Online Connect for Dynamics AX 2009

Learn how to set up and use Online connect for Dynamics AX 2009.

ReadSoft Online Connect is a program you can install on a local computer and use to perform a number of tasks, such as uploading invoices to ReadSoft Online. It is an alternative to uploading invoices using the web interface in ReadSoft Online. Using ReadSoft Online Connect, you can upload invoices automatically, lessening the effort of uploading invoices one by one.

ReadSoft Online Connect runs as a service in the background, so it is not necessary to start a program each time you want to upload invoices. Instead, you simply move the files you want to upload to the folders you specify during the installation setup.

ReadSoft Online Connect can be beneficial if you want to:

  • Upload large numbers of invoices.
  • Automate the process of uploading invoices.
  • Download output data from Online Connect.
  • Automatically register supplier invoices in external systems.

Note that the user interface for ReadSoft Online Connect is currently only available in English.

Other flavors of Online Connect

ReadSoft Online Connect can display different settings, depending on which target system you use. Before you continue reading, make sure you choose the Online Connect guide that matches your target system. If you don't find a match, read the generic guide for Online Connect.

Online Connect System requirements

ReadSoft Online Connect supports the following operating systems:

  • Windows 10
  • Windows 8.1
  • Windows Server 2019 Standard
  • Windows Server 2016
  • Windows Server 2012 and Windows Server 2012 R2

ReadSoft Online Connect requires the following:

  • Microsoft .NET Framework 4 (always required).
  • An HTTPS connection which uses port 443 (always required).

The integration for Dynamics AX requires WCF Activation components.

Creating a customer account

To use Online Connect, you must make sure that your account in ReadSoft Online is set up properly.

After you have created a new customer account, check the following:

  • In order to send invoices to Dynamics AX 2009, make sure Dynamics AX 2009 is specified in the target system service (Services > Target system) for the account.
  • You can also add buyers if your organizations has more than one buyer.
    If you add a new buyer to the system after you configure ReadSoft Online Connect you must run the configuration wizard again and specify the new upload locations.

After you create a customer account with appropriate services and buyers, you are ready to install ReadSoft Online Connect.

Installation

If you use a proxy connection to connect to the Internet, make sure you specify the Windows proxy settings before you install ReadSoft Online Connect.

To install ReadSoft Online Connect:

  1. Download and run the setup file from the URL that corresponds to your location. Note that an HTTPS connection on port 443 is required to download the installation. After the installation, the connection is required to receive program updates.

    Welcome

  2. Specify the installation folder and click Next to continue:

    Destination Folder

  3. Click Install to confirm your settings and install ReadSoft Online Connect.

    Install

  4. After the installation, click Finish to launch ReadSoft Online Connect and run the setup wizard.

    Finish

Troubleshooting the installation

When running the installation, some computers display a message that states, "Installation directory must be on a local drive." If you receive this message, run this command as an administrator in Windows Command Prompt:

msiexec /i "C:\[path]\ReadSoft.Online.Connect.Setup.msi" WIXUI_DONTVALIDATEPATH="1"

Automatic updating

ReadSoft Online Connect routinely downloads and installs updates automatically. This is required in order to ensure that ReadSoft Online Connect works properly and stays synchronized with the latest functionality and features in ReadSoft Online.

In order for automatic updating to work properly, computers running ReadSoft Online Connect must have access to the local installation folder as well as the contents of the URL that corresponds to your location:

You can click the links above to test if you have access.

Online Connect Setup for Dynamics AX 2009

Be sure to specify the target-system settings correctly before you begin.

The first time you run ReadSoft Online Connect, a setup wizard appears to help you configure the initial settings. If you see the ReadSoft Online Connect dialog instead of the wizard, click Configure to display the wizard.

The steps that appear in the wizard can vary, depending on the services that are enabled in ReadSoft Online.

1. Click Next to begin.


Welcome

2. Use the information provided in your account-information email to fill in the Login address, Authorization key, User name and Password.


