Introduction: The Import from Excel on the Configuration Package page is used to import data from excel.  It can be used to even before a configuration package is created. To avoid confusion and unnecessary retries when using these actions, you can now use the Config. Package Import Preview page to get an overview of the Excel file content to be imported. The page opens when you choose the action and shows the list of configuration packages and tables, organized on different sheets, in the Excel file that you are trying to import. The page also explains if the Import from Excel action will create a new configuration package or update the existing one, and if the action will create new configuration package lines (tables) or update existing ones. Pre-Requisites: Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central Steps: To import the Purchase Order Data : Open the Config. Package Card page. Select the table for which you want to import data, and then, on the Tables tab, choose the Import from Excel action. 3. Locate and open the file that you want to import data from. 4. On the Config. Package Import Preview page, review the content that will be imported. The Config. Package Import Preview page provides an overview of the Excel file content to be imported. It also indicates if a new configuration package is created or the existing one is updated, and if new configuration package lines (tables) are created or existing ones are updated. Choose the Import Action. 5. A new Package is created on the List page and the data in the configuration package can be viewed by clicking on the package. Conclusion: Thus, this way the data from the Excel is now imported into configuration package and with the help of Configuration Package Review page the data that is imported can be reviewed and checked.

Introduction: In this blog I will demonstrate that how the Sales Order and its corresponding Sales Order Lines can be linked together in the Microsoft PowerApps. Pre-requisites: Microsoft PowerApps Method: Create two galleries within the PowerApps and for the first gallery create a display form with Sales Order as the Data source. In the second gallery, the Sales Order Lines is the Data source. Now select the second gallery, and write the following formula to display the corresponding Sales Order lines: Filter(SalesOrderLines,’Document No.’ exactin                                      DataCardValue2.Text)                                                                                    where DataCardValue2.text contains the value of ‘No.’ field of the Sales Order on the basis of which the Sales Order and its lines are related. The exact in keyword is used to check whether both the fields are matching exactly.

Introduction: In this blog, I will depict how a checkbox can be inserted in an SSRS report. Pre-Requisites: 1. Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central 2. SSRS Reports Steps: 1. Create a placeholder in the Table and insert the character mentioned below. 2. Now select the Font as Wingdings. The following set of symbols can be seen on the Report Layout. 3. When the report is run from the Business Central the checkbox can be seen. Conclusion: Thus, by using the following technique checkboxes can be generated in the SSRS report.

Introduction: Here, I will demonstrate how a user can add data into reports by themselves from the Request Page in Business Central. Pre-Requisites: Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central Steps: Create a report and in the Report Page section enter a text variable which you want to display in the report. requestpage { layout { area(Content) { group(General) { field(Note; Note) { ApplicationArea = All; MultiLine = true; } } } } } 2. Insert this variable on the report layout where you want it to be displayed. 3. Click on the Action and the Request Page opens up where the data in the variable to be displayed on the report can be seen/entered. The user enters the data and clicks on Preview. The data can be seen on the report. Conclusion: Thus, this way user can enter data in report from the request page.

Introduction: In this blog, I want to depict how a table structure can be integrated into an Email in Business Central using the HTML tags. Pre-Requisites : Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central HTML Steps: Create an Email Structure using the SMTP Mail setup Codeunit and pages. The body that is to be attached to the Mail will be the table structure that will be created using HTML tags. The HTML tags used are as follows: <th> : To create the heading for the table <tr>: To create the rows for the table <td>: To input the data for the table Code for the table structure and mail is as follows: SMTPSetup.CreateMessage(”, SMTPMailSetup.”User ID”, Rec_Contact2.”E-Mail”, ‘Scheduling Report’, ”, TRUE); SMTPSetup.AppendBody(MailBody); SMTPSetup.AppendBody(‘<br>’); SMTPSetup.AppendBody(UserDetails); SMTPSetup.AppendBody(‘<br>’); SMTPSetup.AppendBody(‘<table border=”1″>’); SMTPSetup.AppendBody(‘<tr>’); SMTPSetup.AppendBody(‘<th>Purchase Conformation</th>’); SMTPSetup.AppendBody(‘<th>Vendor Name</th>’); SMTPSetup.AppendBody(‘<th>Vendor Ref:</th>’); SMTPSetup.AppendBody(‘<th>Product Name</th>’); SMTPSetup.AppendBody(‘<th>Estimated PU Date</th>’); SMTPSetup.AppendBody(‘<th>PU Date</th>’); SMTPSetup.AppendBody(‘<th>PU Time Begin</th>’); SMTPSetup.AppendBody(‘<th>PU Time End</th>’); SMTPSetup.AppendBody(‘</tr>’); SMTPSetup.AppendBody(‘<tr>’); SMTPSetup.AppendBody(‘<td>’ + Format(“Blanket PO No.”) + ‘-‘ + Format(“Blanket PO Line No.”) + ‘</td>’); SMTPSetup.AppendBody(‘<td>’ + Format(Name) + ‘</td>’); SMTPSetup.AppendBody(‘<td>’ + Format(VSO) + ‘</td>’); SMTPSetup.AppendBody(‘<td>’ + Format(ProductName) + ‘</td>’); SMTPSetup.AppendBody(‘<td>’ + Format(EstPUDate) + ‘</td>’); SMTPSetup.AppendBody(‘<td>’ + Format(PUDate) + ‘</td>’); SMTPSetup.AppendBody(‘<td>’ + Format(PUStartTime) + ‘</td>’); SMTPSetup.AppendBody(‘<td>’ + Format(PUEndTime) + ‘</td>’); SMTPSetup.AppendBody(‘</tr>’); SMTPSetup.AddCC(Rec_UserSetup.”E-Mail”); SMTPSetup.Send; 3) The table output looks as follows when the mail is sent:               Conclusion: Thus, using the basic HTML table tags a table structure can be integrated into the Email functionality of Business Central.

