I am a Customer and have installed Omni Tools or Omni Price and love it.  How do I register?
Please ask your Reseller to contact Rockton Software for pricing and ordering information.

I am a Reseller and I have a Customer who wants to Omni Tools or Omni Price.  What now?
Please contact Rockton Software for pricing and ordering information.

Where is the User Guide?
The User Guide is contained within the downloaded self extracting archive.   After installation, it will open automatically if "F1" is pressed while an Omni Tools or Omni Price window is the current window.

Can I just install Omni Tools or Omni Price on one Workstation?
You could, but you would lose out on much of the functionality.  Omni Tools and Omni Price should be installed on ALL workstation in a system.  When installing, say "New Install" for the first workstation install and then say "Existing" for the other workstations.

Do I really have to install Omni Tools or Omni Price on ALL workstations?
Yes, if you want the full functionality.  If you don't install on all workstations, the functionality listed below for the different modules will NOT work on the workstations where the chunk is not installed.

Omni Password: All functionality will not work.
Omni Menu: Cannot use interface where not installed.
Omni Work: Cannot use interface where not installed.
Omni Reset: Cannot use interface where not installed.
Omni Palettes: All functionality will not work.
Omni Login: All functionality will not work.
Omni Notify: All functionality will not work.

Omni Price - Core Module: All functionality will not work.
Omni Price - Extra Features: All functionality will not work.

Please see touch.zip for an easy method of keeping dictionaries synchronised across your whole system.

I am trying to install Omni Tools or Omni Price, but the Installation window never opened?
Please install the chunk file again and make sure you select "New Install" when asked.  Then log on as 'sa' and complete the installation process.

Please confirm that your DEX.INI is not set as Read Only.

I am getting an error referencing the WDC_Registration or WDC_Version_Info tables, what's wrong?
The installation of Omni Tools on your Great Plains SQL versions system has not been completed.  Please install the chunk file again and select "New Install" when asked.  Then log on as 'sa' and complete the installation process.

You can also force Omni Tools into Install mode by changing the line in the DEX.INI file to WDC_New_Install2054=TRUE.  For Omni Price, use WDC_New_Install1999=TRUE.

When logging in with a user other than 'sa', I am getting permission errors referencing the WDC_Registration or WDC_Version_Info tables, what's wrong?
The installation of Omni Tools or Omni Price on your Great Plains SQL versions system has not been successfully completed.  The Automatic Granting code has failed for some reason.  Just run the GRANT.SQL or GRANT7.SQL script from the SQL Enterprise Manager Query Analyser.

Your install may be out of date as the issue which may have caused this has been fixed.  Please download the latest code.

Why do I keep getting asked to login as 'sa' to complete installation?
This can be caused because the installation of Omni Tools or Omni Price on your Great Plains SQL versions system has not been successfully completed.  However, it can also be caused by installing mixed builds of Omni Tools or Omni Price.  If you are installing a new build of Omni Tools or Omni Price, please make sure that all workstations have the same dictionary installed.  The dictionary can be copied from one workstation to another after the initial installation.

Once installed, where do I find Omni Tools or Omni Price?
If you have successfully installed Omni Tools, you will locate its palette from the Cards >> Omni Tools choice on the Toolbar.

Omni Price will have palettes from the Transactions, Inquiry, Cards and Routine palettes.

I still cannot find Omni Tools or Omni Price on the Cards Toolbar, what now?
The System installation has not been completed.  Please open the Omni Tools install window with the following steps and complete the installation process.   Select Help >> About Great Plains, then select Extras (from the middle of the menu bar) >> About Omni Tools.  Press the Install button from the About Omni Tools window.  Similar steps work for Omni Price.

I can find the Omni Tools or Omni Price choice on the Cards Toolbar but the palette is empty, what now?
The Company installation for the current company has not been completed.   Please open the Omni Tools install window with the following steps and complete the installation process.  Select Help >> About Great Plains, then select Extras (from the middle of the menu bar) >> About Omni Tools.  Press the Install button from the About Omni Tools window.  Similar steps work for Omni Price.

I can find the Omni Tools or Omni Price palette but none of the modules are listed, what now?
None of the modules have been activated.  Please open the Omni Tools install window with the following steps and complete the installation process.   Select Help >> About Great Plains, then select Extras (from the middle of the menu bar) >> About Omni Tools.  Press the Install button from the About Omni Tools window.  Please press the Register Button and activate the required modules, then un-install and install the palette entries for each company.  Similar steps work for Omni Price.

Do I need to go into the Registration window even if I don't have Keys yet?
Yes,  this window is also used to activate the modules you wish to trial.  No modules will appear on the Omni Tools or Omni Price Palettes unless they are activated through the Registration window.

What can I do if I am using Omni Tools or Omni Price without Registration?
You can do anything you like within the Lesson Company.

Do I need to Grant access to the tables when installing on SQL Server?
No, Omni Tools and Omni Price will automatically grant access to the appropriate tables and associated store procedures when installing on a Great Plains SQL versions system.

