Getting clarity with user-defined fields
Throughout Dynamics GP, maintenance cards typically include at least two user-defined fields. User-defined fields can be renamed in the setup screen for the related module. This provides a great mechanism to add in special information. We'll take a look at a typical use of a user-defined field in this recipe.
How to do it...
For our example, we'll look at using a user-defined field to rename the User-Defined 1 field to Region in Customer Maintenance.
- From the navigation pane, select Sales. In the Sales page, click on Setup and then click on Receivables and finally Options.
- In the User-Defined 1 field, type
Regionand click on OK to close each window.
- Back on the Sales page, click on Customer under the Cards area. On the bottom left above User-Defined 2 is the newly named Region field ready to be filled in.
How it works...
Changing the field name only changes the display field; it doesn't change the underlying field name in the database. SmartLists are smart enough to show the new name. In our example, the description for Region would appear in a SmartList, not User-Defined 1.
User-defined fields like this are present for customers, vendors, accounts, sales orders, fixed assets, inventory items, and purchase receipts among others. Each of these can be renamed in their respective setup screens.
There's more...
All user-defined fields are not the same; some have special features.
Special User-Defined 1 features
User-Defined 1 has special features inside of Dynamics GP. Most of the -n reports inside the Dynamics GP allow sorting and selection by the User-Defined 1 field. These options aren't provided for User-Defined 2. Consequently, administrators should carefully consider what information belongs in User-Defined 1 before changing its name since the effects of this selection will be felt throughout the system.
Company Setup user-defined fields
In the Company Setup window, there are two user-defined fields at the top right and there is no option in Dynamics GP to rename these fields. The Company Setup window is accessed by clicking on Administration in the navigation pane, and then clicking on Company under the Setup and Company headers.
Expanded user-defined fields
Certain areas such as fixed assets, inventory items, and purchase receipts have more complex types of user-defined fields that can include dates, list selections, and currency.
See also
- The Developing connections with Internet user-defined fields recipe
- The Going straight to the site with web links recipe
- The Renaming fields for clarity recipe in Chapter 5, Harnessing the Power of SmartLists