Feb 02 2026

Quick Tips: Install the Business Central Desktop App

Welcome to Quick Tips — a fast, focused series designed to help you work smarter.

Each post will give you one practical insight you can apply immediately, whether you’re coding, configuring your tools, or improving your workflow.

Here’s today’s Quick Tip:

Run Business Central as a Desktop App

Did you know you can install Business Central as a standalone desktop app directly from your browser? No trip to the Microsoft Store required — just a couple of clicks and you’re done.

Business Central open in browser with install icon visible

The desktop app gives you a dedicated window for Business Central, separate from your browser tabs. It’s faster to launch, easier to find in your taskbar, and runs more smoothly without competing for attention with dozens of open tabs.

How to Install from the Browser

  • Open Business Central in Microsoft Edge or Google Chrome.
  • Look for the install icon in the browser’s address bar:
    • Edge: Click the App available icon (a small monitor with a down arrow), then select Install.
    • Chrome: Click the Install Business Central icon, then select Install. Install prompt dialog in Edge or Chrome browser
  • The app installs and opens immediately.

Tip: In Edge, you can also go to Settings and more (the three dots) → Apps → Install this site as an app → Install. Edge Settings menu showing Install this site as an app option

Installing for Multiple Environments

If you work with multiple Business Central environments, you can install the app separately for each one:

  • Navigate to the specific environment you want before installing.
  • Each installed app will open directly to that environment.
  • The environment name appears in the window title and Start menu, making it easy to tell them apart.

Why It Helps

  • Quick access — Launch Business Central from your Start menu or pin it to your taskbar.
  • Cleaner workflow — Keep Business Central in its own window, away from browser clutter.
  • Better performance — The app renders faster and more smoothly than running in a browser tab.
  • Multi-environment support — Install a separate app for each environment you work with.

Learn more about the Business Central Desktop App and Preparing for and installing the Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central app.

Got a favorite shortcut or workflow tweak? Share it in the comments and subscribe to dvlprlife.com for more Quick Tips like this one!

Permanent link to this article: https://www.dvlprlife.com/2026/02/quick-tips-install-the-business-central-desktop-app/

Feb 01 2026

Weekly Review: Business Central AL Development – January 25-31, 2026

Highlighting posts and resources from the Business Central development community — January 25–31, 2026

Looking to stay current with Dynamics 365 Business Central AL development? Here’s a curated list of recent blog posts, tutorials, and community resources from the past week.

Recent Posts (January 25–31, 2026)

➡️ 1. Why No. Series Break After Upgrading to Business Central 27 (And How to Fix It)

📇 Author: Saurav Dhyani
🗓️ Date: January 29, 2026
🌎 Link: sauravdhyani.com
📝 Summary: Identifies a breaking change in BC27 where No. Series validation now runs earlier and more strictly than in BC26. The post explains which records are affected, provides the specific code change Microsoft made, and offers a step-by-step fix using setup configuration for impacted environments.

➡️ 2. Understanding the Database Wait Statistics Page

📇 Author: Stefano Demiliani
🗓️ Date: January 28, 2026
🌎 Link: demiliani.com
📝 Summary: A detailed look into the Database Wait Statistics page in Business Central, explaining how to read and interpret Azure SQL wait statistics for performance diagnostics. Includes detailed analysis of real-world data covering Buffer IO, CPU, Lock contention, and Service Broker waits, with actionable investigation priorities.

➡️ 3. When GUIDs Collide: The App ID Problem Nobody Expected

📇 Author: Vjeko
🗓️ Date: January 27, 2026
🌎 Link: vjeko.com
📝 Summary: Explores the surprising problem of duplicate App IDs in Business Central extensions, found across nearly 150 out of 50,000 apps tracked by AL Object ID Ninja. Covers three common scenarios that cause collisions (manual GUIDs, GitHub clones, copy-paste apps) and explains how Ninja v3 now provides collision detection and protection.

➡️ 4. Escape Room App Gone Public!

📇 Author: Waldo
🗓️ Date: January 27, 2026
🌎 Link: waldo.be
📝 Summary: Announces the open-source release of the BCTalent Escape Room framework on GitHub (microsoft/BCTech). The framework lets partners build interactive training experiences, gamified onboarding, and feature adoption modules within Business Central—documentation included so even AI can help you build rooms.

Recent Videos (January 25–31, 2026)

🎬 1. What’s Cooking in Business Central: Delivering Analysis Views in AL extensions

📺 Channel: Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
🗓️ Date: January 28, 2026
🌎 Link: youtube.com
📝 Summary: A video discussing the new option in Business Central 2026 Wave 1. This new feature will allow for the exporting and including of Analysis Views in AL applications.

