Microsoft Dynamics GP: French, Dutch & German Versions – Overview

Writen by Andrew Karasev

Microsoft is on the way of Project Green realization. Former Microsoft Great Plains, now Microsoft Dynamics GP version 9.0 is marching across the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa. Historically, however there is the whole cluster of former Great Plains Software customers in France, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany and Poland. With the acquisition of Navision Software, Denmark based software development company, Microsoft seems to be more active in promoting Navision in its traditional markets, such as Europe with its complex taxing system, payroll diversification and languages. Great Plains Dexterity (the engine of Microsoft Dynamics GP) is not that flexible in multi-language support, plus being designed as database and computer graphical platform transferable – Dexterity foundation in our opinion doesn’t provide international environment flexibility, this is probably why Microsoft emphasizes Navision on emerging markets: Russia, Brazil, Eastern Europe, etc. It seems that Microsoft will have German, French (mainland France, Quebec will have Canadian French version supported) and Dutch Great Plains version translated later in 2006 and version 9.0 has all the chances to be the final version of Great Plains – Microsoft Dynamics GP for these countries. We specialize in Great Plains remote support Worldwide with substantial cost optimization and we do serve European clientele with traditional experience in Great Plains, now supporting Navision and Axapta technically challenging projects. In this small article we will talk about the possibilities.

Concerns. Well – if you have GP as your corporate accounting system with substantial amount of customization and reporting, tuned for French legislation – your concern has all the rights for existence. It is typical situation when Navision partner has very limited knowledge in Great Plains and GP->NAV conversion might be a nightmare. Project Green should deemphasize application specifics and make all the application databases: GP, NAV, AX, SL, CRM be accessible through similar interface.

Dexterity Customizations. In our opinion, if you are in Europe – you should analyze and rethink your customization strategy. You should probably move away from Dexterity toward web interfaces and even integrate your custom forms into MS Outlook (similar to Microsoft CRM and Microsoft Small Business Accounting)

Migration. At this point this is now decided yet. Let’s wait and see where we will have to go. Hopefully Project Green will stick to its schedule.

Please feel free to call us: 1-630-961-5918, 1-866-528-0577, help@albaspectrum.com

Andrew Karasev is Chief Technology Officer at Alba Spectrum Technologies ( http://www.albaspectrum.com ) – Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains, Navision, Axapta MS CRM, Oracle Financials and IBM Lotus Domino Partner, serving corporate customers in the following industries: Aerospace & Defense, Medical & Healthcare, Distribution & Logistics, Hospitality, Banking & Finance, Wholesale & Retail, Chemicals, Oil & Gas, Placement & Recruiting, Advertising & Publishing, Textile, Pharmaceutical, Non-Profit, Beverages, Conglomerates, Apparels, Durables, Manufacturing and having locations in multiple states and internationally. We are serving USA Nationwide: CA, IL, NY, FL, AZ, CO, TX, WI, WA, MI, MA, MO, LA, NM, MN, Europe: Germany, France, Belgium, Poland, Russia, Middle East (Egypt, Saudi Arabia, OAE, Bahrain), Asia: China, Australia, New Zealand, Oceania, South & Central America: Mexico, Peru, Brazil, Venezuela, Columbia, Ecuador, Chili, Paraguay, Uruguay, Argentina, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico

The Proper Way to Put Text Over Your Images

Writen by Ariel Velasco

One must be very careful in using photos as backgrounds. If you are planning to have text written atop an image, you must have had acquired the needed software as well as the know-how required in this task. It’s not good to drive your car without the wheels on.

A good way to make you text readable is to lighten your background photos as much as possible in order to give greater emphasis on your text. For this purpose we have particular tools that can be of aid for this task.

Adobe PhotoDeluxe. This is an ideal tool for you to be able to manipulate photos in almost any way that you desire. It boasts of a user friendly console and this package includes 3-minute non-interactive QuickTime movie describing everything that the software can do. Also, the screen page layouts make each step of the manipulations very easy to follow.

Another tool than can be used for our purpose is the Paint Shop Pro. This also offers a friendly approach to photo manipulation. Several resources are available if you still need further instructions. Websites offering instructions and downloads are plenty and it would be very good to avail of these free information. Browsing the web is easy and you won’t have any hard time looking for the right site.

Making images with text on top can be a nightmare if you do not make the necessary study of the appropriate technique that go hand-in-hand with abovementioned software. As always, the importance of having the right knowledge is an indispensable tool in any task that you will be undertaking. Planning is an integral part of any task as this will give you ample time to prepare yourself as well as ready everything that is needed for the realization of any undertaking you put yourself into.

