Monthly Archives: October 2022

Navigating ERP Environments: DEV, TEST, & PROD

Posted on by
1

Multiple environments are necessary during ERP implementations. An ERP implementation usually involve at least three environments, though additional environments might be added depending on implementation project requirements. DEV, TEST, and PROD, are the most common names for these three environments

PROD (May also be called GOLD)

After implementation, PROD refers to the live ERP environment. Prior to implementation, this is a transaction-less environment where tested configurations are setup. Transaction-less because ERP systems don’t have a “delete posted transactions” button, so you want to keep this environment clean from test transactions. So where does transaction testing happen?

TEST (May also be called UAT for User Acceptance Testing)

During the implementation, subject matter experts and end-users will setup sample configurations and model business processes with test transactions in the TEST environment. The desired, approved configurations will then be setup in the PROD (GOLD) environment.

DEV (Mostly just called DEV)

DEV environments are necessary as ERP projects frequently require customizations. A developer can build and deploy his developments to the DEV environment without interrupting the flow of user testing. Once any technical bugs are smoothed out, the customized code from the DEV environment can be promoted to the TEST environment, where it will be validated/approved by subject matter experts or other functional users.

Continue reading →

Why Does Daddy Have to Work?

Posted on by
Reply

Working from home with kids is full of distractions. 

Lawrence has been walking for a couple months now. He likes banging on my office door a few times per day. Very determined for his age, he won’t stop until I open the door. When I do, his little grunts turn into a big smile.  He takes me by the hand to lead me into the living room, or into the kitchen, or just back-and-forth to nowhere in particular. If I leave my office door open in the evening, Lawrence likes to slip in and press a button on my keyboard to flash on the sleeping monitors.

The other night, while wrestling Calvin into bed, he hopped up into my office chair and started hacking away at my keyboard, “I’m working Daddy!” He even put on my headset and let me take a picture. I have to lock the office door while I work because, unlike Lawrence, Calvin can reach the handle and feels at liberty to barge in anytime he wants to play.

In April, I left a salaried job to start freelancing.  One reason for the change was to work on my own terms, to spend more time with the kids. More time with the kids isn’t all time with the kids though.  There are still trade-offs. The freelancing still needs to be done. It’s hard to say “No, Daddy can’t play right now. Daddy has to work,” but it’s necessary at times.

Calvin and I have this script: I ask “Why does Daddy have to work?” and Calvin responds, “To make money.” I ask “Why does Daddy have to make money,” and Calvin responds, “To buy Calvin toys!” 

This is a partial and inaccurate truth. I’m not sure how to best correct it.

Continue reading →

Data Violates Integrity Constraints – Data Management in D365

Posted on by
Reply

Failure is no fun.

“Data Violates Integrity Constraints” is an error I encounter too often. If you get this error, perhaps this post will help you push past your failure.

In the scenario below, you try to import excel data through a data entity, but get a failure error.

That’s fine you say, I’m a professional. So you click view execution log to troubleshoot the issue.

If you try to view the staging data, you’ll see no staging data has loaded.
If you click on Staging log details, you’ll get a curious error message:
The data value violates integrity constraints.

This is curious, because it seems you haven’t loaded any data at all, let alone some data that would have triggered a validation error. You re-check your excel file, and the data you wanted to load seems correct.

So What’s The Problem? How do you fix it?

Frequently, the issue is there are some “blank” rows at the bottom of your excel data that are throwing off the upload. Data Management is trying to prevent you from importing those blank rows. Highlight the row below your data, press CTRL+SHIFT+DOWN and delete all the rows below your data. To be safe, you can do the same thing to the far right to clean up any columns that may be causing trouble as well.

Then, just like wherever else we encounter failure, set it up and try, try again.

Good luck!