Microsoft Dynamics ®

Microsoft FRx to Management

Reporter 2012 Migration
Guide

February 2017

Find updates to this documentation at the following location:

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MICROSOFT FRX TO MANAGEMENT REPORTER 2012 MIGRATION GUIDE

Table of contents

Introduction ............................................................................................... 4
Terminology ......................................................................................................................... 4
Installation ................................................................................................. 5
System prerequisites ............................................................................................................ 5
User account requirements .................................................................................................... 5
Install the Migration Wizard ................................................................................................... 5
Data preparation ......................................................................................... 6
Prepare the data in Microsoft FRx ........................................................................................... 6
Data migration ............................................................................................ 8
Data available for migration ................................................................................................... 8
Migrate the data ................................................................................................................... 9
Convert the data .................................................................................................................10
Validate the building blocks ...................................................................................................11
Validation warnings ..............................................................................................................12

Post-migration .......................................................................................... 13
Review building blocks and reports ........................................................................................13
Save your FRx data for approximately six months ....................................................................13
Appendix................................................................................................... 14
Troubleshooting tips.............................................................................................................14
Extra companies in Management Reporter ..............................................................................14
Additional resources .............................................................................................................14

MICROSOFT FRX TO MANAGEMENT REPORTER 2012 MIGRATION GUIDE

Introduction

If you currently have data in Microsoft FRx® 6.7, you can migrate the data into Management Reporter
2012 for Microsoft Dynamics® ERP. The Migration Wizard will guide you through the migration process.

Data migration from any service pack of Microsoft FRx 6.7 into Management Reporter is supported.
Before you begin the migration process, we recommend that you review the Management Reporter
installation guide, and other Management Reporter documentation.

Terminology
Microsoft FRx 6.7 and Management Reporter use different terms to represent concepts. The following
table lists the different terms that are used in each application.

Microsoft FRx 6.7 Management Reporter

Company Company

Specification set Building block group

Catalog of Reports Report definitions

Row format Row definition

Column layout Column definition

Reporting tree Reporting tree definition

MICROSOFT FRX TO MANAGEMENT REPORTER 2012 MIGRATION GUIDE

Installation

Complete the following procedures to install the Migration Wizard for Management Reporter 2012.
Note: Before installing the Migration Wizard, your system must meet the minimum requirements as
listed in the System requirements for Management Reporter.

System prerequisites
Before you install the Migration Wizard, Management Reporter 2012 with the most recent update must
be fully installed and configured.

1. Install the application service and process service for Management Reporter 2012. For more
information, see the Management Reporter installation guide.

2. Configure data providers and integrations. For more information, see the data integration guide for
your ERP system.

3. Import or configure companies from the Microsoft Dynamics ERP databases. For more information,
see the Management Reporter installation guide.

User account requirements

The user account that is used to run the Migration Wizard must meet the following requirements:

• Be assigned to the Administrator role in Management Reporter.

• Be assigned to the db_datareader, db_datawriter, public, and GeneralUser roles in the

Management Reporter database.

• Be a local administrator on the computer that is running the Migration Wizard.

Install the Migration Wizard

The Management Reporter Migration Wizard will guide you through the migration process. Complete
the following procedures to install it.
Note: If you have a previous version of the Migration Wizard currently installed, you must uninstall it,
and then upgrade to the current version.

1. Open the Management Reporter folder, and double-click MRLaunch.exe.

2. Under Migrate, click Install the FRx 6.7 Migration Wizard.

Note: If you ran the Migration Wizard after installing a previous version of Management Reporter,
you do not need to run it again.

3. Read and accept the Microsoft Software License Terms. Click Next.

4. Accept the default location (<Drive>:\Program Files\Microsoft Dynamics ERP\Management

Reporter\2.1), or click Browse to select a new location. Click Next.

5. Enter the address for the server that hosts the Management Reporter application service, and then
click Next.
Note: By default, the server address is http://<servername>:4712.

6. Click Install.

7. When a message indicates that the Migration Wizard has been successfully installed, click Finish.
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MICROSOFT FRX TO MANAGEMENT REPORTER 2012 MIGRATION GUIDE

Data preparation

To help ensure a smooth migration and conversion process, some data needs to be converted or
reviewed before migration. Complete all of the following procedures to help ensure that the data
migrates correctly.
Note: Because of validation improvements and changes in formulas, some building blocks might need
to be updated in Management Reporter in order to pass validation.

Prepare the data in Microsoft FRx

Note: Before you modify data in Microsoft FRx, make sure that all users are logged off Microsoft FRx.
Also, make sure that you back up the SysData directory.