🎬 2. AL Development using Claude Code – The Business Central Coding Stream

📺 Channel: Stefan Maron
🗓️ Date: January 27, 2026
🌎 Link: youtube.com
📝 Summary: Stefan shares his Claude Code setup and workflow for development in AL for Business Central.

Community Resources

Official Resources

GitHub Repositories

  • microsoft/BCApps – Repository for collaboration on Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central applications.
  • microsoft/BCTech – Business Central technology samples.
  • microsoft/ALAppExtensions – Repository for collaboration on Microsoft AL application add-on and localization extensions for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central.
  • microsoft/AL – Home of the Dynamics 365 Business Central AL Language extension for Visual Studio Code.
  • StefanMaron/MSDyn365BC.Code.History – Contains the Microsoft Business Central Code. Updated each month.

Follow on Social Media

Stay Connected

The Business Central AL development community stays active with valuable content on AL development, upgrades, integrations, and tooling improvements. Following #MSDyn365BC and #BusinessCentral on Twitter/X is a great way to catch new posts as they’re published.

Note: This review is compiled from publicly available blog posts and community resources. Links to external blog posts are provided for your information only and do not constitute endorsement or validation of their content. Publication information and availability are subject to change. Always verify information against official documentation for production use.

Permanent link to this article: https://www.dvlprlife.com/2026/02/weekly-review-business-central-al-development-january-25-31-2026/

Jan 30 2026

Enabling API Access in Business Central

Business Central provides a set of REST APIs for integration scenarios. Developers can also create their own APIs for their specific scenarios. Securing these APIs properly is critical for protecting your data. Business Central uses OAuth 2.0 for authentication and authorization when accessing its APIs. This industry-standard protocol ensures that external applications can securely interact with your Business Central environment without exposing user credentials. Instead of using basic authentication, OAuth 2.0 relies on access tokens that grant specific permissions and can be revoked independently.

To set up API access for Business Central, you must configure both Microsoft Entra ID (formerly Azure Active Directory) and Business Central itself to use OAuth 2.0 authentication. This two-part process ensures that only authorized applications can access your data while maintaining security best practices.

Part 1: Configuring Microsoft Entra ID

The first step in enabling API access is registering an application in Microsoft Entra ID. This registration creates a security principle that represents your integration application.

➡️ Register the Application

  1. Navigate to the Azure Portal.
  2. Search for or go to Microsoft Entra ID.
    Microsoft Entra ID
  3. Click on App registrations > New registration.
    App registrations
  4. Provide a meaningful name for your application (for example, “BC API Integration”).
    Registration Name
  5. Select the appropriate supported account types based on your scenario.
    Supported account types
  6. Click the Register button to create the application.

➡️ Configure API Permissions

  1. After registering the application, while on the Registered Application page, navigate to API permissions.
    api permissions
  2. Click Add a permission.
    api permissions
  3. Search for “Dynamics 365 Business Central” and select it. You’ll see two types of permissions:
    Dynamics 365 Business Central
  • Delegated permissions: Your application needs to access the API as the signed-in user (for example, in the case of interactive sign-in scenarios).
  • Application permissions: Used for service-to-service scenarios without a user.
    application permissions
  1. Select application permissions and choose the appropriate permissions based on your integration needs. For most API integration scenarios, you’ll want to add the API.ReadWrite.All application permission. This grants the application access to Business Central APIs without requiring user interaction. If you’d like to grant access to the environment APIs (more on that in another post), add the AdminCenter.ReadWrite.All permission. Note that you may want to create two separate registrations for each permission.
    api permissions
  2. After selecting the desired permissions, click Add permissions at the bottom.
  3. After adding the permission, click Grant admin consent to complete the authorization.

➡️ Configure Application Registration Authentication

  1. From the App Registration page, navigate to Authentication.
    configure authentication
  2. Under Add Redirect URI, click Web under Web applications.
    add redirect uri web
  3. Enter a Redirect URI. For Business Central API access, you can use https://businesscentral.dynamics.com/OAuthLanding.htm or a placeholder URI if you’re not using interactive sign-in.
    add redirect uri
  4. Click Configure to apply the changes.

➡️ Create a Client Secret

  1. For service-to-service authentication, you need to create a client secret or certificate. Navigate to Certificates & secrets > New client secret.
    create client secret
  2. Provide a description and select an expiration period. Plan to rotate the secret before it expires—set a calendar reminder or use Azure Key Vault to manage secret lifecycle and avoid service disruptions.
    add client secret
  3. Click Add to create the client secret.
  4. Important: Make sure to copy the Value immediately, as it will be hidden later and you won’t be able to retrieve it again.
    copy value Make note of these three values from your app registration:
  • Application (client) ID: Found on the app registration overview page
  • Directory (tenant) ID: Also found on the overview page
  • Client secret: The value you just created

Part 2: Configuring Business Central

With Microsoft Entra ID configured, you can now set up Business Central to accept API requests from your registered application.

