The Microsoft Dynamics AX Team
Contents
Foreword
Introduction
PART I A TOUR OF THE DEVELOPMENT ENVIRONMENT
Introduction
AX 2012 five-layer solution architecture
AX 2012 application platform architecture
Application development environments
Data tier
Middle tier
Presentation tier
AX 2012 application meta-model architecture
Application data element types
MorphX user interface control element types
Workflow element types
Code element types
Services element types
Role-based security element types
Web client element types
Documentation and resource element types
License and configuration element types
Introduction
Application Object Tree
Navigating through the AOT
Creating elements in the AOT
Modifying elements in the AOT
Refreshing elements in the AOT
Element actions in the AOT
Element layers and models in the AOT
Projects
Creating a project
Automatically generating a project
Project types
The property sheet
X++ code editor
Shortcut keys
Editor scripts
Label editor
Creating a label
Referencing labels from X++
Compiler
Best Practices tool
Rules
Suppressing errors and warnings
Adding custom rules
Debugger
Enabling debugging
Debugger user interface
Debugger shortcut keys
Reverse Engineering tool
UML data model
UML object model
Entity relationship data model
Table Browser tool
Find tool
Compare tool
Starting the Compare tool
Using the Compare tool
Compare APIs
Cross-Reference tool
Version control
Element life cycle
Common version control tasks
Working with labels
Synchronizing elements
Viewing the synchronization log
Showing the history of an element
Comparing revisions
Viewing pending elements
Creating a build
Integrating AX 2012 with other version control systems
Introduction
Integrating AX 2012 with other systems
Using third-party assemblies
Writing managed code
Hot swapping assemblies on the server
Using LINQ with AX 2012 R3
The var keyword
Extension methods
Anonymous types
Lambda expressions
Walkthrough: Constructing a LINQ query
Using queries to read data
AX 2012 R3–specific extension methods
Updating, deleting, and inserting records
Limitations
Advanced: limiting overhead
Introduction
Jobs
The type system
Value types
Reference types
Type hierarchies
Syntax
Variable declarations
Expressions
Statements
Macros
Comments
XML documentation
Classes and interfaces
Fields
Methods
Delegates
Pre-event and post-event handlers
Attributes
Code access security
Compiling and running X++ as .NET CIL
Design and implementation patterns
Class-level patterns
Table-level patterns
PART II DEVELOPING FOR AX 2012
Introduction
Role-tailored design approach
User experience components
Navigation layer forms
Work layer forms
Role Center pages
Cues
Designing Role Centers
Area pages
Designing area pages
List pages
Scenario: taking a call from a customer
Using list pages as an alternative to reports
Designing list pages
Details forms
Transaction details forms
Enterprise Portal web client user experience
Navigation layer forms
Work layer forms
Designing for Enterprise Portal
Designing for your users
Introduction
Working with forms
Form patterns
Form metadata
Form data sources
Form queries
Adding controls
Control overrides
Control data binding
Design node properties
Run-time modifications
Action controls
Layout controls
Input controls
ManagedHost control
Other controls
Using parts
Types of parts
Referencing a part from a form
Adding navigation items
MenuItem
Menu
Menu definitions
Customizing forms with code
Method overrides
Auto variables
Business logic
Custom lookups
Integrating with the Microsoft Office client
Make data sources available to Office Add-ins
Build an Excel template
Build a Word template
Add templates for users
Introduction
Enterprise Portal architecture
Enterprise Portal components
Web parts
AOT elements
Datasets
Enterprise Portal framework controls
Developing for Enterprise Portal
Creating a model-driven list page
Creating a details page
AJAX
Session disposal and caching
Context
Data
Metadata
Proxy classes
ViewState
Labels
Formatting
Validation
Error handling
Security
Secure web elements
Record context and encryption
SharePoint integration
Site navigation
Site definitions, page templates, and web parts
Importing and deploying a web part page
Enterprise Search
Themes
Introduction
AX 2012 workflow infrastructure
Windows Workflow Foundation
Key workflow concepts
Workflow document and workflow document class
Workflow categories
Workflow types
Event handlers
Menu items
Workflow elements
Queues
Providers
Workflows
Workflow instances
Work items
Workflow architecture
Workflow runtime
Workflow runtime interaction
Logical approval and task workflows
Workflow life cycle
Implementing workflows
Creating workflow artifacts, dependent artifacts, and business
logic
Managing state
Creating a workflow category
Creating the workflow document class
Adding a workflow display menu item
Activating the workflow
Introduction
Inside the AX 2012 reporting framework
Client-side reporting solutions
Server-side reporting solutions
Report execution sequence
