Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central continues to push the boundaries of what’s possible for developers and partners. With the latest wave of updates, Business Central introduces a host of development enhancements that empower teams to deliver more adaptable, scalable, and secure solutions, all while improving productivity and simplifying the development process.
The coming together of various factors, breakthroughs in cloud computing, enterprise-wide adoption, and heightened competition have brought about the transition from AI as a niche technology to an enterprise asset. But with such pervasiveness comes the responsibility of usage. Organisations need to balance the promise of AI with risks to ethical use, governance, and risk management, particularly in highly regulated sectors like manufacturing.
Development Enhancements
1. AL Language Improvements
- Enhanced debugging tools for AL developers.
- New AL language extensions to simplify custom development.
- Improved IntelliSense support for faster coding.
2. API and Web Service Enhancements
- New API endpoints for improved integration with third-party applications.
- Performance improvements in OData services.
- Enhanced security features for API authentication and authorisation.
3. Customisation and Extensions
- Improved extension model allowing for deeper customisations without affecting base code.
- New event-driven development options for greater flexibility.
- Better support for per-tenant extensions in multi-tenant environments.
4. Performance and Scalability
- Optimised SQL query performance for faster data retrieval.
- Enhanced background processing for batch jobs and workflows.
- Improved cloud performance and load balancing for large-scale deployments.
This release focuses on bringing powerful new extensibility features that empower developers to create adaptable, resource-efficient solutions while offering greater flexibility to meet evolving business needs.
With the introduction of the ability to define profile extension objects, developers can modify and customise user profiles without duplicating code, enhancing productivity and maintaining code integrity. Developers can also now include resources in extensions and access them from AL, streamlining data initialisation and setup. Enhancements to the Explore in Visual Studio Code feature allow seamless access to GitHub repositories, making it easy to pull, inspect, or hotfix code versions, even with IP protection in place. The full-text search metadata on table fields allows developers to provide data search capabilities that deliver faster, more accurate results to boost user satisfaction and efficiency.
Resellers and publishers can save time when they validate their solutions by running multiple AppSource apps through a public NuGet feed that provides downloadable symbols and AL-Go for GitHub handling this automation. Additionally, a rule-based scheduling mode for performance profiling enables background profiling to pinpoint and address performance issues, reducing troubleshooting time.
Key Features
As businesses rush to enter the era of AI, there is a growing need to ensure that such technology is utilised responsibly. The promise that AI holds is immense, and so is the risk of opening the floodgates of AI systems without restraint.
1. Move tables and fields with data across extensions as part of refactoring
As extensions mature or as a consequence of an extension initially created as a large monolith, the requirement emerges to be able to split up the extension and move ownership of tables or fields along with data. This feature introduces the same controlled process for releasing and taking ownership of tables or fields as part of the extension upgrade process to partner extensions.
2. Troubleshoot clients, apps, and add-ins with telemetry
This new feature in the Business Central client enhances the overall reliability and user experience by logging exceptions in client add-ins. Administrators can swiftly identify and address issues before they impact users, ensuring smoother operations and reducing downtime.
The Business Central client emits a telemetry event if an exception occurs in a client add-in. The telemetry helps administrators monitor and react to errors before users report them.
By capturing detailed telemetry data, businesses can gain valuable insights into the performance and stability of their extensions, ultimately leading to improved user satisfaction.
3. Mock outbound HttpClient web service calls during testing
To allow for easier testability of AL code that includes outbound web service (HttpClient Get/Put/Delete/Post) calls, the ability to mock such calls is being introduced. This feature enables developers to hardcode return values to the calling code during tests, without performing the outbound web service call. The ability to mock calls is particularly valuable when testing Copilot and AI features, as developers can write unit tests for these features without connecting to the Azure OpenAI Service, thereby avoiding unnecessary token consumption.
4. View build metadata in Extension Management page
With the introduction of the Source and Build properties in Business Central 2024 Release Wave 1, traceability of extensions created as part of DevOps pipelines was enhanced. It became faster to find the relevant source repository, commit ID, and build system used to create the extension. With Business Central 2024 Release Wave 2 and the latest update, the experience has been further improved by adding additional information, making it easier to identify and resolve issues, as well as access and share information about extensions.
AI improves the efficiency of processes through constant monitoring of production lines and the detection of bottlenecks or areas of inefficiency in real time. It brings a data-driven means of embracing lean manufacturing practices, streamlining production flows, eliminating waste, and maximizing overall production. Data-Centric Thinking.
5. Embed Power BI content in web client with new page type
Experience an enhanced and slim user interface when viewing embedded Power BI reports in Business Central, making it easier to navigate and interact with your data.
6. Select extensions to open in Visual Studio Code from the web client
Several releases ago, the powerful ability to open Visual Studio Code from within the web client for a specific environment to investigate or debug code was introduced. Now, the ability to proactively select the extensions to include in the project when opening Visual Studio Code has been added. If the user has permission to access the source, that code will be available in the opened Visual Studio Code. Otherwise, symbols will be provided, which can be used for investigating functionality in AL Explorer or for coding purposes.
7. Self-service App Key Vault onboarding for AppSource apps
AppSource apps for Business Central can read secrets from Azure Key Vault owned by the publishing partner. However, for this feature to be available to a partner’s AppSource app, they have had to go through a manual process and reach out to us, which could lead to waiting times, and Azure Key Vault availability required a new version of the app after registration. To streamline the process, the onboarding to Azure Key Vault is part of the AppSource submission itself, which also means that the app can immediately use its Azure Key Vault.
8. Searchable downloaded symbols and using them as context in Copilot Chat
Users can now search AL objects from downloaded symbol packages from within Visual Studio Code. This makes it much easier to find related objects, whether for inspection, troubleshooting, or as inspiration. It can even be used as context when using GitHub Copilot to get better suggestions based on existing code.
9. Validate certificates on external web service endpoints called from AL HttpClient
This new feature enhances the security of HTTP calls in your AL applications by validating all server certificates used for outgoing web service calls. With certificate validation enabled by default, you can ensure a higher level of trust and security in your communications. If needed, there is flexibility to selectively disable certificate validation for specific calls, and a new telemetry event helps debug any failures. By providing robust security measures and debugging tools, this feature adds value by protecting businesses from potential security threats and ensuring smooth, secure operations.
10. Use new properties on a report layout
The new properties added to report layouts significantly enhance the flexibility and functionality of reporting. These enhancements streamline reporting processes, reduce the risk of errors, and ultimately save time and resources for businesses.
Whether streamlining integrations, enhancing customisations, or optimising performance, these improvements deliver a meaningful impact for both developers and businesses alike.
Please be aware that some features mentioned in this release plan are still in development. Delivery timelines may shift, and certain functionalities might not be available as initially projected (see Microsoft policy).
