Reverse Engineering Microsoft Dynamics AX

The Reverse Engineering tool is a feature newly added to the integrated development environment (IDE) of Microsoft Dynamics AX. This tool replaces Visual MorphXplorer which has been removed in version 4.0.

As the name suggest, this tool helps us retrieve detail information on the structures and relationships of Microsoft Dynamics AX objects. The retrieved information is transformed to a visually readable format in Microsoft Office Visio UML model. Technically, Dynamics AX will create a Microsoft Office Visio Drawing file (.vsd) using the Visio application component and construct a UML model with Visio UML add-on programmatically. Therefore you will need Microsoft Office Visio 2003 or greater with Visio UML model installed in order to use this tool.

Scoping Your Model

Naturally scoping required to create useful models. This allows us the flexibility to define what we want to include. In my opinion, a model of the complete Dynamics AX application would be too huge to be useful if not too time consuming to generate and maintain.

Dynamics AX Reverse Engineering tool scopes the model through development projects either private or shared. So you must first create a project and include the elements that you would like in your model in the project in order to generate a model.

Types of Model

This tool is capable of generating two types of model; data model and object model. Let's see what does these models capture and how do they differ.

Data model mainly captures tables. Tables within the project as well as tables referenced by them are included in the model. Tables within the project are grouped by the AX TableGroup property. They are organized under groups named Main, Group, Miscellaneous, Parameter, Transaction, WorksheetHEader and WorksheetLine. Referred tables will be placed under the group External Classes.

You will also find relevant information such as fields and its data type, indexes, and relationship of each table in the generated model. The data type of these fields is modeled in Dynamics AX Extended Data Type. Dynamics AX Extended Data Type used by the model is included under the group External Data Type. This is the same for Dynamics AX Base Enums. The referenced enumeration with their members is captured under group Base Enums.

Due to the use of Visio UML model, each of these tables will be represented by a class and fields are modeled as attributes. However, table method is not included here. Table method is an important feature of Dynamics AX development platform but methods are not quite relevant for data model.

Those that would like to have the methods included could use the object model instead. However, that model will not have data model information such as relationship and index.

Object model will capture classes, tables, and interfaces relevant to the project. This includes referenced objects as well. Tables and classes within the project are generated under the main group without further grouping. Referenced objects are placed under group External Classes just like Data Model.

The properties and methods of the classes are modeled as attributes and methods in the class diagrams. Table entities are modeled the same way too. Information synonymous to object model such as class extends another class, class implementation of an interface and call between classes are found in this model.

Data type that the properties and methods uses in the form of Dynamics AX Extended Data Type are included in the model under Extended Data Type group. The same happens to Base Enums.

The table generated in Object Model will have table methods modeled as method unlike those in Data Model. Since this is an object model, you will not find information such as field index and table relationship in this model.

Information	Data model	Object model
Tables	Yes	Yes
Related tables	Yes	Yes
Table fields	Yes	Yes
Table methods	No	Yes
Table group property	Yes	No
Field index	Yes	No
Classes	No	Yes
Referenced classes	No	Yes
Extended Data Types	Yes	Yes
Base Enums	Yes	Yes
X++ Data Types	Yes	Yes

How to Generate

This feature is only accessible through the context menu. The following are the steps to generate a UML model using this tool.

1. Create a project and move the elements you would like in the model into this project.
2. Right click on the project and select Add-Ins>Reverse Engineer.
3. This will load a form named Visio Reverse Engineering. Enter the path and filename for the Visio drawing file.
4. Select the model you want to generate then press OK. You may generate either data model or object model.

Conclusion

This is good news for those that are already using Microsoft Office Visio for their modeling tasks and is familiar with Visio UML model. I have tried my hands on Visio UML model years ago but have never developed a liking for it.

