January 2008
 As we kick off a new year, enjoy these Tips & Tricks. You can view more on the Tips & Tricks page on LawsonGuru.com.
And, remember to share your tips. Send them to
. I'll be back next month with a great new issue! | The LawsonGuru Letter is a free periodic newsletter providing provocative commentary on issues important to the Lawson Software community. The LawsonGuru Letter is published by—and is solely the opinion of—John Henley of Decision Analytics. Visit Decision Analytics at http://www.danalytics.com. For subscription information, see the bottom of this message. Lawson® is a registered trademark of Lawson Software, Inc. The LawsonGuru Letter is neither affiliated with nor sponsored by Lawson Software, Inc. Lawson Software, Inc. is not responsible for the content of this information. |
Tip 1: Using Dynamic (Database-driven) Parameters in LBI
You want to use dynamic parameters--fed from a database--with your Crystal Report, which is published in LBI. However, when the report is viewed, the LBI parameter page just uses static text boxes:
You can remove the LBI-generated parameter page so that you can use the Crystal parameter pages, which lets you use dynamic and/or cascading parameters. In Report Administration, Click on the ‘Customize Report Parameters’ for your report:
Select on the parameter(s) defined on your report, and click the ‘Delete’ button:
Now when you view the report, you are utilizing the Crystal parameter page, which can include dynamic and/or cascading parameters:
Tip 2: Java error when opening up ProcessFlow utilities
I get an error ("Windows cannot find "\bin\javaw") when opening up ProcessFlow Administrator, Scheduler, etc. on the Windows machine.
If you get this error when opening up ProcessFlow Administrator, Scheduler, etc. on the Windows machine:
Make sure you have system variables, LAW_JAVA_HOME & LAW81_JAVA_HOME, pointing to the JDK installed on your Windows machine:
Also, use DOS 8.3 Naming Convention, not Windows Long File Names.
Tip 3: Re-submitting Bad Compiles
Often when you do a full Lawson recompile (i.e. via cobcmp), there are some programs which don't compile due to contention within GEN, compiler issues, etc. All it usually takes to fix them is to simply resubmit them on the compile queue. You do this using the qcompile command, which submits individual programs to be compiled.
The problem is knowing which programs need to be re-submitted. This is based on the existence of the .err file in the xxsrc directory. I used to just re-submit these by hand, but quickly figured out it's a real waste of time. So I wrote a script:
cd $LAWDIR/prod
for src in `ls -d *src`
do
for pgm in `ls $src/*.err`
do
qcompile PROD `echo $src | cut -c 1-2` `basename $pgm .err`
done
done
It's not perfect, as it doesn't differentiate if the .err is really associated with the program itself, the screen/form (i.e. BL20.scr.err). Nor does it figure out that user exits need the -u switch. But it does take care of 95% of the re-compiles. The rest I can take care of by hand.
Worthwhile Reading
The Second Decade Of Offshore Outsourcing: Where We're Headed
- QUOTE OF THE ISSUE –
“Television is where you watch
people in your living room that
you would not want near your house.”
-- Groucho Marx
Execs now prefer to call it 'globalization.' Whatever the name, it's gaining steam and bringing new risks and requiring new strategies.
Information Week, November 5, 2007 http://www.informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=2028014484 Reasons Why Tech Consultants Get Sacked
The biggest sins: Promising what can't be delivered and not closing the loop in client communications. To do either is to invite calamity.
Baseline Magazine, October 17, 2007 http://www.baselinemag.com/article2/0,1397,2201044,00.asp Workday Gets to Work
It's still difficult to start a conversation about Workday without referencing PeopleSoft and Oracle and the sequence of events that brought the latter two companies crashing together.
eWeek, November 26, 2007 http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,2220310,00.aspWhat Makes A CIO Effective?
There's consensus among CXOs, IT staff, line-of-business managers, and CIO themselves, and it boils down to three words: alignment, process, innovation.
Information Week, December 10, 2007 http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=204701895Printing in 3D
Printing a cocktail snack from your desktop? WSJ.com's Andy Jordan explores how that is possible with a cheaper form of 3D printing.
Wall Street Journal, November 29, 2007 http://online.wsj.com/public/page/8_0006.html?bcpid=86195573&bclid=86272812&bctid=1328213802© Copyright 2008, Decision Analytics. All rights reserved.
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Lawson® is a registered trademark of Lawson Software, Inc. The LawsonGuru Letter is neither affiliated with nor sponsored by Lawson Software, Inc.
Lawson Software, Inc. is not responsible for the content of this information.
Decision Analytics is an independent consultancy, focusing on Lawson technical projects, and specializing in reporting, customization/modification, data conversion, and integration/interfaces. Please visit http://www.danalytics.com for more information.