Sage recently released Sage 50 2008 (14). So far I can report that this is not the same nightmare that was Sage 2007 – (Unlucky 13). In fact, it seems that Sage have turned a new page and are finally testing their product before shipping it. Long may that trend continue.
The only issue I have found so far is with some of my Sage 12 email reports not correctly converting up to version 2008. However, there are solutions to the two issues I had, detailed here:
Double “+” Bug
You can set up a Sage report in version 12 so that it displays fields of your choice on the subject line, or in fact anywhere in the email.
For instance, this code:
COMPANY.NAME + “- Sales Invoice -“ + INVOICE.INVOICE_NUMBER
would display the following on the subject line of the email:
NTES Limited – Sales Invoice – 10000
However, if you upgrade this report to version 2008, you will see an error like this:
Report Designer was unable to generate the report: ‘+’ is not defined for objects of type System.String and System.Int32
This is caused because of a bug in Report designer for Sage 50 2008. Basically, it does not like the double use of the “+” sign. There is however a workaround to this issue. Change the code to use the CString command for the second field you wish to show like this:
COMPANY.NAME + “- Sales Invoice -“ + CString(INVOICE.INVOICE_NUMBER)
Then, all should work fine for you.
Carriage Return
The second “hidden feature” is that, for some strange reason, the carriage return does not work when you are typing in the “with the following note” field to add text to your email that you are sending. This is annoying to say the least, especially when you are creating a set of instructions / signatures with your invoice / report you send out.
The answer is easy, use the undocumented feature of CTRL+RETURN
This answer gives the right solution but a completely wrong explanation. The error message has nothing to do with a double + sign, and is not a bug.
You can test this quite easily by trying to use “Sales Invoice ” + INVOICE.INVOICE_NUMBER. That won’t work either.
The problem is the mix of a text field and a numeric field. Using the CString() command converts the numeric field (INVOICE.INVOICE_NUMBER in this case) to a text field that just happens to contain a string of numbers. Report Designer can then treat the whole expression as a piece of text.
Thanks for this info Christy.
However, if it is not a bug, then why does the exact same expression work in version 12?
It is a bug because the reports upgrade utility should recognise the problem and automatically correct it.
Sadly there are some problems in Sage 2008. If you use Job Costing or any third party application that uses the Sage Data Objects (SDO) make sure that you apply the Sage Hot Fixes that correct a problem with duplication of Invoice Postings.
I think there is also a problem with Bank Reconcilations.
If you are importing data make sure you understand how Sage have changed departments from Sage 2007.
Also when upgrading from 2007 to 2008 we have found from the customers module when using the write off wizard and selecting “write off customers transactions below a value” that the write off wizard does not work correctly and leads to errors. Sage have suggested not using the wizard and manually entering sales credit notes for small amounts and matching these against the relevant invoice. Hardly a step forward and a lot of extra work.
Also that from the bank module when you click on payments and select recall you are presented with rubbish.
Sage have checked our data and have confirmed that our data is not at fault and that it is an issue with the program itself.
Since upgrading from v12 to v14 (via 13) in May my company has had a history of system crashs on practicaly every day of use. The system was ok prior to the upgrade. We network 3 desktops each of which has more than the min amount of memory, correct net work cards etc etc. Two machines have office 2007 the host machine office 2003. All machines have Norton anti virus. Sage have been excellent on support – spending many hours trying to fix the problem of crashs. The situation does not seem capable of being resolved – can someone give me any positive advise other than to chuck it!