--- id: video/M1S2_bgLd3Q type: video title: "What's New: Server and Database (2025 release wave 2)" summary: "Business Central 2025 release wave 2 server and database changes: new AL methods (sequential GUID, lock timeout duration, truncate), flow field and analysis mode optimizations, cloud-only semantic search on metadata, report tooltips, PDF/UA and PDF/A, and SQL call info in profiles." tier: official language: en tags: - al runtime - sequential guids - lock timeout - truncate method - flow field optimization - analysis mode - semantic search - metadata embeddings - advanced tell me - document reporting - pdf accessibility - sql profiling system: platform review: state: reviewed by: opus at: "2026-10-07T22:54:01.669Z" flags: [] generated: at: "2026-10-07T22:54:01.714Z" pipeline: 0.2.0 prompts: extract-video: 1 summarize-video: 2 input_hash: 8ec86db8aa8b0dab49b7b490414abce819e2c6f46e93dacc37cc59e9cb285b46 evidence: - kind: video url: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1S2_bgLd3Q&t=547s title: "Preview semantic similarity search toggle: preview" date: "2025-10-01T00:00:00Z" commit: null t: 547 quote: the chat and analysis assist it that is the very nicely named preview semantic similarity search and application metadata - kind: video url: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1S2_bgLd3Q&t=905s title: "Word addin data picker: generally available" date: "2025-10-01T00:00:00Z" commit: null t: 905 quote: this is a a new feature in the word addin that we are shipping in this wave as well a new data picker - kind: video url: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1S2_bgLd3Q&t=38s title: "What's New: Server and Database (2025 release wave 2)" date: "2025-10-01T00:00:00Z" commit: null t: 38 quote: it helps being able to run some of the business logic the partners have written in a performant matter - kind: video url: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1S2_bgLd3Q&t=91s title: "What's New: Server and Database (2025 release wave 2)" date: "2025-10-01T00:00:00Z" commit: null t: 91 quote: GUID is great but GUID is horrible for indexing. So that's why we stole the code from SQL server to be able to do - kind: video url: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1S2_bgLd3Q&t=179s title: "What's New: Server and Database (2025 release wave 2)" date: "2025-10-01T00:00:00Z" commit: null t: 179 quote: Truncate is a SQL method that is much faster than delete. It's not instantaneous. It is actually transactional. - kind: video url: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1S2_bgLd3Q&t=194s title: "What's New: Server and Database (2025 release wave 2)" date: "2025-10-01T00:00:00Z" commit: null t: 194 quote: the difference between trunk truncate and delete is truncate will just lock in the transa transaction log the page ids and not the full - kind: video url: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1S2_bgLd3Q&t=259s title: "What's New: Server and Database (2025 release wave 2)" date: "2025-10-01T00:00:00Z" commit: null t: 259 quote: if you're not deleting the vast majority of the table, don't use truncate because it's counterproductive - kind: video url: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1S2_bgLd3Q&t=470s title: "What's New: Server and Database (2025 release wave 2)" date: "2025-10-01T00:00:00Z" commit: null t: 470 quote: not only a lot, it's actually almost like um a little over 70% of all customers use analysis mode on a monthly basis - kind: video url: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1S2_bgLd3Q&t=502s title: "What's New: Server and Database (2025 release wave 2)" date: "2025-10-01T00:00:00Z" commit: null t: 502 quote: we take the input, we calculate a semantic vector, and then we compare to the semantic vectors for each of the metadata elements - kind: video url: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1S2_bgLd3Q&t=681s title: "What's New: Server and Database (2025 release wave 2)" date: "2025-10-01T00:00:00Z" commit: null t: 681 quote: you need to press enter to start the search because word words can change meaning dramatically when you add an extra letter - kind: video url: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1S2_bgLd3Q&t=831s title: "What's New: Server and Database (2025 release wave 2)" date: "2025-10-01T00:00:00Z" commit: null t: 831 quote: also do expect that results can change. We will adjust the algorithm for how we treat similarity based on measurements of what works best - kind: video url: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1S2_bgLd3Q&t=985s title: "What's New: Server and Database (2025 release wave 2)" date: "2025-10-01T00:00:00Z" commit: null t: 985 quote: So save will default now save in PDFUA. Eventually we'll also have um document layouts in word in a certain way that once they - kind: video url: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1S2_bgLd3Q&t=1103s title: "What's New: Server and Database (2025 release wave 2)" date: "2025-10-01T00:00:00Z" commit: null t: 1103 quote: all the functionality we talk about apply both to on premises and the cloud that does not apply to the semantic search - kind: video url: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1S2_bgLd3Q&t=1114s title: "What's New: Server and Database (2025 release wave 2)" date: "2025-10-01T00:00:00Z" commit: null t: 1114 quote: we are maintaining the embedding vectors etc. um we do not have support for that in the on-remise world - kind: video url: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1S2_bgLd3Q&t=1125s title: "What's New: Server and Database (2025 release wave 