Extending Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2016 Cookbook

Run setup.exe from the installation media.

After accepting the licensing terms, you will have two setup modes to choose from:

Click the Choose an installation option. Install Demo mode is convenient for a quick unattended setup, but it won't install all components required for the recipes in this book.

In the list of installation options, choose Developer and click Customize. Options that should be installed include:

Click Next and review the installation parameters.

If you have the Microsoft SQL Server installed on your development computer, all parameters can be left with their default values. Otherwise specify the SQL Server name and SQL Server instance name.

Click Apply to run the installation.

After installation completes, run the Dynamics NAV 2016 Development Environment from the Start menu. C/SIDE client will connect to the SQL Server database created during the installation process.

The following is the Object Designer window that opens when you connect to the database in the NAV Development Environment:

In the left column of the object designer, click on the codeunit object.

Click the New button in the bottom part of the Object Designer form. A new codeunit object is created.

Each object in NAV must have a unique name and number that are assigned to the object when it is saved in the database. Click File | Save and fill in the ID and Name fields in the Save As dialog. Leave the Compiled option checked:

The new codeunit has two system-created triggers. Position the cursor in the empty line below Documentation and write a short description of your new codeunit. For example, This is my first NAV codeunit:

Move the cursor to the OnRun trigger and enter a line of code that will be executed when the trigger fires:

        MESSAGE('Codeunit OnRun trigger'); 

Save the codeunit and close the editor window.

In the object designer, select the codeunit 50000 and click the Run button located under the list objects. This action will start the role-tailored client and execute the codeunit. Execution of the codeunit fires its OnRun trigger. When run, it will show a message box with the codeunit OnRun trigger in it.

In the Object Designer window, create another codeunit, save it with ID 50001 and name it NAV Codeunit Runner.

Write a line of code in the OnRun trigger that will invoke the first codeunit:

        CODEUNIT.RUN(CODEUNIT::"First NAV Codeunit"); 

Close the code editor and run codeunit 50001 from the object designer. The same message box with the codeunit OnRun trigger will be shown.

Open NAV Object Designer and create a new codeunit.

In the C/AL Code Editor window, click C/AL Globals in the View menu to access the list of global variables, text constants, and functions.

Select the Functions tab in the C/AL Globals window and type the function name. Name the new function Multiply. By default, a new function is created with the Local attribute. Local functions are visible only inside the object where they are declared and cannot be called from other objects.

Close the declarations window. Now you can see the new function Multiply in the C/AL editor.

Position the cursor on an empty line inside the function and open the C/AL Locals window. Here you can declare local variables available inside the function, as well as the function's parameters and return type.

In the Parameters tab, enter the name and the type of a new function parameter you want to declare. Create a parameter X of type Integer. To do this, enter X in the Name field and choose Integer from the drop-down list in the DataType field.

Add one more integer variable, Y:

Switch to the Return Value tab and fill the Return Type field. Select Integer in the list of types. Close the window and review the changes to the function in the code editor. Now you have declared a function that takes two Integer parameters and returns an Integer result.

We want this function to return the result of the multiplication of two parameters X and Y. EXIT statement serves this purpose, so the function's code should consist of one line: EXIT(X * Y). Start typing the first statement EXIT. As you type, IntelliSense will suggest possible language structures:

When you see the function EXIT in the suggested autocompletion list, select it by pressing the up and down keys on the keyboard and press Enter to confirm the selection.

Complete the function. Enter the line EXIT(X * Y);.

Move to the OnRun trigger, declare a local Integer variable Z and start typing the invocation of the function Multiply: Z := Multiply(5,8). As you type the first symbols of the function name, IntelliSense will show a list of suggestions. After you type the opening bracket before entering the function arguments, IntelliSense will show the parameter names and types along with the function return type:

Open NAV object designer and create a new codeunit.

In the OnRun trigger, declare a local variable CurrDate of type Integer:

Add two code lines in the OnRun trigger:

        CurrDate := TODAY; 
        MESSAGE('Today is %1,CurrDate); 

The preceding code contains two errors. Let's try to compile it. Press F11 or click Compile in the Tools menu to compile the code. A message will inform you about an incorrect type conversion and position the cursor in the line containing the first error.

Click Save in the File menu, assign an ID and name to the new codeunit, uncheck the Compiled checkmark in the dialog box, and click OK:

The object is saved without compiling. The Compiled column in object designer does not have a checkmark, which indicates that the object is uncompiled:

Select the codeunit 50002 and click Run in the object designer. An error message will inform you that the object must be saved in the compiled form before it can be run.

