Ax2012 Enus WN Dev 01

Chapter 1: Overview
CHAPTER 1: OVERVIEW
Objectives
The objectives are:
Describe the new interface elements in Microsoft Dynamics AX.
Describe changes to the organization model.
Use and update the help system.
Describe the Microsoft Office Add-Ins in Microsoft Dynamics AX.
View work items that are based on specific business documents in

one location.
Review improvements made to the document handling feature in

Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012.
Set up alert rules to work across all organizational structures.
Explain the new features and benefits of the Global Address Book
(GAB).
Review the code upgrade process.
Introduction
Microsoft is committed to delivering a people-ready experience to medium-sized
organizations and divisions of larger enterprises that operate in the global
economy.
Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 is an innovative release that brings users improved
and new functionality. The new features improve the way both users and
developers interact daily with the application and also how they customize, setup
and work with the application to fit their individual needs.
Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 value proposition

Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 value proposition includes the following:
Simplifying the complete application life cycle of Microsoft

Dynamics AX, from implementation, customization, integration,
usability, and maintenance to upgrade and performance, to help
reduce the total cost of ownership (TCO).
Improving financial capabilities to support companies who operate in

the global economy.
Adding more industry-enabling functionality for target industries.
Microsoft Official Training Materials for Microsoft Dynamics

Your use of this content is subject to your current services agreement
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What's New - Technical in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 for Development
Providing best practices in areas such as supplier relationship

management (SRM), human resources management (HRM),
customer relationship management, expense management, and
compliance and environmental sustainability.
Supporting new online services, such as site services for case

management and vendor on boarding to improve collaborative
scenarios.
Part of the Role Tailored design strategy in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 is to

increase productivity. The Role Tailored design is used so that people can deliver
just the information they need, where and when they need it. It offers perspective
by providing an overview of the work ahead so that organizations can plan and
prioritize efforts. The Role Tailored design is a key component of improving user
productivity in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012.
The following sections introduce some of the key new and improved features of
Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012. The features are relevant for all audiences and
users of Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012. Some of these features are discussed in
further detail in one of the Whats New in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 titles;
whereas other features are only presented at a high level in this chapter.
DISCLAIMER: During the writing stage of the Whats New training content,
functionalities in certain areas of Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 were not fully
implemented. An example of this includes the changes that are still occurring to
the user interface. While the content has been approved and developed with the
best knowledge, certain functionalities are still subject to change.
New User Interface Elements

Following the overall Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 theme of simplifying the
user and development experience, Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 introduces
multiple new user controls for a streamlined user experience. It also provides
several benefits to developers, administrators, and end-users through the
following client features and improvements.
Jewel Menu
The Jewel menu replaces the Microsoft Dynamics AX menu which was available
in earlier releases of the workspace. It also provides drop-down menus which in
earlier releases were at the top of each form.
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Chapter 1: Overview
The menus are consolidated under a button similar to the Microsoft Windows 7
and Microsoft Office 2010 Jewel menu. To the right side of the Jewel is the
Command Bar. This hosts Action Panes, Windows (workspace only), View, and
Help buttons. You can turn off the Jewel and Command Bar by using the Form >
Design > HideToolbar property for dialog boxes and other form patterns. In
earlier releases, the HideToolbar property controlled the drop-down menus and
the toolbar.
FIGURE 1.1 JEWEL MENU

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Navigation Pane
The Navigation Pane is redesigned to provide navigation options that are more
visually appealing and usable. In earlier releases there were three panes which
displayed Favorites, Places, and Forms, and now they are condensed into a single
pane that flows and scrolls as one unit. This makes it easier to control and
customize. The footer area of the Navigation Pane now displays small module
buttons. This makes it possible to access more modules with one click. The
Navigation Pane cannot be controlled by developers, but can be personalized by
users through the View button in the command bar.
FIGURE 1.2 NAVIGATION PANE
Status Bar
The status bar provides access to actions and in earlier releases it was at the top
of each form in a toolbar. The status bar can be personalized by the user, by using
the User Options form (Tools > Options) and is still controlled for each form by
using the StatusBarStyle property within the form design.
FIGURE 1.3 STATUS BAR
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Chapter 1: Overview
Shared List Page Metadata
The Form.FormTemplate=ListPage restriction is added to enable developers to
model list page metadata that is shared between the client and Enterprise Portal.
When Form.FormTemplate is set to ListPage, the form is restricted to only
include the Action Pane, Custom Filter Group, and a grid. When the form
template is set to ListPage, the form cannot have code that is running on the
client. Use these restrictions so that the Shared ListPage Metadata is displayed in
both the client and Enterprise Portal.
Action Pane Strip

