The Unexpected Journey Begins
Have you ever had one of those years when a very substantial – and completely unexpected – gift came your way? One of those years when, to quote the phrase, “Christmas came early”? 2022 is one of those years, not just for any one of us personally, but for the entire Infor XA community! We must be collectively behaving ourselves well lately because Christmas surely did come early this year. Very early! Any XA customer running XA Release 10 who has applied the 03.10.00.01.08 (or higher) client cumulative fix dated 04/11/2022 has received this wonderful gift, even if they do not know it! What makes this gift all the more incredible and amazing is the fact that Infor has repeatedly stated that they would not do the very thing they have now done! And yet, there it is, and it is very much a real thing!
Let us step back a bit and share exactly what happened when we unknowingly entered upon one of our most incredible XA-related journeys of discovery. ISE is blessed to have an employee who is very diligent in keeping our internal test environments at the latest client and server cumulative fix levels, allowing us to test XA using the latest and greatest codebase. Knowing that such an update had just taken place on the client-side, I performed my usual ritual of reading through the latest entries in the SH16214 document, which lists all the individual fixes and enhancements that have been made since the original XA R10 client code was released. To be honest, while this document can contain some crucially important information, it does make for rather dry reading, due to the need for the text related to fixes to go into the elaborate detail required to precisely define each issue that was fixed.
Entries for enhancements in this document are few and far between, like hen’s teeth in a hailstorm, but they can be found here and there. The text used to describe enhancements is always much terser and more succinct compared to the text for the fixes, and sometimes the description of an enhancement does not even exceed one line of text. The most recent version of the SH16214 document contained several such entries for enhancements, but there was one particular entry that elicited a response of complete shock and amazement, causing me to scarcely believe my eyes. Here is what it said: "ENH: ERPXA-71443 The application has been enhanced to have Net-Link Integrator Enhancement for R10." That was it. Short and simple. And yet, for all that, so profoundly stunning in its far-reaching implications!
After the initial jaw-dropping shock wore off, my thoughts shifted to those of disbelief and dismissiveness. Surely this could not be saying what it was very plainly saying! I mean, c’mon now, have we, not all heard multiple XA Roadmap presentations that told us it would be a very long time before Enterprise Integrator would ever be incorporated into Net-Link? Was it not the plan that even after all the other XA functionality is incorporated into Net-Link, Enterprise Integrator would remain in Power-Link, thereby transforming Power-Link's role into an I.T. development tool? So what exactly was this very brief statement in the client cumulative fix document referring to?
Opening up a Net-Link session in my newly-updated XA environment, normally a very mundane process, was now fraught with mixed emotions and a sense of plunging into an unknown realm where nothing would ever be the same. The main Net-Link screen with the application tabs and icons appeared. Dare I proceed further? Was I ready to embrace a future I had never dared to think would come to pass? What exactly awaited me in the unplumbed depths of R10 Net-Link? I finally took a deep breath, clicked on the "Integrator" tab, and received the shock of my professional life. There, in all their glory, were the full set of Enterprise Integrator objects!
Reeling from this shock and still maintaining my attitude of disbelief, I doubted that these business objects were maintainable. How could they be? Surely they were view-only! If they turned out to be maintainable in Net-Link, that would mean nothing less than the fact that Enterprise Integrator is now a full-fledged part of R10 Net-Link! But such a thing was only supposed to happen in the distant future! My mind was a swirl of conflicting thoughts, but I regained my composure and dared to open the list view for the "Business Objects" business object. The mouse pointer icon on the screen begins to spin, a fitting symbol for my swirling, churning, emotions. When the “Business Objects” list view opened, sure enough, in the toolbar were icons for "Create", "Change", “Quick Change”, and "Delete"! This object was maintainable! And so it went as I breathlessly explored all the other Enterprise Integrator business objects. They do exist in R10 Net-Link, and they are fully maintainable. I am now able to declare this incredibly good news to everyone: Enterprise Integrator now exists, fully maintainable, in XA R10 Net-Link!
An Ode of Appreciation
In appreciation of the Infor XA Development team’s efforts to make Enterprise Integrator fully available to the XA community in Release 10 Net-Link, I offer the following poetic Ode.
Ode to Enterprise Integrator in Release 10 Net-Link
Have you heard the news lately,
From the world of XA?
An enhancement was released
In the most quiet of ways.
It was released without fanfare,
Without boasting or shout,
Without even one email
Backed by marketing clout!
We did stumble upon it,
And to you we relate -
That in Net-Link you now can
Enterprise Integrate!
“Enterprise Integrate” you say?
And in Net-Link no less?
No roadmap foretold this;
We would never have guessed!
‘Twas communicated
In one scant little line,
Deep within client fix notes,
Lay this fact so sublime!
But “the proof’s in the pudding”
Log into Net-Link and see –
Enterprise Integrator objects
Just as pretty as they can be!
Investigate closely -
The icons are complete!
These object fully support
Create, Change and Delete!
No function is missing -
Be no longer defiant!
E.I. really does exist
In the Net-Link 10 client!
To Be Continued
The remainder of the astounding facts we discovered regarding Enterprise Integrator in Release 10 Net-Link, will be presented in a second blog post. Until then, happy Net-Linking and happy Enterprise Integrating!
Contact us with any questions regarding this amazing update!