1. In Microsoft FRx 6.7, remove companies, specification sets, and building blocks (catalogs, rows,
columns, and trees) that are no longer needed or used.

2. Remove demonstration data by following these steps:

a. Delete the demonstration companies of FW and FWC.

b. In production reports and companies, remove any associations with the FRxDemo
specification set, and then delete the FRxDemo specification set.

3. Delete any .F32 files in the SysData directory that are not referenced by an active and valid
specification set. (To view the files that are currently used by specification sets, go to Company,
and then select Specification Sets.)

4. Verify that all building blocks in Microsoft FRx are associated with a catalog of reports. You might
need to create additional catalogs to migrate any building blocks that are not currently associated
with a report.

Note: Building blocks that are not associated with a catalog will not migrate to Management
Reporter, or will not migrate correctly.

5. Remove spaces that are located at the beginning of building block names.

6. Compact the specification sets for each company by following these steps.

a. Log on to a company in Microsoft FRx. Go to File, select Compact FRx Database, and then
select Current Spec Set Database.

b. Repeat for each company that will be migrated.

7. Compact the system database. Go to File, select Compact FRx Database, and then select FRx
System Database.

8. If you are integrating with Microsoft Dynamics GP, verify that all of the names for segments in the
Account Format are consistent. For example, if one company uses the segment names of
“Account” and “Department”, and another company uses the segment names of “Segment 1” and
“Segment 2”, we recommend that you rename segment names in one company to match the
other to make report design easier in Management Reporter.
To change segment names in Microsoft Dynamics GP, go to Tools, select Setup, select
Company, and then click Account Format.

9. Delete all .G32 files from the SysData directory. This ensures that correct segment and
dimension names are available in the Migration Wizard.

MICROSOFT FRX TO MANAGEMENT REPORTER 2012 MIGRATION GUIDE

10. Log on to each company in Microsoft FRx. This allows Management Reporter to obtain segment
and dimension data for each company for the migration process.

11. If you have any existing reports in Management Reporter, export the building blocks to a .tdbx file
before you begin the migration process. The migration process replaces all existing building blocks
in Management Reporter with data from Microsoft FRx.
To export building blocks, follow these steps:

a. In Report Designer, go to Company, and then click Building Block Groups.

b. Select the building block group to export, and then click Export.

c. In the Export dialog box, in the Report Definitions tab, click Select All. Repeat for each
tab, until all report definitions, row definitions, column definitions, reporting tree definitions,
and dimension value sets are selected.

d. Click Export, and then save the .tbdx file.

MICROSOFT FRX TO MANAGEMENT REPORTER 2012 MIGRATION GUIDE

Data migration

The data migration process occurs in three stages. First, all of the Microsoft FRx data is copied into the
Management Reporter database. Then, the data is converted from an account-based system into a
dimension-based system. Finally, the data is validated for use in Management Reporter 2012.
Warning: The data migration process replaces all existing building blocks in Management Reporter
with information from Microsoft FRx. Run the Migration Wizard before you create reports, schedules,
or other building blocks in Management Reporter.

Data available for migration

Data is read differently between Microsoft FRx and Management Reporter. When data is migrated from
Microsoft FRx to Management Reporter, some content is converted and some data specific to Microsoft
FRx cannot be migrated for use in Management Reporter.
The following table explains what data can be migrated, and what data is not available for migration.

Status Data Details

Migrated data Company information • Company code

• Company name
• Specification sets
• Period descriptions

Specification sets: • Catalog of Reports

• Row formats
• Column layouts
• Reporting trees

Font styles

Non-migrated data • Company configuration information

• Reports generated to the Microsoft FRx DrillDown viewer (.frd files)
• Security configuration, including users and groups
• E-mail addresses entered in reporting catalogs
• Currency codes, such as CCSPOT, CCAVG, and CCHIST
• 1:BASE YTD values in column definitions
• Additional Text defined in the reporting tree definitions

MICROSOFT FRX TO MANAGEMENT REPORTER 2012 MIGRATION GUIDE

Migrate the data
Complete the following procedure to start the Migration Wizard and begin the first stage of the
migration process, in which Microsoft FRx data is copied into the Management Reporter database.
Before you begin the Migration Wizard, verify that the Management Reporter 2012 client can connect
to the server.
Note: If the source file of the migration, named FRxSys32.mdb, is located on a network share, verify
that it contains Uniform Naming Convention (UNC) paths. Local paths are not supported. You can also
copy the file to another location.

