Alerts >> Alert Builder

Use Alert Builder to create new Alerts attached to GP window, or windows in 3^rd party products or customizations. Alert Builder can also make some changes to the pre-built System Alerts. Creating Alerts requires a certain level of familiarity with Dexterity. Please contact [e-mail] inquire about consulting services if you need assistance.

Navigation: Tools >> Setup >> Company >> Setup GP PowerPack. On the GP PowerPack window click the GoTo button >> Alert Builder

Creating a new Alert usually involves creating at least two Alert IDs: (1) an Alert View and (2) and Alert Entry, and you may also want to create an Alert ID that adds an Additional Menu option to manually open the Alert View window.

Adding an existing Alert Type (i.e. Item) to a new location will involve two Alert IDs:

A FORM Trigger to add an Additional Menu to access Alert View:

• Alert Type = Item
• Alert Window = Alert View
• Trigger Type = Form

A FOCUS Trigger to pop-open the Alert:

• Alert Type = Item
• Alert Window = Alert View
• Trigger Type = Focus
• Attachment = Change

Creating a NEW Alert on an ID field that is not already supported will involve three Alert IDs. Two that are set up as described above, plus:

A FORM Trigger to add an Additional Menu to access Alert Entry:

• Alert Type = Item
• Alert Window = Alert Entry
• Trigger Type = Form

See the section CREATING NEW ALERTS for more detail.

Alert ID: click NEW to generate the next Alert ID

Alert Type: there are two options—either you are adding an existing supported Alert Type (such as and Item Alert or Customer Alert) to a new location (i.e. a window that is not supported by the Alerts provided with the product), or, you are adding an Alert to a new type of ID field (such as Project ID in WennSoft). In the first scenario, select one of the existing Alert Types from the drop-down list (such as Item). In the second scenario, select CUSTOM (the last option in the list).

Alert Window: “Alert View” is the window that pops-open to display the Alert, and it is also the window that opens via an Additional Menu. “Alert Entry” is used to create or maintain the Alert. If you are adding a new location for a supported Alert Type, select “Alert View”. If you are creating a new type of Alert, you will need to create at least two Alert IDs, one using each Alert Window—start with Alert Entry.

Hot Key: This is only used for Alert View. Enter a letter or number. This will become the “hot key” to open the Alert View window (such as CTRL+K). Hot Key is not required. The following Hot Keys can be used:

• • A to Z (capital A to capital Z)
  • p to z (lower case p to lower case z). These map to F1 to F11, so using “p” will result in the Hot Key CTRL + F1, and “q” will result in CTRL+F2.
  • 0-9

ACTIVATE: You must mark this box to ENABLE the Alert.

Menu Name: This is only used when the Trigger Type is FORM. This is the menu that will appear when you select Additional >> “menu name”.

Product ID: Enter the Product ID for the product containing the window where you want to add the Alert.

Trigger Type: “Form” is used to add an Additional Menu. “Focus” is used to create an Alert that pops-open an Alert. The other options are advanced and are not discussed here.

Attachment: This is only used with Focus triggers. You will typically use “CHANGE”. Trigger Type and Attachment work together. For example, a Focus-Change trigger on the Item Number field on Item Maintenance will run whenever something is entered into the Item Number field AND the user tabs out of the field (or uses the mouse to move the cursor to another field). When the Focus-Change trigger runs, it will check if the Item Number has an Alert, and if so, open the Alert View window to display the Alert.

Trigger Point: For a Form trigger, the Trigger Point will be the form name. For a Focus trigger, this usually be a field. For example, adding a Form trigger on the Field Service Return To Vendor window would be:

Adding a Focus trigger on the Return Item Number on that window would look like this:

Click the Lookup button to the right or Trigger Point to open the Lookup Resource window.

The Type and Product will be selected automatically based on the information already provided on the Alert Builder window. Choosing the correct Series may require some hunting because windows are not always located where you might expect. Select a Series and then search through the Form list.

In Dexterity each Window is contained in a Form. Think of Form like a Folder, and each Window like a picture in the folder. A Form trigger adds an Additional Menu to all windows contained in the Form. For example, IV_Item_Maintenance contains five windows—the primary Item Maintenance window plus four other “sub” windows. The same Additional Menu will appear on all of them.

If you are creating a Focus Trigger, you will need to also select the Window and Field.

Keys for Record: use the Resource Lookup window again to select the field, or fields, that are used to identify the record. To do this correctly you need to be familiar with how the data is stored in the database—you need to be familiar with SQL table keys. For example, the “key” for the Item Master is the Item Number field. The “key” for a Customer Address is Customer Number AND Address Code.

Keys for Display: these fields will populate automatically as you enter the Keys For Record. Keys For Display are just used to display information in the “Alert For” box on the Alert View and Alert Entry windows, they do not affect how the Alert is retrieved or saved. The Keys for Display also appear in the Title Bar of the Alert windows. For this reason, you may want to change the Keys for Display to remove one or more fields to make the display easier to read.

SAVE: when the above information is complete, click the SAVE button. Then click GoTo >> Re-Register Alerts Triggers.

Click the Register Alerts Triggers button. The new Alerts will be activated for the current user. They will not become available for other users until the next time they log-in to GP (if they are currently logged-in, they will need to log-out first).