The new Action Pane strip control provides an action presentation that resembles
the Microsoft Windows 7 Windows Explorer bar. The Action Pane strip control
can be used at the top of forms that do not have sufficient actions to justify the
use of a full action pane. They are also used within the form to position actions
close to their related records and data fields. The Action Pane strip control uses
the same metadata as a full Action Pane but displays only the first Action Pane
tab. The following illustration shows how an Action Pane strip control can be
seen when the ActionPane.Style property is set to Strip.
FIGURE 1.4 ACTION PANE STRIP
Parts to Provide Fact Boxes

Metadata-based parts can be referenced by forms, by using a PartReference node.
The Fact Box figure shows a Fact Box component that provides information
related to the record displayed by the host form or List Page.
InfoParts: Provide a simplified metadata representation that is fully

supported by both the client and the Enterprise Portal. InfoParts are
limited not allow code to run on the client.
FormParts: Forms to be used as Parts. FormParts have no

limitations with full form metadata and code available. However,
they cannot be rendered by Enterprise Portal and are for client use
only.

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CueParts: Cueparts are a reference to a query and a menu item to

give the user a count from a query that moves the user to a
corresponding List Page or form as denoted by the Menu Item.
CueParts can be grouped by CueGroups to be displayed as Fact
Boxes or in Role Centers.
FIGURE 1.5 FACT BOXES
Preview Panes
The Preview pane component displays more information about the selected
record in a List Page. To add a Preview pane add a PartReference node to the
Form.Parts node of the List Page. To specify a PartReference as the Preview
pane component, set the PartLocation property of the PartReference to
PreviewPane
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Chapter 1: Overview
Fast Tabs
A Fast Tab is a new vertical presentation style for the existing tab control. The
Fast Tabs figure displays an example of the Customer details form. In The
following illustration shows the General fast tab expanded and the Address,
Contact information, Details fast tab, and so on are collapsed. To expand or
collapse a Fast Tab you must click on the header or description of the Fast Tab.
FIGURE 1.6 FAST TABS
Fast Tabs are used in the Windows 7 and Microsoft Office when lots of data
must be displayed in a highly accessible way. Fast Tabs display tab pages in a
vertical sliding way to activate the options in the following list:
More than one tab page can be displayed at a time.
Longer, more explanatory tab page names are provided to the user.
The display of summary fields that give the user information from
the tab page without having to be expanded.
Fast Tabs are used extensively in Details forms and Simple List and Details form
patterns. Fast Tabs can be seen when the Tab.Style property is set to Fast Tabs.
Summary fields are displayed without labels. Therefore, the visual noise is
reduced but labels are available when you rest the mouse pointer over them.
Summary fields can be specified by setting the FastTabSummary property on a
control within the tab page, or ideally by adding a field to the AutoSummary
group on a table so that the field is made into a summary field when it is
positioned in a Fast Tab page.

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Document View
The concept of a document view is introduced into client forms to provide
developers and users the ability to have a read-only representation of data that
reduces the risk of accidental changes.
Developers can permanently set the mode for a control or a control container by
using the ViewEditMode property at design time. You can also indicate the
initial mode to open a form by using the OpenMode property on a Menu Item or
MenuItemButton.
Users can switch the mode of the form between View and Edit by using the Edit
record button in the status bar, the Edit record option in the Jewel menu, or the
corresponding keyboard shortcut (Ctrl+Shift+E). Users have personalization
options to specify the mode that their forms open in. They can use the User
options (Tools > Options) form to specify a default View or Edit mode for all
forms. You can personalize individual forms to specify the default View or Edit
mode for that form.
Grid Check Boxes

In earlier releases, the gray box-shaped row labels were displayed on the left side
of each grid row. Now they are replaced with grid check boxes that are similar to
those found in Windows Explorer in Windows 7. Grid check boxes are a visible
indication to users, that they can select multiple records and even select all
records, if it is necessary. The appearance and behavior of these grid check boxes
are controlled by using the same Grid.RowLabels and Grid.MultiSelect
properties that controlled the gray box-shaped row labels that they are replacing.
FIGURE 1.7 GRID CHECK BOXES
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Chapter 1: Overview
Enhanced Previews
When a user moved their mouse pointer over a field in earlier versions of
Microsoft Dynamics AX, a tooltip was displayed that provided the user a one- or
two-field preview of that record. Those previews are improved to make them
more visible, available on any grid row, and available, as specified by
developers, on other fields.
FIGURE 1.8 ENHANCED PREVIEW
Improved previews are displayed to the user when they rest the mouse pointer
over any foreign key field or over any control on which the developer has set the
Control.PreviewPartRef property to point to a Part (InfoPart or FormPart). You
can specify a customized improved preview for a table foreign key field by
pointing the Table.PreviewPartRef property to point to a Part.
Segmented Entry Control