Login information

Login address
Authorization key (API Key) You can obtain the key from your account-information email or from an administrator, who can find the key in the Target system view in Admin Center.
User name The user name you use to log in to ReadSoft Online.
Password The password for User name.

3. Configure optional dialogs that can appear, depending on the services that are enabled in ReadSoft Online:

4. After you complete the required procedures from step 3 above, click Save to save the settings and exit the wizard.


Configuration complete

If you add new customers or buyers to the system or change the Target system service settings after you configure Online Connect, you must run the configuration wizard again and specify the new upload locations.

If you want to change the Output image format from TIF to PDF (Target system configuration settings), you must process all of the invoices in the system before you change this setting. Failure to do so will result in output errors.

Windows users that run ReadSoft Online Connect must have Read, Write and Modify permissions on all of the folders you specify in the setup.

Configure settings for uploading documents

Admin users must have the Process documents privilege to see this dialog and upload documents using ReadSoft Online Connect.

If the Image upload service is enabled, you can use ReadSoft Online Connect to upload invoices to ReadSoft Online. Customers can upload their own invoices for processing, and partner administrators can upload images on behalf of all of their customers.


Uploading documents

Ideally, you specify the Root folder, and then click   to automatically generate the subfolders. Subfolder are created for each buyer defined in ReadSoft Online. If no buyers are defined, the subfolder has the same name as the organization (customer). These subfolders determine which buyer the documents are connected to when they are uploaded to ReadSoft Online. Additional subfolders are created for each document type, if the buyer has more than one document type.


Folder examples

In this example, the Folder containing scanned images is named “Upload."
If you add new customers or buyers to the system after you configure Online Connect, you must run the configuration wizard again and specify the new upload locations.

Upload documents to ReadSoft Online

  • Upload documents to ReadSoft Online – Specifies whether you use ReadSoft Online Connect to upload invoices to ReadSoft Online.
  • – Auto-generates the folder structure inside the Root folder.
  • – Displays a dialog which you can use to add a folder location manually.
  •   – Displays a dialog which you can use to edit the selected folder location.
  •   – Removes the selected folder from the Upload locations list. Note that the folder is not deleted from the hard drive.
  • – Removes all of the folders from the Upload locations list. Note that the folders are not deleted from the hard drive.
  • Upload locations – Displays a list of locations where ReadSoft Online Connect looks for images to upload to ReadSoft Online.
  • Processed documents folder – Specifies the folder where you want to move the images after they have been uploaded.
  • Document sorting - Determines how many documents each file can contain. See Help for more information about page separation.
  • Upload documents automatically - When this setting is selected, files located in subfolders of the Folder list are automatically uploaded as soon as they are detected. If this setting is not selected, you must click the Upload documents button in the ReadSoft Online Connect interface to manually upload images.
  • Allow upload of XML files with matching image file - Normally, when you upload XML invoices, ReadSoft Online automatically creates an invoice image from the XML data, so users can visualize the data during verification. If your solution uses XML invoices and an invoice image file, select this setting, so you can upload both of these files, and ReadSoft Online will display the original invoice image during verification, instead of creating one from the XML data. This is helpful because it offers the superior data capture of XML, while displaying the original invoice image, which might contain additional information that is not available in the XML. Make sure that the corresponding file pairs have the same file name.

Configure settings for sending documents to Dynamics AX

If Dynamics AX is specified as your target system, you can use ReadSoft Online Connect to automatically register invoices with Microsoft Dynamics AX. You can also use ReadSoft Online Connect to import supplier, account currency and coding information from Dynamics AX to ReadSoft Online.

See the technical description for information about configuring Dynamics AX for use with ReadSoft Online.

