BAQ Datasource for Bartender Labels

[Stephen_Booth]

We have been using BAQs as a datasource for our bartender labels in Epicor for years. Now I hear from support that they are not supported and Epicor has no plans to support them any time soon.

For anyone who works at Epicor, why is it allowed in the screen if it is not supported? And why does it work so well? Creating RDDs is a huge pain and really slow. Using a BAQ as a datasource in an RDD is so much faster.

If it is the case that this is actually supported, and this is just support being support, can someone throw a paper airplane note over the wall letting them know it is supported?

Where would I even go to find a list of things that are not supported but are offered to us as features on the screens?

[Randy (Randy Stulce)]

How are you getting the data from the BAQ to Bartender? What is your integration between them? Curious as we’d like to use a BAQ as a data source in Bartender but I haven’t gotten around to working on it.

[Stephen_Booth]

We have a report style that has its report type set as “Bartender Labels”. This report style points to a report data definition that strictly uses a BAQ. We have several with parameters as well. The report style output location points to our azure blob location and epicor cloud will output the .bt file with the data and all the header columns out to that location. Our local bartender server reads the blob and processes the file.

This also worked when we were on prem also.

It works quite well.

[JasonMcD (Jason McDermott)]

We just use the API to print. We are on prem; I know nothing of how this would work in the cloud.

Mostly we just use an app I made:

Epicor Cloud - Bartender Print Station Labels

I suppose this isn’t relevant to the OP, but I feel like you all have wandered into the generic printing discussion. So, I made an app instead of dealing with either end (Epicor or BT). It was meant as a stopgap, but after a couple weeks, the manager told me to discontinue automatic printing via BPM and they’ll use only my app. Home screen: [image] Recent receipts: [image] Tap one and it pulls up the fields pre-filled (user is free to edit at will). Also, the printer is dynamic (I’ll exp…

But I use an Epicor Function, so this could totally work inside of Kinetic.

Point is, there’s no RDD/RDL here. It’s just inputs into the EFx.

[Randy (Randy Stulce)]

@Stephen_Booth

We have a report style that has its report type set as “Bartender Labels”. This report style points to a report data definition that strictly uses a BAQ. We have several with parameters as well. The report style output location points to our azure blob location and epicor cloud will output the .bt file with the data and all the header columns out to that location. Our local bartender server reads the blob and processes the file.

I’m not seeing anything that should be going away. Who said this wasn’t supported or wasn’t going to be supported soon?

[TDudek (Timothy Dudek)]

Epicor doesn’t support custom created items. That’s all they’re saying. If a BAQ you created suddenly stops working after an upgrade, either you fix it yourself, pay Epicor Professional services to modify it and get it working properly, or hire a 3rd party consultant.

Now, if the BAQ designer has issues, they’ll support getting the designer debugged and (eventually) fixed. Same goes for custom code, BPM’s, etcetera. Anything you custom create is yours to maintain, troubleshoot and fix ~ or pay someone to do so.

It’s just them saving themselves the headache of constantly trying to figure out what people did wrong when customizing/creating something that isn’t Epicor’s own developed reports/applications/processes.

[TDudek (Timothy Dudek)]

P.S. Support has enough issues actually supporting their own work. ~Laughs~

[Stephen_Booth]

Timothy,

That’s not what they said. They said explicitly, BAQs are not supported as a data source for Report Data Definitions that run Bartender label report styles and there are no plans to support them.

The BAQ works, the Report Data Definition works, the Report Style works, the Label works. All this working was not the issue. The ticket was for a different issue, and they just so happened to notice it was for a RDD for a Bartender label Report Style type that used a BAQ as a data source.

[TDudek (Timothy Dudek)]

At the same time, BAQ Reports automatically generate a Report Data Definition when they’re created… just another instance of a support person not knowing what they’re talking about (I deal with that on a routine basis). Just had to escalate a support case this past week.

[Randy (Randy Stulce)]

I agree with @TDudek I think support was mistaken.

Eventually reporting is moving over to Bold reports so that’s when things may change --which will be awhile yet. But we’re already thinking we may drop Bartender IF Bold really supports labels as well as we think. We’ll have to see.