Microsoft Dynamics Mobile - Server Components Overview

Microsoft Dynamics® Mobile – Server Components handles and monitors the integration between business solutions and mobile devices. The current release of Microsoft Dynamics Mobile - Server Components integrates with the following products:

  • Microsoft Dynamics AX 4.0 SP2

  • Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 SP1

  • Microsoft Dynamics NAV 4.0 SP3

  • Microsoft Dynamics NAV 5.0 SP1

  • Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2009

The topography of Microsoft Dynamics Mobile - Server Components can be different, as illustrated in the following figures for the two integration scenarios.

Microsoft Dynamics AX and Microsoft Dynamics NAV Integration

The following illustration shows an overview of Microsoft Dynamics Mobile - Server Components when integrating with Microsoft Dynamics AX and Microsoft Dynamics NAV.

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Microsoft Dynamics NAV Using Web Services

The following illustration shows an overview of Microsoft Dynamics Mobile - Server Components when integrating with Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2009 using Web services.

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Microsoft Dynamics Mobile - Server Components Behind the Scenes

Microsoft Dynamics Mobile - Server Components consists of the following elements:

Integration objects

Objects for each supported Microsoft Dynamics mobile application that extends the application with mobile capabilities. For more information, see Integration with Microsoft Dynamics AX and Microsoft Dynamics NAV.

Services

Web services for document handling, deployment, and event logging. The Microsoft Dynamics Mobile - Server Components services enable you to receive and manage documents from the mobile devices, deploy mobile applications to mobile devices, and log and monitor events on the mobile devices. For more information, see the following:

SQL Server database tables

Database tables for supporting the document, deployment and logging services.

Console snap-ins

Microsoft Management Console snap-ins for the document, deployment and logging services.

To use Microsoft Dynamics Mobile - Server Components, you must install and configure the components. For more information, see How to: Install Microsoft Dynamics Mobile - Server Components in Microsoft Dynamics Mobile Installation and Configuration Guide online.

Integration with Microsoft Dynamics AX and Microsoft Dynamics NAV

Microsoft Dynamics Mobile - Server Components allows you to extend Microsoft Dynamics AX, and Microsoft Dynamics NAV to mobile devices. From a mobile application on a mobile, users can send request documents to the business solution for processing. The way that Microsoft Dynamics Mobile - Server Components integrates with the business applications is product specific. For example, with Microsoft Dynamics AX and Microsoft Dynamics NAV 4.0 and 5.0, a server connector acts as the interface to the document service. However, to communicate with Microsoft Dynamics AX, Microsoft Dynamics Mobile - Server Components also uses the integrated Microsoft Dynamics AX.NET Business Connector. To communicate with Microsoft Dynamics NAV 4.0 and 5.0, Microsoft Dynamics Mobile - Server Components uses Microsoft Dynamics NAV Business Connector. With Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2009, you can choose to use a server connector or Web services instead. When integrating using Web services, Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2009 interfaces with the document service through a document handler. For more information, see Using Web Services for Integrating with Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2009.

NoteNote

Microsoft Dynamics NAV Business Connector installs with Microsoft Dynamics Mobile - Server Components. For more information, see How to: Install Microsoft Dynamics Mobile - Server Components in the Microsoft Dynamics Mobile Installation and Configuration Guide online.

Integration Objects

To support Microsoft Dynamics AX and Microsoft Dynamics NAV integration, Microsoft Dynamics Mobile - Server Components include integration object files that contain objects that process request documents from mobile devices. For example, the IntegrationObjects.xpo file contains all the necessary objects to interface with Microsoft Dynamics AX 4.0, and the IntegrationObjects_NAVW14.00.03.fob file contains all the necessary objects to interface with Microsoft Dynamics NAV 4.0. As part of the installation process, you import the file into the application to obtain all of the functionality that enables the mobile users to send request documents from the mobile device to the business application.

For more information on the integration setup, see Integrating with Microsoft Dynamics Business Applications in the Microsoft Dynamics Mobile Installation and Configuration Guide online.

NoteNote

For Microsoft Dynamics NAV 5.0 SP1, the integration objects are part of the product, and you do not have to import external objects.

Web Services

Microsoft Dynamics Mobile - Server Components includes four services:

  • Document service

  • Management service

  • Deployment service

  • Logging service

You define the services during installation or you modify them later by using Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager, or by modifying the generated web.config files that store settings from each service. You can configure the services at any time after the installation, as required.

For more information, see Configuring the Microsoft Dynamics Mobile - Server Components web.config in the Microsoft Dynamics Mobile Installation and Configuration Guide online.

