What's New: Document Reporting (2025 release wave 2)

Overview

The video shows a new experience in the Word addin for Business Central. A data control section offers an add data action, which opens a task pane with a tree of the datasets behind a report. Users can add single fields or repeaters to a Word layout without developer help. The demo creates a table and fields in a layout. The Word tab labels the addin as a preview version.

It then covers installing the addin from the Office add-ins menu and what is coming next. Tooltips for data item fields are not in version 27, and the presenter hopes they arrive in an update. Project Sequoia is a code name for replacing most or all document layouts in Business Central with Word layouts, with office hours planned for the fall.

Key points

• The Word addin has a new data control section with an add data action, which opens a task pane on the right with a tree of the datasets behind the report.
• Add field inserts a content control whose text and tag match the field name.
• Add repeater creates a repeating section, shown with multiple customers in a table, using content controls marked as repeaters.
• Install the addin from the Office add-ins menu by searching for Business Central; pick the version with the AD data controls description, as several versions exist.
• The addin is reachable from the Home tab or the File menu, and the Word tab shows the new addin as ‘business central preview’.
• Tooltips for data item fields are meant to make datasets easier for non-developers; they missed the recording and are hoped for in an update to version 27 in the fall.
• Project Sequoia is a code name for replacing most or all Business Central document layouts with Word layouts; details are planned for office hours in the fall.

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.

• report “customer order or the summary” at 1:22
• other “saline buffer” at 3:48
• other “Report layouts page” at 1:10

Not found in BC28-30: report “customer order or the summary”.

Quotes

• 0:46 “In this wave, we introducing a new um experience in the Word addin so that any power user or consultant with a few actions”
• 2:21 “As we can see, we have a new data control section which provides an add data action. When I click on this action, I”
• 3:18 “Here we can see now that this inserted the content controls with both the text and the tag equal to the field that we”
• 7:21 “Well, very soon. We didn’t get it in for the demo here for the recording, but hopefully we’ll soon be able to have it”
• 8:23 “There will also be something we call project seoia. It’s a code name for some very secret projects.”
• 8:45 “It’s about uh replacing most if not all of the document layouts in Business Central towards using Word.”

Disclaimers in the video

• 2:11 preview: in my word tab, I have a new uh business central preview
• 7:21 not-in-this-release: We didn’t get it in for the demo here for the recording, but hopefully we’ll soon be able to have it in some update in version 27
• 8:03 not-in-this-release: this is not in in 27 but uh now we are starting to to get productivity into word addin
• 8:23 coming-later: There will also be something we call project seoia. It’s a code name for some very secret projects.

Presenters (as heard): Kenny Pontop, Mirao.