Chapter 1. Architectural overview

In this chapter

Introduction

AX 2012 five-layer solution architecture

AX 2012 application platform architecture

AX 2012 application meta-model architecture

Separation of concerns An AX 2012 end-to-end solution is delivered by many development teams working inside Microsoft, in the Microsoft partner channel, and in end-user IT support organizations. The separation of concerns principle realized in the AX 2012 architecture makes this distributed development possible by separating the functional concerns of a solution into five globalized, secure layers. This separation reduces functional overlap between the logical components that each team designs and develops.

Separation of processes An AX 2012 end-to-end solution scales to satisfy the processing demands of a large number of concurrent users. The separation of processes principle that is realized in the AX 2012 architecture makes this scaling possible by separating processing into three-tiers—a data tier, an application tier, and a presentation tier. The AX 2012 Windows client, the Enterprise Portal web client, and the Microsoft Office clients are components of the presentation tier; the Application Object Server (AOS), the Enterprise Portal extensions to Microsoft SharePoint Server, and Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS) are components of the application tier; SQL Server and SQL Server Analysis Services (SSAS) are components of the data tier.

Model-driven applications An AX 2012 application team can satisfy application domain requirements in the shortest time possible. The model-driven application principle that is realized in the AX 2012 architecture makes this possible by separating platform-independent development from platform-dependent development, and by separating organization-independent development from organization-dependent development. With platform-independent development, you can model the structure and specify the behavior of application client forms and reports, application object entities, and application data entities that run on multiple platform technologies, such as the AX 2012 Windows client, SharePoint Server, SQL Server, and the Microsoft .NET Framework. With organization-independent development, you can use domain-specific reference models such as the units of measure reference model; domain-specific resource models such as the person, product, and location models; and domain-specific workflow models such as the approval and review models, which are relevant to all organizations.

The AX 2012 application platform and application domain components are delivered on the Microsoft technology platform. This platform consists of the Windows client, the Office suite of products, Windows Server, SQL Server, SSAS, SSRS, SharePoint Server, the Microsoft ASP.NET web application framework, the .NET Framework, and the Microsoft Visual Studio integrated development environment (IDE).

The following logical partitions are layered on top of the Microsoft technology platform:

Layer 1: Application platform The application platform layer provides the system frameworks and tools that support the development of scalable, customizable, and extensible application domain components. This layer consists of the MorphX model–based development environment, the X++ programming language, the Windows client framework, the Enterprise Portal framework, the AOS, and the application platform system framework. For a description of the component architecture in the application platform layer, see the “AX 2012 application platform architecture” section later in this chapter.

Layer 2: Foundation The foundation layer consists of domain-specific reference models in addition to domain-specific resource modeling, policy modeling, event documenting, and document processing frameworks that are extended into organization administration and operational domains. Examples of domain-specific reference models include the fiscal calendar, the operations calendar, the language code, and the unit of measure reference models. Examples of domain-specific resource models include the party model, the organization model, the operations resource model, the product model, and the location model. The source document framework and the accounting distribution and journalizing process frameworks are also part of this layer. Chapter 19, “Application domain frameworks,” describes the conceptual design of a number of the frameworks in this layer.

Layer 3: Horizontal The horizontal layer consists of application domain workloads that integrate the financial resource, operations resource, and human resource management processes that can be owned and controlled by organizations. Example workloads include the operations management workload, the supply chain management workload, the supplier relationship management workload, the product information management workload, the financial management workload, the customer relationship management workload, and the human capital management workload. The AX 2012 application can be extended with additional workloads. (The workloads that are part of the AX 2012 solution are beyond the scope of this book.)

Layer 4: Industry The industry layer consists of application domain workloads that integrate the financial resource, operations resource, and human resource management processes specific to organizations that operate in particular industry sectors. Examples of industries include discrete manufacturing, process manufacturing, distribution, retail, service, and public sector. Workloads in this layer are customized to satisfy industry-specific requirements.

Layer 5: Vertical The vertical layer consists of application domain workloads that integrate the financial resource, operations resource, and human resource management processes specific to organizations that operate in a particular vertical industry and to organizations that are subject to local customs and regulations. Example vertical industries include beer and wine manufacturing, automobile manufacturing, government, and advertising professional services. Workloads in this layer are customized to satisfy vertical industry and localization requirements.

MorphX Use this development environment to develop data models and application code by using the Application Object Tree (AOT) application modeling tool and the X++ programming language. This development environment accesses AX 2012 application server services through remote procedure call (RPC) technology.

