Turn Off Indexes in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central v28

In version 28 of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, Microsoft introduced a powerful database optimization feature that allows administrators to disable non-unique indexes with low usage.

This capability provides greater control over database performance, storage usage, and write operations, especially in environments with large datasets and high transaction volumes.

Why Index Optimization Matters

Indexes improve query performance, but every index also introduces maintenance overhead.

Whenever records are inserted, updated, or deleted, the SQL engine must also update all associated indexes.

In high-transaction systems such as inventory, warehouse, and manufacturing operations, unnecessary indexes can lead to:

  • Slower posting performance
  • Increased SQL storage consumption
  • Higher index maintenance cost
  • Longer backup and restore time

By allowing administrators to disable rarely used indexes, Business Central now provides more flexibility to tune database performance.

How to Disable an Index

To disable an index, follow these steps:

  1. Open Table Information in Business Central.
  2. Click on Table No
  3. It will open Table Data Management Card
  4. Clear the Enabled in Database checkbox.

Once disabled, the index is immediately removed from active maintenance, meaning the database engine no longer updates it during data modifications.

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Index Types That Cannot Be Disabled

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These indexes are essential for system functionality and consistency, so they cannot be turned off.

Activation Behavior

Index management behaves differently depending on the operation.

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The delayed activation for enabling indexes prevents heavy index rebuild operations during working hours.

Technical Impact on Performance

1. Faster Write Operations

Each index must be updated when records change.Disabling unused indexes reduces the number of updates required, resulting in faster:

2. Reduced SQL Storage Consumption

Indexes can consume a significant portion of database storage. In large systems with millions of records, removing unnecessary indexes can free several gigabytes of space.

3. Better Performance During High Transactions

Environments with high transaction volumes, such as:

  • Manufacturing
  • Retail
  • E-commerce integrations
  • Warehouse management

can benefit from reduced index overhead during posting.

For example:

When posting thousands of item journal lines, fewer indexes mean less SQL maintenance work.

4. Improved SQL Maintenance Operations

Large numbers of indexes increase the workload for:

  • SQL statistics updates
  • Index rebuilds
  • Database maintenance jobs

By disabling unused indexes, administrators can reduce maintenance windows and resource consumption.

The ability to turn off non-unique indexes per company in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central v28 is a valuable addition for system administrators and technical consultants.

It provides greater flexibility in optimizing database performance, storage usage, and transaction throughput, especially in large Business Central environments.

When used carefully with proper analysis, this feature can significantly improve system efficiency and operational performance.

Approval Workflows for Item Journals in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central

With the latest updates in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, Item Journals now support approval workflows, bringing the same level of control that previously existed only for General Journal batches.

This feature introduces stronger governance and internal control for inventory transactions, ensuring that critical stock movements are reviewed before being posted.

Why This Feature Matters

Inventory transactions such as adjustments, consumption, or production output directly impact stock valuation and financial reporting.

Without an approval process, users could accidentally or intentionally post incorrect entries.

The new approval workflow capability for Item Journals helps organizations:

  • Enforce inventory control policies
  • Prevent unauthorized postings
  • Improve audit compliance
  • Reduce operational errors

Journals That Support Approval Workflows

Approval workflows can now be applied to the following journals:

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How the Approval Process Works

When a user submits a journal batch for approval, the system creates an approval entry.

During the approval process:

  • The journal cannot be edited
  • The journal cannot be deleted
  • The journal cannot be posted

These restrictions remain until the approval request is approved or canceled.

This prevents any changes that could bypass the approval process.

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Example Scenario

Consider a manufacturing company using the Consumption Journal to record raw material usage.

Without approval:

A user could mistakenly consume 100 units instead of 10, impacting inventory valuation.

With approval workflows:

  1. The journal batch is submitted for approval
  2. A manager reviews the entries
  3. The manager approves or rejects the request

This ensures inventory accuracy and financial integrity.

