How is SmartFill different from what Dynamics GP already offers for lookups?

Issue:

How is SmartFill different from what Dynamics GP already offers for lookups?

Dynamics GP Explanation:

Advanced Lookups are a core part of Dynamics GP, introduced back in version 6.0. These are the standard lookups that have always been part of the core functionality, and are driven by the user clicking on the looking/magnifying glass icon to the right of a key field, such as Customer Number.

The steps are as follows:

1. Optionally enter part of the beginning of the Customer ID in the Customer ID field.
2. Press the Looking Glass icon.
3. A new lookup window displays, sorted by Customer ID, with the optionally entered partial Customer ID from step one beginning the sort at the top.
4. Scroll, search, and find the customer desired.
5. Press Select and the Customer ID is returned to the window.

Auto-Fill is a function introduced in Dynamics GP version 7.5 and is now fully functional with almost all key fields in current versions. This feature “remembers” common entries typed into key fields, and then auto-fills appropriate values as suggestions as you type. At first, the “remembered” listis empty, but grows as you add values. Suppose you have “CAB001” and “CAR001” as values that are “remembered” in your list.

The process would work as follows:

1. Type “C” into the Customer ID field. Immediately “CAB001” will fill into the field, with your cursor between the “C” and the “A”. The first portion will be white as typed; the last portion will be reversed black-on-white to let you know it was auto-filled. If you press TAB, the entire value will be typed into the field.
2. Continue typing an “A” into the field. The same value will stay, but the cursor will move between the “A” and the “B”.
3. Continue typing an “R” into the field. The field will now change to “CAR001”, with the cursor after the “R”. You can continue typing additional characters to change the ID, or press TAB to select what is auto-filled.

SmartFill Explanation:

SmartFill takes an entirely different approach to lookups. We believe that users often don’t know the Customer ID, but almost always know the Customer NAME. Therefore, by typing part of the Customer Name into the Customer ID field, the user experiences both an auto-fill and/or a filtered lookup depending on what they type. Suppose a Customer exists with a Customer ID of MAIN001 and a Customer Name of “Main Street Bakery”.

The process works as follows:

1. Type “Bakery” into the Customer ID field. Note we are entering the NAME into the ID field.
2. Press TAB. Immediately “Bakery” is replaced with “MAIN001”.

The simplicity of SmartFill makes it much easier to use, more intuitive, and extremely efficient. Given the scenario above, additional actions may occur. If there was another customer in the system with a name of “Happy Time Bakery”, when the user presses TAB a shortened list of “Main Street Bakery” and “Happy Time Bakery” will appear. Only these two entries will appear, because they are the only two customers that contain “Bakery” in their names. The user can then choose one of the two customers and press the Select Button, and the valuewill be returned to the window and overtype the word “Bakery” with the Customer ID.

Optionally, the user can also type in “Bak” into the ID field, and both these bakeries would be listed, along with any other Customer whose name contains the three sequential letters “Bak”.