SmartList Export Solution – Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010

I learned something cool recently that I would like to share.

A client needed specific SmartList results sent to Excel. Okay, easy enough, but they required a piece of information that was not an available field in that SmartList object. They wanted a column that would give them the datetime of the export to Excel. In Excel there is a ‘NOW’ function that can be useful when you need to display the current date and time on a worksheet or calculate a value based on the current date and time. The date and time updates when the worksheet is recalculated or the workbook is opened and is considered “dynamic” instead of static. This is exactly what was needed.

There is a feature in SmartList called Export Solutions.  Export Solutions allow you to export search results to a template and run Excel or Word macros before or after exporting. So, I created the macro in Excel using the NOW function, and saved it as an Excel Enabled Template (an .xlm file type). I then added it to SmartList in the Export Solutions window and saved it in the SmartList Favorite as a Completion Macro.

Now when the user generates this SmartList, and selects the ‘Export to Excel’ button, they can choose to incorporate that macro with their results!!