Document Service

Mobile devices send data and requests back to the server as XML documents, called request documents. A request is an activity that the mobile user has performed using a mobile application, such as to create a sales order or to define a new customer. The document service receives request documents sent from the mobile devices and forwards then to the business solution for processing. The function of the document service is slightly different for Microsoft Dynamics AX and Microsoft Dynamics NAV integration than for Microsoft Dynamics NAV using Web services. With Microsoft Dynamics AX and Microsoft Dynamics NAV integration, the document service forwards the request documents directly to Microsoft Dynamics AX and Microsoft Dynamics NAV. When using Web services, the document services stores request documents to a database before forwarding them to the business solution.

For more information, see Processing Request Documents with Microsoft Dynamics Mobile - Server Components.

Management Service

The management service interacts with the database that is used by the document service. Using the Document Manager console snap-in, a system administrator can connect to the management service to monitor and manage request documents that are sent from mobile devices to the document service. You use the management service when you integrate with Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2009 using Web services For more information, see Managing Request Documents with the Document Manager Console.

Deployment Service

The deployment service is the system administrator's key instrument in regards to deploying new mobile applications or sending updates to the mobile devices. Using the Deployment Manager console snap-in, the system administrator stores mobile application software in the database that is used by the deployment service. When contacted by mobile devices, the deployment service retrieves the mobile application software from the database and then loads it to the mobile device. For more information, see Deploying Mobile Applications with the Deployment Manager Console.

Logging Service

The logging service receives log messages from mobile device and stores them to a database. Using the Logging Manager console snap-in, the system administrator can view the log messages in the database. For more information on the logging Web service, see Managing Logs with the Logging Manager Console.

Communication between Server and Mobile Devices

When Microsoft Dynamics Mobile - Server Components is appropriately configured, the mobile user can send data to the business application. The mobile device can also receive updated data from the business application through a synchronization process with the server. Synchronization takes place when the user prompts for an update.

Sending Data to the Microsoft Dynamics Application

When the mobile user completes an action in the mobile application, the data is gathered in an XML file and sent to the document service. Data can be sent from any mobile device with PDA capability running on the Windows Mobile 5.0 or 6.0 platform with Microsoft Dynamics® Mobile – Mobile Device SDK. The Mobile Device SDK supports various types of network, including WiFi and cellular networks.

The mobile user can still continue to work while offline. The request documents are stored in a queue on the device until the device can connect to the network. The purpose of the queuing is to determine when the network connection is appropriate, to transmit the request documents.

The cost of network connection varies and you can set a priority on request documents to take this cost into consideration when you send request documents to the Microsoft Dynamics application. This process is called stamping. If the request is urgent, such as when sending an order, this request can be set to high priority, which means that it will be sent immediately regardless of the cost of network connection. Other request documents with less importance can be set to a lower priority and sent when the cost of network connection is lower. When all of the conditions are met in the queuing system, the document is sent to the Microsoft Dynamics application for further processing. You configure which stamps to assign to which requests in the UserRole.xml file for the mobile application. For more information, see Prioritizing Request Documents over Network Connection Types in the Microsoft Dynamics Mobile Orchestration Guide online.

Receiving Data from the Microsoft Dynamics Application

Mobile users can update their mobile applications with data from the Microsoft Dynamics application so that they have access to the same type of information that is available to them at the office. However, the synchronization between the device and the database only includes the data that is required for that particular mobile application, so the amount of data is limited. Each mobile application that is based on Microsoft Dynamics Mobile, such as Mobile Sales, is role specific, so the synchronization only involves the information that is needed to perform the tasks for this particular role.

As part of configuring the mobile application, you must map the table fields in the business application to the corresponding table fields in the mobile staging database.

NoteNote

When you install Microsoft Dynamics Mobile - Server Components or Mobile Sales, this includes SQL scripts that handle the field mapping of fields in the standard product. For an example of field mapping, see Mobile Staging Database Field Mapping to Microsoft Dynamics AX or Mobile Staging Database Field Mapping to Microsoft Dynamics NAV the Mobile Sales in Microsoft Dynamics Business Applications online.

From the mobile staging database, data is sent to the reference database on the mobile device using merge replication. This process takes place based on a filtering of the tables in the staging database that only displays a subset of the data from the ERP system. For more information on how to configure the mobile staging database and to set up the filtering system, see Configuring the Mobile Staging Database and SQL Server Replication in the Microsoft Dynamics Mobile Installation and Configuration Guide online.

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