Introduction: This blog demonstrates how the information that is visible to a user on the window can be controlled and managed. The ‘Importance’ property of a field helps us to control whether a field is seen or hidden on a window. Pre-requisites : Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central Steps: The Importance property helps to control the visibility of a field on the window. A field can be shown when clicked on the ‘Show More’ option and can be hidden on the ‘Show Less’ Action, we can even show the field value on the FastTab Header  when the whole FastTab  is collapsed. The values of the Importance property are as follows: Standard : It displays the field on the page by default. Promoted : It displays the field on the page and shows it on the FastTab Header when the FastTab is collapsed. Additional : It hides the field on the page, inorder to view the field user can click on the Show More action on the FastTab. 3. The Example below demonstrates this property : The Buy-From County Field (State) its Importance property is initially set to Additional. Therefore, it can only be seen when Show More action is clicked. After setting its Importance property value as ‘Standard’ the field is visible on the page by default. After setting its Importance property value to ‘Promoted’ its value is seen on  the page and even on the FastTab Header when the FastTab is collapsed. Conclusion: Thus, by using the Importance property of the field the user can control the Amount of information regarding a particular entity that needs to be shown/hidden.

Introduction: Notifications provide a programmatic way to send non-intrusive information to the user interface (UI) in the Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central. Their purpose is to provide users with some information about a current situation without any necessity to perform or block an action. Pre-requisites: 1. Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central Steps: 1. Create a global variable of the type notification: LoadsNotification: Notification; 2. The different functions used in notification are as follows: Message: It includes the message to be shown in the notification Scope: Specifies the scope where the notification appears. AddAction: To add an action to notification SetData: To set the data property value in a notification GetData: To get the data property value in a notification Recall: To recall a sent notification Send: To send the notification to the user. 3. In this case I have used the notification function to be displayed if the ColorVar is unfavorable i.e. red and the day is Thursday, Friday, Saturday or Sunday. If the above condition is satisfied then the notification is displayed with an action to schedule Loads otherwise no notification is displayed. The code is as follows: if ((ColorVar = ‘Unfavorable’) and (UnscheduledLoadsCount > 0)) then begin LoadsNotification.Message(‘There are ‘ + Format(UnscheduledLoadsCount) + ‘ loads yet to be scheduled.’); LoadsNotification.Scope(NotificationScope::LocalScope); LoadsNotification.AddAction(‘Schedule Loads’, Codeunit::EventHandlingCU, ‘OpenUnscheduledLoadsByVendor’); LoadsNotification.send; end; The Procedure OpenUnscheduledLoadsByVendor is created in the codeunit EventHandlingCU to open the page when action is triggered. procedure OpenUnscheduledLoadsByVendor(LoadsNotification: Notification): Text begin Page.Run(50139); end; Conclusion: Thus, this way notifications can be created in Business Central to notify the users some important information without blocking actions of the users.

Introduction: Automation APIs provide capability for automating company setup through APIs. Here we are going to use the Automation APIs to create a new company in the Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central and then view the existing companies information using the same. Pre-requisites: Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central Postman Steps: 1. Create a Company: To create a company we make use of the automation Endpoint available. Here we create a post request in Postman which is in the following format: POST https://api.businesscentral.dynamics.com/v1.0/api/microsoft/automation/{api version}/companies{company id}/automationCompanies For this we make use of OAuth 2.0 Authorization(Bearer Token). 2. To View Information about existing Companies in Business Central Retrieves the properties and relationships of an automationCompany object for Dynamics 365 Business Central. Here we use the GET request from Postman which has the following format: GET https://api.businesscentral.dynamics.com/v1.0/api/microsoft/automation/{api version}/companies{company id}/automationCompanies For this we make use of OAuth 2.0 Authorization(Bearer Token). Conclusion: Thus, by making use of these existing Automation APIs we can automate the initial setup process of creating companies, packages, users, permission sets etc.

