Solid Know How™

Answer: All Inventory Records created in Solid Business Central are by default all sent to the handheld computers. However we understand that situations can arise where it’s undesirable for certain inventory items to be sent to the handheld computers. It’s for this reason that Inventory Filters are available within the system and can be used to filter out any items belonging to the departments specified within the filter.

Inventory Filters are useful when:

• Items are not yet or no longer available for sale
• Items have been created to handle internal charges
• The route sales people’s item lists on the handheld computer are getting lengthy due to defunct products
• An item is no longer carried, but its history is still needed for reporting purposes

Although there are multiple functions that Inventory Filters can perform, for the purpose of clarity and simplicity, this article will focus on a single function that will result in a single or multiple department of items from showing on the handheld computer.

1. Inside Solid Business Central, navigate to [Datafile / Cost Center / Filter], and use the use the [Insert] key to add a new Inventory Filter.
   
   
2. In ‘Alias’ enter in ‘INV’, and in the ‘Name’ field, enter in a name to identify this Inventory Filter as.
   
   
3. When the cursor moves into the ‘Expression’ field, a new window will show where logical expressions can be created and verified. Don’t feel intimidated by this screen though, as we’re going to do this the easy way! Click on the [Cancel] button to close this ‘Logical Expression’ window and return to the Inventory Filter being created, where the data entry cursor should now be flashing in the ‘Expression’ field.
   
   
4. In the ‘Expression’ line, simply type in the inventory filter as follows:
   ! ((DEPT==’ZZZZZ’))
   
   This Inventory Filter when saved will prevent any item belonging to the department ZZZZZ from being sent to the handheld computers.
   
   To prevent multiple departments’ items from being sent to the handheld computer, simply add them to the ‘Expression’ as follows:
   ! ((DEPT==’ZZZZZ’) or (DEPT==’YYYY’) or (DEPT==’XXX’))
   
   Like this, all items belonging to departments ZZZZZ, YYYY, and XXX will not be sent to the handheld computers.
   
   NOTE: Spelling and punctuation is very important in Inventory Filters so be sure to write the filters exactly as shown in the above examples!
   
   
5. Once the ‘Expression’ has been entered, use [CTRL+END] to save this as a new inventory filter.
   
   
6. To determine if the Inventory Filter is valid, use [F2 – Edit] to be able to once again make changes to this filter, and arrow or tab down to the ‘Expression’ line, which will once again present the ‘Logical Expression’ screen where the ‘Expression’ line will now be displayed. Use the [Verify] button to determine if the ‘Expression’ entered is actually valid. If not, please double check the spelling and spacing, and try the validation again. Once the expression is valid, use the [[OK]] button to return to the Inventory Filter record, and use [CTRL+END] to once again save this Inventory Filter.
   
   
7. Adding, removing, or changing an Inventory Filter affects the inventory Price List, and so in order for the change in inventory availability to be sent to the handheld computer right away, please be sure to set the Mobile Unit Records to ‘Reload Price List: Yes’ prior to synching.