Close the message dialog and click Design.

To fix the first error in the code, open C/AL Locals in the OnRun trigger and change the data type of the CurrDate variable. Replace Integer with Date.

After fixing the error, Click Compile. This time, compilation will stop on the second line informing you about a syntax error.

Insert the missing apostrophe to close the text constant and fix the erroneous line. The following is the correct function code:

        CurrDate := TODAY; 
        MESSAGE('Today is %1',CurrDate); 

Save the object, this time with the Compiled option, and run it from the object designer.

Open NAV object designer and create a new codeunit.

In the OnRun trigger, add a single line of code:

        MESSAGE('Hello World'); 

Click Save, fill in the ID and Name fields: 50003 HelloWorld, close the code editor.

Select the codeunit 50003 in the object designer and click Export in the File menu.

Choose the folder where you want to export the codeunit to and name the file COD50003.txt.

Select Text Format (*.txt) in the File Type drop-down list and click Save.

In a file manager, locate the file COD50003.txt and open it in a text editor. This is how the exported object looks in a text editor:

        OBJECT Codeunit 50003 Hello World 
        { 
          OBJECT-PROPERTIES 
          { 
            Date=22.07.16; 
            Time=23:44:09; 
            Modified=Yes; 
            Version List=; 
          } 
          PROPERTIES 
          { 
            OnRun=BEGIN 
            MESSAGE('Hello World'); 
            END; 
 
          } 
          CODE 
          { 
 
            BEGIN 
            END. 
          } 
        } 

In the object text locate the line MESSAGE('Hello World'); and replace the message text, MESSAGE('Exported NAV object');.

Save the object and close the editor.

Return to NAV object designer, click Import from the File menu, select Text Files in the file type filter, and choose the file COD50003.txt.

Click Design in the object editor window and review the object code. It contains code modified outside of the C/AL editor.

In the object designer, select the codeunit 50003 we created in the previous step and click Export in the File menu.

Select Dynamics NAV Object Format (*.fob) in the File Type drop-down list.

Choose the folder where you want to export the codeunit to and name the file COD50003. It will be automatically assigned an extension .fob. Save the file.

Back in the object designer click Design to edit the codeunit and replace the message text with the empty string: MESSAGE(''). Then save the codeunit and close the code editor.

In the object designer, click Import from the File menu. In the Import Objects dialog, select Dynamics NAV Object Files in the file type filter, locate the file COD50003.fob, and click Open.

C/SIDE will warn you that there is an object with conflicting versions in the database. Click OK to switch to Import Worksheet:

Click OK to import the object replacing the codeunit existing in the database.

In the Object Designer window, create a new codeunit. Assign a number and name (for example, 50000, Luhn Verification).

Click View, then C/AL Globals; in the Globals window open the Functions tab.

In the first line of the table enter the function name, SplitNumber.

The verification function receives a BigInteger number as an input parameter, but the algorithm works with separate digits. Therefore, before starting the validation we need to convert the number into an array of digits.

Position into the Split function, the number you just declared, and click View, then C/AL Locals. First tab in the Locals window is Parameters. Enter the first parameter of the function:

Still in the C/AL Locals window, click View, Properties to open the variable properties and set Dimensions = 11.

Close the variable properties window and add the second function parameter AccountNumber with type BigInteger.

The Parameters window with the list of properties for the variable Digits is shown in the following screenshot:

Next, navigate to the Variables tab. Insert a variable i of Integer type.

Close the local declarations window to return to the code editor and type the function code:

        FOR i := 11 DOWNTO 1 DO BEGIN 
          Digits[i] := AccountNumber MOD 10; 
          ccountNumber := AccountNumber DIV 10; 
        END; 

Open the C/AL Globals window again and insert the second function VerifyCheckSum. This is the main function that implements the verification algorithm.

In the C/AL Locals window, insert a single parameter of this function AccountNumber of type BigInteger.

Navigate to the Return Value tab and fill in the Return Type field. In this case, the type should be Boolean.

In the C/AL Locals window, declare three local variables as follows:

Select the Digits variable, open its properties, and set Dimensions to 11.