➡️ Add application registration to Business Central

  1. Log into Business Central.
  2. Search for Microsoft Entra Applications and open the related page.
    Microsoft Entra Applications in Business Central
  3. Click New to add a new Microsoft Entra Application.
    Microsoft Entra Application Card
  4. On the new application card enter:
    • Client ID: The Application (client) ID from your app registration.
    • Description: A friendly name for your reference.
    • State: Set to Enabled Note: When you set the state to enabled, you may be prompted that a new user will be created. Confirm to proceed.
      confirm user creation
  5. Assign the appropriate User Permission Sets to perform the actions your integration requires to the newly created application. Important: Applications cannot be assigned the SUPER permission set. Follow the principle of least privilege and only assign the permissions required for the integration to work.
  6. Click Grant Consent and Accept to finalize the setup.
    grant consent

➡️ Test the API Connection You can test your configuration by making an OAuth 2.0 token request. Here’s an example using PowerShell:

# Get OAuth Token
$scope = "https://api.businesscentral.dynamics.com/.default"

$clientid = "your-client-id-guid" #Application (client) ID from AppRegistration
$clientsecret = "your-client-secret-value" #Your client secret from AppRegistration
$environment = "Production" #Your Business Central environment Name
$tenantID = "your-tenant-id-guid" #Directory (tenant) ID from AppRegistration
$AuthHeader = @{
    'Content-Type' = 'application/x-www-form-urlencoded'
}

$Body = @{
    grant_type='client_credentials'
    client_id=$clientid
    client_secret=$clientsecret
    scope=$scope
}

$Request = Invoke-RestMethod -Method POST -uri "https://login.microsoftonline.com/$($tenantID)/oauth2/v2.0/token" -Headers $AuthHeader -Body $Body
# Build

$Header = @{
    Authorization = "$($Request.token_type) $($Request.access_token)"
}

$Req = $null
$get = $null

# Get a list of APIs
$URL = "https://api.businesscentral.dynamics.com/v2.0/$($tenantid)/$($environment)/api/v2.0/"

$Req = (Invoke-RestMethod -Method Get -Uri $URL -Headers $Header).Value
$URL
$Req

$URL = "https://api.businesscentral.dynamics.com/v2.0/51020b36-8a5a-4dc3-b7d6-59674b8cbc30/RoyaltyCentral/api/littleBridge/dimensions/v2.0/"
$Req = (Invoke-RestMethod -Method Get -Uri $URL -Headers $Header).Value
$URL
$Req

This script authenticates using client credentials and retrieves the list of APIs from your Business Central environment.

Wrapping Up

Enabling API access in Business Central requires coordination between Microsoft Entra ID and Business Central itself. By registering your application in Entra ID and configuring the corresponding user and permissions in Business Central, you create a secure OAuth 2.0 authentication flow. This approach provides better security than legacy authentication methods and aligns with recommended practices for integrations. Remember to regularly rotate your client secrets and follow the principle of least privilege when assigning permissions.

Note: The information in this article is for informational and demonstration purposes only. This content was written with reference to Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central 2025 release wave 2 Online and later. Always test in a sandbox first before deploying to production.

Permanent link to this article: https://www.dvlprlife.com/2026/01/enabling-api-access-in-business-central/

Jan 26 2026

Weekly Review: Business Central AL Development – January 18-24, 2026

Highlighting posts and resources from the Business Central development community — January 18–24, 2026

Looking to stay current with Dynamics 365 Business Central AL development? Here’s a curated list of recent blog posts, tutorials, and community resources from the past week.

Recent Posts (January 18–24, 2026)

➡️ 1. Building Custom External File Storage Connectors and New Ones for Business Central

📇 Author: Stefan Šošić
🗓️ Date: January 18, 2026
🌎 Link: ssosic.com
📝 Summary: Introduces new AppSource connectors for the External File Storage module (including Cloudflare R2, Hetzner, and AWS S3), then outlines how to build your own. Covers the architecture (enum registration + interface implementation), pagination for file listings, and a sandbox-safety pattern using environment cleanup events.

➡️ 2. SaaS ERP Misconceptions: The “On-Premises Thinking Trap”

📇 Author: Stefano Demiliani
🗓️ Date: January 20, 2026
🌎 Link: demiliani.com
📝 Summary: A solution-architecture perspective on why SaaS ERP projects struggle when teams try to recreate on-prem patterns in the cloud. Calls out practical habits like defaulting to “accept as-is,” preferring APIs/events over database-style thinking, and designing integrations to be cloud-native and update-tolerant.

➡️ 3. GitHub Copilot Playbook: Chat Modes

📇 Author: Tonya Bricco-Meske
🗓️ Date: January 21, 2026
🌎 Link: bcdevnotebook.com
📝 Summary: Breaks down Copilot’s modes (Ask, Edit, Plan, Agent) and where each fits in a developer workflow, with practical Business Central examples. Includes tips for adding context effectively, using Next Edit Suggestions, and keeping longer agent sessions flowing with sensible request limits.

