New release of VAPS & VPS for Dynamics 365 Business Central

Posted by Ute Gillet on Oct 28, 2021 2:28:36 PM

Hot of the press! We finished the new releases of our extensions for visual scheduling in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central and are glad that version 1.7 of the Visual Advanced Production Scheduler and version 1.12 of the Visual Production Scheduler (VPS) have already been approved by Microsoft and can be downloaded from AppSource as of now.

So, sit back and see what we have on offer.

New features of the VAPS

 

#1 View filter available

While the data filter works as Dynamics 365 BC filter on reading the data, the newly added view filter is applied to data already having been loaded into the simulation, thus offering more flexible options for viewing your plan from different angles.

To work with the filters, the "Actions" menu was enhanced by the "View Filter" item that offers four according options:


View filter in the VAPS

In addition, there's a new dialog where you can create and edit your view filters, reachable by clicking "Choose View Filter" from the menu shown above.

Filter chooser dialog in the VAPS

#2 Base view filter 

To make using filters even more flexible, we have responded to a customer request and now offer the so-called base view filter that is assigned to a simulation. This means that by opening the according simulation, the settings of the base filter come into play in addition to the data filter, but in contrast to the data filter, the data filtered out by the base filter are nevertheless taken into account for the planning. Please note that the settings of the base filter cannot be changed while the simulation is running.

A base filter can be created directly upon creating a new simulation or via the simulations page which has been enhanced accordingly: new options allow for creating and editing base filters and for having the base view filter dialog popping up at the start of the simulation:

Base filter in the VAPS

#3 Support of lot size 

Calculating the duration of an operation up to now  did not take into account the lot size which, of course, was a certain inaccuracy factor. We have changed this and now the calculation of the duration follows a new formula:

duration = setup time + runtime * input quantity/lot size

#4 API enhancement

As you might already know, we have extended the VAPS with an API, where customers/ partners can change specific behavior of the app via an extension. It is a very powerful functionality that we continue to enhance.

With the new release we introduce the Prod. Order Routing Line Editable event and with this the ability to protect a production order line from editing. This way you could, for instance, make the editing of certain production order lines user-dependent. 

The event will be thrown in the load/reload phase of a VAPS simulation. If the event is not handled, the standard setting of editable = true will be applied. 

 

New features of both VAPS and VPS

 

#1 Change sorting

Up to now, the sorting order in which elements, like e.g., production orders or resources, appeared in the plan was defined by us. This, of course, put some restrictions to your needs. So we are happy that we can offer you a new dialog now that allows to configure the sorting of nearly all elements of the plan. See in the short gif below how to change the order of Work Center groups in the VPS:

Change sort order in the VPS

Besides via the contextmenu, you can also reach the dialog via the "Configurations" tab in the user settings: 

Sort order in setup dialog of VPS

#2 Delay time for tooltip appearance

As useful the information provided in the tooltip are for most users, some of them reported back to us that the box sometimes is in the way somehow and therefore it would be nice to have it appear after a short delay. As your wish is - whenever possible - always our command, both extensions now offer an option to specify this delay time. It is given in milliseconds and can be set in the "Appearance" area of the user setup.

Set toltip delay in VPS

Once set, the tooltips appear after this given delay:

Tooltip delay in VPS

 

#3 Revised and improved tooltip texts for data fields and action buttons

Granted - our tooltip texts for the above mentioned elements were not always accurate and sometimes even a bit confusing. Of course, we realized this and did a comprehensive overhaul of the texts so that now you get really understandable and helpful tooltips ;-).

VPS-improved tooltips

That's it for today, I hope you'll enjoy the new functions and enhancements. As always, the complete release information can be found in the respective notes for VAPS and VPS. And don't forget to browse our knowledge base for more detailed information, also on the API enhancements.

By the way - we have also released the Visual Jobs Scheduler for Dynamics 365 Business Central. So, watch out for the blog which is coming soon!

 

Further information

  • Watch a recorded webinar about our extensions for visual scheduling in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Centra.
  • Book a free demo with a VAPS, or a VPS  specialist.
  • Get your free copy of our comprehensive eBook:
    Ebook - Visual Scheduling for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central

 

Topics: Business Central Production Scheduling, Business Central Visual Scheduling Extensions, Release VAPS, Release VPS