Segmented entry control simplifies the task of entering complex account and
dimension combinations. The following list describes how account and
dimension data entry is improved.
A simple cheat sheet window shows the user-defined title for each
segment.
Recent values entered by the user for the current segment are
displayed.
A lookup window lets the user select from a list of valid values or all
values for the current segment.
Instance specific options for a control include the ability to turn off
the recent entries window.

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The ability to show only abbreviated values (six characters) for nonfocused segments.
To provide improved readability, both the cheat sheet and lookup

windows open up aligned to the currently focused segment.
FIGURE 1.9 DIMENSION ENTRY DISPLAY
Managed Control Host

In Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009, you had the ability to extend the user interface
by adding an ActiveX control. Support for external controls is extended by
adding support for both .NET managed controls and WPF controls, through the
use of the Managed Control Host in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012. Managed
controls are hosted using the Microsoft Dynamics AX ManagedHost control. The
ManagedHost adds a window to your form in which the control resides. To add a
ManagedHost control to the design node of the form, open the form in the
Application Object Tree (AOT), and then right-click Design > New Control >
ManagedHost.
Your code experience using a Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) or
Managed WinForms control will be similar to your experience in Visual Studio.
You will have an instance of your control in X++ where you can set properties,
call methods, and use an X++ event handler for the events raised by the control.
Other New Client Functionality

The following information describes other features that are added to improve the
user experience:
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Controls and menu items can use metadata properties to

automatically disable or hide based on country/region context. This
means that fields or navigation applicable for a specific
country/region will not be available when they do not apply.
Forms used to save as a whole object, but now they save at child
element levels, like Tables and Classes. This reduces metadata
conflicts when merging solutions into a single layer.
Forms support exporting changes from a single layer such as Tables

and Classes.
The CueGroup and InfoPart model concepts use granular metadata

and layer export such as classes and tables.

Chapter 1: Overview
The Filter-by-Grid, Filter-by-Field, Field-by-Value, Filter-bySelection, and Advanced Filter dialog boxes support filtering on
outer joined fields by using the WHERE clause instead of the ON
clause.
The Display Menu Items support referencing a query that is applied

to the target form when it is opened. In the model, this provides a
way to create secondary List Pages without using the wrapper class.
Organization Model
Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 introduces new organizational modeling
capabilities, which will help to make your organization structure easier to
manage by providing the following benefits.
More organization types
Security more independent of the organization structure
Addition of organization hierarchy
Data sharing between organizations
About Organizations and Organizational Hierarchies

An organization is a group of people working together to carry out a business
process or to achieve a goal. Organizational hierarchies represent the
relationships between the organizations that comprise your business. In Microsoft
Dynamics AX 2012, you can define two types of organizations: legal entities and
operating units.
Legal Entities
A legal entity is an organization that is identified through a registration with a
legal authority. Legal entities can enter into contracts and are required to prepare
statements that report on their performance.
A company is a type of legal entity. For this release, companies are the only type
of legal entity that you can create in Microsoft Dynamics AX. Every legal entity
record is associated with a company ID. This is because the data security for
many tables in Microsoft Dynamics AX is still based on company ID.
Operating Units
An operating unit is an organization that is used to divide the control of economic
resources and operational processes in a business. People in an operating unit
have a duty to maximize the use of scarce resources, to improve processes, and to
account for their performance.

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In Microsoft Dynamics AX, operating unit types include cost center, business
unit, value stream, and department. For more information about each operating
unit type, refer to the following table.
Operating Unit
Type
Description
Cost center
An operating unit whose managers are accountable for

budgeted and actual expenditures.
Business unit
A semi-autonomous operating unit that is created to meet

strategic business objectives.
Value stream
An operating unit that controls one or more production

