Deploy Analysis Views with AL Code in Business Central 2026 Wave 1 (No Manual Setup)
Business Central 2026 wave 1 (version 28, runtime 17) lets analysis views be exported from analysis mode as analysis.json files, referenced in a new analysis views section of an AL list page, and deployed through an extension as locked tabs that users can duplicate. The demo on item ledger entries uses Copilot and the Claude add-in in Excel to propose view designs and JSON, then publishes them via AL.
- Overview of analysis views feature in BC 2026 Wave 1
- Microsoft documentation and technical implementation details
- Exporting and examining analysis JSON files
- Item ledger entries demonstration with locked and unlocked views
- Using Copilot in Excel to design analysis views
- Generating analysis JSON files from Copilot suggestions
- Creating and deploying analysis views through AL extension
- Publishing and testing monthly trends analysis with Copilot
- Creating item profitability analysis
- Demonstrating pivot tables and dimensions
- Manual configuration and JSON file naming
- Related content and learning resources
Overview
The video shows how an analysis view built in analysis mode in the web client can be exported as a JSON file, added to an AL project and referenced from a page. The view is then deployed with the extension, so it can be version controlled and rolled out across environments and tenants without manual setup. The demo uses item ledger entries, with locked and unlocked views, pivot rows and columns, and dimensions from related tables.
The presenter also exports item ledger data to Excel and uses Copilot to suggest analysis designs, such as monthly trends and item profitability, and to generate JSON proposals. The video covers caveats on file naming, a publish error when the extension is used in multiple apps, and slow loading of related tables in the UI. It ends with pointers to Microsoft-provided queries for fixed assets and projects.
Key points
- Export an analysis from analysis mode in the web client (Share > Export definition) as JSON and include it in the AL extension.
- The definition file name must end with analysis.json, otherwise an error occurs.
- AL pages get a new analysis views section where each analysis view has a name, a path to the analysis JSON file and a caption. A snippet for analysis view exists in VS Code.
- Views deployed this way show as locked tabs in analysis mode; users cannot change filters or layout but can duplicate them. In the demo a duplicate lost its pivot and had to be reconfigured.
- Item ledger entries were exported to Excel; Copilot (which installed Python packages) and the Claude add-in for Excel suggested analysis designs and JSON definitions, such as monthly trends and item profitability by customer posting group.
- In the demo, publishing first failed with ‘used in multiple apps’; the presenter uninstalled the earlier extension and published again.
- Analysis views can add columns from related tables such as Customer, though loading related tables was slow in the demo.
Features
| Feature | Status | At | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Analysis views packaged in AL extensions | preview, demoed | 0:12 | “I created yesterday one sandbox dev 28. And you can see here that we have version 28 preview here.” (4:26) |
| Analysis JSON export from web client | preview, demoed | 2:24 | “I created yesterday one sandbox dev 28. And you can see here that we have version 28 preview here.” (4:26) |
| Locked analysis views | status not stated, demoed | 6:33 | |
| Copilot for Excel analysis design | status not stated, demoed | 8:20 | |
| Data export to Excel for analysis | status not stated, demoed | 7:55 | |
| Analysis view component in page AL syntax | status not stated, demoed | 2:38 | |
| Multi-environment analysis view deployment | status not stated | 0:44 | |
| Analysis views via AL code | status not stated, demoed | 13:03 | |
| Ad hoc analysis mode | status not stated, demoed | 14:24 | |
| Analysis view dimensions and pivoting | status not stated, demoed | 21:00 | |
| Analysis view export and import cycle | status not stated, demoed | 24:47 | |
| Cross-table analysis views | status not stated, demoed | 24:01 | |
| Analysis view JSON file format | status not stated | 26:05 |
AL objects mentioned
As heard in the captions. A name that matches one object page by exact type and name links to it; the others stay as named.
- page 31 “Item List” at 4:36
- page 38 “Item Ledger Entries” at 6:03
- page “my sales analysis page” at 3:16
- table 32 “Item Ledger Entry” at 17:45
- table 18 “Customer” at 24:01
- query “Fixed Assets Query” at 26:49
- query “Projects Query” at 27:15
Not found in BC28-30: page “my sales analysis page”, query “Fixed Assets Query”, query “Projects Query”.
Quotes
- 0:12 “in Business Central 2026 wave 1 or version 28 uh Microsoft quietly is going to ship something um that uh will change the way”
- 0:24 “You can now uh export uh uh as JSON one analysis view uh and once you have the JSON you can include that JSON”
- 0:44 “the analysis views now will be part of the codebase. uh we can version control it and we can deploy it across environments”
- 2:04 “analysis views can now be packaged and delivered as part of fail extensions for list pages including extensions and customizations”
- 2:52 “we have now a new section analysis views in the page. Uh just like we had before layout or modify”
Disclaimers in the video
- 4:26 preview: you can see here that we have version 28 preview here
- 14:55 other: Cannot publish it because this is used in multiple apps
Presenters (as heard): Marcel Chabot, E.S. Verland.