2)" date: "2025-10-01T00:00:00Z" commit: null t: 1125 quote: if you take um and export your database, then we're actually going to take out the embedding vectors before - kind: video url: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1S2_bgLd3Q&t=1136s title: "What's New: Server and Database (2025 release wave 2)" date: "2025-10-01T00:00:00Z" commit: null t: 1136 quote: SQL Server 2025, which is available for us in Azure SQL and for you in Azure SQL, but it's not available yet uh for links: learn: [] objects: [] features: [] topics: [] localizations: [] videos: [] posts: [] guidelines: [] video_id: M1S2_bgLd3Q channel: yt-microsoft source_name: Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central (YouTube) url: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1S2_bgLd3Q published_at: "2025-10-01T00:00:00Z" duration_s: 1326 captions: full audience: - developer - administrator - functional consultant chapters: - t: 0 title: Introduction and business value - t: 65 title: "New AL methods: sequential GUIDs, lock timeout, truncate" - t: 179 title: Truncate method details and limitations - t: 349 title: "Database optimizations: flow fields and analysis mode" - t: 457 title: "Semantic search in metadata: overview and feature toggles" - t: 568 title: "Semantic search: embeddings, maintenance, and search behavior" - t: 707 title: Advanced search with natural language and reporting tooltips - t: 846 title: "Reporting platform: tooltips on report columns and Word addin" - t: 947 title: PDF accessibility and archival formats - t: 1034 title: "Troubleshooting tools: SQL profiling and error details" - t: 1088 title: "Feature availability: cloud vs on-premises" - t: 1181 title: Closing resources and community channels features: - name: Sequential GUID AL method status: unclear t: 77 verified: false status_source: video - name: Lock timeout duration AL method status: unclear t: 132 verified: false status_source: video - name: Truncate AL method status: unclear t: 179 verified: false status_source: video - name: Optimized flow field calculations status: unclear t: 349 verified: false status_source: video - name: Server-side pivot on date hierarchy in analysis mode status: unclear t: 397 verified: false status_source: video - name: Semantic similarity search on metadata status: unclear t: 484 verified: false status_source: video - name: Advanced tell me feature toggle status: unclear t: 534 verified: false status_source: video - name: Preview semantic similarity search toggle status: preview t: 534 verified: true status_source: video - name: Semantic embedding maintenance status: unclear t: 568 verified: false status_source: video - name: Tooltips on report data item fields status: unclear t: 846 verified: false status_source: video - name: Word addin data picker status: ga t: 905 verified: true status_source: video - name: PDF/UA accessible PDFs status: unclear t: 965 verified: false status_source: video - name: PDF/A archival format support status: unclear t: 965 verified: false status_source: video - name: SQL call information in performance profiles status: unclear t: 1047 verified: false status_source: video - name: App version in error details status: unclear t: 1076 verified: false status_source: video - name: Semantic search on-premises limitation status: unclear t: 1103 verified: false status_source: video objects_mentioned: - table GL account - table GL entry - other Word addin quotes: - t: 38 text: it helps being able to run some of the business logic the partners have written in a performant matter check: exact - t: 91 text: GUID is great but GUID is horrible for indexing. So that's why we stole the code from SQL server to be able to do check: exact - t: 179 text: Truncate is a SQL method that is much faster than delete. It's not instantaneous. It is actually transactional. check: exact - t: 194 text: the difference between trunk truncate and delete is truncate will just lock in the transa transaction log the page ids and not the full check: exact - t: 259 text: if you're not deleting the vast majority of the table, don't use truncate because it's counterproductive check: exact - t: 470 text: not only a lot, it's actually almost like um a little over 70% of all customers use analysis mode on a monthly basis check: exact - t: 502 text: we take the input, we calculate a semantic vector, and then we compare to the semantic vectors for each of the metadata elements check: exact - t: 681 text: you need to press enter to start the search because word words can change meaning dramatically when you add an extra letter check: exact - t: 831 text: also do expect that results can change. We will adjust the algorithm for how we treat similarity based on measurements of what works best check: exact - t: 985 text: So save will default now save in PDFUA. Eventually we'll also have um document layouts in word in a certain way that once they check: exact - t: 1103 text: all the functionality we talk about apply both to on premises and the cloud that does not apply to the semantic search check: exact - t: 1114 text: we are maintaining the embedding vectors etc. um we do not have support for that in the on-remise world check: exact - t: 1125 text: if you take um and export your database, then we're actually going to take out the embedding vectors before check: exact - t: 1136 text: SQL Server 2025, which is available for us in Azure SQL and for you in Azure SQL, but it's not available yet uh for check: exact --- # What's New: Server and Database (2025 release wave 2) > Business Central 2025 release wave 2 server and database changes: new AL