Epicor Information Worker Admin

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Epicor ERP

Epicor Information Worker

Administration for Epicor ERP

Course

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Disclaimer

This document is for informational purposes only and is subject to change without notice. This document and its contents, including the viewpoints, dates and functional content expressed herein are believed to be accurate as of its date of publication. However, Epicor Software Corporation makes no guarantee, representations or warranties with regard to the enclosed information and specifically disclaims any applicable implied warranties, such as fitness for a particular purpose, merchantability, satisfactory quality or reasonable skill and care. As each user of Epicor software is likely to be unique in their requirements in the use of such software and their business processes, users of this document are always advised to discuss the content of this document with their Epicor account manager. All information contained herein is subject to change without notice and changes to this document since printing and other important information about the software product are made or published in release notes, and you are urged to obtain the current release notes for the software product. We welcome user comments and reserve the right to revise this publication and/or make improvements or changes to the products or programs described in this publication at any time, without notice. The usage of any Epicor software shall be pursuant to an Epicor end user license agreement and the performance of any consulting services by Epicor personnel shall be pursuant to Epicor's standard services terms and conditions. Usage of the solution(s) described in this document with other Epicor software or third party products may require the purchase of licenses for such other products. Where any software is expressed to be compliant with local laws or requirements in this document, such compliance is not a warranty and is based solely on Epicor's current understanding of such laws and requirements. All laws and requirements are subject to varying interpretations as well as to change and accordingly Epicor cannot guarantee that the software will be compliant and up to date with such changes. All statements of platform and product compatibility in this document shall be considered individually in relation to the products referred to in the relevant statement, i.e., where any Epicor software is stated to be compatible with one product and also stated to be compatible with another product, it should not be interpreted that such Epicor software is compatible with both of the products running at the same time on the same platform or environment. Additionally platform or product compatibility may require the application of Epicor or third-party updates, patches and/or service packs and Epicor has no responsibility for compatibility issues which may be caused by updates, patches and/or service packs released by third parties after the date of publication of this document. Epicor®_{is a registered trademark and/or}

trademark of Epicor Software Corporation in the United States, certain other countries and/or the EU. All other trademarks mentioned are the property of their respective owners. Copyright ©_{Epicor Software Corporation 2014.}

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Revision: July 25, 2014 2:08 a.m. Total pages: 21

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Epicor Information Worker Administration for Epicor ERP Course...4

Before You Begin...5

Audience...5

Prerequisites...5

Environment Setup...5

Overview...7

Security Configuration...8

Benefits of Configuration Manager...9

Starting Configuration Manager...10

Configuration Manager Overview...11

Create and Deploy an Information Worker Configuration...13

Workshop - Create a Configuration...13

Workshop - Export an Epicor BAQ...14

Workshop - Import an Epicor BAQ...14

Workshop - Add a Business Entity...15

Workshop - Create a Menu Item...16

Workshop - Deploy the Configuration...17

Workshop - Test the Business Entity in Microsoft Outlook...17

Troubleshooting...19

Conclusion...20

Contents Epicor Information Worker Administration for Epicor ERP Course

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Epicor Information Worker Administration for Epicor ERP

Course

This course reviews the Epicor Information Worker administrative side. Epicor Information Worker is a desktop productivity application that allows people who use Microsoft®_Office®_{to view and update data from applications}

configured to work with Epicor Information Worker. This helps increase productivity and improve real-time decision-making by offering easy access to data stored in applications.

This course reviews required administrative configuration. The majority of the course explains the Epicor Information Worker Configuration Manager, followed by a section on troubleshooting data synchronization issues.

The Epicor Information Worker Configuration Manager is an application that configures Epicor application business activity queries (BAQs) so people who use Epicor Information Worker can access data in Microsoft Office applications via the Epicor menus and commands.

There are shipping configurations that come with Epicor Information Worker. However, an organization may want to create their own views and want them accessible in the Epicor Information Worker menu structure. The Epicor Information Worker Configuration Manager allows you to create a new configuration file which you can deploy to your Information Worker server.

Upon successful completion of this course, you will be able to:

• Understand Information Worker administration and the implications of different configurations. • Use Information Worker Configuration Manager.

• Modify Information Worker configuration settings. • Deploy a modified configuration.

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Before You Begin

Read this topic for information you should know in order to successfully complete this course.

Audience

Specific audiences will benefit from this course. • System Administrator

• IT/Technical Staff

Prerequisites

In order to successfully complete this course, the following prerequisites must be met. • Experience with Epicor business activity queries (BAQs).