About The Author
Ariel Velasco goes by the author alias of Paul Hood. This author is into books and writing. Reading is an essential part of his life and this has lent a considerable influence in his writing. Well traveled and would always want to travel more. He loves learning more about people and their ways. Took up a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology to further this fascination and had a fulfilling educational experience having been exposed to a wide spectrum of people. Always ready for new opportunities to learn and have a great deal of interest in different fields of expertise. For additional information about the articles you may visit http://www.uprinting.com.

C++ Function Templates

Writen by Muthukumar

C++ Function templates are those functions which can handle different data types without separate code for each of them. For a similar operation on several kinds of data types, a programmer need not write different versions by overloading a function. It is enough if he writes a C++ template based function. This will take care of all the data types.

There are two types of templates in C++, viz., function templates and class templates. This article deals with only the function templates.

There are lot of occasions, where we might need to write the same functions for different data types. A favorite example can be addition of two variables. The variable can be integer, float or double. The requirement will be to return the corresponding return type based on the input type. If we start writing one function for each of the data type, then we will end up with 4 to 5 different functions, which can be a night mare for maintenance.

C++ templates come to our rescue in such situations. When we use C++ function templates, only one function signature needs to be created. The C++ compiler will automatically generate the required functions for handling the individual data types. This is how a programmer’s life is made a lot easier.

C++ Template functions – Details:

Let us assume a small example for Add function. If the requirement is to use this Add function for both integer and float, then two functions are to be created for each of the data type (overloading).

int Add(int a,int b) { return a+b;} // function Without C++ template

float Add(float a, float b) { return a+b;} // function Without C++ template

If there are some more data types to be handled, more functions should be added.

But if we use a c++ function template, the whole process is reduced to a single c++ function template. The following will be the code fragment for Add function.

template

T Add(T a, T b) //C++ function template sample

{

return a+b;

}

This c++ function template definition will be enough. Now when the integer version of the function, the compiler generates an Add function compatible for integer data type and if float is called it generates float type and so on.

Here T is the typename. This is dynamically determined by the compiler according to the parameter passed. The keyword class means, the parameter can be of any type. It can even be a class.

C++ Template functions – Applicability:

C++ function templates can be used wherever the same functionality has to be performed with a number of data types. Though very useful, lots of care should be taken to test the C++ template functions during development. A well written c++ template will go a long way in saving time for programmers.

About The Author

Muthukumar

More articles can be found at http://www.codersource.net/.

Software Translation & Localization

Writen by Shy Avni

What is Software Localization?

The Localization Industry Standards Association (LISA) defines localization as “the process of modifying products or services to account for differences in distinct markets”. Software localization is thus much more than translating user interfaces from one language to another. It is about adapting all cultural content and technical issues to a specific audience in a given location.

localization means ensuring that your software “speaks” the language of your customers. In a world of globalization, localization can make the difference between success and failure in your target markets. However, as the business environment becomes increasingly competitive, the challenge of adapting software, documentation, online help, Web pages and manuals to conform to the cultural, linguistic and regulatory needs of each customer becomes formidable. Localization has effectively become the cost of doing business in the global market.

Internationalization is the process of translating software UI (user interfaces) from one language to another and altering it to suit foreign clients and their culture norms. this in not just about translating languages, but adapting from one culture to another.

Globalization makes your software ready for the global market. Localization includes the program itself and any online or printed documentation. As the competition among the many software developers increases, software companies are increasingly challenged to localize its software, documents, web pages, and manuals to each customer’s different cultural and language needs. In addition, there are increasing regulatory, cultural and compliance pressures that companies need to deal with. a well executed globalization process can aid in opening new markets and retaining current clients.

Localization is not limited to translating English into other languages (as most software continues to be developed in the U.S.) but also includes every language from French, Spanish, Hebrew, Chinese, Arabic, etc.

benefits both developers and customers alike In five years, the number of non-English speaking Internet users has gone from less than 10% to nearly 64% of all users. Similarly, user trends are similar. More and more non-English speaking users are using localized software. (Nielsen/Net ratings Internet measurement service)

Users of computer software expect their software to be written in their own language. Although localization services come at a cost to software developers, it also yields concrete benefits: Users who understand a product fully are more skilled in managing it, more efficient in using it and less likely to make costly mistakes. These are all issues that affect the bottom line. The more skilled and efficient the users, the lower the burden on customer support and services.

Localization allows users to interact with applications in their own language and in a setting that is intuitive to them.

For Example:

Messages are in their own language

Input fields formatted as is customary in the specific country (names, addresses, dates, and other data)

Keyboard character standards when input is required

Error messages in the local language ensure quick resolution

Competition in the software industry is fierce with many quality products vying for the same market. Differentiation today is not about bells and whistles, but about who best meets the needs of the customer. Localizing is the key to strategic, competitive advantage.

Shy Avni Business Development Manager Net-Translators