Chapter 3. Exploring the Data Structure and Basic Layout of Dynamics NAV

"I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand." – Confucius

In the previous chapter, we looked at general navigation within Dynamics NAV. Now we will go through and explore the data structure and layout within the base product.

So why is the title of the chapter exploring the basic layout? There are some concepts within Dynamics NAV that are reused throughout the software (refer back to the consistency of the software). The design of the tables is no exception.

In this chapter, we will go through some of the tables that are commonly used for Dynamics NAV implementations. The tables that we will go through will cover the following departments:

• Sales

• Purchasing

• Inventory

Within each department, we will explore the basic tables, such as:

• Master data: Customer, vendor, items, and so on

• Reference data: Shipping agent, payment terms, posting groups, and so on

• Transaction data: Orders, journal lines, ledger entries...