• Complete the Epicor Information Worker 9.05 for Epicor 9.05 course.

Environment Setup

The environment setup steps and potential workshop constraints must be reviewed in order to successfully complete the workshops in this course.

Your Epicor training environment, in which the Epicor demonstration database is found, enables you to experience Epicor functionality in action but does not affect data in your live, production environment.

If IW is already in production use, you must install the IW server components on a different server in order to do this course without affecting the production IW installation.

The following steps must be taken to successfully complete the workshops in this course.

1. Verify the following or ask your system administrator to verify for you:

• Your Epicor training icon (or web address if you are using Epicor Web Access) points to your Epicor training environment with the Epicor demonstration database installed. Do not complete the course workshops in your live, production environment.

Note It is recommended that multiple Epicor demonstration databases are installed. Contact Support or Systems Consulting for billable assistance.

• The Epicor demonstration database is at the same service pack and patch as the Epicor application. Epicor's education team updates the Epicor demonstration database for each service pack and patch. If your system administrator upgrades your Epicor application to a new service pack or patch, he or she must also download the corresponding Epicor demonstration database from EPICweb > Support

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> Epicor > Downloads and install it. If this is not performed, unexpected results can occur when completing the course workshops.

• Your system administrator restored (refreshed) the Epicor demonstration database prior to starting this course. The Epicor demonstration database comes standard with parts, customers, sales orders, and so on, already defined. If the Epicor demonstration database is shared with multiple users (that is, the database is located on a server and users access the same data, much like your live, production environment) and is not periodically refreshed, unexpected results can occur. For example, if a course workshop requires you to ship a sales order that came standard in the Epicor demonstration database, but a different user already completed this workshop and the Epicor demonstration database was not restored (refreshed), then you will not be able to ship the sales order. Epicor's education team has written the course workshops to minimize situations like this from occurring, but Epicor cannot prevent users from manipulating the data in your installation of the Epicor demonstration database.

2. Install the Information Worker server using the procedures in the Epicor Installation Guide.

3. Assign your Windows user credentials to the manager account in your Epicor application.

a. Log into your Epicor application. For User name and Password, use epicor and epicor . These credentials allow you the administrative rights needed for this task.

b. Navigate to System Management > Company Maintenance > User to open the User Account Maintenance program.

c. On the Details sheet, type manager in the User ID field and press Tab to display the settings for the manager user account.

d. In the Domain and Domain User ID fields, type your Windows user name and domain name.

e. Click File > Save.

It takes approximately five minutes for your change to be activated.

4. From a computer with Microsoft Office 2007 or above, open a web browser and go to

http://yourIWservername/informationworker replacing yourIWservername with your Information Worker server computer name.

5. Follow the instructions on the client download page to download and install the Information Worker client.

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Epicor Information Worker Administration for Epicor ERP Course Before You Begin

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Overview

Use Epicor Information Worker Configuration Manager to configure Epicor application business activity queries (BAQs) so people who use Epicor Information Worker can access data in Microsoft Office applications via the Epicor menus and commands.

The following diagram shows an overview of an Information Worker installation, which includes Information Worker clients, the Information Worker server with its Information Worker Configuration Manager utility, and the Epicor server that provides application data to the Information Worker clients.

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Security Configuration

Security in Epicor Information Worker is controlled by the Epicor ERP application.

Each user must be set up as a user in the Epicor application with single sign-on capability. In the Epicor application User Account Maintenance program, you do not need to select the Require single-sign on check box for each user account record, but the Domain and Domain User ID fields must be set with the Windows credentials of each user.

IW users are granted same access to Epicor data as they are granted when using the regular Epicor client. Note For more information on setting up users with single sign-on, refer to the application online help for User Account Maintenance.

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Benefits of Configuration Manager

Epicor Information Worker is used to access Epicor application data in Microsoft Outlook, Word and Excel. When the Epicor Information Worker client is installed on a computer that also has Microsoft Office, the Epicor application-specific menu items are added to the Office applications. Most menu items are related to business entities. Business entities are a class (type) of record whose columns are determined by an Epicor business activity query (BAQ). For example, Customers is an Epicor application business entity. A Customers record has columns such as address, customer ID, credit hold, and territory. When you import the Customers business entity into Microsoft Outlook, you view the column data in a form.

The BAQs used by Epicor Information Worker are shipped as a part of the standard system BAQs. The Epicor Information Worker installation package contains default configuration program files that include a list of business entities that match the Epicor Information Worker BAQs. The shipped configuration files are created by Epicor developers using the Configuration Manager. The shipped configurations are applied during the Epicor Information Worker installation.