Those that have already got used to generating data model with Visio Data Model Diagram might find the data model reverse engineering redundant. I agree that Visio Data Model produces excellent model but it reverse engineer at the database level. The challenge with AX is that a lot of information is not implemented at the database. AX relies heavily on extended data type and enumeration implemented at the application level. Another challenge is AX implementation of temporary table which does not appear in the database.

These challenges are addressed with the use of AX Reverse Engineering tool. Field data type will be represented in extended data types. Information regarding extended data types and base enums are included in the model too. Temporary tables could be included in the model. This is something that even the MorphXplorer does not support.

Is this better than MorphXplorer, the tool it replaced? I see much more information compared to MorphXplorer. The outcome is more professional too.

Configure Dynamics Ax Global Search

This feature is not one of those that are well hidden. It has taken over the shortcut key Ctrl+F that used to call up the Filter by field dialog box. You might even have accidentally brought up this attractive feature during system demo. However it does not work out of the box. Let us look at the configuration required

Dynamics Ax Global Search is new feature added to the task pane in Dynamics Ax 4.0. It enables users to search for information without specifying the table and field as opposed to conventional search. Although the name global, it is not as global as you might first thought. The keyword entered is searched through fields across tables you selected only.

The Global Search Task Pane could be brought up in three ways. You could do it by clicking on the Binocular button on the tool bar, selecting the menu Edit > Find, or by pressing the shortcut key Ctrl + F.

The figure on the right illustrates a Global Search pane with result from the keyword "new york". The Categories combo box allows the user to see results from specific tables only. Clicking on the result would open the form of the designated record with the row focused.

Configuration Procedure

There are two components relevant to this feature. You may find both under menu Basic > Setup > Data Crawler. They are Table Setup and Data Crawler Setup. The former defines the table that you would like searchable within Dynamics Ax Global Search. The latter is the crawler that would build up the search index. Search will be performed on this index and not on the actual data itself.

1. Table Setup

This form is found at the main menu Basic > Setup > Data Crawler > Table Setup. This is where you specify the table that you would like searchable under Dynamics Ax Global Search. The following figures show the Table Setup form.

The Incremental checkbox you find on Overview tab indicates that indexing would be done for newly modified record only. This is only applicable for tables with modified date field. It is automatically checked if the table has the field. You are not given an option to check or uncheck this field.

In the tab Text index, you will find the fields added for indexing as well as two columns named Updated date and Updated time. They indicate when is the last time an index has been built for that table. They have impact on tables with Incremental checked. If you add a new field for text indexing after the table has been indexed, the added field will not be indexed until the data is modified. You will have to recreate index to have the field searchable. Recreating index is discussed shortly.

Tables without incremental checked will not face this problem. You may add a field for indexing anytime. The data crawler will pick it up during it subsequent scheduled crawl.

When you add a new table to the list, you will see a dialog box like the one shown above. The system will ask you whether you want to add all text fields to text index. While this facility eases the setup, it could cost some performance running under production environment. Understanding the intention of Global Search for the company and configuring accordingly is advisable.

2. Data Crawler Setup

You could find Data Crawler setup in Basic > Setup > Data Crawler > Data Crawler. This form is use to configure and manage the state of Data Crawler for each company. The following figure shows the Data Crawler Setup form.

You will get the message “The search indexing engine is not started” for every single search you perform if Data Crawler is not started. The result will still be shown but information might not be up to date. This is where you start the data crawler if it is not configured to start automatically.

You may also set the Data Crawler to start automatically. You do so by checking the Start crawler automatically checkbox in this form. You may define the speed of indexing. The speed settings and the description of the amount of resources it will consume are included in the Crawler speed combo box.

This is the place to recreate index too. We have touched one scenario where re-indexing is required in the previous section. You just have to check the Recreate index checkbox prior to starting crawler to rebuild index.

The option to run crawler in foreground is available from here too. This is done by deselecting the Run in background checkbox. However, I have not found a use for this option as starting the crawler with this option will freeze the Dynamics Ax client. Please let us know if you have found the use of this option.