➡️ 4. Mermaid Diagrams in Business Central: Dynamic Visual Intelligence

📇 Author: Gerardo Rentería
🗓️ Date: January 22, 2026
🌎 Link: gerardorenteria.blog
📝 Summary: Shows a concept for rendering Mermaid.js diagrams inside Business Central using a control add-in, producing interactive visuals from AL-generated text definitions. Includes a layered architecture (AL + add-in + Mermaid CDN), examples like flowcharts and Gantt charts, and a GitHub repo with the framework objects.

➡️ 5. BC Friday Tips #62: VS Code AL Themes

📇 Author: Teddy Herryanto
🗓️ Date: January 23, 2026
🌎 Link: thatnavguy.com
📝 Summary: Quick reminder that the AL Language extension includes Business Central Light and Dark themes (available since AL v16). If you’re in VS Code all day, switching to these can improve readability and reduce eye strain while staying aligned with the BC look-and-feel.

➡️ 6. Step-by-Step Guide to AI Campaigns in Business Central

📇 Author: Marcel Chabot
🗓️ Date: January 23, 2026
🌎 Link: aardvarklabs.blog
📝 Summary: Walks through an AI-driven demo that generates region-based marketing campaigns from natural language input, using two agents (one for grounded search + narrative results, one for extracting postal codes as JSON). The guide emphasizes a pragmatic architecture: Use AI for campaign creation, then let AL handle day-to-day execution via events to reduce cost and improve performance.

Community Resources

Official Resources

GitHub Repositories

  • microsoft/BCApps – Repository for collaboration on Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central applications.
  • microsoft/BCTech – Business Central technology samples.
  • microsoft/ALAppExtensions – Repository for collaboration on Microsoft AL application add-on and localization extensions for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central.
  • microsoft/AL – Home of the Dynamics 365 Business Central AL Language extension for Visual Studio Code.
  • StefanMaron/MSDyn365BC.Code.History – Contains the Microsoft Business Central Code. Updated each month.

Follow on Social Media

Stay Connected

The Business Central AL development community stays active with valuable content on AL development, upgrades, integrations, and tooling improvements. Following #MSDyn365BC and #BusinessCentral on Twitter/X is a great way to catch new posts as they’re published.

Note: This review is compiled from publicly available blog posts and community resources. Links to external blog posts are provided for your information only and do not constitute endorsement or validation of their content. Publication information and availability are subject to change. Always verify information against official documentation for production use.

Permanent link to this article: https://www.dvlprlife.com/2026/01/weekly-review-business-central-al-development-january-18-24-2026/

Jan 19 2026

January 2026 Cumulative Updates for Dynamics 365 Business Central

The January updates for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central are now available.

Before applying the updates, you should confirm that your implementation is ready for the upgrade and ensure compatibility with your modifications. Work with a Microsoft Partner to determine if you are ready and what is needed for you to apply the update.

Please note that Online customers will automatically be upgraded to version 27.3 over the coming days/weeks and should receive an email notification when upgraded.

Direct links to the cumulative updates are listed here:

Dynamics 365 Business Central On-Premises 2025 Release Wave 2 – 27.3 (January 2026)

Dynamics 365 Business Central On-Premises 2025 Release Wave 1 – 26.9 (January 2026)

Dynamics 365 Business Central On-Premises 2024 Release Wave 2 – 25.15 (January 2026)

Dynamics 365 Business Central On-Premises 2024 Release Wave 1 – 24.18 (October 2025)

Dynamics 365 Business Central On-Premises 2023 Release Wave 2 – 23.18 (April 2025)

 

If you’re looking for information on older updates, review the list here.

Permanent link to this article: https://www.dvlprlife.com/2026/01/january-2026-cumulative-updates-for-dynamics-365-business-central/

Jan 18 2026

Weekly Review: Business Central AL Development – January 11-17, 2026

Highlighting posts and resources from the Business Central development community — January 11–17, 2026

Looking to stay current with Dynamics 365 Business Central AL development? Here’s a curated list of recent blog posts, tutorials, and community resources from the past week.

Recent Posts (January 11–17, 2026)

➡️ 1. Streamline Your AL Development with Global NuGet Symbols

📇 Author: Marcel Chabot
🗓️ Date: January 16, 2026
🌎 Link: aardvarklabs.blog
📝 Summary: Shows how to download Business Central symbols from global NuGet sources when you can’t (or don’t want to) connect to a target environment yet. Includes the key VS Code settings (like al.symbolsCountryRegion) and points you to the new AL command for downloading symbols globally.