methods (sequential GUID, lock timeout duration, truncate), flow field and analysis mode optimizations, cloud-only semantic search on metadata, report tooltips, PDF/UA and PDF/A, and SQL call info in profiles. [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1S2_bgLd3Q) · Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central (YouTube) · 2025-10-01 · 22:06 · tier official · reviewed (checked by Opus) ## Overview The session covers platform, development and reporting changes in 2025 release wave 2. On the AL side it introduces a sequential GUID method for better indexing, a lock timeout method that takes a duration, and a truncate method that deletes large amounts of data faster than delete, with a long list of conditions under which it returns false. It also covers database optimizations for flow fields and server-side pivot on date hierarchies in analysis mode, semantic similarity search on metadata (with feature toggles, embedding maintenance and a demo of advanced tell me), report column tooltips in the Word addin data picker, PDF/UA and PDF/A support, SQL call information in performance profiles, and app version in copied error details. Semantic search is cloud-only; the other functionality applies to both cloud and on-premises. ## Key points - Truncate AL method uses SQL truncate, supports filtering and keeps auto-increment values. It returns false for non-SQL or system tables, inside try functions, with security filters, media fields, too many marked rows, filters on flow fields, or before/after delete subscribers. Wrap it in an if and fall back to delete all. - Truncate should only be used when deleting the vast majority of a table, because filtered truncate copies the kept rows out and back. - The lock timeout duration method sets a custom duration instead of on/off, but is still limited by the command timeout. - Flow fields that sum over other tables now use a single outer apply instead of several, which speeds up list pages showing many calculated fields. - Server-side analysis mode (queries, over 100,000 rows, or joined related tables) can now pivot on date hierarchy fields such as year, quarter and month. - Semantic search is cloud-only: it needs embedding vector maintenance and SQL Server 2025, which is available in Azure SQL but not yet on-premises. Embedding vectors are removed when the database is exported. Preview semantic similarity search and advanced tell me are separate feature management toggles, and results may change as the algorithm is adjusted. - Report columns can have tooltips inherited from table fields or overridden in the report; they show in the new Word addin data picker. The speakers recommend putting data descriptions as tooltips on tables rather than pages. ## Chapters - [0:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1S2_bgLd3Q&t=0s) Introduction and business value - [1:05](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1S2_bgLd3Q&t=65s) New AL methods: sequential GUIDs, lock timeout, truncate - [2:59](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1S2_bgLd3Q&t=179s) Truncate method details and limitations - [5:49](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1S2_bgLd3Q&t=349s) Database optimizations: flow fields and analysis mode - [7:37](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1S2_bgLd3Q&t=457s) Semantic search in metadata: overview and feature toggles - [9:28](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1S2_bgLd3Q&t=568s) Semantic search: embeddings, maintenance, and search behavior - [11:47](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1S2_bgLd3Q&t=707s) Advanced search with natural language and reporting tooltips - [14:06](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1S2_bgLd3Q&t=846s) Reporting platform: tooltips on report columns and Word addin - [15:47](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1S2_bgLd3Q&t=947s) PDF accessibility and archival formats - [17:14](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1S2_bgLd3Q&t=1034s) Troubleshooting tools: SQL profiling and error details - [18:08](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1S2_bgLd3Q&t=1088s) Feature availability: cloud vs on-premises - [19:41](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1S2_bgLd3Q&t=1181s) Closing resources and community channels ## Features | Feature | Status | At | Evidence | |---|---|---|---| | Sequential GUID AL method | status not stated | [1:17](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1S2_bgLd3Q&t=77s) | | | Lock timeout duration AL method | status not stated | [2:12](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1S2_bgLd3Q&t=132s) | | | Truncate AL method | status not stated | [2:59](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1S2_bgLd3Q&t=179s) | | | Optimized flow field calculations | status not stated | [5:49](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1S2_bgLd3Q&t=349s) | | | Server-side pivot on date hierarchy in analysis mode | status not stated | [6:37](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1S2_bgLd3Q&t=397s) | | | Semantic similarity search on metadata | status not stated, demoed | [8:04](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1S2_bgLd3Q&t=484s) | | | Advanced tell me feature toggle | status not stated, demoed | [8:54](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1S2_bgLd3Q&t=534s) | | | Preview semantic similarity search toggle | preview | [8:54](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1S2_bgLd3Q&t=534s) | "the chat and analysis assist it that is the very nicely named preview semantic similarity search