Visual Studio Use this development environment to develop .NET Framework plug-ins and extensions for AX 2012 clients, servers, and services; to develop for Enterprise Portal; and to develop SSRS reports. This development environment accesses the AX 2012 application server services through RPC.

AOS The AOS executes MorphX application services that are invoked through RPC technology and Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) technology in the .NET Framework. The AOS can be hosted on one computer, but it can also scale out to many computers when additional concurrent user sessions or dedicated batch servers are required.

.NET Framework These components can be referenced in the AOT so that their application programming interfaces are accessed from X++ programs. The Windows Workflow Foundation (WF) component is integral to the AX 2012 workflow framework, and WCF is integral to the AX 2012 application integration framework.

SSAS These services process requests for analytics data hosted by the SQL Server component in the data tier.

SSRS and AX 2012 reporting extensions The reporting extensions provide SSRS with features that are specific to the AX 2012 application platform. These extensions access the AOS through WCF services and access SSAS through HTTP and HTTPS.

Enterprise Portal framework This framework extends the SharePoint application platform with features that are specific to the AX 2012 application platform. The Enterprise Portal framework composes SharePoint content with AX 2012 content accessed from the AOS through the .NET Business Connector and RPC, and content accessed from SSAS and SSRS through HTTP and HTTPS. Enterprise Portal is typically hosted on its own server or in a cluster of servers.

AX 2012 Help web service This web service processes requests for Help content.

Web services hosted by Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) AX 2012 system services can be deployed to and hosted by IIS.

Application Integration services These services provide durable message queuing and transformation services for integration clients.

Windows client This client executes AX 2012 MorphX and .NET programs developed in MorphX and Visual Studio. The client application communicates with the AOS primarily by using RPC. The client composes navigation, action pane, area page, and form controls for rapid data entry and data retrieval. Form controls have built-in data filtering and search capabilities and their content controls are arranged automatically by the IntelliMorph rendering technology. The client additionally hosts Role Center pages rendered in a web browser control.

Enterprise Portal web client This client executes MorphX application models, X++ programs, and .NET Framework programs developed in the MorphX development environment, Visual Studio, and the SharePoint Server framework. Enterprise Portal is hosted by the AX 2012 runtime, the ASP.NET runtime, and the SharePoint runtime environments. SharePoint and ASP.NET components communicate by means of the AX 2012 .NET Business Connector.

Office clients The Microsoft Word client and Microsoft Excel client are extended by add-ins that work with the AX 2012 platform.

Third-party clients These clients integrate with the AX 2012 platform by means of integration service components such as the file system, Message Queuing (also known as MSMQ), Microsoft BizTalk Server, and a WCF adapter.

A model of an application model is called a meta-model. Figure 1-3 shows the element types in the AX 2012 application meta-model that you use to develop AX 2012 Windows client applications.

Base enum Use a base enumeration (base enum) element type to specify value-type application model elements whose fields consist of a fixed set of symbolic constants. For example, you can create a base enum named WeekDay to name a set of symbolic constants that includes Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.

Extended data type Use an extended data type element type to specify value-type application model elements that extend base enums, in addition to string, boolean, integer, real, date, time, UtcDateTime, int64, guid, and container value types. The AX 2012 runtime uses the properties of an extended data type to generate a database schema and to render user interface controls. For example, you could specify an account number extended data type as an extension to a string value type that is limited to 10 characters in length, and that is described by using the Account number label when bound to a user interface text entry control. Extended data types also support inheritance. For example, an extended data type that defines an account number can be specialized by other extended data types to define customer and vendor account numbers. The specialized extended data type inherits properties, such as string length, label text, and Help text. You can override some of the properties on the specialized extended data type.

Table Use a table element type to specify data entity types that the AX 2012 application platform uses to generate a SQL Server database table schema. Tables specify data entity type fields along with their base enum or extended data type, field groups, indexes, relationships, delete actions, and methods. Tables can also inherit the fields of base tables that they are specified to extend. The AX 2012 runtime uses table specifications to render data entry presentation controls and to maintain the referential integrity of the data stored in the application database. The X++ editor also uses table elements to provide IntelliSense information when you write X++ code that manipulates data stored in the application database. Tables can be bound to form, report, query, and view data sources.

Map Use a map element type to specify a data entity type that factors out common table fields and methods for accessing data stored in horizontally partitioned tables. For example, the CustTable and VendTable tables in the AX 2012 application model are mapped to the DirPartyMap map element so that you can use one DirPartyMap object to access common address fields and methods.