➡️ 2. Dynamics 365 Business Central: How to Get the Month Name/Text from a Date (Two Ways)

📇 Author: Yun Zhu
🗓️ Date: January 16, 2026
🌎 Link: yzhums.com
📝 Summary: Two practical approaches for turning a Date into a friendly month name in AL. Covers both formatting patterns and the Date virtual table option, with small code snippets you can drop into an extension.

➡️ 3. Connect Any Agent to Business Central

📇 Author: Dmitry Katson
🗓️ Date: January 12, 2026
🌎 Link: katson.com
📝 Summary: Shows a practical, cross-platform way to connect an AI agent to Business Central using an MCP proxy workflow. Helpful if you’re working on macOS/Linux or want a repeatable “one command” setup for connecting tools and agents to a BC environment.

➡️ 4. Do You Have Applications Connecting to an Azure Storage Account? Be Sure to Use TLS 1.2 or Later

📇 Author: Stefano Demiliani
🗓️ Date: January 14, 2026
🌎 Link: demiliani.com
📝 Summary: Important security heads-up for BC developers using Azure Blob Storage: On February 3, 2026, Azure Blob Storage will require TLS 1.2 or later. If your Business Central integrations connect to Azure Storage, you’ll want to verify both the storage account settings and the TLS capabilities of the apps calling into it.

➡️ 5. Do You Really Need Plan Mode If You Already Use Agents Well?

📇 Author: Steven Renders
🗓️ Date: January 13, 2026
🌎 Link: thinkaboutit.be
📝 Summary: A thoughtful take on whether GitHub Copilot Plan mode is actually “new capability” versus a stronger guardrail around work sequencing. Frames Plan mode as an opinionated workflow that makes intent and planning an explicit artifact before implementation. This is useful when you want to avoid accidentally drifting into code changes.

➡️ 6. Check AppSource App Update History

📇 Author: Teddy Herryanto
🗓️ Date: January 16, 2026
🌎 Link: thatnavguy.com
📝 Summary: Quick reminder to check an AppSource app’s “last updated” date before installing. With Business Central changing every release, stale apps are higher risk for bugs and compatibility issues, so update history is a fast way to spot potential trouble early.

➡️ 7. SQL Support in Business Central, Yes, Also in the Cloud

📇 Author: Erik Hougaard
🗓️ Date: January 12, 2026
🌎 Link: hougaard.com
📝 Summary: A quick experiment-driven post (with a video) showing a proof-of-concept for using SQL “inside” cloud Business Central. Interesting if you’re exploring what’s possible (and what isn’t) when you need ad-hoc querying or data-shaping beyond standard AL patterns.

Community Resources

Official Resources

GitHub Repositories

  • microsoft/BCApps – Repository for collaboration on Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central applications.
  • microsoft/BCTech – Business Central technology samples.
  • microsoft/ALAppExtensions – Repository for collaboration on Microsoft AL application add-on and localization extensions for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central.
  • microsoft/AL – Home of the Dynamics 365 Business Central AL Language extension for Visual Studio Code.
  • StefanMaron/MSDyn365BC.Code.History – Contains the Microsoft Business Central Code. Updated each month.

Follow on Social Media

Stay Connected

The Business Central AL development community stays active with valuable content on AL development, upgrades, integrations, and tooling improvements. Following #MSDyn365BC and #BusinessCentral on Twitter/X is a great way to catch new posts as they’re published.

Note: This review is compiled from publicly available blog posts and community resources. Links to external blog posts are provided for your information only and do not constitute endorsement or validation of their content. Publication information and availability are subject to change. Always verify information against official documentation for production use.

Permanent link to this article: https://www.dvlprlife.com/2026/01/weekly-review-business-central-al-development-january-11-17-2026/

Jan 17 2026

Quick Tips: Use the Outline View in Visual Studio Code

Welcome to Quick Tips — a fast, focused series designed to help you work smarter.

Each post will give you one practical insight you can apply immediately, whether you’re coding, configuring your tools, or improving your workflow.

Here’s today’s Quick Tip:

Outline View = A Map of Your File

VS Code’s Outline View shows a structured list of symbols in the active file (classes, methods, variables, regions, headings, etc.). Think of it as a mini “table of contents” that updates as you switch files.

outline.collapseItems options

It’s especially handy when you’re in a large file and want to jump to the right spot without scrolling or searching.

Even better: the Outline is powered by your language/extension support. So in Markdown you’ll see headings, and in code you’ll see real symbols (types, methods, fields, etc.).

How to Open the Outline View

  • Open Explorer (left sidebar) and find Outline below the file tree.
  • Command Palette: run View: Open View... and choose Outline.
  • Focus it quickly: run View: Command Palette: Explorer: Focus on Outline View.