1. Open the Migration Wizard. (Click Start, select Programs, select Microsoft Dynamics, select
Management Reporter 2012, and then select Migration Wizard.)

2. On the Getting Started page, select Migrate and convert Microsoft FRx 6.7 data, and then
validate building blocks. Click Next.

3. On the Specify Connection page, enter the name of the server that contains the Management
Reporter database. For example, enter Server01 instead of http://server01:4712.

4. Select the Management Reporter database to connect to, and then click Test Connection to
verify that your connection settings are valid. Click Next.

5. On the Select FRx Data page, browse to the location of the FRxSys32.mdb database that
contains the Microsoft FRx data to migrate.
Note: The FRx database can be found in the SysData directory. To locate the directory, open the
FRx Report Designer. In the Admin menu, select Organization, and then click SYSDATA. On the
Change SYSDATA Directory page, the file path is displayed in the Current Location field.

6. Select the check box to allow the Migration Wizard to use the directory from step 5 for the location
of reports instead of the default paths in the SysData configuration.
Note: Select this check box if you copied the SysData directory from another location, or if your
SysData directory uses absolute paths (for example, C:\FRxData\SysData) and you are not
running the Migration Wizard from the same location where the SysData directory was installed.

7. Click Next.

8. On the Migrate FRx Data page, select the Proceed with FRx Migration check box.
Note: This will remove building blocks and other data in Management Reporter. To preserve
existing reports in Management Reporter, you must export the building blocks in Management
Reporter before selecting this check box in the Migration Wizard. For more information, see step
11 of Prepare the data in Microsoft FRx.

9. Click Next to migrate the data.

10. Continue to Convert the data.

MICROSOFT FRX TO MANAGEMENT REPORTER 2012 MIGRATION GUIDE

Convert the data
Microsoft FRx and Management Reporter process data in very different ways. Data in Microsoft FRx is
based on account segments, but data in Management Reporter is based on account dimensions. To
migrate data between Microsoft FRx and Management Reporter, the data must be converted from a
segment-based account system to a dimension-based account system.
A dimension-based account system can be comprised of an account dimension and responsibility
dimensions. Each dimension can vary in length. You can specify the dimension values in a row
definition and the responsibility dimension values in a reporting tree definition. When reports are
generated, these values are combined in various ways to pull specific financial data records from the
source system.
Management Reporter features dimension support, so that the application functions exactly the same
regardless if it is connected to a fully-qualified account system or a dimension-based system. The
account segments or dimensions will be immediately available for selection in Management Reporter
without requiring any additional tools or configuration.
Complete the following procedure to begin the second stage of the migration process, in which you
convert data from an account-based system to a dimension-based system.

1. On the Map Companies page, review the list of companies that were migrated from Microsoft
FRx.
Note: If no companies are displayed in the Management Reporter Company column, close the
Migration Wizard. You must open the Management Reporter Configuration Console and import or
configure companies. For more information, see the Management Reporter installation guide.

2. Select a Microsoft FRx company, and then double-click in the Management Reporter Company
field to select a Management Reporter company to map Microsoft FRx data to.
Note: If (none) is selected, the Microsoft FRx company will not be mapped and this might cause
some building blocks to fail validation.

3. Click Next.

4. Enter credentials for the companies that have been configured in Management Reporter. The
following options are available:

Option Action

Use same Uses the same credentials for all companies.

credentials • To use the current Windows® account, select Use Windows authentication.
• To use a different account, enter a user name and password.

Use separate Specify different credentials for each company.

credentials • To use the current Windows account, select Windows authentication.
• To use a different account, enter the user name and password for the account
that is located on the same row as the company.

Note: You must use the credentials that are supported by your Microsoft Dynamics ERP system.

5. To save your company credentials, select the Save credentials check box.

6. Click Next.

7. On the Select Default Company page, select a default company to use for validation. The
default company is used when @ANY is selected for the Company value in Management
Reporter.
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MICROSOFT FRX TO MANAGEMENT REPORTER 2012 MIGRATION GUIDE

8. Click Next.

9. On the Map segments page, select a mapping option:

• If all of the companies have the same segments in Microsoft FRx, select the Use the same
mapping for all companies check box.

• To map segments for individual companies, select a company, and then click Map.

10. In the Map dialog box, double-click in the Management Reporter Dimension field, and then
select the dimension that corresponds to the Microsoft FRx segment that is selected.

11. When all of the Microsoft FRx segments are mapped to Management Reporter dimensions, click
OK.

12. If you are mapping segments for individual companies, select the next company and repeat steps
9 through 11 until all companies are mapped.