When and why would an Epicor Information Worker installation administrator create and deploy different Information Worker configurations using Configuration Manager? The following are reasons for using Configuration Manager:

• The Configuration Manager is always used for initial configuration of the Information Worker installation. • Unique BAQs exist and you want to make the them available to Information Worker as business entities. • You want to display BAQ parameters that were not visible before to Information Worker users.

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Starting Configuration Manager

Starting Configuration Manager

Navigate to the Information Worker Configuration Manager application from your Epicor Information Worker server.

Path: Start > Programs > Administrative Tools > Information Worker Configuration Manager. The Configuration Manager is a Microsoft Management Console (MMC) application. The MMC tree hierarchy organization may look familiar from using other MMC applications.

From the Help menu, select Help Topics. When the online Help file opens, expand the Information Worker Configuration Manager book and browse through the topics. In the Configuration Manager, press F1 to access help related topics on a particular form or node. There also is a section explaining the Microsoft Management Console.

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Configuration Manager Overview

There are several nodes found in the Configuration Manager you can use to modify an Epicor Information Worker installation.

Configuration Manager is a user interface for creating configuration files used by IW. If you are interested in looking at the main configuration file, you can find your deployed configuration files here: C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Epicor Software Corporation\Information Worker\versionnumber\Configuration Files\Custom Configurations. Configuration Manager is used by Epicor developers and therefore show some elements that end users do not use.

Let us look at and describe some of the configuration nodes from the top going down

Data Source

This node is where you configure the connection from IW to your Epicor server.

Business Entities

Under Business Entities are the configuration links to the Epicor BAQs that determine the data records synchronized by IW. This is an area in which you would be working if you were customizing your IW installation.

Icons

This node specifies the icons used in the Information Worker menus.

Help Files

This node is where you specify the Information Worker online help files to be included in the IW installation.

Outlook, Word and Excel

These nodes configure the menus and other technical workings of the Information Worker - Office add-in. Generally end-users only work with the menu nodes.

Adapters

Adapters are code libraries that enable Epicor business activity queries BAQs to display in Microsoft applications. In general, you use the generic adapter for business entities you create (for Outlook), unless you create a business entity that meets the requirements listed in the Advanced Requirements for Information Worker BAQs. You can search for these requirements in the online Help. In that case you may use the Appointment, Contact or Task adapters. Do not use the Epicor ERP specific adapters for entities based on BAQs you create or select an adapter to view or select which business entities are associated with it.

Commands

Commands call to application code that start a specific action and are part of the Configuration Manager because that is where they are created. Commands are assigned to menu items. The addition of new commands is only supported for Epicor developers. Assign the List command to new views in the menu editors.

Menus and Toolbars

The menus and toolbars node displays the current menus and toolbars in use for the configuration. Select a menu or toolbar to edit it, or from the Action menu, select New to create a new one.

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Synchronization Setting

You can establish whether you synchronize automatically (without having to click a Synchronize button) and the length of the synchronization interval. If you change the settings, it sets initial synchronization settings for everyone.

Note The synchronization setting is only available for Microsoft Outlook.

Data Explorer Context Menu

The Data Explorer context menu displays the current menu being used for Microsoft Word® and Excel® for documents and business entities. If the configuration already has menus or toolbars, select a current one to edit, or from the Action menu, select New to create a new menu.

Validation Results

Every time you select Validate from the Action menu for configuration items that support validation, all informational or warning items are listed under Validation Results.

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Create and Deploy an Information Worker Configuration

In these workshops, you will use the Information Worker Configuration Manager to create an Information Worker configuration, and then deploy the configuration to make a new business entity available on the Epicor Import menu in Microsoft Outlook.

Since this course focuses on using the Information Worker Configuration Manager, you will work with a copy of an existing Epicor business activity query (BAQ) rather than creating a new one. There are other Epicor University courses available that cover designing and creating BAQs. Requirements for BAQs that are run through Information Worker are detailed in the Information Worker online help.

Workshop - Create a Configuration

In this workshop, create the Information Worker configuration that will be used in the other workshops. Navigate to Information Worker Configuration Manager.

Menu Path: Start > Programs > Administrative Tools > Information Worker Configuration Manager.

1. In the console tree, expand the Information Worker Configuration Manager > Configurations node. Information Worker configurations are located under this node.

2. In the Configurations node, right-click the Epicor node and select Create Copy. A new Copy of Epicor node displays.

3. Select the Copy of Epicor node.

The Configuration Details pane displays.

