Manage Company Configuration in a Worksheet

The configuration worksheet is the central location in which you can plan, track, and perform your configuration work. You can create a worksheet for each company that you are working with or create a standard configuration worksheet that can be used for configuring multiple identical companies.

The first step in preparing a configuration package is to select a company that you have already set up and modified to suit most of your solution needs. This company serves as the baseline for your configuration work on new companies. In the worksheet, you designate the tables that you want your configuration to control and handle. Since most tables in Business Central have relationships and dependencies to other tables, you should also include those related tables as necessary. Together, these tables will then serve as the structure around which you will build a new company. Subsequent steps help you package and then deploy your configuration.

To aide you in tracking and reviewing your work, use the Config. Package Table FactBox to see information about records. Use the Config. Related Tables FactBox to monitor table relationships.

The following procedures demonstrate how to add and customize table information for your configuration.

To open the configuration worksheet

1. In Business Central, open the company that is the baseline for configuration, and then open its RapidStart Services Implementer Role Center.
2. Choose the icon, enter Configuration Worksheet, and then choose the related link.

To add a table to the worksheet

1. On the Config. Worksheet page, choose the Edit List action.

2. On the first line, in the Line Type field, select Table.

3. In the Table ID field, select the table that you want to add to your configuration.

4. In the Page ID field, enter the ID of the page that is associated with the table. For standard tables, this value is automatically filled in. For custom tables, you must provide the ID.

5. In the Reference field, enter the URL of a documentation page, for example in Help, that provides best-practice information or instructions o setting up the table.

6. To add related tables, choose the Get Related Tables action.

   Note

   Related tables will not be added with the Get Related Tables action if either of the following is true:

   • The relation is conditional.
     Example: If you get related tables for the Customer table, then the Location table will not be added, since it is only conditionally related to the Customer table, namely if the Location Code field in the Customer table is filled in.
   • The related table is filtered.
     Example: A field in the related table has a WHERE clause. The reason for this is that the involved relations information is stored in the Field system table, which is not fully accessible to the application.
     You must add such types of tables manually by following step 4 in this procedure.

7. To modify the resulting list of tables, select a table that you want to remove, and then choose the Delete action.

8. Repeat the steps for each table that you want to add to the configuration.

9. To remove duplicate table information that can result from using the Get Related Tables action, choose the Delete Duplicate Lines action. This will remove duplicate tables that have the same package code.

To add multiple tables to the configuration worksheet

1. Choose the Get Tables action. The Get Config. Tables batch job page opens.

2. On the Options FastTab, specify the types of tables that you want to add to the configuration, as described in the following table.

   Option	Description
   Include with Data Only	Select the check box to include only those tables that contain data. For example, you may want to include a table that already defines the typical payment terms that your solution supports.
   Include Related Tables	Select the check box to include all related tables. To add a subset of related tables, see step 3 in this procedure.
   Include Dimension Tables	Select the check box to include dimension tables.
   Include Licensed Tables Only	Select the check box to include only those tables for which the license under which you are creating the worksheet allows you access.

3. On the Object FastTab, set filters as appropriate to specify the types of tables you want to include or exclude.

4. Choose the OK button. Business Central tables are added to the worksheet. Each entry in the list has a line of type Table.

5. To remove duplicate table information that can result from using the Get Tables action, choose the Delete Duplicate Lines action. This will remove duplicate tables that have the same package code.

6. You can add tables to the worksheet that are related to a table you have selected. Review the information in the Related Tables FactBox to see whether there are missing tables. To add related tables for a specific table, select the table in the list, and then choose the Get Related Tables action.

   Note

   Related tables will not be added with the Get Related Tables action if either of the following is true:

   • The relation is conditional.
     Example: If you get related tables for the Customer table, then the Location table will not be added, since it is only conditionally related to the Customer table, namely if the Location Code field in the Customer table is filled in.
   • The related table is filtered.
     Example: A field in the related table has a WHERE clause. The reason for this is that the involved relations information is stored in the Field virtual table and is not available in pages such as the configuration worksheet for performance reasons.
     You must add related tables with such complex relationships manually by following step 4 in To add a table to the worksheet.

7. To delete tables in the resulting list of tables, select a table to remove, and then choose the Delete action.

Use the next procedure to specify which table fields to include. After you make this specification, you can export the table to Excel, and use the table structure as a template for gathering customer data. For more information, see Prepare to Migrate Customer Data.

To specify a set of fields and records for a configuration table

1. Select a table in the list of configuration tables, and then chose the Edit List action.
2. Select a table for which you want to specify field information, and then choose the Fields action.
3. To select just the fields that you want to include, choose the Clear Included action. To add all fields, choose the Set Included action.
4. o specify that the field data should not be validated, clear the Validate Field check box for the field.
5. Choose the OK button.
6. To filter to a certain set of records to include in the configuration worksheet, choose the Filters action, and then specify the appropriate filter values.

You can create areas of functionality and groups of tables in the worksheet in order to put similar functionality together. For example, in setting up the chart of accounts for your configuration, you may decide to create a group of posting tables. Typically, areas are used to group a set of tables that correspond to a functional area. Each area can contain groups. A group can be used to arrange tables that have a common meaning together.

The following procedure describes how to add area and group designations, after you have created the initial list of tables. After you have added these categories, you can continue to add and modify your list of tables.

To categorize and group functionality in the worksheet

1. At the beginning of an area, insert a new line in the worksheet.
2. In the Line Type field, choose Area. In the Name field, enter a name for the area.
3. At the beginning of a grouping of tables, insert a new line in the worksheet.
4. In the Line Type field, choose Group. In the Name field, enter a name for the area. The group name is automatically indented.
5. To move tables to the appropriate category, select a table to move, and then choose the Move Up or Move Down action. Alternatively, you can delete a worksheet line and insert the table again in the required location.

Some Business Central tables are standard and the data in these is not likely to change from implementation to implementation. Consequently, to help your customer focus, you can remove these tables from the worksheet after you have included them in the configuration package. Once added, the tables remain part of the configuration package.

To remove a standard table in the worksheet

After you have added all necessary tables to a configuration package, determine which tables will not require customer attention.

1. Select the tables, and then delete them by choosing the Delete action.

   Note

   The tables remain in the package even though they are deleted from the worksheet.

To review and customize existing database data

As you create a configuration package for a solution, you can view and customize the available database data to suit your customer needs. The database table has to have an associated page.

To customize data in the database

1. On the Configuration Worksheet page, identify the tables whose data that you want to view or customize.

   Note

   Make sure that each table has a page ID assigned to it. For standard Business Central tables, this value is automatically filled in. For custom tables, you have to provide the ID.

2. Choose the Database Data action.

   The Business Central page for the page opens.

3. Review the available information. Modify it as necessary by deleting records that are not relevant or by adding new ones.

See Also

Set Up Company Configuration
Setting Up a Company With RapidStart Services
Administration