Planning your reporting solution
Reporting and users
Roles in report development
Creating production reports
Model elements for reports
SSRS extensions
AX 2012 extensions
Creating charts for Enterprise Portal
AX 2012 chart development tools
Integration with AX 2012
Data series
Adding interactive functions to a chart
Overriding the default chart format
Troubleshooting the reporting framework
The report server cannot be validated
A report cannot be generated
A chart cannot be debugged because of SharePoint sandbox
issues
A report times out
Introduction
Components of the AX 2012 BI solution
Implementing the AX 2012 BI solution
Implementing the prerequisites
Configuring an SSAS server
Deploying cubes
Deploying cubes in an environment with multiple partitions
Processing cubes
Provisioning users
Customizing the AX 2012 BI solution
Configuring analytic content
Customizing cubes
Extending cubes
Integrating AX 2012 analytic components with external data
sources
Maintaining customized and extended projects in the AOT
Creating cubes
Identifying requirements
Defining metadata
Generating and deploying the cube
Adding KPIs and calculations
Displaying analytic content in Role Centers
Providing insights tailored to a persona
Choosing a presentation tool based on a persona
SQL Server Power View
Power BI for Office 365
Comparing Power View and Power BI
Authoring with Excel
Business Overview web part and KPI List web part
Developing reports with Report Builder
Developing reports with the Visual Studio tools for AX 2012
Introduction
Security framework overview
Authentication
Authorization
Data security
Developing security artifacts
Setting permissions for a form
Setting permissions for server methods
Setting permissions for controls
Creating privileges
Assigning privileges and duties to security roles
Using valid time state tables
Validating security artifacts
Creating users
Assigning users to roles
Setting up segregation of duties rules
Creating extensible data security policies
Data security policy concepts
Developing an extensible data security policy
Debugging extensible data security policies
Security coding
Table permissions framework
Code access security framework
Best practice rules
Security debugging
Licensing and configuration
Configuration hierarchy
Configuration keys
Using configuration keys
Types of CALs
Customization and licensing
Introduction
Types of AX 2012 services
System services
Custom services
Document services
Security considerations
Publishing AX 2012 services
Consuming AX 2012 services
Sample WCF client for CustCustomerService
Consuming system services
Updating business documents
Invoking custom services asynchronously
The AX 2012 send framework
Implementing a trigger for transmission
Consuming external web services from AX 2012
Performance considerations
Introduction
Client/server performance
Reducing round trips between the client and the server
Writing tier-aware code
Transaction performance
Set-based data manipulation operators
Restartable jobs and optimistic concurrency
Caching
Field lists
Field justification
Performance configuration options
SQL Administration form
Server Configuration form
AOS configuration
Client configuration
Client performance
Number sequence caching
Extensive logging
Master scheduling and inventory closing
Coding patterns for performance
Executing X++ code as common intermediate language
Using parallel execution effectively
The SysOperation framework
Patterns for checking to see whether a record exists
Running a query only as often as necessary
When to prefer two queries over a join
Indexing tips and tricks
When to use firstfast
Optimizing list pages
Aggregating fields to reduce loop iterations
Performance monitoring tools
Microsoft Dynamics AX Trace Parser
Monitoring database activity
Using the SQL Server connection context to find the SPID or
user behind a client session
The client access log
Visual Studio Profiler
Introduction
The SysOperation framework
SysOperation framework classes
SysOperation framework attributes
Comparing the SysOperation and RunBase frameworks
RunBase example: SysOpSampleBasicRunbaseBatch
SysOperation example: SysOpSampleBasicController
The RunBase framework
Inheritance in the RunBase framework
Property method pattern
Pack-unpack pattern
Client/server considerations
The extension framework
Create an extension
Add metadata
Extension example
Eventing
Delegates
Pre and post events
Event handlers
Eventing example
Introduction
Unit testing features in AX 2012
Using predefined test attributes
Creating test attributes and filters
Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 test tools
Using all aspects of the ALM solution
Using an acceptance test driven development approach
Using shared steps
Recording shared steps for fast forwarding
Developing test cases in an evolutionary manner
Using ordered test suites for long scenarios
Putting everything together
Executing tests as part of the build process
Using the right tests for the job
Introduction