flows.
Department
An operating unit that represents a category or functional

part of an organization that performs a specific task, such
as sales or accounting.
NOTE: In addition to legal entities and operating units, you can create teams as
a part of the organizational structure.
A team is an organization whose members share a common responsibility,
interest, or objective. For more information about teams, refer to the Human
Capital Management documentation. Teams cannot be used in organizational
hierarchies.
NOTE: Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 supports the financial statement with
balance sheet only for a legal entity. For example, if you are using a new
operating unit type, such as business unit, or a custom operating unit type like
branch, Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 does not support the creation of a balance
sheet by those types of organizations.
Organizational Hierarchies
Set up organizational hierarchies to view and report on different perspectives of
your business. For example, you might set up a hierarchy of legal entities for tax,
legal, or statutory reporting. Set up a hierarchy based on operating units to report
financial information that is not legally required, but is used for internal
reporting. For example, you might create a purchase hierarchy to control
purchasing policies, rules, and business processes.
Organizations in a hierarchy can share parameters, policies, and transactions. An
organization can inherit or override the parameters of its parent organization.
However, shared master datasuch as products, address books, and currencies
is organization-wide, and cannot be overridden for individual organizations.
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Chapter 1: Overview
There are several steps involved with creating the organizational hierarchy.
1.
2.
3.
4.
Create organizations including legal entities and operating units.

Create a new hierarchy.
Assign a purpose to the hierarchy.
Add organizations to the hierarchy.
The Organizational Hierarchy figure displays an example of an organization

chart for Contoso.
FIGURE 1.10 ORGANIZATIONAL HIERARCHY
Organizational Hierarchy Purposes

Before adding organizations to a hierarchy, you should select a purpose for the
hierarchy. The purpose that you select determines the types of organizations that
can be included in the hierarchy. The following table shows the organization
types that are allowed by the default hierarchy purposes.
Hierarchy purposes
Organizational types allowed
Procurement internal control
All
Expenditure internal control
All
Organization chart
Departments
Signature authority internal control
Legal entities
Vendor payment internal control
All

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Hierarchy purposes
Organizational types allowed
Audit internal control
Legal entities
Security
All
Help System
A new Help system is used to supply Help documentation for the application and
development workspaces. You can add new help content by adding properly
formatted HTML files to the help server. No compilation, rebuilding, or AOT
deployments are necessary to add Help documentation.
Help System Features

The following list describes the features of the new Help system.
New HTML-based help content is provided by a single deployment

to the help server.
AOT changes are not required to add or change content.
Modifications can be displayed side by side with existing content, or

you can replace content supplied by other publishers.
Updates to Microsoft Dynamics AX content will not affect content

published by an Independent Software Vendor (ISV) or a customer.
Feature parity in content enables any publisher to use label

replacement, integrated search, and other features of the Help
system.
Microsoft Office Add-Ins

Now, business users that use Microsoft Office Add-ins in Microsoft Dynamics
AX 2012 can interact with data in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012. For example,
in earlier releases of Microsoft Dynamics AX, users could only export data out of
Microsoft Dynamics AX. In Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012, the Microsoft Office
add-ins lets a user export and import data. The four main uses for the Microsoft
Add-ins are as follows:
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Lightweight reporting: From any grid in the client or Enterprise

Portal, export data, extend and build upon it in Excel, then update as
conditions change.
Editing data in Excel: Update Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 data

by using the Excel add-ins.

Chapter 1: Overview
Import data using Excel: Excel can be used as a template to gather

reference and master data to be imported into Microsoft Dynamics
AX 2012.
Templates and documents: Incorporate Microsoft Dynamics AX

2012 data in Word or Excel documents (for example: collection
letter, quotation, sales forecast, project forecast, aging report, and so
on).
The following sections provide more information about each feature of the
Microsoft Office add-ins.
Lightweight Reporting
The Excel add-ins provide a lightweight reporting solution. Microsoft Dynamics
AX 2012 users have an export to Excel option in list pages from the client or
Enterprise Portal. When the data is in Excel additional columns can be added,
filters can be added, and data can be refreshed to populate those columns. With
the data in Excel it can be manipulated using Excel options including: adding
calculated columns, creating pivot tables, adding conditional formatting, and so
on. The features of using the Microsoft Office Add-ins as a lightweight reporting
tool include the following:
Exports can be created from any list page or grid in the client or
Enterprise Portal.
Exports can be extended with additional data.

o
For example: Phyllis, the Accounting Manager, needs a list of all

customers and the customer group they are in. Customer group is
not included on the customer export to Excel, but can be added.
Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 style query filters can be added to

limit data being passed to Excel from Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012.
Export can be refreshed as conditions change.
Columns not bound to data in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012

(Unbound columns) can be added to the Excel spreadsheets.
Office integration can now export to the Terminal Services Client

computer.
Edit Data in Excel

Using the Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 Office Add-ins any data published as an
available service can be edited. To do this connect to an AOS, specify a
document service, drag the fields of interest onto the excel workbook, update
data to populate the workbook, edit the workbook, and then click update data.
The features of editing data in Excel include the following:
Connection management is used to define the connection between

Excel, and the Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 AOS.
Real time data integration from Microsoft Office.

