Skip to main content
UploadLanguage (EN)Support
BusinessMobileSocial MediaMarketingTechnologyArt & PhotosCareerDesignEducationPresentations & Public SpeakingGovernment & NonprofitHealthcareInternetLawLeadership & ManagementAutomotiveEngineeringSoftwareRecruiting & HRRetailSalesServicesScienceSmall Business & EntrepreneurshipFoodEnvironmentEconomy & FinanceData & AnalyticsInvestor RelationsSportsSpiritualNews & PoliticsTravelSelf ImprovementReal EstateEntertainment & HumorHealth & MedicineDevices & HardwareLifestyle
Roberto Stefanetti, profile picture
Uploaded byRoberto Stefanetti
PPTX, PDF8,598 views

C/SIDE-C/AL Vs VS Code-AL

The document compares the old C/SIDE development environment for Dynamics NAV to the new VS Code environment. It discusses that C/SIDE used C/AL programming language and objects were stored in a database, while the new environment uses the AL language in VS Code and stores objects as files. It also provides overviews of AL programming, commonly used functions and methods, and differences between developing in the two environments such as using .FOB vs .APP files and the object designer vs code editor.

Technology◦
Downloaded 203 times
RobertoStefanetti, MVP BusinessSolutions- NAV MicrosoftEducationInfluencer
Topics
Development Environments Comparison OLD Development Environment NEW Development Environment C/SIDE + C/AL VS Code + AL Object Designer .FOB .TXT C/SIDE VS Code Editor .APP Powershell / VS Code
C/SIDE & C/AL What is “C/SIDE” and “C/AL” Stands for:  C/SIDE - Client/Server Integrated Development Environment  C/AL - Client/Server Application Language C/AL is the programming language that used within the development environment for Microsoft Dynamics NAV, and the development environment is called as C/SIDE. C/AL is a database specific programming language and it primarily used to retrieve, insert, and modify the records in the dynamics NAV Database. C/AL is extended from the PASCAL language and original C/AL compiler was written by Michael Nielsen. When changing the NAV application according to the requirements, developer does not change the executable s (.exe files), but the "Objects". Dynamics NAV database contain definitions of the each object and each object contain business logic to run the ERP application. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C/AL
C/SIDE+C/AL = Old Development Environment C/SIDE + Object Designer FINSQL.EXE > Show Objects > Objects: in OBJECT TABLE C/AL C/AL editor > Show Business Logic > Code: blob field in OBJECT TABLE
Programming in C/AL This section describes where to write C/AL code and how to reuse code. For more information about how to use system-defined variables, see System-Defined Variables. For more information about the most frequently used C/AL functions, see Essential C/AL Functions. Where to Write C/AL Code Almost every object in Microsoft Dynamics NAV contains triggers where you can add your C/AL code. Triggers exist for the following objects:  Tables Table fields Pages, including request pages Reports Data items XMLports Queries You can initiate the execution of your C/AL code from the following:  Actions Menu items Any object that has an instantiation of the object that contains C/AL code. An example of an instantiation is a variable declaration. https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd355277(v=nav.90).aspx
Essentials in C/AL Essentials in C/AL  Although there are more than 100 functions in C/AL, there are several functions that you will use more often than the others. This does not mean that the rest of the functions are obsolete or that you will never use them. However, it does mean that if you are very familiar with this small set of essential functions, you will be able to accomplish many tasks when you are programming in C/AL. When you want to add more specialized functionality to your applications, you can learn about more of the functions.  The topics in this section describe the most common C/AL functions. For more details about all of the C/AL functions, see C/AL Functions. FUNCTIONS  GET, FIND, and NEXT Functions SETCURRENTKEY, SETRANGE, SETFILTER, GETRANGEMIN, and GETRANGEMAX Functions INSERT, MODIFY, MODIFYALL, DELETE, and DELETEALL Functions LOCKTABLE Function CALCFIELDS, CALCSUMS,FIELDERROR, FIELDNAME, INIT, TESTFIELD, and VALIDATE Functions Progress Windows, MESSAGE, ERROR, and CONFIRM Functions STRMENU Function
C/SIDE Replace: Modern Development Environment http://aka.ms/navdeveloperpreview https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/nav/2016/12/20/announcing-the-preview-of-development-tools-for-dynamics-nav/ https://robertostefanettinavblog.com/2017/07/13/nav-development-preview-updated-documentation/
VS Code+AL = New Development Environment VS Code (Visual Studio Code) CODE.EXE > Show Projects > Objects: Files AL AL Extension for VS Code > Show Business Logic > Code: text inside “.AL” file http://aka.ms/navdeveloperpreview https://code.visualstudio.com/