Type the following function code:

        SplitNumber(Digits,AccountNumber); 
        FOR i := 1 TO 10 DO BEGIN 
          IF i MOD 2 = 1 THEN 
            CheckSum += (Digits[i] * 2) DIV 10 +  
              (Digits[i] * 2) MOD 10; 
        END; 
        CheckSum := 10 - (CheckSum * 9) MOD 10; 
        EXIT(CheckSum = Digits[11]); 

In the OnRun trigger, place the code that will call the verification function:

        IF VerifyCheckSum(79927398712) THEN 
          MESSAGE(CorrectCheckSumMsg) 
        ELSE 
          MESSAGE(WrongCheckSumMsg); 

To present the execution result to the user, OnRun uses two text constants that we have not declared yet. To do it, open the C/AL Globals window in the View menu. In the Text Constants tab, enter the values as in the following table:

In the NAV Object Designer, create a new codeunit object.

Open the codeunit you just created in code designer, position it in the OnRun trigger, and open the local declarations window (C/AL Locals). Declare the following local variables:

Close the local variables window and declare a global text constant in the C/AL Globals window:

Return to the code editor and type the function code:

       StartingDate := CALCDATE('<-1M>',WORKDATE); 
       EndingDate := WORKDATE; 
 
       SalesLine.SETRANGE("Sell-to Customer No.",'10000'); 
       SalesLine.SETFILTER( 
         "Document Type",'%1|%2', 
         SalesLine."Document Type"::Order, 
         SalesLine."Document Type"::Invoice); 
       SalesLine.SETRANGE( 
         "Posting Date",StartingDate,EndingDate); 
       SalesLine.CALCSUMS("Line Amount"); 
       MESSAGE(SalesAmountMsg,SalesLine."Line Amount"); 

Save the changes, then close the code editor and run the codeunit.

Run Role-Tailored Client and connect to your NAV Server instance.

In the main application menu, navigate to Administration | IT Administration | General | Users to open the list of user accounts and click New.

Fill in the user card. The first field to enter is User Name. Enter here the login name the user will enter when connecting to the server.

Leave Windows User Name blank and move to the Microsoft Dynamics NAV Password Authentication tab, click on the assist edit button in the Password field, and enter a new user password.

Move to User Permission Sets tab and assign one or more permission sets to the user account.

From the Start menu, run the Windows PowerShell console with administrator credentials. To do this, open the start menu, type PowerShell, right-click on the application name, and choose the command Run as administrator.

Change the current directory to the folder where you saved the New-SelfSignedCertificateEx.ps1 cmdlet.

Load the contents of the New-SelfSignedCertificateEx.ps1 file into the shell:

      . .\New-SelfSignedCertificateEx.ps1 

Run the function New-SelfSignedCertificateEx with the following parameters, replacing "<Server Name>" with the name of your computer hosting the web server:

      New-SelfSignedCertificateEx -Subject "CN=<Server Name>"
        -IsCA $true -Exportable -StoreLocation LocalMachine 

The following screenshot shows the output generated:

Run Microsoft Management Console: open the Application menu and type mmc.

Click Add/Remove Snap-in in the File menu.

Select Certificates in the list of available snap-ins, click Add, then choose Computer Account, and then Local Computer.

Unfold the Personal | Certificates folder under the Console Root and locate the certificate you just created. You can easily identify it by the Issued To and Issued By fields. They both will have the name of your computer.

Right-click on the certificate, select All Tasks | Manage Private Keys. Add Read permission for NETWORK SERVICE account.

Copy the certificate from Personal | Certificates to Trusted Root Certification Authorities | Certificates.

Double-click on the certificate name or choose Open from the drop-down menu. Open the Details tab and scroll to the Thumbprint field:

Copy it to a text editor and remove all white spaces from it. The correct certificate thumbprint must be a 40-digit hexadecimal number. For example, 0d64836e14b528488bcc64853088553705078969.

Keep the value, it will be required in the next step.

From the Start menu, run Dynamics NAV 2016 Administration.

Unfold the Microsoft Dynamics NAV (local) snap-in under the console root and choose your server instance name. If you accepted the default name when installing the server, it should be DynamicsNAV90.

Click Edit in the configuration pane. Change the value of the Credential Type field from Windows to NAVUserPassword.

Fill the Certificate Thumbprint field. Copy the value you received from the self-signed certificate. Make sure you delete all spaces between digit groups. The certificate thumbprint must be exactly 40 characters long.

Click Save - you will be warned that the service must restart before the new settings will be activated.