and application metadata" ([9:07](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1S2_bgLd3Q&t=547s)) | | Semantic embedding maintenance | status not stated | [9:28](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1S2_bgLd3Q&t=568s) | | | Tooltips on report data item fields | status not stated, demoed | [14:06](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1S2_bgLd3Q&t=846s) | | | Word addin data picker | generally available, demoed | [15:05](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1S2_bgLd3Q&t=905s) | "this is a a new feature in the word addin that we are shipping in this wave as well a new data picker" ([15:05](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1S2_bgLd3Q&t=905s)) | | PDF/UA accessible PDFs | status not stated | [16:05](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1S2_bgLd3Q&t=965s) | | | PDF/A archival format support | status not stated | [16:05](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1S2_bgLd3Q&t=965s) | | | SQL call information in performance profiles | status not stated | [17:27](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1S2_bgLd3Q&t=1047s) | | | App version in error details | status not stated | [17:56](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1S2_bgLd3Q&t=1076s) | | | Semantic search on-premises limitation | status not stated | [18:23](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1S2_bgLd3Q&t=1103s) | | ## 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. - table "GL account" at [6:13](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1S2_bgLd3Q&t=373s) - table "GL entry" at [6:13](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1S2_bgLd3Q&t=373s) - other "Word addin" at [15:05](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1S2_bgLd3Q&t=905s) Not found in BC28-30: table "GL account", table "GL entry". ## Quotes - [0:38](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1S2_bgLd3Q&t=38s) "it helps being able to run some of the business logic the partners have written in a performant matter" - [1:31](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1S2_bgLd3Q&t=91s) "GUID is great but GUID is horrible for indexing. So that's why we stole the code from SQL server to be able to do" - [2:59](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1S2_bgLd3Q&t=179s) "Truncate is a SQL method that is much faster than delete. It's not instantaneous. It is actually transactional." - [3:14](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1S2_bgLd3Q&t=194s) "the difference between trunk truncate and delete is truncate will just lock in the transa transaction log the page ids and not the full" - [4:19](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1S2_bgLd3Q&t=259s) "if you're not deleting the vast majority of the table, don't use truncate because it's counterproductive" - [7:50](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1S2_bgLd3Q&t=470s) "not only a lot, it's actually almost like um a little over 70% of all customers use analysis mode on a monthly basis" - [8:22](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1S2_bgLd3Q&t=502s) "we take the input, we calculate a semantic vector, and then we compare to the semantic vectors for each of the metadata elements" - [11:21](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1S2_bgLd3Q&t=681s) "you need to press enter to start the search because word words can change meaning dramatically when you add an extra letter" - [13:51](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1S2_bgLd3Q&t=831s) "also do expect that results can change. We will adjust the algorithm for how we treat similarity based on measurements of what works best" - [16:25](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1S2_bgLd3Q&t=985s) "So save will default now save in PDFUA. Eventually we'll also have um document layouts in word in a certain way that once they" - [18:23](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1S2_bgLd3Q&t=1103s) "all the functionality we talk about apply both to on premises and the cloud that does not apply to the semantic search" - [18:34](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1S2_bgLd3Q&t=1114s) "we are maintaining the embedding vectors etc. um we do not have support for that in the on-remise world" - [18:45](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1S2_bgLd3Q&t=1125s) "if you take um and export your database, then we're actually going to take out the embedding vectors before" - [18:56](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1S2_bgLd3Q&t=1136s) "SQL Server 2025, which is available for us in Azure SQL and for you in Azure SQL, but it's not available yet uh for" ## Disclaimers in the video - [9:07](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1S2_bgLd3Q&t=547s) preview: preview semantic similarity search and application metadata - [13:51](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1S2_bgLd3Q&t=831s) subject-to-change: do expect that results can change. We will adjust the algorithm for how we treat similarity based on measurements of what works best in production - [14:06](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1S2_bgLd3Q&t=846s) subject-to-change: do expect that results can change. We will adjust the algorithm for how we treat similarity based on measurements of what works best in production. - [18:23](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1S2_bgLd3Q&t=1103s) not-in-this-release: all the functionality we talk about apply both to on premises and the cloud that does not apply to the semantic search Presenters (as heard): Kenny Pontop, Yens.