VS Code: Open Source, Cross Platform, Git “VS Code: Open source, cross-platform, multi-language development environment that puts writing code at its center” https://code.visualstudio.com/
AL Language extension https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics-nav/developer/devenv-programming-in-al https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics-nav/developer/devenv-dev-overview https://robertostefanettinavblog.com/2016/11/29/microsoft-al-al-language-code-samples-for-developing-extensions/
Programming in AL https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics-nav/developer/devenv-programming-in-al AL is the programming language that is used for manipulating data (such as retrieving, inserting and modifying records) in a Dynamics 365 for Financials database, and controlling the execution of the various application objects, such as pages, reports, or codeunits. With AL, you can create business rules to ensure that the data which is stored in the database is meaningful and consistent with the way customers do business. Through AL programming, you can: Add new data or transfer data from one table to another, for example, from a journal table to a ledger table. Combine data from multiple tables into one report or display it on one form or page. Where to write AL code Almost every object in Dynamics 365 for Financials contains triggers where you can add your AL code. Triggers exist for the following objects: Tables, Table fields, Pages, Reports, Data items, XMLports, Queries
AL Methods https://docs.microsoft.com/it-it/dynamics-nav/developer/methods/devenv-al-method-reference https://docs.microsoft.com/it-it/dynamics-nav/developer/devenv-essential-al-methods The AL methods in this section are grouped according to the data type that they support or according to a category. Each data type topic contains a description of the data type. Properties Triggers Essential AL Methods Programming in AL Developing Extensions HTTP, JSON, TextBuilder, and XML API Although there are hundreds of methods in AL, there are several methods that you will use more often than the others. This does not mean that the rest of the methods are obsolete or that you will never use them. However, it does mean that if you are very familiar with this small set of essential methods, you will be able to accomplish many tasks when you are programming in AL. The topics in this section describe the most common AL methods. For more details about all of the AL methods, see AL Method Reference.
AL Language on Marketplace https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=ms-dynamics-smb.al#review-details https://robertostefanettinavblog.com/2017/08/31/vs-code-al-extensions-part-i/ https://robertostefanettinavblog.com/2016/11/29/microsoft-al-al-language-code-samples-for- developing-extensions/
C/SIDE Vs VS Code https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics-nav/developer/devenv-reference-overview Differences in the Development Environments C/SIDE Vs AL Development Env (VS Code) Coming from the Dynamics NAV Development Environment and C/SIDE, there are some differences and optimizations that you should familiarize yourself with. The following sections go through these changes. C/SIDE VS Code Keyword Uppercase Keyword Lowercase .NET Support Native Web Services Types Object Designer Real-time compiling Symbol Menu Option Member File Support File Upload from Stream Translations in Objects Where Used
Object Designer VS Vs Code Editor Object Designer VS Code Editor https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics-nav/developer/devenv-reference-overview https://github.com/Microsoft/AL
AL - Details AL https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=ms-dynamics-smb.al Formatting, syntax highlighting and rich IntelliSense Support for and snippets to define Codeunits, Pages, Page Extensions, Tables, Table Extensions, XMLPorts, and Reports Support for reference by symbols (Shift+F12) to jump to all instances of a specific symbol Added support for using HTTP and JSON types to access Azure functions and other Web Services Ability to define a dependency on another extension by listing it in the app.json configuration file Autogeneration of app.json and launch.json project files
.FOB Vs .APP Differences between .FOB and .APP Files .FOB Files .APP Files PACKAGE: “.FOB” : Financials Objects, standard old objects package PACKAGE: “.APP”: Based on Extensions (v. 2.0 - Vs Code)  .al file, app.json, launch.json Source code visible in C/SIDE NO Include standard Objects and standard Code can be changed NO Imported in NAV : C/SIDE Powershell, VS Code Extensions of standard objects and include additional business logic for solutions
RobertoStefanetti, MVP BusinessSolutions- NAV MicrosoftEducationInfluencer