Book Image

Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 Services

By : Kenny Saelen, Klaas Deforche, Saelen Kenny
Book Image

Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 Services

By: Kenny Saelen, Klaas Deforche, Saelen Kenny

Overview of this book

Because an ERP system like Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 plays a central role in an organization, there will always be the need to integrate it with other applications. In many cases, services are the preferred way of doing this, and Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 is now more flexible than ever when it comes to the creation and use of these services. Understanding these services will help you identify where they can be used, and do so effectively."Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 Services" is a hands-on guide that provides you with all the knowledge you will need to implement services with Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012. The step-by-step examples will walk you through many of the tasks that you need to perform frequently when creating and using services."Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 Services" provides detailed and practical examples for creating and using services that will make it a resource you will consult many times during your implementationsThis book helps you to identify situations where services can be used for your implementations. By providing step-by-step instructions for many of the common tasks, you will gain practical know-how on to get the job done.Easy to follow instructions are provided for all types of services you will encounter. You will learn how to create document services using the AIF Document Service Wizard and how to use X++ to create custom services. You will also learn how to deploy services and web services and how you can consume them in both X++ and .NET. The services are also put to use in the SysOperation framework, which uses services to run business logic and is the new way to create batch processes in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012.
Table of Contents (14 chapters)

Service generation – under the hood


While services are being deployed when activating integration ports, there is more going on than meets the eye. A service generator written in X++ kicks in and creates the artifacts needed by the AOS to host the WCF services. These artifacts are files containing managed code (C#) and contain the service implementation, message contracts, and a WCF configuration. To explain this, we will take a closer look at one of the out-of-the-box integration ports: the DocumentHandling port.

Generated artifacts

When you take a look at the DocumentHandlingService service node in the AOT, you will find that this service has one method called Create. So when we deploy this service, we expect the following generated artifacts to be able to host the WCF service:

  • A service contract which contains the service's interface

  • An operation contract for the Create service operation

  • Request and response message contracts for each operation used in the implementation of the Create operation...