Recently, I got the opportunity to explore and apply the feature custom fields. What does the feature custom fields involve? Custom fields is a feature which enables you to create new fields, add these to a form, and to view these in Dynamics. The feature custom fields is powerful, as it avoids enhancements. Enhancements are sometimes necessary, however it is recommended to avoid these since Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management is a cloud solution which is being updated regularly. The custom fields can be managed via System administration. Additionally, you can insert custom fields into data entities. The custom fields can be added to any form in Dynamics, and via this blog I would like to explain how you can configure a custom field and how you can apply it.
What are the benefits of custom fields for a company?
- Avoid enhancements. Enhancements are a risk for upgrades, because an upgrade may change your custom code. Enhancements also influence the throughput time for testing, e.g., fewer enhancements could make the testing cycles shorter.
- Decrease the need for technical support. You can configure new fields yourself, so you will no longer need the support of a developer for the creation of a new field.
- Improve throughput time. You can easily customize Dynamics based on the needs of the customer. This will help to decrease the throughput time of the implementation.
Configuration
1. For this blog, I will add a new custom field to a released product. I will also explain how you can use the custom field while searching via the On-hand list.
2. Right-click the menu button ‘Personalize’.
3. Click on ‘Add a field’
4. Click on the ‘Create new field’ button.
5. Enter the following information for the creation of a new field:
- Table name > Items
- Name prefix > TypeNumber
- Type > Text
- Label > Label of the new field which appears on the form.
- Help text > Additional information about the meaning of the new field.
- Length > Maximum number of characters for the new field.
After entering the information, you can click on the ‘Save’ button to create the new field.
6. The new field is visible in the ‘Insert columns’ form. Click on the ‘Update’ button to add the new field to the released products form.
7. The new field is visible in the released products form.
8. The new field ‘Type number’ must be stored in a view. The reason for saving it to a new view is that it needs to remain visible and use the new field after re-opening the form. Another advantage is that you can also share the view with other users.
9. Enter a name for the new view and click the ‘Save’ button to save the new view.
10. Re-open the released products form and select the new view. The new field is visible and editable.
11. The new field ‘Type number’ can also be added to the list view via insert columns. Select the new field and click on the ‘Update’ button.
12. The new field is visible and also needs to be saved in a view. Select the view and click on the ‘Save as’ button.
13. Enter a name and click on the ‘Save’ button to save the new view.
14. The new view is now available.
15. Via the form ‘Custom fields’ you can manage the custom fields. In the form ‘Custom fields’ you can modify existing custom fields, delete them, and also add translations.
Path: System administration > Setup > Custom fields
16. If you want to insert the custom field into a data entity for the import and or export of data, you need to check the checkbox per data entity in the tab ‘Entities’.
17. After enabling the data entities, make sure that you click on the button ‘Apply changes’, otherwise, the changes will be lost.
18. If you want to use a custom field in a data entity, then you also need to generate the mapping of a data entity again. Select a data entity, for example ‘Released products V2’ and click on ‘Modify target mapping’.
Path: Data management > Data entities
19. By clicking ‘Generate mapping’, the new custom field becomes part of the data entity.
Demonstration
1. Open a released product and select the view ‘Released product with type number’.
2. Enter a Type number, for example ‘TN01072023’.
3. Close the form and open the Released products overview form and select the view ‘Released products overview with type number. As you can see, the value ‘TN01072023’ is also visible in the list overview.
4. Open the on-hand list.
Path: Inventory management > Inquiries and reports > On-hand list
5. Click on the ‘Add’ button in the filter form.
6. Search and select the new field ‘Type number’. After selecting, click on the ‘Update’ button.
7. The new field type number is now visible in the filter form.
8. Enter the value ‘TN01072023’ in the filter field ‘Type number’ and click on the ‘Apply’ button.
9. The released product appears based on the search value ‘TN01072023’ via the new field ‘Type number’.
10. When you run an export via the data entity ‘Released products V2’, the new field including the value is also included in the export.