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Document services integration.

o
Information from any Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 service can

be read, updated, and sent to Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 with
full security and business logic intact.
Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 Office Add-ins uses lookups and

query infrastructure from Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012.
Matrix fields can be defined to aggregate data.

o
When matrix fields are updated the value is incremented equally

among the records making up the aggregate.
Improved Export to Excel for Remote Desktop Services

Many implementations use hosting on a Remote Desktop Server (earlier known
as Terminal Server). In Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009, when you exported grid
data to Excel by using the Export to Excel option in the Action Pane, the Excel
data would be exported to a copy of Microsoft Office Excel hosted alongside the
Microsoft Dynamics AX client. In that scenario, you could not manage the data
on your local computer, and would have to save the Excel worksheet and copy it
to your local computer. By default in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012, the Export
to Excel option will export the Microsoft Office Excel data to your local
computer. The option exists to direct the export to the hosted copy of Microsoft
Office Excel.
Import Data Using Excel

Data model changes in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 have made some imports
more complex, especially those that use the global address book. A list of how
Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 Office Add-ins simplifies these processes follows.
Imports to multiple related tables are simplified by using AIF

document services.
o
Data imports can be done either interactively or published to a folder

for an Integration port to detect.
o
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For example: when you enter a customer, both the customer and
party information are in a single Excel list object, validation is
performed, default data is populated, and record ID "patching"
happens automatically.
Interactive data import allows for synchronous interaction with

Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012. This is a simpler mode of
operation, but can be slow for large imports.
Data import through publishing to a folder provides an
asynchronous import where AIF inbound ports can be used to
scale out performance. Additionally the Excel client will be
responsive as soon as it generates files telling Microsoft
Dynamics AX 2012 what to update, not when the update is
completed.

Chapter 1: Overview
Data imports can be brought offline, and lookups can be performed

against local caches.
o
For example: if customer groups and customers are in the same

Excel template, and a new customer group is created, and it can
be referenced by the customer, then both tables can be
imported/updated.
Templates and Documents

Office templates let you incorporate Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 data in Word
or Excel documents, and they are now extended in Microsoft Dynamics AX
2012. They support a header line pattern, support drag-and-drop fields, previews,
and are easier to localize for different languages.
Header line pattern is supported.

o
o
Microsoft Office Add-ins are extended to use the Word table

construct so that elements can be repeated.
For example: A collection letter is authored by using a Word
table to show a list of overdue invoices that grows based on the
number of invoices in the notice.
Localization is simplified.
o
Document properties in Microsoft Office are used to locate the

correct document based on the user locale or programming
settings.
For example: A German collection letter is sent to a German
customer, and an English collection letter is sent to an English
customer.
Drag-and-drop designer activates the content controls to be visible

on a document surface.
Previews are available through Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 Office

Add-ins to let the designer see what the final documents will look
like without having to associate a document with a process then
generate that document in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012.
Install Office Add-ins

Use the Microsoft Office Add-ins for Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 to integrate
the Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 client with Microsoft Excel or Microsoft
Word. When you install the Microsoft Office Add-ins, a new Microsoft
Dynamics AX contextual tab is created on the ribbon in Excel and Word. The
user can use the controls on this tab to create and update data in an Excel
spreadsheet or a Word document.

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Work Items
The concept of work item queues is introduced in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012
to provide an alternative assignment and management model for task elements in
workflows. Workflow tasks can now be managed by a team by using a shared
work list.
If you use either internal teams, or external partner organizations, to process
business transactions, such as purchase requisitions, purchase orders, or new
vendor justifications using workflow, you might have to set up work item queues
to help these teams manage the flow of the transactions as they come in from
your company and as they are processed by the appropriate organization. The
work item queue provides the infrastructure needed to perform the following
tasks:
Users belonging to a queue can claim work items that are not
assigned to anyone else and take the available workflow actions on
the work items in the queue.
Users can reassign work items from one work item queue to another
work item queue within the same work item queue group.
Queue owners can reassign work items from one queue user to
another queue user within the same work item queue group.
Procedure: Create a Work Item Queue

To use work item queues, you must follow these steps:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
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Create a queue for a specific document type.

Assign the queue to a queue group.
Add users to the queue.
Activate the queue.
Create a workflow and add a task element.
Set up the assignment to a specific queue. Then, when a record of
that document type is submitted to workflow, a work item will be
created and assigned to the queue.

