Dynamics Business Central / NAV Developer Digest - Vol. 497
ArcherPoint’s Developer Digest focuses on Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central and Dynamics NAV development. This week’s volume includes using Read-Only database replicas, an under-the-hood look at Microsoft’s Cloud Migration tool in action, and the versatility of using arrays in AL.
The Dynamics 365 Business Central community, consisting of developers, project managers, and consultants, collaborates across various platforms to share valuable insights. At ArcherPoint, we greatly value their dedication and expertise. To ensure widespread access to this technical knowledge, we created Developer Digest.
Don’t miss Days of Knowledge this September!
Days of Knowledge Americas 2024 will be in Atlanta, Georgia, September 12-14. This event provides in-depth training sessions for Business Central consultants and developers. Register now!
Using Read-Only database replicas
Since 2020 Wave 1 (v16.x), Business Central has supported redirecting read-only calls to a replica database node for objects such as certain pages, reports, and query objects.
Decoupling the READ workload to a replica can be an efficient way to handle situations where long-running read-only reports are needed.
Duilio Tacconi describes the details and gotchas of using replicas in his blog, About Read-Only replicas. As Tacconi puts it, “It’s like having 2 SQL Server databases where you could separate a (discrete) part of the Reads from the Writes, making the transactional node working more efficiently, hence increasing performance.”
Microsoft’s Cloud Migration tool under the hood
The Microsoft Cloud Migration tool provides an easy, convenient way to transfer the business data of one or more companies from an on-premises Business Central database to an online tenant database.
During the migration, the company-specific tables, along with any tables that belong to customization extensions, are copied table for table, meaning that it is critical to have the same extensions installed in the cloud environment as in the on-premises version of Business Central.
The process leverages the Azure Data Factory which is designed for “migrating large amounts of raw data across data sources and controlling data integration projects.”
Stefano Demiliani looks under the hood and describes the details of this process in his blog, Dynamics 365 Business Central: Cloud Migration secrets and tips.
The versatility of using arrays in AL
The AL language has many versatile objects like Lists and Dictionaries to hold collections of items. However, these objects can’t help you make a list of objects like RecordRefs, CodeUnits, or Records.
While there are limitations, Erik Hougaard shows how you can use arrays to create a “list” of just about any of the data types defined in AL. For example, Erik uses arrays to make a collection of runtime RecordRefs.
Watch his video, “You can build arrays of everything everywhere all at Once in AL!” to learn more.
Are you interested in Dynamics NAV and Business Central development? Check out our collection of NAV/BC Development Blogs.
Read “How To” blogs from ArcherPoint for practical advice on using Microsoft Dynamics NAV and Dynamics 365 Business Central.