Although AX is shipped with a standard set of info parts placed on key forms throughout the system, we often find that our users require different information to be made available. An example of an info part is displayed on the right-hand pane of the All loads list page found by navigating to Transportation management | Common | Loads | All loads.
The data that is displayed on the info part is determined by a query. We use the query to define the data that will be displayed, and also to define how this relates to the form where the info part is placed. To demonstrate this, we will add a part to the All loads list page that will show vehicle information.
First, we will construct a query that defines a path from the load table to our vehicle table. This will have to go through the appointment table's relations to link to the vehicle created in the previous chapter.
The query structure doesn't need to include the load table itself, as the appointment table already has a relation defined. Queries used in any part must be written for performance and should only contain fields actually used in the part. We therefore don't create a generic reusable query, but a query specifically for a part.
Our part will need the following fields:
- Vehicle ID
- Vehicle registration number
- Vehicle status
- Vehicle group
- The next service date
Before we start, we need to create a new relation on the TMSAppointment table that connects the ConFMSVehicleTableTruck foreign key to ConFMSVehicleTable.RecId. This is because the current relation is to the inherited truck table, and we really need a relation to the base vehicle table. This becomes more apparent when we add parts to the vehicle list page, as this will show a combined list of all vehicle types. The only commonality is that they all extend ConFMSVehicleTable.
There are two ways we can do this, add a new foreign key relation on TMSAppointment and update the code to set the foreign key, or use the same field as the relation to ConFMSVehicleTable. We can justify using the same key as we can say that the main vehicle is a truck. To do this, follow these steps:
- Create a relation on
TMSAppointmenttoConFMSVehicleTableand update the required properties as before. You must set theRelatedTableRoleproperty. The relation should be done by right-clicking on the new relation and selecting New | Foreign Key | Single field AlternateKey based. We wantRecIdas the relation. - Now edit the relation to change it from
ConFMSVehicleTabletoConFMSVehicleTableTruck. - As expected, it will have created a new field called
ConFMSVehicleTable. We don't need this field now, as our relation is usingConFMSVehicleTableTruckas the foreign key. Delete this new field.
To create the query for the vehicle information info part, follow these steps:
- In your project, right-click on the Queries node and go to New | Query.
- Rename the query to
ConFMSVehicleAppointmentPart. ThePartsuffix is a convention, and it is important to highlight to other developers that it is a part query. - The first data source will be the one used to link the form's data source, so add
TMSAppointmentto the Data Sources node. - On the Fields node, we change the Dynamic property to
No, as we don't want any fields from this data source. - Add
ConFMSVehicleTableto the Data Sources node underTMSAppointment. - On the Fields node, change the Dynamic property to
Yes, noting that all of the table's fields have been automatically added under the Fields node. Now, change it toNoand they are still there. This is a nice trick to add all the fields to the field list when we want most but not all fields. - Remove all fields except
VehicleId,VehicleStatusId,VehRegNo, andVehicleGroupId. Verify that Dynamic is set toNoonce finished. - On the properties of
ConFMSVehicleTable, set Relations toYes. - Check whether the relation (the Relations node) has been added. In this case, it should have assumed the
ConFMSVehicleTablerelation, which happens to be correct. - Add
ConFMSVehServiceTableto the Data Sources node underConFMSVehicleTable. - Do the trick with the Dynamic property on the Fields node and ensure that you only have the
NextServiceDatefield. Dynamic must be set toNoonce finished. - On the properties of
ConFMSVehServiceTable, set JoinMode toOuterJoinand Relations toYes. We are using the outer join, as we will still want to show the vehicles without service data. - We also only want one service record, so we set FirstOnly and FirstFast to
Yes. - To get the last service record, right-click on Order By and select New Field, setting the properties as follows: DataSource to
ConFMSVehServiceTable, Field toNextServiceDate, and Direction toDescending.
The query structure should look like what is shown in the following screenshot:
You may notice that we didn't include the fields used in the joins to our tables. AX will handle this for us.
