Procedures & Reports

Procedures and reports in Priority ERP are multi-step operations that may require user input, confirmations, and produce output. The MCP server provides procedure_start and procedure_continue to drive these flows programmatically.

Overview

The procedure flow is a state machine:

1. Start – Call procedure_start to begin. Receive the first step.
2. Continue – Call procedure_continue with the appropriate action for each step type.
3. Repeat – Keep calling procedure_continue until the procedure ends.

Each response tells you the current step_type and what data is needed to proceed.

Starting a Procedure

First, find the procedure using entity_search:

{
  "company_name": "mycompany",
  "name_search": "WWWSHOWORDER",
  "search_category": "procedures_and_reports"
}

The response includes a procedure_type (P or R). Use both values to start:

{
  "company_name": "mycompany",
  "procedure_name": "WWWSHOWORDER",
  "procedure_type": "P"
}

The response includes a session ID and the first step.

Step Types

Input Steps

Input steps present fields that need values. Each field has an id, a type, and may have a “Current Value” (the last value used when this procedure was previously run).

Critical rules:

• You must send back ALL fields, even ones you are not changing
• Use the Current Value as the starting point for each field
• Do not submit all fields as empty unless explicitly intended – this may cause the procedure to process all available data

{
  "session": "session-id-here",
  "company_name": "mycompany",
  "procedure_name": "WWWSHOWORDER",
  "procedure_type": "P",
  "step_type": "input",
  "action": {
    "fields": [
      { "id": 1, "operator": "=", "value": "SO24001234", "type": "char" },
      { "id": 2, "operator": "=", "value": "01/01/26", "type": "date8" },
      { "id": 3, "operator": "=", "value": "", "type": "char" }
    ]
  }
}

Some input steps present choose options instead of fields. In that case, provide selected_option with the ID of the chosen option.

Choose Steps

Choose steps present a list of options. Select one by its ID:

{
  "session": "session-id-here",
  "company_name": "mycompany",
  "procedure_name": "MYPROCEDURE",
  "procedure_type": "P",
  "step_type": "choose",
  "action": {
    "selected_option": "2"
  }
}

Warning Steps

Warning steps display a message that must be acknowledged before the procedure continues:

{
  "session": "session-id-here",
  "company_name": "mycompany",
  "procedure_name": "MYPROCEDURE",
  "procedure_type": "P",
  "step_type": "warning",
  "action": {
    "acknowledged": true
  }
}

Output Steps

When a report is ready (newsaved or askprint step), choose the output format:

{
  "session": "session-id-here",
  "company_name": "mycompany",
  "procedure_name": "MYREPORT",
  "procedure_type": "R",
  "step_type": "askprint",
  "action": {
    "selected_format": "pdf",
    "mode": "display",
    "pdf": true
  }
}

Mode options:

• display – View the output
• signature – Generate with digital signature
• automail – Send via email

Background Processing

waitprocess and waitexecution steps indicate the server is processing in the background. Call procedure_continue again with the same step type to poll:

{
  "session": "session-id-here",
  "company_name": "mycompany",
  "procedure_name": "MYPROCEDURE",
  "procedure_type": "P",
  "step_type": "waitprocess",
  "action": {}
}

Keep polling until the step_type in the response changes to something else (e.g., end, displayurl, or another step).

Complete Example

The following example runs the ORDERSBYCUST report (Orders by Customer).

Step 1: Start the report

{
  "procedure_name": "ORDERSBYCUST",
  "procedure_type": "P",
  "company_name": "test"
}

Response: newsaved step – choose a report format.

Step 2: Select format

{
  "session": "netgate-v3-...",
  "company_name": "test",
  "procedure_name": "ORDERSBYCUST",
  "procedure_type": "P",
  "step_type": "newsaved",
  "action": {
    "selected_format": "-101",
    "mode": "display",
    "pdf": true
  }
}

Response: input step – date range and open-orders flag.

Step 3: Provide date parameters

{
  "session": "netgate-v3-...",
  "company_name": "test",
  "procedure_name": "ORDERSBYCUST",
  "procedure_type": "P",
  "step_type": "input",
  "action": {
    "fields": [
      { "id": 1, "operator": "=", "value": "01/01/26", "type": "date8" },
      { "id": 2, "operator": "=", "value": "23/08/26", "type": "date8" },
      { "id": 3, "operator": "=", "value": "Y", "type": "char" }
    ]
  }
}

Response: another input step – customer/order/part filters.

Step 4: Provide filter parameters

{
  "session": "netgate-v3-...",
  "company_name": "test",
  "procedure_name": "ORDERSBYCUST",
  "procedure_type": "P",
  "step_type": "input",
  "action": {
    "fields": [
      { "id": 1, "operator": "=", "value": "*", "type": "char" },
      { "id": 2, "operator": "=", "value": "*", "type": "char" },
      { "id": 3, "operator": "=", "value": "", "type": "char" },
      { "id": 4, "operator": "=", "value": "", "type": "char" }
    ]
  }
}

Response: end step with the report URL.

Step 5: Result

The response includes:

• A URL to the generated report (HTML format)
• If the report content is small enough, it is included inline in the response
• If the content exceeds the size limit, only the URL is provided with a note indicating the content was omitted due to size

URL: https://p.priority-connect.online/html/priority/netfiles/.../report.htm