Directions EMEA 2023 Keynote: Business Central saves time for consultants and power users

Overview

The keynote walks through an error scenario: telemetry captures errors in the online service, a developer attaches the debugger straight from the client, makes the error actionable, and uses GitHub Copilot to write a better error message. The page inspector and Copilot Chat are then used to find the code behind item tracking and to explain what it checks.

The second half covers embedding a Power BI visual in a page with a fact box and trigger, and power users adding fields to pages through customization mode without Visual Studio Code. It ends with submitting sandbox changes to a GitHub repository using AL-GO, which runs quality checks and requires peer review before production.

Key points

• The debugger can be attached to a session directly from the client, without configuration files, and runs the current project scope.
• Actionable errors let developers add context and suggested actions to error messages.
• The page inspector shows the page name, items and fields from the client and can jump to the relevant code (the presenter had already downloaded the symbols).
• GitHub Copilot can generate error messages in the context of the developer’s work. The speaker recommends checking the generated code before using it.
• Embedding a Power BI visual needs a fact box, a trigger, and the report ID and visual ID. The BC samples documentation has examples.
• Power users can add fields in customization mode without code, but an admin must give them permission to invoke the customization action.
• Sandbox code cannot be copied directly to production. Changes go through a GitHub repository with AL-GO, which runs quality checks and needs peer review.

Features

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 30 “Item Card” at 6:47
• page “page inspector” at 9:08
• page 42 “Sales Order” at 17:21
• page “Profiles” at 18:22

Not found in BC28-30: page “page inspector”, page “Profiles”.

Quotes

• 2:21 “release of business central you can actually directly attach the debugger to this session from the client”
• 3:53 “with this release of business Central I am able to go and make this error actionable”
• 5:28 “this is exactly directly in the context of what I’m trying to do which is the item and it’s already done for me”
• 9:08 “summon the page inspector we are summoning many many nice great Technologies today”
• 13:37 “with this release of Business Center you can go to a report select the visual that you love and directly put it in the”
• 14:37 “I need to add a fact box and a trigger to initiate it just like that so but to initiate that trigger what should”
• 18:02 “you as the customer can go ahead yourself absolutely you can go and at the field I can guide you through for the first”
• 18:22 “I have as your admin give you permission yep to invoke this action that’s important because you are you know you are Dimitri you”
• 21:40 “go and submit all these changes that I have to the same safe and secure Cloud repository in GitHub it is empowered by algo”
• 22:00 “it will do all the processes all the automation that I need to do to ensure the high quality of the code is it”

Disclaimers in the video

• 13:57 subject-to-change: all you need to do is to go to the BCT Tech and there very nice samples available

Presenters (as heard): Dimitri, Ida, Kenny, Mike Morton, Andre.