Chapter 1, Introduction to Business Central, starts with an overview of Business Central as a business application system, which is followed by an introduction to the seven types of Business Central objects, as well as the basics of AL and Visual Studio Code. It then presents the opportunity for some hands-on work, such as defining tables, multiple page types, and reports. This chapter will close with a brief discussion of how backups and documentations are handled in Visual Studio Code.
Chapter 2, Tables, focuses on the foundation level of Business Central's data structure: tables and their structures. This chapter covers properties, triggers (where AL resides), field groups, table relations, and SumIndexFields. It will then present the hands-on creation of several tables in support of an example application. The chapter will also review the types of tables found in the Business Central applications.
Chapter 3, Data Types and Fields, will teach you about fields, the basic building blocks of Business Central's data structure. It will review the different data types in Business Central and cover all of its field properties and triggers in detail, as well as review the three different field classes.
Chapter 4, Pages – The Interactive Interface, reviews the different types of pages, their structures (triggers and properties), and general usage. The chapter will encourage readers to build several pages for an example application using snippets. It will also explore the different types of controls that can be used in pages. In addition, this chapter will review how and where actions are added to pages.
Chapter 5, Queries and Reports, teaches you about both queries and reports—two methods of extracting data for presentation to users. It will show readers how queries are constructed and some of the different ways they are utilized. It will also offer a walk-through for reporting data flow in reports, and what the different report types are. This chapter will present two Report Designers: the Visual Studio Report Designer and the Visual Studio Report Designer, and will explain how a Business Central report is constructed using both of these and in what scenarios they are best applied. This chapter will also discuss properties and triggers, before reviewing how reports can be made interactive with hands-on report creation.
Chapter 6, Introduction to AL, explains general object designer navigation, as well as the individual designers (table, page, and report). It will explore AL code construction, syntax, variable types, expressions, operators, and functions. The chapter will then offer a closer look at some of the more frequently used built-in functions. This chapter will wrap up with an exercise that adds AL code to a report object created in an earlier exercise.
Chapter 7, Intermediate AL, digs deeper into AL development tools and techniques. It will review some more advanced built-in functions, including those relating to dates and decimal calculations—both critical business application tools. This chapter will also explore AL functions that support process flow control functions, input and output, and filtering, before reviewing methods of communication between objects. Finally, this chapter offers the opportunity to practically enhance an example application.
Chapter 8, Advanced AL Development Tools, reviews some of the more important elements of Role's tailored user experience; in particular, the Role Center page construction. It will dig into the components of a Role Center page and how to build one. This chapter will also cover two powerful ways of connecting Business Central applications to the world outside of Business Central, using XMLports and web services. To better understand these, the chapter will not only review their individual component parts, but will also go through the hands-on effort of building an example of each one.
Chapter 9, Successful Conclusions, gives readers a detailed study of how Business Central functions are constructed, and will explain how to construct functions. This chapter will include more information about the tools and features built into AL and Visual Studio Code, as well as the new debugger. It will also review support for test-driven development, and take a look at how to integrate .NET Client Add-ins with example applications. Finally, it will review tips for design efficiency, and updating and upgrading the system, all with the goal of helping readers become more productive, high-quality Business Central developers.