Key Benefits

The introduction of approval workflows for Item Journals provides several advantages:

✔ Stronger internal control over inventory transactions

✔ Reduced risk of incorrect stock postings

✔ Better compliance with audit and governance requirements

✔ Consistent approval processes across financial and inventory journals

The ability to apply approval workflows to Item Journals in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is a valuable enhancement for organizations managing inventory and manufacturing operations.

By ensuring that sensitive inventory transactions are reviewed before posting, businesses can maintain accurate stock records and stronger operational control.

Add Pictures to Item Variants in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central

In the latest updates of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, you can now store pictures for Item Variants, making it easier to visually differentiate product options such as color, size, or style.

This enhancement improves usability for sales teams, warehouse staff, and product managers by allowing quick identification of product variations directly from the system.

Why This Feature is Useful

Many companies manage products with multiple variants, for example:

  • T-shirts with different colors
  • Jewelry with different metal types
  • Shoes with different sizes

Previously, variants were identified mainly through codes or descriptions. Now you can attach variant-specific images, making it easier to visually confirm the correct option.

Example:

ItemVariantImage
RingGoldGold ring image
RingSilverSilver ring image

This helps reduce order errors and improves product clarity.

How to Add a Picture to an Item Variant

Follow these steps to attach an image to a variant.

1. Open the Item Card

Navigate to the Item Card of the product.

2. Open Variants

Choose the Variants action to view the list of item variants.

3. Select a Variant

Select the variant you want to update and open the Item Variant Card.

4. Add or Manage the Image

On the Picture FactBox, choose one of the following actions:

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Where This Feature Helps Most

This feature is particularly valuable in industries with visually distinct variants:

  • Retail
  • Fashion
  • Jewelry
  • Manufacturing
  • E-commerce integrations

Warehouse staff can quickly verify the correct variant during picking and packing, reducing mistakes.

Practical Example

Suppose you sell a Bracelet with multiple color options.

Variant CodeDescriptionImage
BR-GLDGold BraceletGold image
BR-SLVSilver BraceletSilver image
BR-BLKBlack BraceletBlack image

By attaching pictures, users can instantly confirm they are selecting the correct variant.

Summary

The Item Variant Picture feature in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central enhances product management by:

  • Allowing images for each variant
  • Improving visual identification
  • Reducing selection errors
  • Enhancing user experience

This is a small but powerful improvement that helps organizations manage complex product catalogs more efficiently.

Top 10 Developer Changes in Business Central v28 (AL / VS Code)

Every major release of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central introduces improvements that impact how developers design, build, and maintain extensions.

Version 28 (2026 Release Wave 1) focuses strongly on performance optimization, platform modernization, and improved developer productivity.

For developers building extensions using AL and Visual Studio Code, several changes require attention during upgrades.

In this article, I will walk through the Top 10 developer changes in Business Central v28 and what they mean for your extensions.

1. Legacy Pricing Engine Removed

One of the biggest platform changes in v28 is the complete removal of the legacy pricing engine.

Microsoft introduced the new Price List architecture in earlier versions, and now it becomes the only supported pricing model.

Developer Impact

Extensions relying on older pricing logic must migrate.

Areas to review include:

  • custom price calculations
  • discount logic
  • pricing-related code units
  • integrations referencing legacy pricing tables

The new pricing system provides a more flexible framework for managing pricing rules and discounts.

2. FlowField Calculation Optimization

Business Central v28 introduces an important optimization for FlowField calculations.

Previously, FlowFields could be calculated even if they were not visible on the page.

In v28, FlowFields are calculated only when the field is visible in the UI.

Benefits

  • fewer SQL queries
  • faster page loading
  • improved scalability for large datasets

3. Improved Search Metadata

Search and navigation are significantly improved in v28.

Developers can now provide better search metadata that improves how users discover pages, actions, and data.

Why this matters

In large Business Central environments with hundreds of pages and reports, improved search helps users locate functionality much faster.

Developers should review:

  • page captions
  • action captions
  • field descriptions

Clear naming improves search results and usability.