Chapter 1: Overview
Document Handling
Document handling is improved in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 to include
support for URLs and a document file web service.
Document Type URL

The following improvements can ease the document handling process for
companies that are geographically dispersed and that want to maintain their
paper-based documents in one location:
A URL can be attached to a transaction and a workflow definition

can be configured to route paper-based document files for review.
A new document file web service is added that can be used to

retrieve document file metadata and route the data to the appropriate
parties by using workflow.
Document data can be entered, and the document file can be attached
to the new transaction. This creates an audit trail for the original
document.
Alerts
You can set up alert rules that can react to all data within Microsoft Dynamics
AX 2012 and are not restricted to a single legal entity. When you set up an alert
rule, it will be automatically associated with a company if the data is specific to a
company.
Alerts Features
Alerts are re-factored in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 to work with the new
organization model, financial dimensions framework, and relational database
schema changes. Changes to alerts include the following:
Alert rules are created at the company level if the data is associated
with a company.
Alerts number sequence setup is included in Organization

administration > Setup > Application parameters.
Global Address Book

Address reference data, that includes country/region codes, states, counties,
ZIP/Postal Codes, city, district, and address formats, are changed from companyspecific data to global data in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012. This means, they
are defined one time for the system and not one time for each company.

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Address Transition
In Microsoft Dynamics AX 4.0 all the data associated to an entity's address was
stored in the entity table. For example, the table for customer (CustTable) stored
the name, address, and contact information.
In Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009, the global address book was introduced, which
lead to a transition to a common repository of this data. While the address
information was still stored in the entity tables, it was synchronized to the global
address book tables.
In Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012, the transition is complete by removing the
synchronization and duplicate fields from the entity tables. Address data is stored
in the common address book tables.
Data Normalization
The majority of transactions and journals have address information for example:
sales orders have delivery addresses, and invoices have billing addresses. In
earlier versions of Microsoft Dynamics AX the address was usually stored on the
header and each line for each transaction. It was also stored with the journals or
packing slips that were generated from the transaction.
This pattern caused significant repetition of data. For example, entering a 10-line
quotation and moving it step-by-step to an invoice meant the same address could
be stored 88 times. In Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012, address duplication is
reduced by storing the address one time and having each transaction or journal
table reference the address record.
Address Defaulting
An address defaulting methodology is also implemented that lets users select
which address should be used as the default for a transaction. The customer,
vendor, company information, and prospect forms let the user specify a default
address for a specific purpose. Depending on the transaction, there are different
defaulting flows for addresses.
Global Address Book Import

Addresses in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 are now normalized. This means that
to import data with an address both the address and data tables need to be
updated. The Microsoft Dynamics AX Import/Export tool examines each table
independently. Therefore, it has problems when it is loading nested and related
tables.
To resolve this, Application Integration Framework (AIF) document services are
updated in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 to correctly import to the global
address book. The Microsoft Dynamics AX add-in for Excel is added to simplify
calling the AIF document service.
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Chapter 1: Overview
Code Upgrade
Developers that must perform a code upgrade for existing applications should
first try to identify all references to the defined code patterns and then follow the
instructions in the related sections to upgrade their code. The code upgrade can
be done in any sequence but in the end, the following steps are required.
Identify the pattern your code uses today.
Add new fields in data model to represent new foreign keys to party.
Add "DEL_" to the old foreign key fields.
Create a data upgrade script to populate the new fields from the old.
Update the user interface to use the new control appropriate for the
pattern defined. The new controls will take advantage of the new
foreign keys that you added to your data model.
Update the references and business logic in your X++ classes and
table methods to use the new code patterns defined in the defined
patterns section of this document.
Update existing reports to use the new data model including the
specific views created for reporting.
Microsoft provides code upgrade documents for each module in PartnerSource.

These documents describe in detail how to implement a module, such as Global
Address Book (GAB), and how to upgrade the code to the new Microsoft
Dynamics AX 2012 coding patterns.
SQL Server-Based Model Store

The AOD files that were used in earlier releases of Microsoft Dynamics AX are
replaced in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 with components called model files
(identified by the *.axmodel extension) in a SQL Server database that is named
the model store.
If customizations have been made to the Microsoft Dynamics AX source system,
you must create the model store when you install Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012.
You will then copy the AOD files from the source system into the application
directory in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012. You will then use the Import AOD
file tool to import the customized AOD files into the model store. During the
code upgrade, the old model files will be compared to the data model in
Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012. This lets you discover and resolve code conflicts
between the source and target systems.