How to Move Outline to the Secondary Sidebar

If you want to keep the file map visible while you work (and keep Explorer/Search open), move Outline to the secondary sidebar:

  • Display the secondary sidebar by clicking the icon on the far right of the sidebar or View > Appearance > Show Secondary Side Bar.
  • Drag the Outline view by its title and drop it into the secondary sidebar.

Now you can keep your primary sidebar for Explorer/Search and keep Outline visible on the other side.

How to Navigate Code with Outline

  • Click any symbol to jump to it instantly.
  • Expand/Collapse sections to reduce noise in big files.
  • Filter with the search box in Outline to quickly narrow to a method/class name.
  • Follow Cursor (from the Outline’s “…” menu) highlights where you are as you move through the file.

Customize the Outline View

Open Settings and search for outline. to tweak how the Outline looks and behaves (icons, following the cursor, sorting, and more).

For example, outline.collapseItems controls whether symbols are expanded or collapsed when the view first loads:

{
	"outline.collapseItems": "alwaysCollapse"
}

outline.collapseItems options

Additional settings values include:

  • outline.icons — Render Outline elements with icons.
  • outline.problems.enabled — Show errors and warnings on Outline elements.

outline additional settings

Explore different values, use the Settings UI for Outline: Collapse Items and pick the option that matches your workflow.

Why it Helps

  • Faster navigation in large files without losing context.
  • Encourages working at the “structure” level (types/methods/sections), not just text search.
  • Pairs perfectly with the secondary sidebar so you can reference it constantly.

Learn more about the Outline View in VS Code.

Gotcha

The Outline View depends on your language support. If you don’t see useful symbols, you may need a better language extension. For AL specifically, the AZ AL Dev Tools/AL Code Outline extension can provide richer outlining.

Got a favorite shortcut or workflow tweak? Share it in the comments and subscribe to dvlprlife.com for more Quick Tips like this one!

Permanent link to this article: https://www.dvlprlife.com/2026/01/quick-tips-use-the-outline-view-in-vs-code/

Jan 16 2026

AboutTitle and AboutText: Better Teaching Tips in Business Central

Teaching tips are one of those tiny user experience touches that can save you a lot of training time. In Business Central, the AboutTitle and AboutText properties let you add those “What is this?” callouts directly on pages, fields, actions, and more.

I like these properties because they scale well: You can put a small hint on a single field or provide a higher-level explanation for an entire page—without writing any code.

What Are AboutTitle and AboutText?

  • AboutTitle is the large header shown in the teaching tip.
  • AboutText is the body text shown under the title.

They’re most commonly used to:

  • Explain what a page is for (especially list pages that new users land on)
  • Add context to “mystery fields” (settings, posting options, toggles)
  • Clarify what an action will do before a user clicks it

Why You Should Care

  • Reduces “What does this do?” interruptions
  • Helps new users learn workflows in context
  • Makes customizations feel more “native” and self-documenting
  • Lets you improve user experience for customizations and extensions

How It Works (And When It Doesn’t)

You can set these properties at different levels (and each one creates a different “type” of teaching tip):

  • Page-level: on the page or pageextension
  • Control-level: on fields, groups, parts, actions/action groups, etc.

A few rules of thumb that matter in real projects:

  • You must set both AboutTitle and AboutText or the teaching tip won’t appear.
  • Teaching tips are a Web client feature—if the current client isn’t the Web client, these properties are ignored at runtime.
  • Not every page type will show a page-level teaching tip (for example, Role Centers and certain dialog-like pages don’t display them).
  • If a page runs in lookup mode, the teaching tip may not show automatically (but it can still be reached from the page caption).
  • Visibility matters: If a control ends up Visible = false, its teaching tip won’t show.
  • For fields, teaching tips show most reliably for repeater fields or fields in the page content area (not cues).
  • For actions, teaching tips are most reliable in primary action areas.
  • Teaching tips will not appear if the user has disabled them in their settings.

Also, where you place the property affects whether users will actually see it:

  • For fields, teaching tips are most useful in the content area or repeaters.
  • For actions, teaching tips are most reliable when the action appears in the primary action areas users interact with (not every action surface renders them).
  • For embedded parts, the tip effectively becomes part of the hosting page’s tour.

Example: Add Teaching Tips with a Page Extension

This example adds:

  • A page-level teaching tip
  • A field-level teaching tip
namespace dvlprlife.abouttitle1.abouttitle;

using Microsoft.Sales.Customer;

pageextension 50150 "Customer Card Tips" extends "Customer Card"
{
    AboutText = 'Use this page to maintain **customer master data** and review key settings before posting documents.';
    AboutTitle = 'About the customer card';

    layout
    {
        modify(Name)
        {
            AboutText = 'This is the *display name* used on documents and reports. Keep it consistent with what your customers expect.';
            AboutTitle = 'Customer name';
        }
    }
}

 

 

A couple of small notes:

  • AboutText supports simple rich-text formatting (for example **bold** and *italic*).
  • Keep the copy short—one or two sentences is usually plenty.

