Purpose: The purpose of this document is to illustrate how to use Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 Excel Add-in for import of inventory transactions (on-hand).
Challenge: Data model changes in Microsoft Dynamics related to high normalization and introduction of surrogate keys made some imports more complex. In fact the data model forming Inventory Journal was not dramatically changed and import principle remains the same – populate the journal and then post the journal. However surrogate key link was introduced to some tables related to Inventory Journal transactions table.
Solution: Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 ships with lnventory Journal AIF Web Service (InventProfitLossJournalService) which can be used in integration scenarios. However Inventory Journal AIF Web Service can’t be used in Excel at the moment for import of inventory transactions. In order to import inventory transactions using Excel the appropriate tables will be used.
Assumption: The assumption is that appropriate reference data such as released products (items), etc. was created in advance.
Data Model:
Table Name | Table Description |
InventJournalTable | The InventJournalTable table contains information about inventory journals. The table holds information about how the journal is handled by the system. |
InventJournalTrans | The InventJournalTrans table contains information about items and represents a line in an inventory journal. Each record has information related to a specific item and is related to a record in the InventJournalTable table, which is the journal header. |
Data Model Diagram:
Walkthrough:
Connection
Add Data
Dynamics AX – Error
Add Tables
Field Chooser
InventJournalTable
Field Name | Field Description |
Journal | |
Name | |
Description |
InventJournalTrans
Field Name | Field Description |
Date | |
Item number | |
Journal | |
Line number | |
Dimension No | |
Quantity | |
Cost price | |
Cost amount |
InventDim
Excel VLookup function may be used to find appropriate InventDimId automatically based on criteria
Sequence:
1.InventJournalTable – Publish Selected
2.InventJournalTrans – Publish Selected
Result:
Dynamics AX – Inventory Journal
Dynamics AX – Inventory Journal lines
Dynamics AX – On-hand
Dynamics AX – Posting
SQL Trace:
Summary: For the purposes of small or medium data migration (data conversion) where performance is not a concern Excel can be used for import of inventory transactions into Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012. Although Inventory Journal AIF Web Service (InventProfitLossJournalService) can’t be used at the moment in Excel for import of inventory transactions, appropriate tables can be used instead. Excel template can be created and used for import of inventory transactions.
Author: Alex Anikiev, PhD, MCP
Tags: Dynamics ERP,Dynamics AX 2012, Excel, Dynamics AX 2012 Excel Add-in, Data Import, Data Conversion, Data Migration, Application Integration Framework, Inventory on-hand.
Note: This document is intended for information purposes only, presented as it is with no warranties from the author. This document may be updated with more content to better outline the concepts and describe the examples. It’s recommended that all Data Model changes introduced as a part of this demonstration will be removed once you complete data import exercise.