Dynamics AX 2012 Excel Add-in – Customers Import
Purpose:The purpose of this document is to illustrate how to use
Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 Excel Add-in for import of customers.
Challenge: Data model changes in Microsoft Dynamics related to high
normalization and introduction of surrogate keys made import of
customers more complex. In order to create a customer in Microsoft
Dynamics AX 2012 both customer and party information will have to be
provided. Additionally some information which is usually
automatically generated in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 Rich Client by
means of number sequences such as customer number will also have to
be provided.
Solution: Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 ships with Customer AIF Web
Service (CustCustomerService) which can be used in integration
scenarios. However Customer AIF Web Service can’t be used in Excel
at the moment for import of customers. In order to import a customer
with communication details and address information using Excel the
appropriate tables will be used.
Assumption: The assumption is that appropriate reference data such as
customer groups, etc. was created in advance.
Data Model:
Table Name Table Description
CustTable The CustTable table contains a
list of customers for the
accounts receivable and customer
relationship management.
DirAddressBook The DirAddressBook table contains
address book records.
DirAddressBookParty The DirAddressBookParty table is
a relationship table that
contains a link between an
address book and party records.
DirPartyTable The DirPartyTable table contains
all the parties. The global
address book stores all of the
people and organizations that are
used in the system.
DirPerson The DirPerson table contains the
party records of person.
DirOrganizationBase The DirOrganizationBase table
contains definitions for internal
and external organizations.
DirOrganization The DirOrganization table
contains details for the external
organizations in the system.
DirPersonName The DirPersonName table contains
the date effective names for each
person in the system.
DirOrganizationName The DirOrganizationName table
contains the date effective names
for each of the organizations in
the system.
DirDunsNumber The DirDunsNumber table contains
definitions of the DUNS numbers.
DirNameAffix The DirNameAffix table contains
the name titles and suffixes that
are defined in the system.
LogisticsLocation The LogisticsLocation table
contains the attributes for a
location for postal address and
contact information.
LogisticsLocationExt The LogisticsLocationExt table
contains additional information
about the locations.
LogisticsLocationRole The LogisticsLocationRole table
contains the roles that are
played by the locations in the
system.
LogisticsLocationRoleTranslation The
LogisticsLocationRoleTranslation
table contains the translation
values for the location role
descriptions in the languages
that are supported in the system.
DirPartyLocation The DirPartyLocation table
contains the relationship between
the party and location.
DirPartyLocationRole The DirPartyLocationRole table is
the relationship table between
the location and function of the
party.
LogisticsElectronicAddress The LogisticsElectronicAddress
table contains communication
values that are defined for
various parties.
LogisticsPostalAddress The LogisticsPostalAddress table
contains addresses in the system
that could be associated with
various entities.
LogisticsAddressCountryRegion The LogisticsAddressCountryRegion
table contains definitions of
countries or regions. Addresses
are associated with countries and
regions through CountryRegionId
field.
LogisticsAddressCountryRegionTran The
slation LogisticsAddressCountryRegionTran
slation table contains the
translations of the country
region long and short names.
LogisticsAddressState The LogisticsAddressState table
contains states that are used by
addresses.
LogisticsAddressCounty The LogisticsAddressCounty table
contains definitions of counties.
LogisticsAddresssCity The LogisticsAddresssCity table
contains the definitions of the
cities.
LogisticsAddressDistrict The LogisticsAddressDistrict
table contains the definitions of
the districts.
LogisticsAddressZipCode The LogisticsAddressZipCode table
contains zip codes that can be
used by addresses.
Data Model Diagram:
Global Address Book
VSD: https://docs.google.com/open?
id=0B3rbAZy5q2ExZjI2ZmQwNTctMzZjMi00MDViLThiM2EtZDY3YjQ5OGJlNDA0
Red area highlights tables forming Address book – Person data model
Green area highlights tables forming Address book – Organization
data models
Yellow area highlights tables implementing Electronic Address data
model
Blue area highlights tables implementing Postal Address data model
Customers
Walkthrough:
Connection
Add Data
Dynamics AX Error
Add Tables
Field Chooser
CustTable
Field Name Field Description
Currency
Customer account
Customer group
Name.Party ID
Customer account – Number sequence
DirPartyTable (Person)
Field Name Field Description
Name
Party ID
Party type
Display as
Address book ID – Number sequence
LogisticsLocation
Field Name Field Description
Location ID
Name or description
Postal address
DirPartyLocation
Field Name Field Description
Effective:
Location.Location ID
Name.Party ID
Expiration:
Postal address
DirPartyLocationRole
Field Name Field Description
Location role.Role
Party location
relationships.Effective:
Party location
relationships.Location ID
LogisticsPostalAddress
Field Name Field Description
Country / region
Effective:
Location.Location ID
State
County
City
District
Street
ZIP / postal code
Expiration:
LogisticsElectronicAddress
Field Name Field Description
Effective:
Location.Location ID
Type
Contact number / address
Expiration:
Sequence:
1. DirPartyTable – Publish Selected
2. LogisticsLocation – Publish Selected
3. DirPartyLocation – Publish Selected
4. DirPartyLocationRole – Publish Selected
5. LogisticsElectronicAddress – Publish Selected
6. LogisticsPostalAddress – Publish Selected
7. CustTable – Publish Selected
Result:
Dynamics AX – Address book
Dynamics AX – Address book Address
Dynamics AX – Address book Contact information
Dynamics AX – Customer
Dynamics AX – Customer Address
Dynamics AX – Customer Contact information
SQL Trace:
Summary: For the purposes of small or medium data migration (data
conversion) where performance is not a concern Excel can be used for
import of customers into Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012. Although
Customer AIF Web Service (CustCustomerService) can’t be used at the
moment in Excel for import of customers, appropriate tables can be
used instead. Excel template can be created and used for import of
customers.
Author: Alex Anikiev, PhD, MCP
Tags: Dynamics ERP, Dynamics AX 2012, Excel, Dynamics AX 2012 Excel
Add-in, Data Import, Data Conversion, Data Migration, Application
Integration Framework, Customers.
Note: This document is intended for information purposes only,
presented as it is with no warranties from the author. This document
may be updated with more content to better outline the concepts and
describe the examples. It’s recommended that all Data Model changes
introduced as a part of this demonstration will be removed once you
complete data import exercise.