4. Resource Files in Extensions

Another useful improvement in v28 is the ability to include resource files within extensions.

These files can store:

  • configuration data
  • templates
  • initialization data

Benefits

Developers can package configuration data directly with the extension instead of writing complex installation code.

This simplifies deployment and improves maintainability.

5. Profile Extension Objects

Customizing user profiles previously required copying base profiles, which created upgrade issues.

Business Central v28 introduces profile extension objects, allowing developers to extend profiles without duplication.

Advantages

  • cleaner customization model
  • easier upgrades
  • better maintainability

Developers can now modify Role Centers and user experiences in a more structured way.

6. Improved Performance Profiling

Performance troubleshooting becomes easier with new profiling improvements.

Developers can capture performance data to analyze:

  • long-running AL procedures
  • page load times
  • inefficient database queries

Why this matters

In large implementations with many extensions, performance bottlenecks can be difficult to detect.

Profiling tools help developers identify inefficient code earlier.

7. SQL Telemetry Insights

Business Central v28 provides better telemetry insights for database operations.

Telemetry data includes:

  • SQL query execution time
  • table interactions
  • query performance statistics

This information integrates with Microsoft Azure Application Insights.

Developer Advantage

Developers can monitor real production workloads and optimize extensions based on actual usage patterns.

8. Sandbox Upgrade Testing Improvements

Upgrade testing is easier in v28.

Developers can now upgrade existing sandbox environments to preview versions.

Benefits

  • test extension compatibility earlier
  • simulate production upgrades
  • reduce upgrade risks

This is particularly important for partners maintaining multiple customer environments.

9. AI Agent Development Scenarios

Microsoft continues to move toward AI-assisted development workflows.

New tools and integrations enable AI agents to assist developers in tasks such as:

  • analyzing AL code
  • generating documentation
  • improving developer productivity

This aligns with Microsoft’s broader AI strategy across the Dynamics ecosystem.

10. Enhanced VS Code Development Experience

The development experience in Visual Studio Code continues to improve.

Enhancements include:

  • better debugging capabilities
  • improved symbol downloads
  • smoother Git integration
  • improved navigation in large AL projects

These improvements help developers manage complex extension projects more efficiently.

What Developers Should Prepare for in v28

Before upgrading to Business Central v28, developers should review their extensions carefully.

Key areas to validate include:

  • pricing logic compatibility
  • FlowField calculations
  • performance-sensitive code
  • search metadata
  • extension initialization processes

Testing extensions in sandbox environments before production upgrades is strongly recommended.

Business Central v28 continues Microsoft’s focus on modernizing the platform and improving developer productivity.

The most significant changes for developers include:

  • removal of legacy pricing logic
  • optimized FlowField calculations
  • improved telemetry and profiling tools
  • better development workflows in Visual Studio Code

Stay tune for more..

How to Create and Use AI Agents in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central

Artificial Intelligence is rapidly expanding inside enterprise systems. With Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central v27.4, Microsoft now exposes a first-class agent creation capability — allowing you to define, configure, and run intelligent agents directly inside your ERP environment.

In this blog, we’ll walk through how agents work, the creation experience based on what’s available in the product today.

🚀 What Are AI Agents in Business Central?

In Business Central, AI agents are software assistants that can:

  • Understand natural language instructions
  • Execute business tasks against Business Central data
  • Follow configured rules and permissions
  • Operate autonomously or with human review

These agents sit at a higher abstraction layer than traditional workflows — they interpret intent and then coordinate actions across standard Business Central APIs, pages, and logic.

