Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 Reporting - tips how to improve performance

There are some tips we can use to improve performance of reports for Dynamics AX 2012.

1. Use static reports. The deployment of static reports is described here: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh496446.aspx In this way we will safe several calls to Metadata service to get labels values and correct formatting of dates and numbers.
2. Install application hotfix KB 2879661 which fix the situation when first generation of a report after Dynamics AX client restart takes long. This happens for each user.
3. Newest kernel. Hotfixes for performance improvement are included in new kernels that are released; sometimes there is a dramatic impact on performance.
4. In the morning a first report generation takes a lot of time

SSRS uses session pooling. The first request that comes in from a user – a session will be created for them within the AOS services. Each user gets a session cached on the AOS services, so subsequent calls just reuse the session which matches the user who is making the request. This means that the first time this is created for the user the report will perform slower.
SSRS also uses a metadata cache the first request coming in which needs a certain piece of metadata, the metadata is read from the application code, and then cached in SSRS so it doesn’t have to read it subsequent times. There is one metadata cache for all users – once an object is cached in metadata, the services don’t go back to the code and retrieve it again, and they just read from cache, until the cache is cleared. This is also why a report may become slower the first time it is run.
The RecycleTime is used to restart the application domain which causes a refresh of the metadata.You could edit the RecycleTime (value is in Minutes) to therefore stop the cache from clearing and which then stop the extra hop to the AOS to gather the metadata.
Edit the <RecycleTime> element within:
RSReportServer.config (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms157273.aspx )
Open the RsReportServer.config file.
•              If you are using SQL Server 2008, the default location of this file is: \Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSRS10.[SSRSInstanceName]\Reporting Services\ReportServer.
•              If you are using SQL Server 2008 R2, the default location of this file is: \Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSRS10_50.[SSRSInstanceName]\Reporting Services\ReportServer.
•              If you are using SQL Server 2012, the default location of this file is: \Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSRS11.[SSRSInstanceName]\Reporting Services\ReportServer
The default value is 720 (the value is in min so it is 12 hours.
NOTE:
Problems you may see when deploying reports because of metadata caching.
A new field is added to a table in AX, the field is used on a report in VS. The report deploys to SSRS.
However when the report is called, it fails on the new field.
This is because SSRS caches metadata. The new object is not recognized as the old metadata is still cached
The other solution is when every morning the first user has to wait for report very long is to pre-warm up the specific report. We would have to choose those reports which are critical for customer and have to run fast regards the time. To pre-warm up the report we can:

1. Run report in batch job ie. SalesInvoice report:

public void run()
    {
       SrsReportRunController controller = new SrsReportRunController();
    SrsReportDataContract contract;
    SalesInvoiceContract rdpContractClass;
    LogisticsAddressCountryRegionISOCode code = "US";
    // establish the report name
    controller.parmReportName(ssrsReportStr(SalesInvoice, Report));
    // suppress the parameter dialog
    controller.parmShowDialog(false);
    controller.parmReportContract().parmPrintSettings().printMediumType(SRSPrintMediumType::File);
    controller.parmReportContract().parmPrintSettings().fileFormat(SRSReportFileFormat::PDF);
    controller.parmReportContract().parmPrintSettings().overwriteFile(true);
    controller.parmReportContract().parmPrintSettings().fileName("c:\\TEMP\\DummyReport.pdf");
    // set the required parameter.
    contract = controller.parmReportContract(); 
    rdpContractClass = contract.parmRdpContract() as SalesInvoiceContract;
    rdpContractClass.parmCountryRegionISOCode(code);
    // start the operation
    controller.runReport();
    }
2. Run Power-Shell script. . This solution is not so easy as we need to specify correct parameters which is not so obvious in Dynamics AX case. So to get parameters values we can run following SQL on Reporting Services database (this is SalesInvoice example):