1-21
Summary
Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 helps mid-sized organizations and entities of large
enterprises address the challenges of operating in a fast changing global
economy.
The Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 delivers functionality that is relevant and
necessary for organizations by adding functionality to help ensure they have
productive people, adaptable business processes, and a connected ecosystem.
The Overview chapter covered several high level improvements including the
following:
1-22
User Interface Elements
Organizational Model
Help System
Microsoft Office Add-Ins
Work Items
Document Handling
Alerts
Global Address Book
Code Upgrade

Chapter 1: Overview
Test Your Knowledge

Test your knowledge with the following questions.
1. Match the terms on the left with their purpose on the right:
_____ 1. Jewel
Menu
_____ 2.
Navigation Pane
_____ 3. Status
Bar
_____ 4. Action
Pane Strip
_____ 5. Fact
Boxes
_____ 6. Fast
Tabs
_____ 7. Grid
Check Boxes
a. Provides access to actions that were previously at

the top of each form in a toolbar.
b. Replaces the Microsoft Dynamics AX menu
c. A visible indication to users that they can select
multiple records or even select all records.
d. Used at the top of the forms that do not have
sufficient actions to justify the use of a full action
pane.
e. Provides information related to the record displayed
by the host form or List Page.
f. A new vertical presentation style.
g. Displays Favorites, Places, and Forms in a single
pane that flows and scrolls as one unit.
Fill in the blanks to test your knowledge of this section.

2. Replaces the companies that were used in previous versions. _____
3. Used to divide the control of economic resources and operational processes
in a business. _____
4. A semi-autonomous operating unit that is created to meet strategic business
objectives. _____
5. Represents a category or functional part of an organization that performs a
specific task. _____
6. An operating unit whose managers are accountable for budgeted and actual
expenditures. _____
7. An operating unit that controls one or more production flows. _____
8. An organization whose members share a common responsibility, interest, or
objective. _____

1-23

9. Which of the following is not a feature or benefit of the new Help system?
( ) HTML-based content is published by a single deployment to the help
server.
( ) AOT changes are required to add or modify content.
( ) Updates to Microsoft Dynamics AX content will not affect content
published by an ISV or a customer.
( ) Feature parity in content allows any publisher to use label
system.
10. Which of the following is not supported by the Microsoft Office Add-Ins?
(Select all that apply)
( ) Importing and exporting data using Excel
( ) Importing and exporting data using Word
( ) Use of templates with Excel
( ) Use of templates with Word
11. Which of the following are benefits of the work item queue feature: (Select
all that apply)
( ) Users belonging to a queue can claim work items that are not assigned
to anyone else and take the configured workflow actions on the work
items in the queue.
( ) Lets users reassign work items from one work item queue to another
( ) Queue owners can reassign work items from one queue user to
another work item queue.
12. TRUE or FALSE: You can attach a URL to a transaction and configure a
workflow definition to route paper-based document files for review.
( ) TRUE
( ) FALSE
13. Select the features that alerts have been re-factored to work with Alerts.
( ) Organization model
( ) Financial dimension framework
( ) Relational database schema changes
( ) Document handling
14. The global address book prevents all duplicate data throughout the system.
( ) True
( ) False
1-24

Chapter 1: Overview
15. Describe the process that must be followed when you have made
customizations to the Microsoft Dynamics AX source system for upgrading
the code.

1-25
Quick Interaction: Lessons Learned

Take a moment and write down three key points you have learned from this
chapter
1.
2.
3.
1-26

Chapter 1: Overview
Solutions
Test Your Knowledge
1. Match the terms on the left with their purpose on the right:
b 1. Jewel
Menu
g 2.
Navigation Pane
a 3. Status
Bar
d 4. Action
Pane Strip
e 5. Fact
Boxes
f 6. Fast Tabs
c 7. Grid
Check Boxes
a. Provides access to actions that were previously at

the top of each form in a toolbar.
b. Replaces the Microsoft Dynamics AX menu
c. A visible indication to users that they can select
multiple records or even select all records.
d. Used at the top of the forms that do not have
sufficient actions to justify the use of a full action
pane.
e. Provides information related to the record displayed
by the host form or List Page.
f. A new vertical presentation style.
g. Displays Favorites, Places, and Forms in a single
pane that flows and scrolls as one unit.
Fill in the blanks to test your knowledge of this section.