🛠 Step-by-Step: Creating an Agent in Business Central

Here’s a distilled implementation walk-through based on the video and documentation:

1. Enable Agent Capabilities

Before you can create agents, you must:

  • Enable Custom Agent capability in your Business Central environment
  • Have a sandbox tenant for experimentation
  • Ensure you have relevant permission sets such as AGENT-ADMIN and AGENT-DIAGNOSTICS applied to your user account

2. Start the Agent Wizard

Once enabled:

  1. Click the “Agent” icon in the role centre
  2. Choose Create New Agent
  3. Select a template (e.g., Sales Validation) or start from scratch
  4. Provide:

The installer guides you through setting up:

  • Purpose
  • Profile
  • Permissions

Agents are treated like users, so they must have clear permissions defining what Business Central data they can access and act on.

3. Define Agent Instructions

This is the heart of the agent. Instructions are plain-language “task definitions” that guide what the agent should do when triggered.

A basic instruction structure looks like:

  • Introductory purpose
  • Step-by-step tasks
  • Expected output or result

Example :

“You are a Business Central agent. When invoked, check all overdue receivables and create a work list of customers where the balance exceeds credit terms.”

Agents use this instruction to orchestrate actions, call APIs, or run logic — all while respecting security.

4. Configure Execution Profile

Each agent runs under a specific profile:

  • Choose standard or custom roles used in Business Central
  • Profiles determine UI access and actions available to the agent
  • Permissions are tied to the profile

Profiles limit what the agent can read or write — essential for governance.

5. Test and Activate

Once configured:

  1. Use the Agent Task Playground to simulate tasks
  2. Review output and refine instructions
  3. When ready, activate the agent
  4. The agent can run immediately or wait for a trigger

In preview today, scheduling and automated triggers are limited — most agents are started manually or via designated events.

📍 Real Business Examples

Agents being highlighted in Business Central include:

🔹 Sales Order Agent

  • Monitors a designated email inbox
  • Parses incoming customer requests
  • Locates or creates the customer record
  • Verifies item availability
  • Generates and sends quotes or orders via email
  • Keeps the human reviewer in the loop for approvals and changes

This helps sales teams minimize manual order entry by automating standard order processing tasks.

🔹 Payables & AP Agents

Similar to sales agents, agents can automate Accounts Payable workflows by:

  • Monitoring invoice email inboxes
  • Extracting invoice data using AI
  • Drafting vendor invoices inside Business Central
  • Letting users review and finalize postings

This frees AP teams from repetitive data entry and improves efficiency.

AI agents in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central are more than an experiment — they’re a new paradigm for embedding intelligence inside operational ERP processes. Rather than writing bespoke automation, you define business intent, and the system interprets and operationalizes it — provided you set the rules, permissions, and expectations correctly.

From Experimentation to Enterprise Architecture: Reflections from AgentCon Bangkok 2026

I recently attended AgentCon Bangkok 2026, and one theme was unmistakable: AI agents are transitioning from experimental prototypes to enterprise-grade systems.

The narrative has shifted.

It is no longer about building impressive demos. It is about designing structured, governed, production-ready agent architectures that can operate inside real business systems.

1. The Evolution of AI Agents

In earlier stages, most AI implementations focused on:

  • Prompt engineering
  • Single-agent task execution
  • Standalone copilots

At AgentCon, the conversation was centered on:

Multi-Agent Architectures

Planner–Executor–Validator models are becoming standard design patterns. Instead of a single LLM handling everything, responsibilities are separated:

  • Planner agent defines tasks
  • Executor agent performs tool calls or API interactions
  • Validator agent enforces constraints and accuracy

This improves determinism, auditability, and risk control.

2. Tool-Calling Is the Real Differentiator

What makes agents enterprise-ready is not the language model itself — it is structured tool integration.

In ERP ecosystems like Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, value emerges when agents:

  • Call APIs securely
  • Read structured financial data
  • Trigger workflows
  • Generate reports with contextual awareness

The LLM becomes a reasoning layer, while the ERP remains the system of record.

This separation is critical.

3. Practical Enterprise Applications

Beyond experimentation, AI agents are beginning to demonstrate measurable operational value across industries:

Configuration & Compliance Audits

Agents that scan enterprise configurations, policy settings, and control structures — identifying inconsistencies and generating structured compliance reports.

