Skip to content

#01 DYNAMICS BUSINESS CENTRAL 2021 WAVE 1

Microsoft released earlier this April the new version of Dynamics 365 Business Central (version 18). Development tools continue to evolve as the web client. 

 

Application Improvements 

Some improvements have been added to the application and we highlight: 

  • Client performance improvements Similar to what had been implemented previously in FactBoxes, the PartPages of Role Centers start to load one by one and on-demand, that is, only if they are displayed on the screen and as the page is scrolled. 
  • Usability enhancements for the Business Central web client – In addition to being more responsive, some usability improvements were implemented in the web client are the possibility of looking up non-editable fields on Card-type pages or double-clicking on a record that opens the corresponding card. 
  • Dimension corrections (for G/L Entries) – In the new version of BC, it is now possible to correct dimensions in G/L Entries. 
  • Bank reconciliation improvements – Improvements in the Bank Reconciliation process, such as voiding a reconciliation performed incorrectly. 
  • Search for customers, vendors, and other contacts from Microsoft Teams –  

The Business Central Teams app has been updated to allow searching, sharing and sending messages to contacts (customers, suppliers, contacts, etc) registered in the BC Database (SaaS only). 

 

Technical Improvements 

Several technical improvements have been added for more efficient development. Here are some of the most relevant: 

  • Add keys (indexes) to base tables and table extension tables –. Possibility of adding new keys, in Table Extensions, that contain fields from the base table. 
  • Returning complex types – From this version it becomes possible for an AL function to return complex types. Not only is it possible to return Records or Codeunits, for example, but also the so-called built-in types (HttpClient, HttpResponseMessage, etc). 
  • New AL objects – Entitlement, PermissionSet and PermissionSetExtension – Entitlements (SaaS only) define which objects the customer can use under their license. Permissions are no longer defined in Xml and become objects in BC18. It is also now possible to extend standard Permission Groups. 
  • Report extensibility – In addition to pages and tables, it is now possible to extend standard reports. Among the possible modifications are: adding fields or DataItems and importing a new layout for the Report. 
  • Return record link instead of name when using lookups New OnAfterLookup trigger on Pages and Page Extensions with RecordRef as parameter.