13. Click Next.

14. On the Convert FRx Data page, select the Proceed with the conversion check box to convert
the segment-based data into dimension-based data. The mappings you defined for each company
in steps 9 through 13 are used for this conversion.

15. Click Next.

16. Continue to Validate the building blocks.

Validate the building blocks

The final stage of the migration process is to validate the building blocks and identify errors in
migration. This operation examines each report, row, column, and tree definition to validate syntax
and relationships to ensure that the building block will function correctly.
Note: Validation can be run separately from the migration and conversion stages. To do this, run the
Migration Wizard again, and on the Getting Started page, select Only validate building blocks.
Management Reporter automatically prevents you from generating reports with building blocks that
are not valid. The application will prompt you to open and save building blocks that have not been
validated. Management Reporter also validates user input when data is entered.

1. On the Validate page, select Proceed with the building block validation. Click Next.

2. After a message indicates that the migration process has successfully completed, select the View
the migration summary immediately check box, and then click Finish to close the wizard.
Note: The length of the validation process depends on the number of building blocks to be
migrated. If a building block fails validation, a message is displayed in the migration summary and
the error must be corrected before reports are generated.

3. Review information in the migration summary log and correct any migration errors before
generating reports. For more information, see Validation warnings.

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Validation warnings
Some building blocks that are migrated from Microsoft FRx may not pass the more rigorous validation
performed by Management Reporter. This information is displayed in the migration summary file,
which can be accessed at any time. By default, the summary file is located in the Management
Reporter files location that is selected in Report Designer (go to Tools, and then select Options).
The validation status of each building block is displayed in the summary log. Icons and validation
status are listed in the following table.

Icon Validation status

Green circle • Migrated successfully

Yellow triangle • Migrated with issues

• May have been modified based on the features available in Management Reporter

Red diamond • Failed to migrate

• Refer to the error message in the summary log. The building block may need to be
created again.

Building blocks that display either a warning or a failure icon must be corrected before reports are
generated. The definition list identifies which fields require correction.
Any report definitions or building blocks that failed to migrate must be created again in Management
Reporter.

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Post-migration

When the data migration is complete, we recommend that you conduct a quality assurance review to
verify that all data has migrated correctly.

Review building blocks and reports

After migration, you can use a validated report to conduct a side-by-side comparison of building
blocks. Generate a report in Management Reporter 2012, and then compare the report to the original
report in Microsoft FRx to ensure that the data is identical.
If you identify an error, review the building blocks for that report in Management Reporter and correct
any issues:

1. Open Report Designer. (Click Start, select Programs, select Microsoft Dynamics, select
Management Reporter 2012, and then select Report Designer.)

2. In the navigation pane, locate any building blocks that display a red exclamation point icon. Open
an affected building block.

3. Attempt to save the building block.

• If no errors are displayed, review the building block for any missing formulas, formatting
options, links to financial data, or other data that might not have migrated from Microsoft FRx.

• If an error is displayed, hover over the exclamation point icon to display a tooltip about how to
correct the issue.
Note: All issues must be corrected to save the building block.

4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 until you have reviewed each report definition, row definition, column
definition, and reporting tree definition.

Note: We recommend that you review all of the building blocks, not just the ones that migrated
with issues.

Save your FRx data for approximately six months

Your backup needs will vary depending on your business and compliance requirements. However, we
recommend that you save Microsoft FRx data (including building blocks and data files) for
approximately six months after migration.

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Appendix

The following sections provide additional information about the Migration Wizard and the migration
process.

Troubleshooting tips
The following issues have been identified during the migration process.

Extra companies in Management Reporter

If you did not map all available companies in Microsoft FRx, or if you did not delete the FW and FWC
demonstration companies prior to migration, then extra companies will be displayed in Management
Reporter. To delete the extra companies, perform the following steps:

1. Delete the building blocks or building block groups that are associated with the extra companies,
or remove any associations between the companies and their building blocks.

2. Open the Management Reporter Configuration Console, and then delete the companies.
Note: If the FW and FWC companies, or any unmapped companies, are imported into Management
Reporter, you might receive the following message when you import companies in the Configuration
Console: “An error occurred while retrieving company information. Verify that the specified credentials
are valid. Check the deployment log for details.” Delete the unmapped companies, and then import
company information again.

Additional resources
For information about using Management Reporter, see the Management Reporter Help documentation
(http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=324762).
For information about integrating with Microsoft Dynamics ERP systems, see the data integration guide
for your ERP system.
For troubleshooting tips and explanation of known issues, see the Management Reporter 2012
Readme.

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