SELECT e.timestart,DATEDIFF(ms,e.[timestart],e.[timeend]) AS [TotalTime]
,e.[timedataretrieval] AS [DataRetrievalTime]
,e.[timeprocessing] AS [ProcessingTime]
,e.[timerendering] AS [RenderingTime]
,COALESCE([AdditionalInfo].value( '(/AdditionalInfo/RdceSnapshotGenerationTime//node())[1]', 'int'),0) AS [RDCESnapshotGenTime]
,e.*
FROM [executionlog2] e

There is column Parameters. Which looks in my case following:
AX_PartitionKey=initial&AX_UserContext:isnull=true&AX_RenderingCulture=en-us&AX_CompanyName=CEU&FormLetterRecordId=0&PrintCopyOriginal=Original&RecordId=22565421785&LedgerJournalTransRecordId=0&AX_ReportContext=?RunOnClient%3D1%26PrintMediumType%3DScreen&AX_RdpPreProcessedId=5637144577&SalesInvoiceDS_isTaxInvoice=False&SalesInvoiceDS_TaxInvoiceItemType=Item&SalesInvoiceDS_CountryRegionISOCode=US&DocumentTitle=Invoice&DocumentTitleSequel:isnull=true&IdentificationText:isnull=true&InstanceType=Original&InvoiceInstanceText:isnull=true&CustInvoiceDuplicateRecId=0&UserName:isnull=true&SalesInvoiceDS_AgentAddress_TH:isnull=true&SalesInvoiceDS_AgentId_TH:isnull=true&SalesInvoiceDS_AgentName_TH:isnull=true&IsUnrealizedVATEnabled_TH=False&SalesInvoiceDS_Location=None&SalesInvoiceDS_MiscText:isnull=true&SalesInvoiceDS_PrintHeader:isnull=true&SalesInvoiceDS_ProdType=All&SalesInvoiceDS_TaxBranchCode_TH:isnull=true&SalesInvoiceDS_TaxBranchName_TH:isnull=true

What we do is:
Restart Reporting services – this step can be removed
Open internet explorer
Set IE window to be not visible
Navigate in SalesInvoice report with dummy parameters (here I pause the script for 3 minutes to make sure the report will finish rendering)
Close IE.

Stop-Service "SQL Server Reporting Services (MSSQLSERVER)"
Start-Service "SQL Server Reporting Services (MSSQLSERVER)"

# based on http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms155391.aspx)

[string] $url = "http://localhost/ReportServer/Pages/ReportViewer.aspx?%2fDynamicsAX%2fStaticReports%2fen-US%2fSalesInvoice.Report&AX_PartitionKey=initial&AX_UserContext:isnull=true&AX_RenderingCulture=en-us&AX_CompanyName=CEU&FormLetterRecordId=0&PrintCopyOriginal=Original&RecordId=22565421785&LedgerJournalTransRecordId=0&AX_ReportContext=?RunOnClient%3D1%26PrintMediumType%3DScreen&AX_RdpPreProcessedId=5637144577&SalesInvoiceDS_isTaxInvoice=False&SalesInvoiceDS_TaxInvoiceItemType=Item&SalesInvoiceDS_CountryRegionISOCode=US&DocumentTitle=Invoice&DocumentTitleSequel:isnull=true&IdentificationText:isnull=true&InstanceType=Original&InvoiceInstanceText:isnull=true&CustInvoiceDuplicateRecId=0&UserName:isnull=true&SalesInvoiceDS_AgentAddress_TH:isnull=true&SalesInvoiceDS_AgentId_TH:isnull=true&SalesInvoiceDS_AgentName_TH:isnull=true&IsUnrealizedVATEnabled_TH=False&SalesInvoiceDS_Location=None&SalesInvoiceDS_MiscText:isnull=true&SalesInvoiceDS_PrintHeader:isnull=true&SalesInvoiceDS_ProdType=All&SalesInvoiceDS_TaxBranchCode_TH:isnull=true&SalesInvoiceDS_TaxBranchName_TH:isnull=true&rs:Command=Render";

#documentation of InternetExplorer.Application: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa752084(v=vs.85).aspx

$ie = New-Object -comObject InternetExplorer.Application;
$ie.navigate2($url);
$ie.visible = $false;
# sleep for 3 minutes to make sure the call is properly completed
Start-Sleep -s 180;