2. Replaces the companies that were used in previous versions.
Legal Entity
3. Used to divide the control of economic resources and operational processes

in a business. Operating Unit
4. A semi-autonomous operating unit that is created to meet strategic business
objectives. Business Unit
5. Represents a category or functional part of an organization that performs a
specific task. Department
6. An operating unit whose managers are accountable for budgeted and actual
expenditures. Cost Center
7. An operating unit that controls one or more production flows.
Stream
Value
8. An organization whose members share a common responsibility, interest, or

objective. Team

1-27

9. Which of the following is not a feature or benefit of the new Help system?
( ) HTML-based content is published by a single deployment to the help
server.
() AOT changes are required to add or modify content.
( ) Updates to Microsoft Dynamics AX content will not affect content
published by an ISV or a customer.
( ) Feature parity in content allows any publisher to use label
system.
10. Which of the following is not supported by the Microsoft Office Add-Ins?
( ) Importing and exporting data using Excel
() Importing and exporting data using Word
( ) Use of templates with Excel
( ) Use of templates with Word
11. Which of the following are benefits of the work item queue feature: (Select
all that apply)
() Users belonging to a queue can claim work items that are not
assigned to anyone else and take the configured workflow actions on
the work items in the queue.
() Lets users reassign work items from one work item queue to another
another work item queue.
() Queue owners can reassign work items from one queue user to
12. TRUE or FALSE: You can attach a URL to a transaction and configure a
workflow definition to route paper-based document files for review.
() TRUE
( ) FALSE
13. Select the features that alerts have been re-factored to work with Alerts.
() Organization model
() Financial dimension framework
() Relational database schema changes
( ) Document handling
1-28

Chapter 1: Overview
14. The global address book prevents all duplicate data throughout the system.
( ) True
() False
15. Describe the process that must be followed when you have made
customizations to the Microsoft Dynamics AX source system for upgrading
the code.
MODEL ANSWER:
1.) You must create the model store when you install Microsoft Dynamics
AX 2012
2.) Copy the AOD files from the source system into the application directory
in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012.
3.) Use the Import AOD file tool to import the customized AOD files into the
model store.

1-29
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Chapter 1: Overview

Describe the new interface elements in Microsoft Dynamics AX.

Describe changes to the organization model.

Use and update the help system.

Describe the Microsoft Office Add-Ins in Microsoft Dynamics AX.

View work items that are based on specific business documents in

Review improvements made to the document handling feature in

Set up alert rules to work across all organizational structures.

Review the code upgrade process.

Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 value proposition

Simplifying the complete application life cycle of Microsoft

Improving financial capabilities to support companies who operate in

Adding more industry-enabling functionality for target industries.

Microsoft Official Training Materials for Microsoft Dynamics

What's New - Technical in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 for Development

Providing best practices in areas such as supplier relationship

Supporting new online services, such as site services for case

Part of the Role Tailored design strategy in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 is to

New User Interface Elements

Microsoft Official Training Materials for Microsoft Dynamics

FIGURE 1.1 JEWEL MENU

Microsoft Official Training Materials for Microsoft Dynamics

What's New - Technical in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 for Development

FIGURE 1.2 NAVIGATION PANE

FIGURE 1.3 STATUS BAR

Microsoft Official Training Materials for Microsoft Dynamics

Action Pane Strip

FIGURE 1.4 ACTION PANE STRIP

Parts to Provide Fact Boxes

InfoParts: Provide a simplified metadata representation that is fully

FormParts: Forms to be used as Parts. FormParts have no

Microsoft Official Training Materials for Microsoft Dynamics

What's New - Technical in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 for Development

CueParts: Cueparts are a reference to a query and a menu item to

FIGURE 1.5 FACT BOXES

Microsoft Official Training Materials for Microsoft Dynamics

FIGURE 1.6 FAST TABS

More than one tab page can be displayed at a time.

Microsoft Official Training Materials for Microsoft Dynamics

What's New - Technical in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 for Development

Grid Check Boxes

FIGURE 1.7 GRID CHECK BOXES

Microsoft Official Training Materials for Microsoft Dynamics

FIGURE 1.8 ENHANCED PREVIEW

Segmented Entry Control

Microsoft Official Training Materials for Microsoft Dynamics

What's New - Technical in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 for Development

To provide improved readability, both the cheat sheet and lookup

FIGURE 1.9 DIMENSION ENTRY DISPLAY

Managed Control Host

Other New Client Functionality

Controls and menu items can use metadata properties to

Forms support exporting changes from a single layer such as Tables

The CueGroup and InfoPart model concepts use granular metadata

Microsoft Official Training Materials for Microsoft Dynamics

The Display Menu Items support referencing a query that is applied

More organization types

Security more independent of the organization structure

Addition of organization hierarchy

Data sharing between organizations

About Organizations and Organizational Hierarchies

Microsoft Official Training Materials for Microsoft Dynamics