4. In the Name field, enter XXX_Configuration (where XXX are your initials).

5. In the renamed XXX_Configuration node (where XXX are your initials) select the Data Source node The Connection details pane displays.

6. In the Connection details pane, click Test Connection. If an error displays:

a. Ensure that your Windows user credentials are correctly mapped to the manager user in your Epicor application.

b. Verify that the Use default login credentials option is NOT selected if you are logged onto the machine where you are working using Windows user credentials other than those that you mapped to the manager user in your Epicor application.

c. If your login credentials are correctly set up, contact your system administrator for help in determining cause of the disconnection.

7. In the Configurations node, right-click the XXX_Configuration node (where XXX are your initials) and select Save.

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8. Exit Information Worker Configuration Manager.

Workshop - Export an Epicor BAQ

In this workshop, export a BAQ. The exported BAQ will be used in the next exercise to create a copy. In your Epicor client, navigate to the Business Activity Query Designer.

Menu Path: System Management > Business Activity Queries > Business Activity Query Important This program is not available in the Epicor Web Access.

1. In the Query ID field, search for and select zIWCustomer. 2. From the Actions menu, select Export BAQ.

The Export Business Activity Query window displays.

3. Click Export to File.

A file/folder selection window displays.

4. In the File name field, enter XXX_Customers (where XXX are your initials). 5. Click Save.

6. In the Export Business Activity Query window, click Export.

The export process begins. When the export is complete, a message displays in the Export process messages pane.

7. When the export is complete, click Close.

8. Remain in the Business Activity Query Designer for the next workshop.

Workshop - Import an Epicor BAQ

In this workshop, import a BAQ, using the import action to create copy.

1. In the Business Activity Query Designer, from the Actions menu, select Import BAQ. The Import Business Activity Query window displays.

2. Click Import File.

A file/folder selection window displays.

3. Search for and select the XXX_Customers file (where XXX are your initials) that you created in the previous workshop.

4. Click Open.

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5. In the New Query ID field, enter XXX_IWCustomers (where XXX are your initials). 6. Select Show in Designer.

7. Click Import.

The import process begins. When the import is complete, a message displays in the Import process messages pane.

The New Query ID field displays the new BAQ name, which is XXX_IWCustomers in this example (where XXX are your initials).

8. When the import is complete, click Close. 9. Exit the Business Activity Query Designer.

Workshop - Add a Business Entity

In this workshop, add a new business entity to your Information Worker configuration. Navigate to Information Worker Configuration Manager.

Start > Programs > Administrative Tools > Information Worker Configuration Manager

2. In the Configurations node, expand the XXX_Configuration > Data Source node (where XXX are your initials).

3. In the XXX_Configuration > Data Source node, right-click the Business Entities node and select New. The Select a Definition For Your Business Entity window displays.

Note You may first be prompted for user credentials. This would typically happen if you are logged onto the machine where you are working using Windows credentials other than those that you mapped to the manager user in your Epicor application at the time that you set up the training environment. When prompted, enter the Windows user credentials that you have mapped to the Epicor manager user.

4. Search for and select the XXX_IWCustomers BAQ (where XXX are your initials). 5. Click Select to import the BAQ and create the business entity.

The new XXX_IWCustomers business entity (where XXX are your initials) is added to the Business Entities node.

6. Working in the console tree, from the XXX_Configuration > Data Source > Business Entities node, select XXX_IWCustomers (where XXX are your initials) to display its Business Entity pane.

7. In the Business Entity pane, make the following adjustments to the configuration details: a. In the Adapter field, verify Generic Adapter displays.

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c. In the Primary key field, select LobId.

d. In the Sync Filter Column field, select LobVersion displays.

8. Expand the XXX_Configuration > Data Source > Business Entities > XXX_IWCustomers node (where XXX are your initials).

9. Right-click the Parameters node, and select New. The Parameter Properties window displays.

10. In the Parameter Properties window, define the new parameter: a. In the Column field, select Customer.Name.

b. In the Display name field, enter CustomerName.

c. In the Operation field, select Begins. d. Select Visible to users .

e. Click OK.

The Customer.Name parameter is added to the list in the Parameters pane.

11. Again, right-click the Parameters node, and select New. The Parameter Properties window displays.

12. In the Parameter Properties window, define the new parameter: a. In the Column field, select Customer.SysRowID.

b. In the Display name field, enter LobID.

c. In the Operation field, select In.

d. In the Default value field, enter * (an asterisk).

e. Click OK.

The LobID parameter is added to the list in the Parameters pane.