Automated Documentation & Knowledge Systems

Agents that analyze system metadata, logs, or workflows to generate accurate, up-to-date documentation and operational guides.

AI-Assisted Development & Code Review

Agents embedded into IDEs to:

  • Review code quality
  • Validate security standards
  • Detect performance bottlenecks
  • Enforce architectural guidelines

Intelligent Workflow Orchestration

Agents embedded within operational processes to:

  • Provide contextual recommendations
  • Validate transactions before execution
  • Surface risk indicators in real time
  • Assist decision-makers without bypassing control layers

The emphasis is augmentation — not blind automation.

4. The Real Question

The future is not about replacing users.

It is about designing human-in-the-loop systems where:

  • Agents reason
  • Humans approve
  • Systems enforce

The architectural discipline behind these systems will determine whether AI becomes operational infrastructure — or remains a demo tool.

Final Thoughts

AgentCon reinforced a clear conclusion:

AI capability is accelerating. Enterprise readiness depends on architecture.

Organizations that invest in governance models, tool integration frameworks, and structured orchestration will lead the next phase of AI adoption.

If you are building production-grade agent systems inside enterprise environments, this is the moment to think beyond prompts — and design for scale.

🚀 Copilot and AL Development: Transforming the Future of Business Central Engineering

The world of Business Central development is evolving rapidly—and one of the most powerful accelerators in recent years is Copilot. With AI deeply integrated into the Microsoft ecosystem, developers building extensions with AL now have an intelligent partner that speeds up development, enhances accuracy, and improves productivity.

🧠 What Is Copilot in Business Central?

Copilot is Microsoft’s AI-powered assistant designed to help developers, consultants, and end-users across Dynamics 365. For Business Central development, Copilot works in multiple ways:

  • Suggesting AL code in VS Code
  • Generating complete extension structures (tables, pages, APIs, codeunits)
  • Helping analyze and explain existing AL code
  • Creating documentation and comments automatically
  • Supporting AI-enabled scenarios inside BC

It acts like a smart co-developer—always ready, always fast.

💻 Copilot Inside AL Development (VS Code Integration)

To leverage Copilot for AL development, developers use the GitHub Copilot extension in Visual Studio Code. This integration enables:

✔ Instant AL Code Generation

Developers can write a comment or a simple description, and Copilot generates the AL code structure automatically.

Example:

// Create a sales quote scheduler job that sends reminders

Copilot produces the full codeunit, job logic, and scheduling pattern.

✔ Faster Page & Table Extensions

Copilot instantly creates field additions, actions, triggers, and layouts without manual typing.

✔ API & Permission Set Generation

Perfect for rapid prototyping.

🤖 Using AI Inside AL Extensions

You can integrate AI into your custom extensions using Copilot-enabled system codeunits or external AI services.

Example: A simple AI-driven item description generator:

codeunit 50100 "Item AI Description"
{
    procedure Generate(ItemRec: Record Item): Text
    var
        Copilot: Codeunit "Copilot System";
    begin
        exit(
            Copilot.GenerateText(
                'Create a professional marketing description for item: ' + ItemRec.Description
            )
        );
    end;
}

This allows users to generate product descriptions instantly saving hours of manual work.

⚡ How Copilot Improves AL Developer Productivity

🟦 1. Rapid Coding

Copilot reduces 60–70% of repetitive development effort.

🟦 2. Fewer Syntax Errors

Copilot understands AL structures and suggests correct patterns.

🟦 3. Code Understanding

It can analyze and explain legacy AL code—very useful during upgrades from NAV to BC.

🟦 4. Documentation

Automatically generates comments and XML documentation.

🟦 5. Code Quality

Copilot suggests modern patterns like interfaces, single-responsibility design, and event-driven architecture.

🚨 Limitations—What Developers Should Know

Despite its strengths, Copilot is not perfect:

  • It may generate outdated syntax or patterns.
  • It cannot validate AL compiler rules.
  • It sometimes repeats code blocks unnecessarily.
  • Developers must always review and refactor generated output.