Example: Change (or Hide) an Existing Teaching Tip

If the base application already has a teaching tip, you can still adjust it in an extension.

  • To change the content: Set AboutTitle/AboutText on the same page/control.
  • To hide it entirely: Set the About properties to an empty string.
pageextension 50101 "Customer Card Tip Overrides" extends "Customer Card"
{
    layout
    {
        modify("Phone No.")
        {
            AboutTitle = '';
            AboutText = '';
        }
    }
}

Example: Add Teaching Tips to a Page and an Action

You can also add teaching tips directly in a page object and its actions.

namespace dvlprlife.abouttitle1.sample;
page 50151 "DVLPR Sample Size Card"
{
    AboutText = 'Create and maintain **sample size** records. Use Code to uniquely identify the record, Description to explain it, and Size to store a numeric value.';
    AboutTitle = 'Sample sizes';
    ApplicationArea = All;
    Caption = 'Sample Size Card';
    PageType = Card;
    SourceTable = "DVLPR Sample Size";
    UsageCategory = None;

    layout
    {
        area(Content)
        {
            group(General)
            {
                Caption = 'General';

                field(Code; Rec.Code)
                {
                    AboutText = 'A unique identifier for this sample size record.';
                    AboutTitle = 'Size code';
                }
                field(Description; Rec.Description)
                {
                    AboutText = 'A short description that explains what this code represents.';
                    AboutTitle = 'Description';
                }
                field(Size; Rec.Size)
                {
                    AboutText = 'A numeric value representing the size.';
                    AboutTitle = 'Size value';
                }
            }
        }
    }

    actions
    {
        area(Processing)
        {
            action(SampleAction)
            {
                Caption = 'Sample Action';
                AboutText = 'This is a sample action that does nothing.';
                AboutTitle = 'Sample action';

                trigger OnAction()
                begin
                    // No operation
                end;
            }
        }
    }
}

Tips for Writing Good Teaching Tips

  • Write for the moment the user is in: “What is this used for?” beats long process documentation.
  • Avoid repeating captions: The title should add meaning, not restate the field name.
  • Be intentional about where you add tips—too many can feel noisy.
  • If you’re building something for multiple languages, plan ahead for localization (don’t bake assumptions into English-only wording).

Wrapping Up

AboutTitle and AboutText are a quick win when you want to make pages and controls easier to understand—especially for users who are new to a process or seeing custom fields for the first time.

My suggestion: Start with one page that generates the most questions, add a few high-impact teaching tips, and iterate based on feedback.

Learn more:

You can find the full code for the example on GitHub.

Note: The code and information discussed in this article are for informational and demonstration purposes only. Always test in a sandbox first. This content was written referencing runtime version 10.0+ of the AL Language.

Permanent link to this article: https://www.dvlprlife.com/2026/01/abouttitle-and-abouttext-better-teaching-tips-in-business-central/

Jan 12 2026

Quick Tips: Inlay Hints in Visual Studio Code

Welcome to Quick Tips — a fast, focused series designed to help you work smarter.

Each post will give you one practical insight you can apply immediately, whether you’re coding, configuring your tools, or improving your workflow.

Here’s today’s Quick Tip:

Inlay Hints in VS Code

Inlay hints in Visual Studio Code are inline annotations that provide extra contextual information, such as parameter names or inferred types, directly in the editor. This feature enhances code readability and can be customized or toggled via settings for individual preferences and programming languages.

In the settings, you can also customize the appearance of inlay hints, including the font family, size, background color, and foreground color.

Enable (or Toggle) Inlay Hints

The main setting is editor.inlayHints.enabled. You can change it in Settings UI, or drop it into settings.json.

It supports these options:

  • on: Always show inlay hints.
  • off: Disable inlay hints.
  • onUnlessPressed: Show by default, hide while holding Ctrl+Alt (Ctrl+Option on macOS).
  • offUnlessPressed: Hide by default, show while holding Ctrl+Alt (Ctrl+Option on macOS).

Inlay Hints for AL (Business Central)

Starting with Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central 2023 release wave 2, the AL Language extension supports inlay hints for method parameter names and return types.

These settings control AL’s hints:

{
	"al.inlayhints.functionReturnTypes.enabled": true,
	"al.inlayhints.parameterNames.enabled": true
}

al.inlayhints.functionReturnTypes.enabled -Enable/disable inlay hints for implicit return types on function signatures. al.inlayhints.parameterNames.enabled – Enable/disable inlay hints for parameter names.

One easy gotcha: Even if AL’s inlay hints are enabled, VS Code still needs inlay hints enabled globally via editor.inlayHints.enabled.

Why It Helps

This is one of those “small” editor features that saves time all day:

  • Makes function calls easier to read (especially with many parameters)
  • Makes it easier to understand return types and variables at a glance
  • Reduces context switching (less hovering / less jumping around)
  • Helps you move faster in unfamiliar codebases

Learn more about Inlay Hints in AL Language.

Got a favorite shortcut or workflow tweak? Share it in the comments and subscribe to dvlprlife.com for more Quick Tips like this one!

Permanent link to this article: https://www.dvlprlife.com/2026/01/quick-tips-inlay-hints-in-visual-studio-code/

Jan 11 2026

Weekly Review: Business Central AL Development – January 4-10, 2026

Highlighting posts and resources from the Business Central development community — January 4–10, 2026

Looking to stay current with Dynamics 365 Business Central AL development? Here’s a curated list of recent blog posts, tutorials, and community resources from the past week.

Recent Posts (January 4–10, 2026)

➡️ 1. Importing and Parsing an Email with Pure AL Code

📇 Author: Erik Hougaard
🗓️ Date: January 5, 2026
🌎 Link: hougaard.com
📝 Summary: Walks through parsing a raw .eml email directly inside Business Central using AL only (no external libraries). A helpful reference if you need to extract headers/body/attachments in an integration scenario and want to keep the logic inside your extension.

➡️ 2. Debugging Business Event Subscriptions in Business Central

📇 Author: Marcel Chabot
🗓️ Date: January 9, 2026
🌎 Link: aardvarklabs.blog
📝 Summary: Quick guide to troubleshooting Business Central Business Events (webhook-style) when subscriptions or notifications aren’t working. Calls out the key pages to check subscriptions, activity log, notifications, and a common permissions prerequisite.

➡️ 3. Storage Account Configuration in Azure Functions: Impact, Best Practices, and Scalability

📇 Author: Stefano Demiliani
🗓️ Date: January 5, 2026
🌎 Link: demiliani.com
📝 Summary: Practical guidance on how Azure Functions depend on their storage account and what that means for reliability and scaling. Useful context if your Business Central solutions lean on Functions for integrations, background processing, or event-driven workflows.

➡️ 4. How Do I: Create a Business Central Trial From Scratch

📇 Author: Steven Renders
🗓️ Date: January 5, 2026
🌎 Link: thinkaboutit.be
📝 Summary: Step-by-step walkthrough for spinning up a fresh Business Central trial environment. Handy when you need a clean sandbox for testing AL changes, demos, or reproducing issues without existing extensions and data getting in the way.

➡️ 5. Migrate bc2adls from PTE to AppSource Extension

📇 Author: Bert Verbeek
🗓️ Date: January 7, 2026
🌎 Link: bertverbeek.nl
📝 Summary: Covers considerations and steps for moving from a per-tenant extension (PTE) to the AppSource version of bc2adls. Good read if you’re maintaining a PTE and want to shift to a marketplace delivery model without breaking existing installs.

➡️ 6. DataTransfer Type Causing Runtime Errors

📇 Author: Natalie Karolak
🗓️ Date: January 9, 2026
🌎 Link: nataliekarolak.wordpress.com
📝 Summary: A warning and checklist-style post about upgrade code that can fail at runtime when DataTransfer is involved. If you ship upgrades, this is a good reminder to validate upgrade paths (not just fresh installs) and to keep an eye on runtime behavior.

➡️ 7. Dynamics 365 Business Central: Quickly Check the Current Filters Used on the Current Page Via Page Inspection

📇 Author: Yun Zhu
🗓️ Date: January 6, 2026
🌎 Link: yzhums.com
📝 Summary: Shows how to use Page Inspection to see all filters affecting a page, including filters that aren’t visible in the UI. Great for debugging unexpected results and for understanding where filters originate (views, code, filter groups).

Community Resources

Official Resources

GitHub Repositories

  • microsoft/BCApps – Repository for collaboration on Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central applications.
  • microsoft/BCTech – Business Central technology samples.
  • microsoft/ALAppExtensions – Repository for collaboration on Microsoft AL application add-on and localization extensions for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central.
  • microsoft/AL – Home of the Dynamics 365 Business Central AL Language extension for Visual Studio Code.
  • StefanMaron/MSDyn365BC.Code.History – Contains the Microsoft Business Central Code. Updated each month.

Follow on Social Media

Stay Connected

The Business Central AL development community stays active with valuable content on AL development, upgrades, integrations, and tooling improvements. Following #MSDyn365BC and #BusinessCentral on Twitter/X is a great way to catch new posts as they’re published.

Note: This review is compiled from publicly available blog posts and community resources. Links to external blog posts are provided for your information only and do not constitute endorsement or validation of their content. Publication information and availability are subject to change. Always verify information against official documentation for production use.

Permanent link to this article: https://www.dvlprlife.com/2026/01/weekly-review-business-central-al-development-january-4-10-2026/