Help system overview
AX 2012 client
Help viewer
Help server
AOS
Help content overview
Topics
Publisher
Table of contents
Summary page
Creating content
Walkthrough: create a topic in HTML
Adding labels, fields, and menu items to a topic
Make a topic context-sensitive
Update content from other publishers
Create a table of contents file
Creating non-HTML content
Publishing content
Add a publisher to the Web.config file
Publish content to the Help server
Set Help document set properties
Troubleshooting the Help system
The Help viewer cannot display content
The Help viewer cannot display the table of contents
PART III UNDER THE HOOD
Introduction
Temporary tables
InMemory temporary tables
TempDB temporary tables
Creating temporary tables
Surrogate keys
Alternate keys
Table relations
EDT relations and table relations
Foreign key relations
The CreateNavigationPropertyMethods property
Table inheritance
Modeling table inheritance
Table inheritance storage model
Polymorphic behavior
Performance considerations
Unit of Work
Date-effective framework
Relational modeling of date-effective entities
Support for data retrieval
Run-time support for data consistency
Full-text support
The QueryFilter API
Data partitions
Partition management
Development experience
Run-time experience
Introduction
Batch processing in AX 2012
Common uses of the batch framework
Performance
Creating and executing a batch job
Creating a batch-executable class
Creating a batch job
Configuring the batch server and creating a batch group
Managing batch jobs
Debugging a batch task
Print management in AX 2012
Common uses of print management
The print management hierarchy
Print management settings
Introduction
The organization model framework
How the organization model framework works
When to use the organization model framework
Extending the organization model framework
The product model framework
How the product model framework works
When to use the product model framework
Extending the product model framework
The operations resource framework
How the operations resource framework works
When to use the operations resource framework
Extending the operations resource framework
MorphX model element prefixes for the operations resource
framework
The dimension framework
How the dimension framework works
Constraining combinations of values
Creating values
Extending the dimension framework
Querying data
Physical table references
The accounting framework
How the accounting framework works
When to use the accounting framework
Extensions to the accounting framework
Accounting framework process states
MorphX model element prefixes for the accounting
framework
The source document framework
How the source document framework works
When to use the source document framework
Extensions to the source document framework
MorphX model element prefixes for the source document
framework
Introduction
Reflection system functions
Intrinsic functions
typeOf system function
classIdGet system function
Reflection APIs
Table data API
Dictionary API
Treenodes API
TreeNodeType
Introduction
Layers
Models
Element IDs
Creating a model
Preparing a model for publication
Setting the model manifest
Exporting the model
Signing the model
Importing model files
Upgrading a model
Moving a model from test to production
Creating a test environment
Preparing the test environment
Deploying the model to production
Element ID considerations
Model store API
PART IV BEYOND AX 2012
Introduction
The mobile app landscape and AX 2012
Mobile architecture
Mobile architecture components
Message flow and authentication
Using AX 2012 services for mobile clients
Developing an on-premises listener
Developing a mobile app
Platform options and considerations
Developer documentation and tools
Third-party libraries
Best practices
Key aspects of authentication
User experience
Globalization and localization
App monitoring
Web traffic debugging
Architectural variations
On-corpnet apps
Web apps
Resources
Introduction
Lifecycle Services
Deploying customizations
Data import and export
Test Data Transfer Tool
Data Import/Export Framework
Choosing between the Test Data Transfer Tool and DIXF
Benchmarking
Index
Foreword :
The release of Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R3 and this book coincide with the tenth anniversary of my involvement with the development of this product. I’ve had the pleasure to work with a great team of people throughout that period. When I reflect on the modest ambition we set out with a decade ago, I’m excited to see all that we have achieved and am grateful for all the support we received along the way from our customers, partners, and the community around this product.
We set out to build a next-generation line-of-business system that empowered people. We wanted to go beyond traditional ERP in multiple ways:
First and foremost was to create a system of empowerment, not a system of records. Microsoft Dynamics AX is designed to help people do their jobs, not to record what they did after they did it.
