Book Image

Extending Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2016 Cookbook

By : Alexander Drogin
Book Image

Extending Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2016 Cookbook

By: Alexander Drogin

Overview of this book

Microsoft Dynamics NAV is an enterprise resource planning (ERP) software suite for organizations. The system offers specialized functionality for manufacturing, distribution, government, retail, and other industries. Its integrated development environment enables customizations with minimal disruption to business processes. The book starts explaining the new features of Dynamics NAV along with how to create and modify a simple module. Moving on, you will learn the importance of thinking beyond the boundaries of C/AL development and the possibilities opened by with it. Next, you will get to know how COM can be used to extend the functionalities of Dynamics NAV. You’ll find out how to extend the Dynamics NAV 2016 version using .NET interoperability and will see the steps required to subscribe to .NET events in order to extend Dynamics NAV. Finally, you’ll see the cmdlets available to manage extension packages. By the end of the book, you will have the knowledge needed to become more efficient in selecting the extending methods, developing and deploying them to the Dynamics NAV, and practicing the best practices.

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Table of Contents (17 chapters)
Extending Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2016 Cookbook
Extending Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2016 Cookbook
Credits
Credits
About the Author
About the Author
About the Reviewer
About the Reviewer
www.PacktPub.com
www.PacktPub.com
Customer Feedback
Customer Feedback
Preface
Preface
Free Chapter
1
Writing Basic C/AL Code
Writing Basic C/AL Code
Introduction
Installing NAV Development Environment
Application object triggers
NAV Development Environment - C/SIDE
Compiling objects and error handling
Importing and exporting application objects
Basic C/AL programming
Accessing the database in C/AL
Configuring NAV Server
Configuring web server
2
Advanced C/AL Development
Advanced C/AL Development
Introduction
Creating custom tables
Understanding database triggers
Implementing a user interface with pages
Linking datasources in subpages
Working with page triggers
Presenting related data in FactBoxes
Designing reusable code
Accessing temporary tables
Role-Tailored client and role centers
Assigning role centers to user profiles
Simplifying data access with queries
Improving performance with indexes
Linking datasources with advanced queries
Exchanging data with XMLPort objects
Designing the user menu
Referencing records and fields via RecordRef and FieldRef
Working with single instance codeunits
Running tasks in background sessions
3
Reporting and Data Analysis
Reporting and Data Analysis
Introduction
Designing reports in Visual Studio
Developing Word layout for RDLC reports
Writing C/AL code in a report
Designing the report request page
Writing RDLC code in a report
Using built-in expressions in the report layout designer
Including user interaction in reports
Updating NAV data with the Excel add-in
Retrieving data from NAV with Power Query
Creating pivot tables with Power Query
Analyzing data with Power BI
Data hierarchies in Power BI reports
Statistical data analysis in Power BI with R
Sales forecast in Power BI with R
Designing server-side reports in SQL Server Reporting Studio
4
.NET Interoperability in C/AL
.NET Interoperability in C/AL
Introduction
Using .NET assemblies in C/AL
Understanding static classes and methods
Developing server-side extensions
Developing client-side extensions
Working with generics in C/AL
Working with interfaces
Accessing collections with the FOREACH statement
Working with .NET strings and arrays in C/AL
Invoking .NET methods via reflection
Handling exceptions with try functions
Handling .Net events in C/AL
Developing your own .NET class
Starting processes in separate threads
5
Extending C/AL with COM Components
Extending C/AL with COM Components
Introduction
Using COM type libraries in C/AL
Mapping COM datatypes to C/AL
Disposing of COM objects
Working with the Variant datatype
Sending data to the Excel automation server
Creating a Word document using automation objects
Creating and registering a COM component that can be used in NAV
6
SharePoint Integration
SharePoint Integration
Introduction
Creating a developer SharePoint site
Developing NAV apps for SharePoint
Embedding NAV page objects in site pages
Publishing NAV reports in SharePoint
Deploying applications on SharePoint
Configuring user permissions
7
Control Add-ins
Control Add-ins
Introduction
Developing a control add-in
Signing the control add-in assembly
Registering and embedding a control add-in
JavaScript in web, phone, and tablet clients
Installing and using JavaScript control add-ins
Sending events from add-ins to NAV server
Linking add-ins with the database
Exchanging data with add-ins
8
Web Services
Web Services
Introduction
Publishing a SOAP web service
Calling object methods in SOAP web services
Exposing and consuming OData web services
Querying NAV OData web services with LINQ
Updating NAV data through web services
Securing access to web services
Consuming the NAV web service from Java
9
Events and Extension Packages
Events and Extension Packages
Introduction
Subscribing to business and integration events
Subscribing to global events
Using database trigger events
Extending UI with page trigger events
Creating custom events
Subscribing to events in runtime
Developing an extension
Installing an extension
10
PowerShell
PowerShell
Introduction
Managing the database
Managing users and user permissions
Managing companies
Administering NAV services with PowerShell
Handling application objects
Merging application objects

Developing an extension

The concept of events finds another important application in NAV extension packages. NAV extension is a file containing application modifications. Extensions can be easily installed to extend the base NAV functionality without changing base application objects. An extension package can modify UI elements and extend the data structure, but it is not allowed to introduce modifications to application code. All changes in the code can be implemented only via event subscription.

Getting ready

You will need a command line tool SignTool to sign the extension package in this recipe. SignTool is a component of Windows SDK. Before starting the recipe, make sure you have the SDK installed, or download the SDK package corresponding to your version of Windows, from developer.microsoft.com.

How to do it...

This recipe shows how to create an extension package. As an example, we will use an object developed in the Business and integration events recipe, modify in and wrap the changes...

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