$ie.Quit();

Thing to remember is in case of using static reports:http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh496446.aspx
In this case we create directory StaticReports under DynamicsAx directory and there we have for each language separated report.
That makes reports better performed as we safe couple of trips to Metadata service as we do not run in this case AX rendering extension, but we have RDL ready to be run (see image below) but then if we want to warm up the report we have to make sure we warm up each language version we want to use. (ie http://localhost/ReportServer/Pages/ReportViewer.aspx?%2fDynamicsAX%2fStaticReports%2fde-de%2fSalesInvoice.Report for German)

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Powering on a virtual machine in Workstation fails with the error: VMWare Workstation unrecoverable error: (vmx) (2032746)

Powering on a virtual machine in Workstation fails with the error: VMWare Workstation unrecoverable error: (vmx) (2032746)

Symptoms

• Cannot resume a suspended virtual machine in Workstation
• Cannot power on a virtual machine in Workstation after a power failure
• Powering on a virtual machine fails
• You see the error:
  
  VMWare Workstation unrecoverable error: (vmx)
  Exception 0xc0000006 (disk error while paging) has occurred.

Cause

This issue occurs if the virtual machine suspended state file is corrupted.

Resolution

To resolve this error, you must remove the suspended state file.

Notes:

• Removing the suspended state file is similar to turning off the power. Any unsaved changes are lost.
• Ensure to take a backup of the virtual machine before performing any of the steps mentioned.
  
  For more information, see   Best practices when backing up a VMware Workstation virtual machine (2006202).

 To remove the suspended state file:

1. Navigate to the folder where the virtual machine files are stored.
2. Delete all files and folders that end with:
   
   
   • .lck
   • .vmss
3. Edit the virtual machine configuration (.vmx) file. For more information, see   Tips for editing a .vmx file (1714).
4. Locate the entry that begins with checkpoint.vmState.
5. Remove everything between the quotation marks. For example, the entry should appear similar to:
   
   checkpoint.vmState = ""
   
6. Save and close the .vmx file.

Note: Ensure to changes made to the file are appropriate and correct. Improper configuration of .vmx file may result in a virtual machine failure.

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Troubleshooting issues during an installation of the Data Migration Framework

Hi Tyo Lovers...

 In today's I will help you Troubleshooting Data Migration Framework.....

#Issue 1: Error with Windows Installer package
Setup will not install the Data Migration Framework service on a 64-bit computer without Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 installed and running.
The installation fails with the error "There is a problem with this Windows Installer package. A program required for this installation to complete could not be run. Contact your support personnel or package vendor."

ResolutionInstall the Microsoft Windows SDK for Windows 7 and .NET Framework 4 from http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=8279.

On the Installation Options page, select the following options, and then complete the installation.

• Under .NET Development, select Tools.
• Under Redistributable Packages, select Microsoft Visual C++ 2010.
• Open a command prompt with Run as administrator rights.
• Depending on which version of SQL Server is in your environment, run one of the following commands.
• For SQL Server 2012, run Command
  <System Drive>\Program Files\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\v7.1\bin\NETFX 4.0 Tools\gacutil.exe" -i "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 Data Migration Framework Service (Beta)\Microsoft.Dynamics.AX.DMF.DMFErrorDescription.dll"
• For SQL Server 2008, run Command
  <System Drive>\Program Files\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\v7.1\bin\gacutil.exe" -i "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 Data Migration Framework Service (Beta)\Microsoft.Dynamics.AX.DMF.DMFErrorDescription.dll"
• Start the Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 Data Migration Framework service.