  1. If no buyers are defined, skip to the next step. Otherwise, click the Edit button that corresponds to the buyer you want to adjust.
    Figure 1. One or more buyers can appear in this view depending on your setup and privileges.
    Buyer setup

  2. Select Register invoices in Dynamics AX and specify the Integration Service URI using the format http://serverName:8101/RsoIntegrationService.svc

    Make sure the port number matches the HTTP port number of the ReadSoft Online integration site in IIS. You can find the port in the Bindings settings in Windows IIS.

    If your solution requires you to specify network credentials, select Specify credentials for network access, and specify the User name, Password and Domain. The Windows user you specify here must have access to the Integration Service URI.


    Register invoices in Dynamics AX

  3. After you specify the Service settings, click Connect. If the connection is successful, additional integration settings appear. The settings that appear can vary, depending on your setup.
  4. Adjust the Integration settings.

    Integration settings

    Transaction text template Specifies the transaction description template.
    Release date comment template Specifies the template for the Release date comment field in Dynamics AX.
    Non-PO invoice creation Determines whether non-PO Invoices are posted to Register & Approval journal or Invoice journal.
    PO Invoice creation Determines the method you want to use to create purchase order invoices.
    • Registration journal - creates the invoice in a registration journal, using the referencing order number in the appropriate field. Typically, you choose this setting for non-PO invoices.
    • Posting invoice - creates the invoice on the purchase order itself. If you choose this option, additional settings appear for Vendor invoices.
  5. If you selected Register & Approval Journal in the previous step, adjust the Registration journal settings for non-PO invoices.

    Registration journal settings

    Approver personnel number The default approver to use if none is set during verification.
    Default sales tax group The default sales tax group to use if none is set during verification (Optional).
    Default item sales tax group The default item sales tax group to use if none is set during verification (Optional).
  6. If you selected Invoice journal in step 4, adjust the Invoice journal settings for non-PO invoices.

    Invoice journal settings

    Invoice journal name Specifies the name of the invoice journal that you want to post invoices to.
    Approver personnel number The default approver to use if none is set during verification.
    Default sales tax group The default sales tax group to use if none is set during verification (Optional).
    Default item sales tax group The default item sales tax group to use if none is set during verification (Optional).
  7. Adjust the Approval journal for non-PO invoices. These settings only appear when Workflow services are enabled.

    Approval journal for non-PO invoices

    Approval journal name The approval journal name to use to post an invoice.
  8. If you specified Vendor invoice in the PO invoice creation setting, the Vendor invoices tab is available.

    Vendor invoices tab

    Misc. charge mapping Maps various fields in ReadSoft Online (left column) with vendor-invoice fields in Dynamics AX (right column).
  9. Adjust the Archive settings. These settings only appear if you the Storage service is disabled.

    Archive tab

    Store image files for supplier invoices locally Determines whether invoice images are saved to a local folder.
    Directory to store image in Specifies the folder where you want to save the invoice images.
  10. Click OK after you complete your adjustments.

Using Online Connect with Dynamics AX 2009

After following the procedures above to setup Online Connect, you are ready to use it in production.

Uploading documents using Online Connect

You can upload documents to ReadSoft Online in these supported file formats using Online Connect:

  • JPEG, JPG
  • PDF version 1.3 to 1.7
  • PNG
  • TIFF, TIF
  • XML

Admin users must have the Process documents privilege to upload documents using ReadSoft Online Connect.

Automatic uploading

If you selected Upload documents automatically when configuring ReadSoft Online Connect for uploading documents, no interaction is required. When files are moved to the subfolder(s) of the location you specified in the configuration, they are automatically uploaded.

ReadSoft Online Connect runs continuously in the background as a Windows service and periodically checks (every 15 minutes by default) for new files to upload. When new files are found, they are uploaded automatically. Even if you restart the computer, ReadSoft Online Connect runs automatically in the background with no need for interaction. If a problem occurs during the upload, the upload operation will timeout after 10 minutes.

Most users use automatic uploading, and set up their scanners to save files directly in the appropriate subfolders that are created during the configuration.