Copilot is a booster, not a replacement for AL expertise.

Copilot is not just a trend—it’s a game changer for Business Central developers. It speeds up AL development, supports learning, and enhances overall code quality. By embracing Copilot, organizations can deliver extensions faster, reduce development cost, and empower developers to focus on business logic rather than repetitive tasks.

The future of Business Central development is AI-assisted, and Copilot is leading the way.

Stay Tuned for more…

🧩Fixing “Missing appid on table extension metadata” Error in Business Central

Recently while running a tenant synchronization in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central (on-prem), I encountered an error during the Sync-NAVTenant process:

This error typically occurs during tenant synchronization and can halt your deployment or upgrade process. The issue stems from corrupted or incomplete metadata in the app schema snapshot table, specifically related to table extensions.

The error indicates that the $ndo$navappschemasnapshot system table contains table extension records that are missing the required appid field. This can happen due to:

  • Incomplete app installations or uninstallations
  • Failed upgrade processes
  • Database corruption during extension deployment
  • Manual modifications to extensions without proper cleanup.

The Solution

The fix involves cleaning up the corrupted table extension metadata from the schema snapshot table. Here’s the SQL query that resolves the issue:

USE [YourDatabaseName]
GO

DELETE FROM [$ndo$navappschemasnapshot] 
WHERE (istableextension = 1)
GO

4. Start the Service and Sync

Restart the service and perform the tenant sync:

Use Powershell

Start-NAVServerInstance -ServerInstance YourInstanceName
Sync-NAVTenant -ServerInstance YourInstanceName -Mode Sync

The “Missing appid on table extension metadata” error can be frustrating, but it’s usually straightforward to resolve with the SQL cleanup approach. Remember to always backup your database before making direct SQL modifications and test the solution in a non-production environment first.

If you face a similar issue during tenant sync or app upgrade, this SQL cleanup should help you recover quickly.

💡 Should Consultants Use Vibe Coding in Business Central?

The rise of AI-powered coding assistants has sparked a fascinating shift in the consulting world. Functional consultants, traditionally focused on business processes and requirements, are now picking up coding tools and creating technical solutions themselves. This phenomenon, often called “vibe coding,” is reshaping team dynamics and project workflows. But is this evolution beneficial, or does it create new challenges?

What is Vibe Coding?

Vibe coding refers to the practice of using AI assistants like GitHub Copilot, ChatGPT, or Claude to write code based on natural language descriptions and high-level understanding, rather than deep technical expertise. For functional consultants who understand business requirements intimately but lack extensive programming experience, these tools offer a tempting shortcut to implementation.

Why Functional Consultants Are Embracing Code ?

1. Faster Solution Delivery

Consultants can quickly generate AL code snippets, table extensions, or API wrappers using natural language prompts. What might take hours of manual coding can be drafted in minutes. This speed is particularly useful in sandbox or prototyping phases.

2. Empowered Functional Consultants

Functional consultants, who understand business processes but may lack deep AL knowledge, can experiment with configurations or customizations. This bridges the gap between functional understanding and technical execution, leading to better collaboration.

3. Lower Entry Barrier for New Developers

For junior technical consultants, Vibe Coding serves as a teaching companion. It can suggest syntax, help avoid errors, and guide them through standard Business Central development patterns.

4. Consistency and Standardization

AI-driven code suggestions can align to best practices and Microsoft guidelines (if the tool is properly trained), ensuring consistent code quality across teams.

⚠️ The Drawbacks and Risks

1. Uncontrolled Code Generation

AI tools can produce functional code that appears correct but lacks performance optimization or security validation. If used directly in production environments, this can lead to instability or compliance issues.

2. Reduced Technical Ownership

Overreliance on Vibe Coding may cause consultants to skip the learning curve of understanding Business Central’s architecture, data model, or event-driven patterns. This can erode long-term technical expertise.