#Issues 2: Data Migration Framework will not compile

If after installing the Data Migration Framework, you cannot compile,

• validate that the Data Migration Framework has installed correctly.
• Verify that the Microsoft Dynamics AX Data Migration Framework Service is running.
• Validate that the Data Migration Framework DLLs have been placed in the appropriate folders. The Data Migration Framework DLLs include:
• Client DLLs
  Microsoft.Dynamics.AX.DMF.Mapper.dll — should be present in the folder C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Dynamics AX\60\Client\Bin
  Microsoft.Dynamics.AX.DMF.PreviewGrid.dll — should be present in the folder C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Dynamics AX\60\Client\Bin
  Microsoft.Dynamics.AX.DMF.ServiceProxy.dll – should be present in the folder C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Dynamics AX\60\Client\Bin
  Microsoft.Dynamics.AX.DMF.DriverHelper.dll — should be present in the folder C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Dynamics AX\60\Client\Bin
  Microsoft.Dynamics.AX.DMF.SSISHelper.dll — should be present in the folder C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Dynamics AX\60\Client\Bin
• Server DLL

• Microsoft.Dynamics.AX.DMF.SSISHelper.dll — should be present in the folder C:\Program Files\Microsoft Dynamics AX\60\Server\<AosInstance>\bin
  Microsoft.Dynamics.AX.DMF.ServiceProxy.dll – should be present in the folder C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Dynamics AX\60\Server\<AosInstance>\Bin
  Microsoft.Dynamics.AX.DMF.DriverHelper.dll — should be present in the folder C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Dynamics AX\60\ Server\<AosInstance>\Bin
  Microsoft.Dynamics.AX.DMF. DMFErrorDescription.dll — should be present in the folder C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Dynamics AX\60\ Server\<AosInstance>\Bin

Resolution
The following is how to proceed if the DLLs are not present for each installation type.

1. For Installation type : Client
   Copy the DLLs from the installation location (C:\Program Files\Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 Data Migration Framework Client Components(Beta)) to the folder indicated.
2. For Installation type : Server
Copy the Microsoft.Dynamics.AX.DMF.SSISHelper.dll from the installation location (C:\Program Files\Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 Data Migration Framework Server Components(Beta)\ ) to the folder indicated.

Use the Assembly Registration Tool (Regasm.exe) to register the DLL. At a command line, run the following two commands:

1. regasm Microsoft.Dynamics.AX.DMF.SSISHelper.dll /tlb: Microsoft.Dynamics.AX.DMF.SSISHelper.tlb
2. regasm Microsoft.Dynamics.AX.DMF.ServiceProxy.dll /tlb: Microsoft.Dynamics.AX.DMF.ServiceProxy.tlb

Issue 3: Data Migration Framework service location changes
If you need to update the location where you are running Integration Services and the Data Migration Framework service, you can update the configuration information with correct computer name in the following files:
http://<<DMF Service ComputerName>>:7000/DMFService/DMFServiceHelper.svc

This file can be found in the following locations:

1. For Client, C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Dynamics AX\60\Client\Bin\ Microsoft.Dynamics.AX.DMF.ServiceProxy.dll.config
2. For Server, C:\Program Files\Microsoft Dynamics AX\60\ServerAosInstance\Bin\ Microsoft.Dynamics.AX.DMF.ServiceProxy.dll.config
3. For Service, C:\Program Files\Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 Data Migration Framework Service (Beta)\ Microsoft.Dynamics.AX.DMF.SSISHelperService.exe.config

 

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Configure Resource Pools, WorkLoad Group, and Classifier Function and then enable the Resource Governor

To manage the server workload by restricting resource-intensive you need Configure Resource Pools, WorkLoad Group, and Classifier Function and then enable the Resource Governor

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Snapshot Replication

Snapshot Replication to use the company runs a custom application that stores data in a large Microsoft SQL Server 2012 Database, the primary database is hosted in the main office. Each branch office SQL Server hosts a copy of the database, for a solution that will replicate the entire primary database from the main office SQL Server every weekend

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UPGRADE ADVISOR

UPGRADE ADVISOR is a To evaluate to prepare for possible conflicts and issues that may arise during or after the migration with a new server and plan to migrate your database from SQL server 2008 to SQL Server 2012

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Using Controller Class in Developing SSRS Reports in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012

Overview

Controller class is used to control the report execution as well as preprocessing of the report data. The SSRS reporting framework uses this class to modify the report dialogs, calling the SQL Server reporting services, as well preprocessing parameters for the report.
Following are the scenarios where Controller class can be used:

1. Modifying a report query based on the input data
2. Modifying report contract data based on the input data
3. Control a report parameters dialog
4. Open different reports/designs from the same menu item based on the input data
5. Reports that are opened from a form

To create a controller class, extend it with SrsReportRunController.