What versions are Omni Tools and Omni Price available for?
Omni Tools and Omni Price are available for Great Plains Standard and Great Plains for versions 6.00, 7.00, 7.50 and 8.00.  Some features may not be included in some versions.

How can I tell what build of Omni Tools or Omni Price is installed?
The Omni Tools build information and last modified date are shown on the About Omni Tools window, this window is also used as a Splash screen when installing Omni Tools.  To get to this window, select Cards >> Omni Tools >> About Omni Tools, or select Help >> About Great Plains, then select Extras (from the middle of the menu bar) >> About Omni Tools. Similar steps work for Omni Price.

The details you need to check are the Version number, build number and the Last Modified date.  Please note that there are sub-build releases where the build is the same, but the Last Modified date is later.

When I upgrade my Great Plains Installation what happens to Omni Tools and Omni Price?
When you upgrade you will need to install the matching version of Omni Tools or Omni Price with can be downloaded from the website.  You will also need new Registration Keys for the upgraded version.   Please contact your reseller to request the new Registration Keys.  The updated Registration Keys will be provided at no cost as long as the Site's Annual Enhancement Plan (AEP) is paid up to date.

What does AEP stand for and why should I renew it?
AEP stands for Annual Enhancement Plan.  When purchasing Omni Tools or Omni Price the first year's AEP is compulsory.  While your AEP is paid up to date you are entitled to update to the latest builds at any time. You are also entitled to Registration Keys for upgrades to new Great Plains versions.  Finally, no support will be supplied to a site for which the AEP has expired.

Why is Omni Tools or Omni Price saying my AEP is due for renewal, when the Renewal date is still in the future?
Omni Tools and Omni Price are programmed to remind you when your AEP is due for renewal.   This reminder can be hidden for a month by clicking the Later Button on the reminder dialog.  Some old versions of Omni Tools and Omni Price were sensitive to the User Date and if a user switched companies while the User Date was in the future, it was possible to prematurely trigger the reminder.  To fix: Install the latest build, then go to the Registration window, change any checkbox and click OK.  Ignore any warnings and go back in and change the checkbox back to its original setting and click OK.  Ignore any warnings.  This will reset the reminder flag.

Can I synchronise my AEP Renewal date for Omni Tools or Omni Price with the Microsoft Business Solutions AEP Renewal date?
Please ask your Reseller to contact Rockton Software to discuss changing the renewal date.

Why don't my Registration Keys work?
The Registration Keys are sensitive to a number of factors and all must be correct for the keys to work. There 4 main areas.

1) The Site Name, Number of Users, Site Type, Authorised Phone Number and Great Plains versions must match.  The Site Name is case sensitive and must be character perfect, check for case, spaces or period (full stop) characters.  This information is normally validated against the Microsoft Business Solutions VOICE database to ensure accuracy.

2) The Dates and Modules selected must be entered correctly. The dates are provided by us in DD/MM/YYYY format. You may need to swap the Day and Month around if your system works in MM/DD/YYYY format. The AEP Renewal Date is normally 1 or more years minus 1 day into the future from the Initial Registration Date. The Registration Period dates should be blank unless using a trial period.  If trial keys were previously used and now permanent keys are being entered, don't forget to remove the old trial Registration Period dates.

3) Please make sure that the active or registered modules selected checkboxes match.

4) A typing error was made entering the keys, please recheck. The keys are in Hexi-decimal so they will only contain the characters 0-9 and A-F.  You will receive a warning if entering any other characters in the latest builds.

5) When installing a Great Plains Standard system running on a SQL based platform (MSDE, SBS, or MS-SQL), it will be incorrectly identified as Great Plains Professional when logged into the Sample or Lesson Company.  Please enter the registration keys while logged into a company other than The World Online, Inc. or Fabrikam, Inc.  This is a known issue with Great Plains.

If you are unable to find the problem, please email a zipped screenshot of the Omni Tools Registration window to us to compare against.

My Registration Keys used to work, but now they don't.  What happened?
Something has changed.  Have you changed anything to do with your Microsoft Business Solutions Registration Keys?  Have you changed your Registered Site Name, added users, changed Site Type (Great Plains Standard or Great Plains Professional) or upgraded your version?  Once you have identified what has changed, please request new Registration Keys through your Reseller.

What other Testing/Debugging facilities are available?
If you add the line WDC_Debug=LOG into your DEX.INI file, Omni Tools will create a new log file each time it is launched and will log many actions as it executes.   The log file will be called WDCDEBUG.LOG and will be found in the Great Plains application directory.

The Omni Tools or Omni Price Palettes has entries from another Third Party product, what's wrong?
Both Omni Tools and the Third Party product have used the same internal Palette ID.  Using the Install window, please uninstall the Omni Tools palettes from all companies.  Then edit the WDC_Palette2054=30300 line in the DEX.INI file of ALL workstations to increment the number by 10.  Then re-install the palettes into the all companies again.  This will shift the internal Palette ID used by Omni Tools so that it no longer clashes with the other product.  Please repeat if necessary.