3. Audit and Governance Challenges

AI-generated code might not have clear authorship or documentation. In regulated industries, this creates challenges during audits or code reviews, especially if traceability is required.

4. Data Security Concerns

If the tool transmits prompts or metadata to external servers for AI processing, it could expose sensitive business logic or schema information. This must be reviewed against company data protection policies.

👨💻 Impact on Technical Consultants

Vibe Coding doesn’t replace technical consultants — but it changes their role:

  • From coders to reviewers: Technical consultants become code reviewers and architects ensuring AI-generated outputs follow best practices.
  • From builders to enablers: They enable functional teams by setting up safe guardrails, templates, and review processes.
  • From developers to strategists: With repetitive tasks automated, technical consultants can focus on design, integration, and performance tuning.

In essence, Vibe Coding shifts technical consulting toward higher-value work, provided governance and quality checks exist.

Vibe Coding represents a powerful step toward modernizing Business Central development. It can improve efficiency, empower functional teams, and streamline solution delivery — but only when implemented with strong governance, code review, and data protection policies.

Rather than diminishing the role of technical consultants, Vibe Coding highlights their importance. They become the architects and quality guardians who ensure that AI-generated work aligns with business goals, technical standards, and long-term sustainability.

What do you think on this ?

Protecting Sensitive Data Made Easier: Introducing ‘Concealed’ Text Field Type in Business Central Wave 2 2025

Data privacy and security have become paramount concerns for businesses across all industries. With increasing regulatory requirements and growing awareness of data protection, organizations need robust yet user-friendly solutions to safeguard sensitive information. Microsoft’s Dynamics 365 Business Central Wave 2 2025 introduces a game-changing feature that addresses this challenge: the new ‘Concealed’ text field type with the innovative Mask Type property.

The Challenge: Balancing Security and Usability

Traditionally, we faced a dilemma when handling sensitive data fields. The existing ExtendedDataType = Masked property offered security by displaying field values as dots, but this approach had limitations:

  • Always hidden: Once masked, the data remained permanently concealed, even from authorized users
  • Poor user experience: Users couldn’t verify entered data, leading to potential input errors
  • Limited flexibility: No option to reveal data when legitimate access was needed

These limitations created friction between security requirements and practical usability, forcing developers to choose between protecting sensitive data and maintaining a smooth user experience.

Business Central Wave 2 2025 introduces the new MaskType enum property, revolutionizing how we handle sensitive data display. This property offers two distinct values:

MaskType Values Explained

None (Default)

  • Standard behavior where field values are fully visible in the UI
  • No masking or concealment applied
  • Suitable for non-sensitive data fields

Concealed

  • Field values are hidden by default, appearing as masked dots
  • Users can reveal the actual value through an explicit action
  • An interactive “eye” button appears next to the field for toggling visibility
  • Perfect balance between security and accessibility

Implementing the concealed field type is straightforward. Here’s how to configure it in your AL code:

field(50100; "Sensitive Data"; Text[100])
{
    Caption = 'Sensitive Information';
    MaskType = Concealed;
}

When rendered in the UI, this field will display:

  • Masked dots by default (●●●●●●●●)
  • An eye icon button for revealing/concealing the value
  • Smooth toggle animation between hidden and visible states

Supported Field Types

The MaskType = Concealed property works with:

  • Text fields: For sensitive textual information
  • Code fields: For confidential codes and identifiers
  • Decimal fields: For sensitive numeric values with decimals
  • Integer fields: For confidential whole numbers

Supported Page Types

The concealed functionality is available on:

  • Document pages: Sales orders, purchase orders, etc.
  • Card pages: Customer cards, vendor cards, item cards
  • Not supported: List page repeaters and grid controls

The introduction of the ‘Concealed’ text field type with the MaskType property in Business Central Wave 2 2025 represents a significant advancement in data protection capabilities. This feature successfully bridges the gap between security requirements and user experience, providing organizations with a flexible, user-friendly approach to protecting sensitive information.

Stay tuned for more.