Final Thoughts

When it comes to data search that spans tables, security control is always a concern. This particular feature has to comply with User Group Permissions and Record Level Security to be useful.

Filtering Record in Dynamics Ax

Filtering capability is vital in making huge set of data manageable. Dynamics Ax offers a range of features to filter records.

Filtering data enables users to focus on the subset of data relevant to their intended task. Dynamics Ax offers three ways to filter at its user interface. This is consistent across the whole system. In case there are needs for more specialized filtering, you may engineer them with X++.

Advanced Filter

This filtering option allows you to construct a query to filter records. You may access this feature by pressing Ctrl+F3 or selecting the Advanced Filter/Sort button on the toolbar. You will be presented with the Inquiry form. This form has an interface that is used in many occasions where filtering is applicable. You may define criteria in any field from the tables relevant to the form you are working on. This option allows multiple criteria on a single field. The following figure shows the familiar Inquiry form used for Advanced Filter.

This feature might be the most complete filtering option on Dynamics Ax user interface but it requires a little learning curve. It is not as intuitive as the other options where you work directly on the form. The user has to know the name of the field she wants to set filtering criteria.

Having said so, the other methods we will visit shortly sort of fills up this Inquiry form for the user. The user is presented with a more intuitive way of entering filter criteria.

Filter by Grid

This filtering option presents a way to enter criteria at the top of the grid. Criteria could be set for multiple columns and the result fulfills all criteria. The following figure illustrates the Filter by Grid feature. This feature however can only filter base on fields in a grid.

When you press the button at the side of the filter column, you will see a drop down list with a wealth of criteria type. Selecting these criteria type would append the syntax for the type. This exposes the choices of criteria at the fingertip. Once you have used to it however, you shall find typing on your own works more efficiently. We will discuss each type in a later section as they are applicable for other filtering options as well.

Filter by Field

This filtering option is accessible from the context menu on form itself. It is applicable to any field on the form by pressing the menu or right clicking on the field. The following figure shows the context menu for field Customer account in Sales order form. The menu items Filter By Field and Filter By Selection are where you access this filtering feature.

Selecting Filter By Field will bring up a dialog box for you to fill in the filter criteria. The format of criteria is consistent with those in other search and will be discuss in greater detail later.

Filter By Selection will filter the record with the value of the field you selected. It is a Filter By Field with the value inserted for you.

Saving Filter Criteria

The ability to save filtering criteria is useful when the user has a few repetitive tasks that require different subset of records. Saving of filtering criteria could be done for all methods stated above. You could do so through the context menu (see figure above) as well as the Advanced Filter Inquiry form. Use Save filter As to create a new entry whereas use Save filter to save modification on an existing query.

On top of that, there will also be an auto saved query named Previously used query. The last defined filter will be saved under this name. This happened to all the filtering methods mentioned above.

Criteria Format

The filter criteria formats are base on a few elements. The following describe the elements and the special character.

Character	Description
*	Could be substituted by any zero or more characters in a string.
?	Could be substituted by one character.
!	Exclude.
..	Inclusive range. A .. B - between A and B inclusive of A and B. A .. - greater than or equal to A .. A - less than or equal to A
<	Less than.
>	Greater than.

The following table shows the construct of the criteria formats we saw in the Filter by Grid context menu earlier. As you can see, they are a combination of one or more elements from the table above. Much more formats are possible by combining more of these elements.

Criteria Type	Format
Contains	*[text]*
Does not contain	!*[text]*
Starts with	[text]*
Ends with	*[text]
Is (exactly)	[text]
Is not	![text]
More than	>[text]
Less than	<[text]
More or equal	[text]..
Less or equal	..[text]

Final Thoughts

Technically, filtering is performed at the form data source level. Additional options are more towards user interface enhancement. More intuitive ways are definitely possible with some creativity.