To restart the service, click on the snap-in name (Microsoft Dynamics NAV), then choose the service instance in the middle pane of the management console. After that, the Restart button will be available in the Actions pane on the right. Click Restart and wait for the action to complete:

Open the ClientUserSettings.config file located in the AppData directory. Its default location is C:\Users\<UserName>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Microsoft Dynamics NAV\90\ClientUserSettings.config.

Change the value of the ClientServicesCredentialType key from Windows to NavUserPassword:

        <add key="ClientServicesCredentialType" 
          value="NavUserPassword" /> 

Run the Role Tailored Client. You will be requested to enter a user name and password. Enter a user name and password of the user you created earlier. You will be connected to NAV with the NAV user credentials instead of your domain account.

From the Start menu, run the Dynamics NAV Administration Shell or Windows Powershell and change the active directory to the folder where you saved the New-SelfSignedCertificateEx.ps1 cmdlet.

Run the cmdlet with the following parameters, replacing "<Server Name>" with the name of your computer hosting the web server:

      .\New-SelfSignedCertificateEx.ps1 -Subject "CN=<Server Name>"
      -IsCA $true -Exportable -StoreLocation LocalMachine -StoreName My 

Run Microsoft Management Console. Open the Application menu and type mmc.

Click Add/Remove Snap -in in the File menu.

Select Certificates in the list of available snap-ins, click Add, then choose Computer Account, and then Local Computer.

Unfold the Personal / Certificates folder under the Console Root and locate the certificate you just created. You can easily identify it by the Issued To and Issued By fields. They both will have the name of your computer.

Right-click on the certificate, select All Tasks | Manage Private Keys. Add Read permission for NETWORK SERVICE account.

Copy the certificate from Personal | Certificates to Trusted Root Certification Authorities | Certificates.

Double-click on the certificate name or choose Open from the drop-down menu. Open the Details tab and scroll to the Thumbprint field.

Copy it to a text editor and remove all white spaces from it. The correct certificate thumbprint must be a 40-digit hexadecimal number. For example: 0d64836e14b528488bcc64853088553705078969.

Right-click on the certificate name and choose All Tasks | Export. Accept the default values for all options in the certificate export master: do not export the private key, choose the X.509 in DER encoding as the certificate format. Specify the file's location and name; this is the file you will need to copy to the client connecting to NAV.

In the Microsoft Management Console, click Add/Remove Snap-ins , choose Microsoft Dynamics NAV in the snap-ins list, and add it to the console root.

Right-click on the Microsoft Dynamics NAV snap-in and choose Add Instance.

In the Server Instance window, specify the new instance name and services ports. For this demo, we will name the instance WebLogin. When setting ports for services, make sure they are not used by other NAV instances.

Select Network Service as the service account:

Click OK to accept the settings and create the service instance. Still in the management console, click the Edit button in the right pane to change the configuration setting of the new service:

The first parameter that should be changed is Credential Type. The default value is Windows; select NavUserPassword in the dropdown list.

You also need to provide the certificate thumbprint in the Certificate Thumbprint field. To obtain the thumbprint value, return to your certificate created in the first step and double-click on the certificate name or choose Open from the drop-down menu. Open the Details tab and scroll to the Thumbprint field.

Copy the thumbprint to the NAV service setup. Don't forget to remove all white spaces from it, or the value will not be accepted.

Add the Internet Information Services snap-in to the Microsoft Management Console. Click Add / Remove Snap-in and select Internet Information Services.

In the Sites folder locate Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2016 Web Client. Select the site root and click on Bindings in the Actions pane.

Add site binding for HTTPS protocol: choose https for Type and leave the default port as 443 for HTTPS connections. In the SSL certificate option choose the certificate you created in the first step, from the drop-down list.

In the IIS management console, select the DynamicsNAV folder under the Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2016 Web Client site and then click on Explore action in the Actions pane. This action will open the folder in which web site files are located. Alternatively, you can open this folder in a file manager. The default files location is C:\inetpub\wwwroot\DynamicsNAV90.

Open the web.config file in a text editor, change the following three configuration keys, and save the file:

Connect to the NAV server with the role-tailored client and open users setup: Administration | IT Administration | General | Users.

Create a new user. Enter a user name and set the password in the Microsoft Dynamics NAV Password Authentication tab. Leave the Windows User Name field blank.

Assign permission sets of your choice to the user. At least one user in the database must have the SUPER permission set.

Install the certificate on the client computer.

Run the web browser and open the page by typing this URL, https://localhost:8080/DynamicsNAV90/.

You will required to enter the user name and password:

After successful authentication, you will be redirected to the default role center: