Newsletter - June 2006

Check out the final part in our three-part series about Business Portal!

Plumbline Solutions provides software engineering services for Microsoft Certified Partners and Microsoft® Independent Software Vendors (ISVs). We offer software development, application support, and technology consulting, with a dedicated focus on delivering excellence and building lasting relationships.

Want to restrict Business Portal data so your salespeople only see information about their own customers? You can do it by using a secure data access policy. A secure data access policy is a row-level restriction that is applied to a data permission.

Here are the steps to help you restrict data using a secure data access policy:

  1. Open the Manage Data Permissions page: Site Settings > Users and Permissions > Manage Data Permissions.
  2. Expand Customer and click Customer - All.
  3. Click the Data Restrictions tab, and then click the Modify button. The Modify Restriction Policies dialog box appears.
  4. Select the By Salesperson restriction, then click OK.

The previous step restricts data based on the Business Portal user's salesperson ID. Next, make sure that the Business Portal user is mapped to a salesperson ID.

  1. Navigate to Site Settings > Users and Permissions > Manage Business Portal Users.
  2. Select a user.
  3. Click the Roles tab, and then click the Modify button. The Modify Roles dialog box appears.
  4. In the Role/Company field, select the appropriate salesperson and company combination.
  5. Select a salesperson ID, and then click OK.

All customer data that is based on the Customer - All data permission is now restricted by salesperson.

There are several secure data access policies built into Business Portal. The most common restrictions are by salesperson, employee, customer, vendor, project manager, business manager, or multi-company. To create a new secure data access policy requires writing code and leveraging the Business Portal Software Development Kit. Plumbline can assist you in creating new secure data access policies.
 

At Plumbline Solutions, we value hearing from you. Are there specific Hints and Tips, Solutions of the Month, or other information you would like to see in our monthly newsletter? If so, please send your requests, and we will do our best to fulfill them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Name: Brandon Heidepriem

Team: Strategic & Emerging Technologies (SET)

Role: Senior Developer

Background: I provide consulting and development in Microsoft Information Worker Solutions, like SharePoint, InfoPath, and Outlook integration, development using the Business Portal Software Development Kit for Microsoft Dynamics, object model design assistance, and architecture design. Prior to joining Plumbline Solutions, I began my career working for Microsoft on the Business Framework team, researching and developing a meta data-driven user interface and the Business Portal Administration Console integration with SharePoint.

Likes best about consulting: Working directly with customers and seeing our solutions satisfy their requirements. I also enjoy working on multiple projects since each has its own specific architecture and technologies.

Hobbies: My kids, target shooting, hockey, motorcycles, and golf

Looking for a third-party application or vertical solution that can be used with Microsoft Dynamics™ SL (formerly Microsoft® Business Solutions—Solomon)?

Take a look at Plumbline’s ISV Link Exchange for a list of add-on products. It’s a fast, friendly way to help you find what you’re looking for.

If you would like us to add a link to your company’s Web site, please send your requests or call 419-421-0270, extension 119.

 

 

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  Deployment
As you work through your deployment plan, be sure that you have all of the files needed by the Packager when it installs packages. After you copy files to the server, you can have your installer spawn a process that calls MBFPackager.exe from a command line and passes arguments that install your Business Portal components. If you want to include your new types with the Packager, contact Plumbline. We can help you jump-start the process.

Platform Extensions
The Business Portal Software Development Kit (Business Portal SDK) can help you and your developers create a better solution for your business. The Business Portal SDK includes Web parts called result viewers which display relevant data that is accessed using a Query Web Service, a secure Web-based method for retrieving data from your application using a query. A Hypermedia subsystem is also available. The Hypermedia subsystem creates and maintains links within an application or to external applications and resources. The Query Web Service relies on the Hypermedia subsystem to provide links that are included with a query’s results. You can extend this in your application to enable additional functionality. For example, a query used to retrieve all customer information can have links to the customers’ orders, resulting in less time and fewer clicks to get to the information your business needs.

Custom InfoPath
Microsoft® InfoPath can be used to input data into Business Portal. You can bind the business entities that you created in Business Portal to a form in InfoPath. This would enable your users to input data online or offline without Internet connectivity dictating your business activities.

Custom Development
It is difficult for software developers to create an enterprise application that meets all users’ needs. So, if what you are using is not meeting your requirements, come to Plumbline Solutions, and let us tailor Business Portal to fit your needs and help you see greater productivity and efficiency in your employees.

Integration with Other Packages
Business Portal enables access to Terminal Services. If you have a product that integrates directly with Microsoft Dynamics, Plumbline Solutions can help you create links to the application from Business Portal, making the application easier to access from many locations.

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