Next, we can create the info part, which is done by the following steps:
- In your project, right-click on Form Parts | Info Parts and select New | Info Part.
- Rename the part to
ConFMSVehicleAppointmentPart. - On the property sheet, set the Query property to
ConFMSVehicleAppointmentPart. - Under the Layout node, add a new group (right-click and choose New Group).
- Set Name to
VehicleGroup. - We only have one group, so a caption will not help the user and just take up space. Leave Caption blank, and leave ShowCaption as
No. - If we required a list of records in a grid, we would've set Repeating to
Yes. In our case, we want just the information in a form view, so we leave it as No. - Right-click on VehicleGroup and choose New Field. Set DataSource to
ConFMSVehicleTableand DataField toVehicleId. Copy theVehicleIdfield name to the Name property. - Repeat this process for the remaining fields.
- On the
VehicleIdfield, set Style asTitleField.
We now have to create a display menu item so that it can be added to a form. This is done as follows:
- In your project, right-click on Display, which is under Menu Items, and go to New | Menu Item.
- Rename the menu item to
ConFMSVehicleAppointmentPart. - Set Label to
Vehicle informationand create a new label (don't use the existing GLS label), remembering to set Comments toCon Vehicle information. - Finally, set ObjectType to
InfoPartand Object toConFMSVehicleAppointmentPart.
To add the All loads list page, our first task is to locate it in the AOT. The easiest way is to navigate the Menus node in the AOT as if you are navigating through the interface. The properties of the All loads node reveal that the menu item is WHSLoadPlanningListPage. The Object property of this menu item has the same name, so this is the form.
To add the WHSLoadPlanningListPage info part, follow these steps:
- Drag the
WHSLoadPlanningListPageform onto the Forms node of your project. - Drag the
ConFMSVehicleAppointmentPartmenu item onto the Parts node ofWHSLoadPlanningListPage. - Move the part so that it is at the top of the list of parts using Alt and the arrow key; this simply arranges the part on the form to be at the top.
- Go to the properties of the new part and note that
DataSourceisWHSLoadTable, which is correct, as this is how we intend to relate toTMSAppointment. - If you click on DataSourceRelation, it should set itself to
TMSAppointment.WHSLoadTable. This is the relation defined betweenWHSLoadTableandTMSAppointment, which is also correct.
First, we should test the info part. As part of our testing in Chapter 4, Creating Business Logic and Hooking into Core AX, we created a vehicle and linked it to an appointment. To test this part, we need to associate it to a load. This is done on the Reference fast tab in the Appointment Scheduling form.
To test the info part, right-click on the WHSLoadPlanningListPage form and select Open. Move through the records until you reach the load that was referenced against the appointment. It should display information as shown in the following screenshot:
The vehicle ID appears as a heading, and the other fields appear as a form, which is as expected. After clicking on More, we are shown the Appointment Schedule form, but the Vehicle details form would be more appropriate.
We can change this by the following steps:
- On our info part, we expand the part, right-click on Layout, and show the property sheet.
- Set ShowMoreDataSource to
ConFMSVehicleTable. - Save the changes and open the list page again. Notice that the More button now opens the Vehicle details form.
If you open the other list pages by going to Transportation management | Common | Loads, you will see that they all contain our info part. These are secondary list pages, which are the same form configured to show subsets of the loads.
You can also add more actions to the part, but be careful not to clutter the design as this would detract from the purpose of showing key data.
To add another link to the Appointment Schedule form as an action, follow these steps:
- Right-click on the part's Actions node and choose New Action.
- In MenuItemName, enter
TMSAppointmentand copy the Name property also. - Save the changes and open the list page.
A new link is added below the More link, labeled Appointment Scheduling, as shown in the following screenshot:
Finally, we should add the info part to the All shipments list page. The form is WHSShipPlanningListPage and you simply have to drag the part's menu item as before onto the Parts node. Remember to click on the DataSourceRelation property to ensure that this is correct.