Other tools
Other development tools for Business Central: Page Inspection for examining page structure and data sources, the Txt2Al tool for converting C/AL objects to AL, and the table data viewer for inspecting tenant tables. Answers questions about debugging pages, converting NAV 14 code, and viewing table contents.
Path: Development > Development environment > Other tools · tier official · system administration · narrative reviewed (checked by Opus)
Overview
This section collects three supporting tools for developers working in the Business Central development environment. Each is independent of the others and addresses a separate task: understanding how a page is built, converting older C/AL code, and looking at raw table data.
Page Inspection is a web client pane that shows a page’s structure, source table, fields, extensions, and filters, so you can debug without reading code. The table data viewer gives read-only access to tenant database tables, including extension columns, from the web client or VS Code. The Txt2Al tool converts C/AL objects from Dynamics NAV version 14 into AL for building extensions.
Start with Inspecting pages or Viewing table data for day-to-day debugging. Use the Txt2Al page when you are migrating existing C/AL code to extensions.
Key points
- Page Inspection is a web client pane showing page structure, data sources, extensions, filters, and source table fields; its Learn page references 2023 release wave 2.
- Page Inspection helps you understand and debug page design without examining code.
- Viewing table data is read-only and covers tenant database tables, including extension columns; its Learn page references 2020 release wave 1.
- Table data can be opened from the web client or from VS Code; it requires read permissions.
- VS Code access to table data uses launch.json configuration.
- Txt2Al converts C/AL objects from Dynamics NAV version 14 to AL for Business Central extensions.
- Txt2Al has parameters for object types and output, and can generate DELTA files, inject .NET add-ins, set the translation format, and control file naming patterns.
- Txt2Al can default data classification during conversion.
Learn pages
- Inspecting pages: Learn about the structure of a page and its’ underlying data.
- The Txt2Al Conversion Tool: Description of the converter tool that allows you to take C/AL objects and convert them into .al format.
- Viewing table data: View tables in browser for troubleshooting
Source: Microsoft Learn (CC BY 4.0). Descriptions are Learn’s own.