With each update of Dynamics 365 Business Central, Microsoft enhances what is often referred to as the base application and enhances the development environment. Dynamics 365 Business Central 2023 Wave 1 has several exciting Development features for runtime 11.0. One of the exciting features is to AL Explorer and AL Home in Visual Studio Code AL extension.
The AL Explorer is a new tool that allows developers and technical consultants to better understand objects in extensions without looking at the code. With this tool, developers can explore and navigate object details, dependencies, and extension points, increasing productivity and allowing technical consultants to understand high-level extension structures. The AL Explorer also sets the foundation for future visual editors that can further improve productivity and lower ramp-up time for new developers. The AL Explorer lists objects included in the Base Application and those in the open project.
Furthermore, the AL Explorer empowers technical consultants to perform mock-ups and light modifications to Business Central without working directly in code. They can still be part of integrated CI/CD processes, including pro developer reviews, approvals, and automated tests and deployment. This tool offers developers and technical consultants an excellent opportunity to enhance daily productivity. It sets a path towards a more efficient and effective way of developing and maintaining extensions in Business Central.
View, search, and filter objects
Obtaining an overview of all the objects within a particular app scope is effortless, such as an entire workspace or a chosen project. Additionally, you can search for object names and categorize them by type.
Go to source code
You can jump to it if you need to develop, read, and comprehend a selected object’s source code or add breakpoints as part of troubleshooting.
Bookmark
By bookmarking frequently used objects, you can conveniently filter a list of objects to show only the bookmarked ones, which is especially helpful when switching between the ones you are currently working on.
View extension points – events, APIs, and enums
AL Explorer makes it easier to create extension points and extend existing ones by providing a quick overview of all events and API pages, and extensible enums that implement interfaces.
AL Home
With the introduction of the new AL Home startup page, Business Central R&D now has a more efficient communication channel to share news, best practices, upcoming events, urgent information, status updates, learning content, and other important information to all users of the AL Visual Studio Code extension.
Read more about the feature AL Explorer and AL Home in Visual Studio Code AL extension here.
Note: The code and information discussed in this article is for informational and demonstration purposes only. This content was created referencing Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central 2023 Wave 1 online.