With 2020 release wave 2, Business Central becomes available in four new countries or regions: Brazil, Ireland, Lithuania, and India (India is a public preview only.)
Most awaited thing for all Indian Partners, Customers & Developers… Since the Business Central launched 2.5 years ago we all are waiting in every Major release that Microsoft will launch India Localization. Now the wait comes to an end, with 2020 release wave 2 which going to released on 1st October 2020 we will have India Localization in public preview only. May be we will have General Availability in the next year 2021 release wave 1. Let’s our finger crossed until that time, but meanwhile we can create a local sandbox container and play with it.
In India, we have the latest NAV version is 2016. So how we are going to upgrade existing Indian customers?
Currently, as per Supported Upgrade Paths to Dynamics 365 Business Central Releases, we can only directly upgrade to Business Central Spring 2019 (v14) and then to Business Central 2019 Release Wave 2 (v15) or Business Central 2020 Release Wave 1 (v16). So as such not direct upgrade is available from NAV 2016 to Business Central 2020 Release Wave 2 (v17), may be later on Microsoft will come up with an intermediate version of Business Central Spring 2019 (v14) for India Localization and offer an upgrade toolkit.
Until when we have a clear path for upgrade and General Availability release available we can start exploring it and converting all our Intellectual Property into Extensions/Apps and preparing all our customer specific customizations into Per Tenant Extensions(PTE).
How to create a sandbox for India localization using docker with artifacts images? See the below script.
Start creating sandbox docker container and explore the functionality of Indian Localization. Remember that in preview not all functionality will work properly, so wait till general availability release…
Stay tuned for more update in India Localization and Business Central 2020 release wave 2 features…
With release of Dynamics 365 Business Central release wave 2 Public preview, so many new list of features are planned to release from October 2019 through March 2020.
Below is the list of areas for which new and planned features are:
Application enhancements
Application lifecycle management
Empower ISV acceleration
Migrations to Business Central online
Modern clients
Modern developer tools
Service fundamentals
In this blog post, we will see about below listed Modern clients features in detail.
resizing columns with fewer clicks
saving and personalizing views
personalizing or designing role center actions
personalizing or designing the navigation bar
adding links to your navigation menu
adding notes and links
adding and customizing roles
the Role explorer, formerly known as the Product overview
improved speed and agility of data entry
improved filtering on report request pages, FilterPageBuilder and RunRequestPage
switching between companies in your Business Inbox in Outlook
enhancements to Excel integration
application keyboard shortcuts
general user experience adjustments
more power to developers using the Designer
the all new company badge (replacing the system indicator).
Add links to your navigation menu
Bookmark a link to any page in Business Central, and add the link to the navigation menu of your Home page.
Add notes and links to data
You can add internal notes to business data that is captured and processed in Business Central online. Notes are shown next to the card data, and you can add, edit, and delete notes. You can also insert hyperlinks to online content to card pages, opening up even more advanced scenarios.
The tabbed Factbox area on list and card pages has now the Attachment section that includes fact boxes related to notes, links and documents attachments
A counter shows you all notes + links + document attachments associated with the given record
Notes are multiline and Enter is preserved
The active keyboard shortcut, Alt+O, allows you to quickly add a new note from wherever you are on the page (even when the notes factbox is not in focus)
Easy access to a capability overview
Finding functionality becomes easier with a full overview of pages in the product based on the content of the various Role Centers. This makes it much easier for users to navigate and find the right page, and it serves as an overview of Role Centers and their content. As a supplement to using the current Role Centers navigation bar, the command bar, or Tell Me, this new capability overview brings the different areas of Business Central closer to you so that you can stay focused and productive.
Enhancements to Excel integration
When the user selects the Edit in Excel action from a list page, most filters set on the list page are applied to the list when it is exported to Excel. This also enables publishing changes back into Business Central from a filtered list of records in Excel. Additionally, the number of fields available for reading and publishing edits from Excel is expanded. This includes being able to view and edit fields that are added to pages through extensions.
Full keyboard shortcut support
Developers can add keyboard shortcuts to most actions and operations via an AL property. This means that application developers can specify keyboard shortcuts for actions in the base application and their own objects from their extensions. This complements the predefined list of keyboard shortcuts in Business Central and enables more flexible development for partners.
General user experience adjustments
Continuing our familiar look and feel across Dynamics 365 and Office 365, this update includes the addition of more fluent design elements on rows and bricks, button styling, and minor stylistic changes to captions on parts. Stylistic changes to bricks also make it easier to select an individual brick, allowing users to display related FactBoxes as well as use the Ctrl+C keyboard shortcut to copy the brick.
Role Centers no longer automatically separate root-level actions from action groups. The sequence in which they were defined in code is respected and reflected in the client for each action area.
Below you can see different images of BC15 and BC14.
Longer timeout period for the server connection
In earlier versions of Business Central online, the session timeout period is set to 20 minutes. We will increase this value to hours so that users are not asked to sign in to Business Central again and again.
Modern clients only for Business Central
Business Central continues to evolve the modern client experiences where users work with Business Central in the browser, Windows 10 desktop app, or mobile apps on Android and iOS. With this release of Business Central on-premises, the legacy Dynamics NAV Windows client is no longer available for deployment. Instead, users can switch to the modern experience in the browser, the Android/iOS mobile apps, or the Windows 10 desktop app (available through the respective stores).
Personalize actions and navigation on your Role Center
Personalizing the navigation menu includes:
Moving menu links to another position within the same group or a different group or subgroup.
Moving menu groups to another position.
Hiding menu links or entire groups.
Clearing your personalization, effectively returning the Role Center to its original navigation menu layout.