If you have more than one document type, but you place files in the parent folder of the document type folders, the files are uploaded and processed using the Default document type specified in the Extraction service settings.

Manual uploading

If you did not select Upload documents automatically when configuring ReadSoft Online Connect, you can upload files manually at your convenience:

  1. Start ReadSoft Online Connect from the Windows Start menu.

    ReadSoft Online Connect

  2. Move or scan invoice image files to an appropriate subfolder of the location you specified in the configuration, and click Refresh so you can see the files in the list. You can also click the Event log tab to check for errors.
    If you do not see files in the list, make sure you place the files in a subfolder that corresponds to an organization or buyer in ReadSoft Online.

    ReadSoft Online Connect Upload

  3. Click Upload documents. You can click Refresh to see that the images have uploaded or use the Event log to monitor the progress of your uploads.

    ReadSoft Online Connect Event Log

Troubleshooting Online Connect for Dynamics AX 2009

Generic issues

If you have problems running ReadSoft Online Connect:

You can click the links above to test if you have access. Click the links using the same computer that runs ReadSoft Online Connect. If you receive a 404 error, you do not have access.

  • Make sure you can download the files that are listed in the page that is displayed when you click one of the links above. To do this, replace "Deployment.manifest" in the URL with one of the file names in the list.
  • Log in to ReadSoft Online using the same computer that runs ReadSoft Online Connect to make sure you can connect to ReadSoft Online.
  • If you use a proxy connection, make sure the settings are applied to the same user/account that runs ReadSoft Online Connect. By default, this is a local System account. To test this, access ReadSoft Online using a location above, then change the ReadSoft Online Connect user to the same Windows user you tested with.

Document management directory does not exist

An error message that the "Document management directory does not exist" can appear in:

Three issues can cause this error message:

  • The directory does not exist in Dynamics AX. Make sure that the folder that is specified in the Archive directory setting exists.

Archive directory setting

  • AOS cannot access the directory. If the Archive directory is located on a different computer than the AOS service, you must share the folder and reference its shared path.

Archive directory setting

  • The integration user does not have access to the directory. Make sure that the user that performs the integration has read/write access to the folder that is specified in the Archive directory setting in Dynamics AX (Document management parameters dialog).

You can specify the integration user in two different places:

  • The ReadSoft Online configuration wizard.
Figure 2. In this example, you can see that ReadSoft Online is run using the Administrator user.
Online Connect configuration wizard

 

  • The ReadSoft Online Windows service.
Figure 3. In this example, you can see that the ReadSoft Online service is run using the Administrator user.
Online Connect Windows service

Multiple AOS instances on the same Dynamics AX server

To use the Dynamics AX 2009 integration with multiple AOS instances, follow this procedure.

  1. From the Start menu in Windows, run Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 Configuration on the computer where IIS is installed for the Dynamics AX integration.

    Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 Configuration

  2. Select Business Connector in the Configuration Target box.

    Configuration Target

  3. Make sure there is a configuration for the desired AOS instance.

    If the configuration is missing, click Manage > Create configuration.


    Create configuration

    After you set up the configuration, make sure that you select the configuration that you just created in the Configuration box.


    The Configuration box

  4. Open the web.config file that is located in the RsoIntegrationService folder that you use for IIS.

  5. The web.config file

    You can also access the web.config file from within Dynamics AX by navigating to the Services, selecting the RsoIntegrationService and clicking Configure to open the web.config file.

  6. Find the BUSINESS_CONNECTOR_CONFIGURATION key, and change its value to the configuration you selected in step three.

    The BUSINESS_CONNECTOR_CONFIGURATION key

    When generating services from Dynamics AX (Basic > Setup > Application Integration Framework > Services) Dynamics AX overrides the web.config file, the BUSINESS_CONNECTOR_CONFIGURATION key can be reset by Dynamics AX. Therefore, it is important that you remember to reset the value after you generate the services.