13. Remain in Information Worker Configuration Manager for the next workshop.

Workshop - Create a Menu Item

In this workshop, add the new business entity as an Outlook 2007 toolbar menu item in the Information Worker configuration.

Do this workshop only if you are deploying Information Worker in Outlook 2007, or if your deployment includes both Outlook 2007 and 2010 or 2013.

You can skip this workshop if you are deploying Information Worker only on Outlook 2010 or 2013. The new business entity will be added automatically to the Import menu on the Epicor tab in Outlook 2010 or 2013 ribbon.

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2. In the Configurations node, expand the XXX_Configuration > Outlook > Toolbars node (where XXX are your initials)

3. From the Toolbars node, select Epicor. The menu editor pane displays.

4. In the menu editor's tree, expand the Import node. 5. From the Import node, select Customers.

6. Click Insert and select Insert Business Entity Element. A blank menu item is added below the Customers node.

7. In the Caption field, enter XXX_IWCustomers (where XXX are your initials).

8. In the Business Entity field, select your new entity XXX_IWCustomers (where XXX are your initials). 9. In the Command list, select Import Data.

10. Remain in Information Worker Configuration Manager for the next workshop.

Workshop - Deploy the Configuration

In this workshop, deploy the new Information Worker configuration to make your new business entity available in Microsoft Outlook.

2. In the Configurations node, right-click the XXX_Configuration node (where XXX are your initials)and select Deploy.

3. In the Configuration deployed successfully message, click OK. 4. Exit Information Worker Configuration Manager.

Workshop - Test the Business Entity in Microsoft Outlook

In this workshop, run a test import of the new business entity in your Microsoft Outlook application.

1. Open Microsoft Outlook.

Important Close and re-open Outlook if it was already running when you deployed your Information Worker configuration in the previous exercise.

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2. From the Epicor tab (Outlook 2010 or 2013) or Epicor Information Worker toolbar (Outlook 2007), click Import and select the XXX_IWCustomers menu item (where XXX are your initials).

The Information Worker Explorer - XXX_IWCustomers window displays (where XXX are your initials).

3. In the criteria window, leave criteria blank and click Next. A list of customers displays.

4. To test your new business entity, in the Import column, select the check box next to any customer and click Finish.

In the Mail pane, under the Epicor folder, the XXX_IWCustomer folder displays (where XXX are your initials).

5. Select the XXX_IWCustomers folder (where XXX are your initials). In the right pane, the imported customer data displays.

6. Exit Microsoft Outlook.

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Troubleshooting

If issues with the Microsoft applications occur during data synchronization, enable logging for Epicor Information Worker to help locate the issues.

• Back up the configuration file - To copy the configuration file, right-click in the Information Worker Configuration Manager, and select Create Copy. You can also include all the content in the Information Worker Configuration Manager directory in your nightly network back-up process.

• Enable Information Worker logging - Depending on the state of the Information Worker synchronization (success/failed), there are a few types of logging available.

If you click the synchronization icon in the failed state, the Synchronization Errors form displays and lists the issues encountered. Correct the errors listed and attempt the synchronization process again.

If you right-click the synchronization icon in the success state, select Show Synchronization Log to review messages in the log and open records affected by error warnings.

For each of the add-ins there is a configuration file: Epicor.Infoworker.Outlook.dll.config,

Epicor.Infoworker.Excel.dll.config, and Epicor.Infoworker.Word.dll.config. These are located in the Information Worker Outlook Client program directory (default path is C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Epicor Software Corporation\Information Worker\version#).

Open the configuration files, using a text editor, such as Notepad, and set the various property values to 4 to receive the most logging. The default location for the InfoWorker.log file is in the root of the client folder. You can change this location by changing the initializeData="InfoWorker.log" setting. For example,

initializeData="C:\Documents and Settings\username.DOMAIN\Local Settings\Temp" is a good path for the Windows®_Vista®_{operating application.}

The errors listed determine the troubleshooting required. You may have to correct data issues.

As you deploy additional content, situations occur where the data does not display as expected once you deploy it to the Information Worker client. The following describes how to determine the source of the issue when data is not synchronizing.

1. Check the Business Activity Query (BAQ) in the Epicor client

If information does not appear, check the BAQ and security for the user. If it displays in the Epicor client, proceed to the next step.

2. Check in Epicor Information Worker

If the data does not display in Information Worker, the most likely cause is synchronization of selected records. Try manually importing a single record.

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Conclusion

Congratulations! You have just completed the Epicor Information Worker Administration course.

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Additional information is available at the Education and Documentation areas of the EPICweb Customer Portal. To access this site, you need a Site ID and an EPICweb account. To create an