Prerequisites

1. Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012
2. Reporting services extensions must be installed in Dynamics AX

Sample Controller Class

1. Create a new class. Open AOT → Classes
2. Right Click on Classes and select New Class. Name it as SSRSDemoController.

• Open the Class declaration by right clicking on it and selecting View code.

• Now write the following code:

class SSRSDemoController extends SrsReportRunController

{

}

• Create a new method and write the following code:

public static client void main(Args args)

{

//define the new object for controller class

SSRSDemoController ssrsDemoController;

ssrsDemoController = new SSRSDemoController();

//pass the caller args to the controller

ssrsDemoController.parmArgs(args);

//set the report name and report design to run

ssrsDemoController.parmReportName(ssrsReportStr(SSRSSessionQuery,Design));

//execute the report

ssrsDemoController.startOperation();

}

Examples of Controller Class Usage

Based on different scenarios, different methods are overridden as shown in the following examples:

1. Modifying report query based on the input data

• Used in those scenarios where a report query needs to be modified based on the caller args parameters or recorded before the report parameter dialog is rendered.
• Override prePromptModifyContract method to modify the report query as shown below:

public void prePromptModifyContract()
{
    //add a range in the report query  
      SrsReportHelper::addParameterValueRangeToQuery(this.getFirstQuery(),tableNum(SSRSReportDemo),fieldNum(SSRSReportDemo, RecId),SysQuery::value(this.parmArgs().record().RecId));
}

Note: prePromptModifyContract is called by report controller before the parameter dialog is shown to the User.

• Modifying report contract data based on the input data

• Used in those scenarios where report contract parameters need to be modified based on the caller args prior to the execution of the report.
• Override preRunModifyContract method to modify the report contract as shown below:

protected void preRunModifyContract()
{    
    //define object for report contract
    SSRSDemoContract contract;

    //get the reference of the current contract object
    contract = this.parmReportContract().parmRdpContract() as SSRSDemoContract;

    //modify the parameter value of the contract
    contract.parmType(this.parmArgs().parm()); 
}

Note: preRunModifyContract is called by report controller before the report is run.

• Control report parameters dialog

• In some scenarios, a report parameter dialog should not be visible to the end user. Controller class is also used to control the visibility of the report parameter UI.
• Add the following code in the main method of the controller class before startOperation method call to hide/show the report parameter UI:

//hide the report parameter dialog
ssrsDemoController.parmShowDialog(false);

• Open different reports from the same menu item based on the input data

• It is used in those scenarios where different reports or different designs of a same report need to be opened from a same menu item depending upon the caller args.
• Write the following code in main method to achieve this scenario:

public static client void main(Args args)
{    
    //define the new object for controller class
    SSRSDemoController ssrsDemoController;
   
    ssrsDemoController = new SSRSDemoController();
    
    //pass the caller args to the controller
    ssrsDemoController.parmArgs(args);
        
    //if report is run from edit mode then run the EditDesign of the report otherwise run the NewDesign of the report
    if(args.parmEnum() == FormOpenMode::ForEdit)
    {
        //set the report name and report design to run
        ssrsDemoController.parmReportName(ssrsReportStr(SSRSSessionQuery,EditDesign));    
    }
    else
    {
        //set the report name and report design to run
        ssrsDemoController.parmReportName(ssrsReportStr(SSRSSessionQuery,NewDesign));    
    }   
    
    //execute the report
    ssrsDemoController.startOperation();   
}

• Reports that are opened from a form

• Controller class is also used when reports are opened from a form and are needed to show selected record details.
• Use either prePromptModifyContract method or preRunModifyContract method to achieve this scenario.

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