(DocType)

CmdLine = CmdLine + "/WHERE"

CmdLine = CmdLine + PRMSEP + "/PSCRN" 'Print the report to screen.

serr1 = Launch(CmdLine, True, True, 0) 'Call the report engine and run a report.

End If

End Sub

Note: verify after pasting that you only have one line at the top for Private Sub ButtonQuickPrint_Click() and only one line at the end which says: End Sub

The visual basic editor should look like:

Save the customization and leave customization mode. Your Invoice and Memo screen should have a Print Invoice/Memo button and when you press it the invoice report will be run.

This allows a user to quickly view the invoice report once they have entered and saved the invoice. They can also print it out from the preview screen if it needs to be sent immediately. With a similar button on the Document Maintenance screen (the code used above is the same), they can also easily look up and print a replacement invoice rather than relying on the customer to find or remember a particular invoice. There could be similar needs for other screens although this seems to be the most obvious use. For instance, many screens have a batch control report that prints out when the batches are released. Having a way to quickly view or reprint those reports for old batches may also be convenient for some users. Hopefully this gives you some ideas on how to make Solomon more productive for your users.

Invoice and Memo screen with the new Print Invoice/Memo button.

Invoice report ready to be printed on a form.