Use the WDC_Palette1999 DEX.INI setting for Omni Price.

How can I Migrate Data from Great Plains Standard to Great Plains (SQL)?
Both Omni Tools and Omni Price have built in Table Migration facilities which can be used with no additional charges.  They are available from the Classic installation window after clicking on the Advanced button.  The Migrate Tables functionality works on a "Pull" methodology, where the old data is pulled into the SQL based system.  Migration from Ctree is natively supported, however, migration from Pervasive SQL or Btrieve requires an additional step.

P.SQL or Btrieve: Make a back up of the workstation application directory on the single workstation being used for the migration.  Copy all the .DLL files from an old P.SQL or Btrieve application directory.  Check for the line BTInterface=NoLoad in the DEX.INI, if it is there put a semicolon (;) at the beginning of the line to comment it out.  Now the workstation should be able to access the P.SQL or Btrieve tables as well as the SQL tables.

Install the new SQL based system and install Omni Tools or Omni Price as normal.  Then use the Migrate Tables button to pull the data across.  Please note that any contents of the SQL tables will be erased before the old data is transferred.  You must select the old database type and then the location of the tables to migrate.  For the System tables, please select the DYNAMICS/SYSTEM folder and for the Company Tables, please select the DYNAMICS/<Company code>/COMPANY folder.

P.SQL or Btrieve: Finally, restore the workstation application directory back to its original state.

Why does my VBA code sometimes fail when Omni Tools is installed?
Please see the entry under Omni Notify.

What does the warning message about Advanced Security and Omni Tools in the DYNAMICS.SET launch file mean?
Please see the entry "Why does Omni Notify sometimes prevent access to windows?" under Omni Notify.

What is the best method to upgrade my application?
1) BEFORE upgrading, we recommend that you ensure you are running on the latest build for your current version. Please check the build number on the downloads page. The last modified date is not important here as the build number will only be incremented if there are table changes. If you are not running the latest build, please install it on one workstation and say "Existing" and log into each company to automatically perform any table updates needed. NOTE: This process is very important when upgrading from Omni Tools version 6.00 to Advanced Security and Field Level Security.

2) Make sure you have Registration Keys for your new version. You must notify us if any registration details (Site Name, Site Type, User Count) have changed. Note that increasing the user count for Omni Price may incur additional costs.

3) AFTER completing your Great Plains upgrade download and install the latest code for the new version from the downloads page. Last Modified Date is important here. Install the chunk onto one workstation on your system and say "Existing" and log into each company as a user with DBO privileges (usually 'sa'). This will ensure any table upgrades that might be needed will be run automatically.

4) Next install on the second workstation and say "New Install". If now running version 8.0 you just need to login into any company and run the wizard for one company only. If now running a version 7.X, you must run through the wizard logging into each company in turn. This will ensure that the menus are updated for the new Great Plains version. In version 8.0 menus are system based when in prior versions they were company based and needed to be updated in each company.

5) All other workstations need the chunk installed and "Existing" selected when asked. There is no need to log in. Alternatively the dictionary from the previous workstations can be copied to the application folder.

 

Why is Omni Price or Omni Tools slower after upgrading?
When Great Plains SQL versions are upgraded, the standard upgrading code will drop ALL the Dexterity Auto Stored Procedures from the databases.  It then recreates the these zDP stored procedures for its own tables, but leaves them missing for Third party products, including the Winthrop products.  These stored procedures are used to gain a 300% performance improvement.  Without them the code will still run, but be much slower.

To fix, download and install the very latest builds and say "new install" to force the installation wizard to recreate the missing stored procedures for each company. Alternatively you can go to the About window and click the install button, then click the Advanced button to enable the advanced features of the classic installation window and then use the recreate buttons for both System and for each company.

What are all the different Versions of Great Plains?
Over the years different versions of Great Plains have been known by many different names, to see how each version falls into our pricing model please use the guide below:

Microsoft Dynamics GP Professional (running on MS-SQL) also known as
Great Plains Professional, Great Plains, eEnterprise, Dynamics SQL, Dynamics C/S+ for SQL

Microsoft Dynamics GP Standard (running on SBS & MSDE) also known as
Great Plains Standard (SBS & MSDE), Great Plains Standard (Ctree & P.SQL), Great Plains Select, Dynamics LAN, Dynamics C/S+, Dynamics (Ctree, P.SQL & Btrieve).

Why does Omni Tools or Omni Price still show the old version after attempting to upgrade to v9.00?
Version 9.00 of Dexterity introduced more complex version checking for the including of Dexterity Chunks.  These checks prevent a chunk file from one version extracting into a system which already has a dictionary of a different version.  So, attempting to install the v9.00 chunk on top of a v8.0 dictionary will fail.

The solution is to delete the OMNITOOL.DIC and/or OMNIPRCE.DIC file and re-install the v9.00 chunks.  They will install successfully now.