Second, we wanted to maintain an agile system that allowed businesses to change at their own pace and not at the pace of previous generations of electronic concrete.
Third, we wanted to provide functional depth and richness while maintaining simplicity of implementation, to allow both midsize and large organizations to use the same system.
The embodiment of our first goal is role-tailored computing and pervasive BI. Those new to the Microsoft Dynamics AX community after AX 2009 can’t imagine a day when that wasn’t a standard part of the product. AX 2012 takes that richness to a whole new level with more than 80 predefined security roles, and Role Centers for more than 40 distinct
functions in an organization.
The implementation of our second goal is in the richness of the AX 2012 metadata system and tools, combined with the fact that all of our solutions and localizations are designed to work together. AX 2012 enhances those capabilities even further while adding the organizational model, self-balancing dimensions, date effectivity, and other powerful
application foundation elements.
The realization of the third goal came in the form of deep industry solutions for manufacturing, distribution, retail, service industries, and the public sector, along with a comprehensive set of life cycle services for design, evelopment, deployment, and operations.
This book focuses on the enhancements to the Microsoft Dynamics AX developer toolset and is written by the team that brought you those tools.
It’s truly an insider’s view of the entire AX 2012 development and runtime environment (now updated for the AX 2012 R3 release). I hope you enjoy it as much as we enjoyed writing the book and creating the product.
Introduction
Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 represents a new generation of enterprise resource planning (ERP) software. With more than 1,000 new features and prebuilt industry capabilities for manufacturing, distribution, services, retail, and the public sector, AX 2012 provides a robust platform for developers to deliver specialized functionality more efficiently to the industries that they support. AX 2012 is a truly global solution, able to scale with any business as it grows. It is simple enough to deploy for a single business unit in a single country, yet robust enough to support the unique requirements for business systems in 36 countries/regions—all from a single-instance deployment of the software. With AX 2012 R3, Microsoft Dynamics AX delivers new levels of capability in warehouse and transportation management, demand planning, and retail.
AX 2012 R3 also represents an important step forward in the evolution of Microsoft Dynamics AX for the cloud. As Microsoft Technical Fellow Mike Ehrenberg explains:
Microsoft is transforming for a cloud-first, mobile-first world. As part of that transformation, with the AX 2012 R3 release, we are certifying the deployment of Microsoft Dynamics AX on the Microsoft Azure cloud platform, which uses the Azure Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) technology. This opens up the option for customers ready to move to the cloud to deploy the power of Microsoft Dynamics AX to run their business; for customers that favor on-premises deployment, it complements the option to harness the Microsoft Azure cloud platform for training, development, testing, and disaster recovery—all workloads with the uneven demand that the cloud serves so well. One of the most
exciting new capabilities introduced with AX 2012 R3 is Lifecycle Services, our new Azure cloud-based service that streamlines every aspect of the ERP deployment, management, servicing, and upgrade lifecycle—regardless of whether AX 2012 itself is deployed on-premises or in the cloud. We are leveraging the cloud to deliver rapidly evolving services to help all of our customers ensure that they are following best practices across their AX 2012
projects. We are already seeing great results in rapid deployments, streamlined support interactions, and performance
tuning—and this is only the beginning of our very exciting journey.Customers have also weighed in on the benefits of Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012:
Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 allows us to collaborate within our organization and with our constituents ... using built-in controls and fund/encumbrance accounting capabilities to ensure compliance with Public Sector requirements ... and using out-of the-box Business Analytics and Intelligence ... so executives can make effective decisions in real time.
With AX 2012, developing for and customizing Microsoft Dynamics AX will be easier than ever. Developers will be able to work with X++ directly from within Microsoft Visual Studio and enjoy more sophisticated features in the X++editor, for example.
Also, the release includes more prebuilt interoperability with Microsoft SharePoint Server and SQL Server Reporting Services, so that developers spend less time on mundane work when setting up customer systems.Guido Van de Velde Director of MECOMS™
Ferranti Computer Systems
AX 2012 is substantially different from its predecessor, which can mean a steep learning curve for developers and system implementers who have worked with previous versions. However, by providing a broad overview of the architectural changes, new technologies, and tools for this release, the authors of Inside Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R3 have created a resource that will help reduce the time that it takes for developers to
become productive.