Introduction: A field group in table or table extension objects defines the fields to display in a drop-down control on pages that use the table and fields that display when these pages are shown in the tile view. Syntax of fieldgroup is as follows: fieldgroup(<Name>;<Field>) <Name> : It can be either Dropdown, so as to define the set of fields to be included in drop down view or it can be Brick to define the set of fields to be included in a tile view. <Field> : Here, all the fields to be included are specified each separated from the other one by comma. Pre-Requisite: Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central Solution: In Business Central, when using the table extension objects one or more fields can be added to the fieldgroup using the ‘fieldgroups’ control. It can be done by using the addlast keyword.Its syntax is as follows: addlast(<Name>;<Field>). In the example below, I created a table extension object in which I have added a new field. I have added that field in the fieldgroup using the syntax mentioned above. Conclusion: Thus, using the above syntax the fieldgroup control can be added to the table in Business Central and even the existing fieldgroup can be modified to add new fields.

Introduction: Managers and employees need a good time entry application to record worked hours for billing, payroll, or operations. That information is used to automate payroll, invoice clients, and keep a business operating efficiently. While there are many good off the shelf time entry applications, the pre-built time entry capabilities of the model-driven approach in PowerApps provides a no-code or low-code component-based approach to facilitate the development of such an application development atop the Common Data. Model-driven apps run with the new Unified Interface client, which provides a responsive and accessible design running in browsers and on popular mobile devices.  This app type composes multiple component types including dashboards, forms, views, charts, and business processes which together form a great UI. In this article we will explore the steps to set up your own time entry application in PowerApps using the existing Time Entry entity. Steps  Select the environment you want or go to the PowerApps admin center to create a new one. Go to solutions, click on the “+ New Solution” button and enter the required details for creating a new solution and then click on “Create” option. In the solution, click on “New” and go to “App” and select “Model Driven Apps“. Enter the app name, description, image and the link to access the app designer. Add components to the app: Select the “Open the Site Map Designer”arrow to open the sitemap designer. On the sitemap designer select the new subarea and in the right pane select the properties tab. Then select the following properties: Type: Entity Entity: Time Entry On the app designer canvas select “Forms”, and then on the right pane under the Main Forms group select the “Time Entry Form”. On the app designer canvas select “Views”, and then select “My Time Entries By Date”. On the app designer toolbar, select “Save“. The App can now be validated to check for any error. The time entry entity is dependent on many other entities which will be shown as dependencies to be added during the validation process. All these entities need to be added so as to indicate all the resources, projects, tasks for each project and ensure they are shown properly. Now save and publish the application and you can directly execute the app from the app designer itself, by clicking on the “Play” button. Working with the new app: To work with your new time entry app, download the on your mobile device and login with the credentials into the time entry application as shown below. You can enter a new time entry by clicking on the “New” button, which can be accessed within the menu area. A message box is displayed and the status of the time entry changes to submitted. An existing time entry can be recalled for modification using the “Recall” button icon and a message box is displayed and the status of time entry changes to draft. For time entries such as absence or vacation, manager approval is required. Thus, when you type in absence or vacation it is mandatory to enter the manager name and an approval request is sent to the manager. When the manager name is included, the time entry is submitted and the approval request goes to the manager, who can either approve or reject the request. The status of the time entry changes to approved, when the manager completes the approval process. All the respective time entries managed via your Time Entry app are reflected in the Dynamics 365 Project Service Automation first-party app if it is in use. To share the model-driven application among multiple users, go to the solution and on the app select the share option. Conclusion Pros for model-driven PowerApps: The model-driven application approach for building PowerApps is much simpler as compared to the canvas apps. Model-driven apps can be from the Dynamics 365 first-party applications, which also makes it easy to use. It is helpful in creating your own data source from scratch, using the Common Data Service as the foundation. The Unified Client Interface means your app will look the same whether it is being viewed on a phone, tablet or desktop. Cons of model-driven PowerApps: The model-driven approach does not have a flexible interface, thus in such cases where we need to customize, the canvas PowerApps approach is recommended. It does not provide flexibility with development of functions and controls. There are still problems to solve with the time entry app described in this article. In particular, the time entry has a field date of the data type Date-Time which is set to the UTC time zone, thereby resulting in time entries based on UTC time zone. The solution to the above problem is as follows: Set the field as time zone independent. The change is permanent. Enter the time along with the date so as to get the entries on their proper day.