What's Cooking in Business Central: External File Storage Module
External File Storage system application module in Business Central: an API for storing files outside Business Central, such as in Azure blob storage, Azure file share or SharePoint online. Covers file accounts, file scenarios, API methods and a demo. The base application does not use it yet.
- Introduction to External File Storage Module
- 2025 Wave 1 Release Status and Availability
- Setting up File Accounts and Storage Configuration
- File Scenarios and Configuration
- Code Implementation and API Usage
- Demonstration of File Storage in Action
- Future Plans and Closing Remarks
Overview
The video introduces the External File Storage module, a system application module that gives developers an API to connect to external file storage and save data there. Supported targets named are Azure blob storage, Azure file share and SharePoint online. It is described as ready for release with 2025 wave 1.
It walks through setting up a storage account on the File Accounts page, defining file scenarios with an extensible enum, and writing code that initializes the module with a scenario, opens a save file dialog and creates a file. A demo shows the result in the storage browser. The base application does not use the module yet, and developers must build their own implementations. Microsoft says it will look at adopting some of these capabilities in upcoming waves.
Key points
- The module is a system application module with an API to store files in Azure blob storage, Azure file share or SharePoint online.
- Per the video, it is ready for release with 2025 wave 1 and ready to be used.
- The base application does not use it yet, but developers can use the API in their own code.
- Storage accounts are configured on the File Accounts page, which follows the same pattern as email accounts. The demo sets up blob storage with a storage account name, a shared key and a container.
- File scenarios work like email scenarios. Developers extend the file scenario enum with their own scenario, and because the base application has no uptake yet, no scenarios exist out of the box.
- In the demo code, the developer initializes external file storage with a scenario, opens a save file dialog to get the target path, then invokes create file.
- Files stored this way show up in the new storage browser, which is opened from File Accounts.
Features
Every feature below: status not stated, demoed.
| Feature | At |
|---|---|
| External File Storage System Application Module | 0:06 |
| File Accounts Page | 1:15 |
| File Scenarios Enum | 1:50 |
| External File Storage API Methods | 2:34 |
| Storage Browser | 3:56 |
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.
Quotes
- 0:06 “an api that makes it easier to store your data outside of business central for instance in an azure blob storage”
- 0:37 “with 2025 wave 1 this new SST application module is ready for release”
- 0:37 “there is no uptake of it yet so the base application as such does not use it”
- 2:54 “we initialize our external file file storage um with our scenario um we open a file a save file dialogue”
- 3:56 “now when we go to file accounts and we open the new storage browser we can see that our test PDF was put into”
- 4:08 “we will be looking into uptaking some of these capabilities in business Central in the upcoming waves”