Personalizing Role Center actions includes:
Moving actions to another position within the same or different group.
Moving action groups to another position.
Hiding actions or entire groups of actions.
Clearing action personalization, effectively returning the Role Center to its original action layout.
As with all other personalization, the changes are effective immediately and roam with the user, no matter which device they sign in to.
Powerful filtering for reports
When running a report in Business Central, users are presented with a request page where they can specify various options and filters. The filter experience has been greatly improved with an experience similar to filtering lists, which includes the ability to quickly add more fields, get assistance and validation feedback when specifying filter criteria, and apply expressions and filter tokens.
Similar features to list filter pane
Add (and remove) as many fields as you like
Pick fields or search as you type
Apply filter expressions from our catalogue of powerful keywords and filter criteria
Available for
Report request pages
Window from RunRequestPage
Window from FilterPageBuilder
XMLPorts request pages
Below you can see different images of BC15 and BC14.
Resize columns with fewer clicks
Adjusting the width of any column just got easier. Even though you can resize columns on any list at any time, your changes roam with you no matter which device you sign in to.
Resize a column by simply deagging it
Double-click to AutoFit
No need to start Personalizing
Applies to any type of list
Roams with you no matter the device you sign into
Saving and personalizing list views
Users will be able to save their list filters and similar personalizations to create different ways of slicing their data. List views are given a name, such as “Items I sell”, and might include:
Filters on totals and dimensions.
Filter tokens (such as %MyCustomers) to dynamically filter to the right data.
Different sorting to allow more complex and tailored views of a list.
Users can quickly switch between different views of a list, which includes their own personal views or views that come as standard in their business application, in apps, or for their role.
Similar to other personalizations, list views roam with the user no matter which device or browser they sign in to.
Switch between companies in your Business Inbox in Outlook
Use the new action in the Business Inbox in Outlook to switch the Business Central company context
Customize a user profile without writing code
Formerly known as profile configuration mode in the Dynamics NAV Windows client, the Business Central desktop experience allows lightweight UI customizations for groups of users that share the same user profile. This can be done entirely without the use of Visual Studio Code and AL. Capabilities include:
Add, edit, or remove user profiles from within Business Central.
Get a more detailed overview of your profiles and focus on one of them to begin customizing it.
Leverage all the rich capabilities of the designer to make lightweight UI customization of that profile and test your customization while you design.
Customization of user profiles does not secure access to objects or data. Administrators are still required to apply the relevant user groups or permissions sets.
Filtering option fields by multiple values
Option fields are essentially enumerations with predefined values. Until now, users have been able to choose only a single value when they set a filter in option fields. With this wave, we introduce a new multi-selection control so that users can filter by multiple values. This is treated as an OR operation. For example, you can filter the Color field by red, green, or blue. Multi-selection of values is available only when filtering, not when specifying the field value on the record.
Multitasking across multiple pages
Business Central allows users to open a second page in another tab or window, allowing them to do multiple tasks at the same time while working with the same company. In the same way, users can easily work with multiple companies by having multiple windows open, and the new, colorful company badge indicator (formerly known as system indicator) helps them figure out which window represents a given company.
The company badge is a 4 characters abbreviation of the company name, and it helps users identify faster the company they are currently working in.
Speed and agility of data entry
Business Central greatly accelerates repetitive data entry in lists through a combination of productivity features, raw performance, and a responsive experience.
Stay tuned for more updated on Business Central 2019 release wave 2 Public preview…
You can create Docker images of Business Central 2019 Wave 2 preview on bcinsider and try out the features. Refer below links for how to get those images and create docker container.
Today, Microsoft announced the new tools to build extensions and apps in and for Dynamics NAV. This December preview is meant as an appetizer and way for you to try out what we have so far.
The tools that you’ll be using come in two flavors and both are available in preview from today.
The in-client designer
Make an extension in the client itself. Business consultants and UX designers will love using this drag-and-drop interface. Rearrange fields, rename groups, and reposition elements to build a perfect extension to support an industry-specific solution or implement a business process optimization.
Visual Studio Code
Use the AL Extension for NAV in Visual Studio Code to build powerful extensions based on tables, pages, and codeunits using the new objects: Page Extensions and Table Extensions. Follow this route to build rich extensions that reuse and extend core business logic in your application.
Project “Madeira” is a business management solution for small and mid-sized organizations that automates and streamlines business processes and helps you manage your business. Signing up is easy, and you can migrate existing business data from your legacy system. When you have signed up for the Project “Madeira” preview, you have access to a demonstration company. The demonstation company contains sample data, but you can create your own sales documents, for example, or set up a bank account.
Business solution reinvented
Microsoft is reinventing business productivity with Project “Madeira.” Start the preview to see how easy it is to connect business processes with familiar Microsoft productivity tools to grow sales, manage finances, and streamline your operations—in the office, or on the go.
Run your business within Office 365
Project “Madeira” offers an embedded experience within Office 365 so you can create customers, vendors, quotes, and invoices without leaving Outlook. Export data to Excel for analyzing and create your outgoing documents in Word.
Finance at your fingertips
When you’re on the go, take your finance and accounting tools with you. Desktop, tablet, phone—it’s a consistent experience, tailored to the device.
Convert leads to cash
Shorten the path from lead to cash when you can create new opportunities, control leads, and maintain visibility all the way through to payment—even on the go.
Streamline operations
Connect the moving parts of your supply chain, make informed decisions, better manage inventory, and control costs.
Visualize your data
Project “Madeira” works with Power BI to create interactive reports based on operational data. Easily spot trends, stay current, and drive your business forward.