View Use a view element type to specify a database query that the AX 2012 application platform uses to generate a SQL Server database view schema. Views can include a query model element that filters data accessed from one table or from multiple joined tables. Views also include table field mappings and methods. Views are read-only and primarily provide an efficient method for reading data. Views can be bound to form, report, and query data sources.

Perspective Use a perspective element type to specify a group of tables and views that are used together when designing and generating SSAS unified dimensional models.

Table collection Use a table collection element type to specify a group of tables whose data is shared by two or more AX 2012 companies assigned to the same virtual company. An application administrator maintains virtual companies, their effective company assignments, and their table collection assignments. The AX 2012 runtime uses the virtual company data area identifier instead of the effective company data area identifier to securely access data stored in tables grouped by a table collection.

Query Use a query element type to specify a database query. You add tables to query element data sources and specify how they should be joined. You also specify how data is returned from the query by using sort order and range specifications.

Menu item Use a menu item element type to specify presentation control actions that change the state of the AX 2012 system or user interface or that generate reports. If you specify a label for the menu item, the AX 2012 runtime uses it to name the action when it is rendered in the user interface. The AX 2012 form engine also automatically adds a View Details menu item to a drop-down menu, a menu that appears when a user right-clicks a cell in a column that is bound to a table field that is specified as a foreign key in a table relationship. The AX 2012 runtime uses the referenced table’s menu item binding to open the form that renders the data from the table. The AX 2012 form and report rendering engines ignore menu items that are disabled by configuration keys or role-based access controls.

Menu Use a menu element type to specify a logical grouping of menu items. Menu specifications can also group submenus. The menu element named MainMenu specifies the menu grouping for the AX 2012 navigation pane.

Form Use a form element type to specify a presentation control that a user uses to insert, update, and read data stored in the application database. A form binds table, view, and query data sources to presentation controls. A form is opened when a user selects a control bound to a menu item, such as a button.

Form part Use a form part element type to specify a presentation control that renders a form in the FactBox area of the user interface. For more information about the FactBox area, see Chapter 5, “Designing the user experience.”

Info part Use an info part element type to specify a presentation control that renders the result set of a query in the FactBox area of the user interface.

Report Use a report element type to specify a presentation control that renders database data and calculated data in a page-layout format. A user can send a report to the screen, a printer, a printer archive, an email account, or the file system. A report specification binds data sources to presentation controls. A report is opened when a user clicks an output menu item control, such as a button.

SSRS report Use an SSRS report element type to reference a Visual Studio Report Project that is added to the AX 2012 model database.

Cue Use a cue element type to bind a menu item to a presentation control that renders a pictorial representation of a numeric metric, such as the number of open sales orders. A cue is rendered in an AX 2012 Role Center webpage.

Cue group Use a cue group element type to specify a group of cues that are displayed together on the AX 2012 Role Center web part.

Workflow type Use a workflow type element type to specify a workflow for processing workflow documents. A workflow configuration consists of event handler specifications, custom workflow task specifications, and menu item bindings.

Workflow task Use a workflow task element type to specify a workflow task. A workflow task comprises a list of task outcomes, event handler registrations, and menu item bindings.

Workflow approval Use a workflow approval element type to specify specialized workflow approval tasks. A workflow approval task consists of approve, reject, request change, and deny task outcomes, a list of event handler registrations, and menu item bindings.

Workflow provider Use a workflow provider element type to specify the name of a class that provides data to a workflow. Example data includes a list of workflow participants, a list of task completion dates, and a structure of users that reflect positions in a position-reporting hierarchy.

Class Use a class element type to specify the structure and behavior of custom X++ types that implement data maintenance, data tracking, and data processing logic in an AX 2012 application. You specify class declarations, methods, and event handlers by using the X++ programming language. Class methods can be bound to menu items so that they are executed when users select action, display, or output menu item controls on a user interface. You can also use a class model element type to specify class interfaces that only include method definitions.

Macro Use a macro element type to specify a library of X++ syntax replacement procedures that map X++ input character sequences, such as readable names, to output character sequences, such as numeric constants, during compilation.

Reference Use a reference element type to specify the name of a. NET Framework assembly that contains .NET Framework common language runtime (CLR) types that can be referenced in X++ source code. The MorphX editor reads type data from the referenced assemblies so that Microsoft IntelliSense is available for CLR namespaces, types, and type members. The MorphX compiler uses the CLR type definitions in the referenced assembly for type and member syntax validation, and the AX 2012 runtime uses the reference elements to locate and load the referenced assembly.

Job Use a job element type to specify an X++ program that runs when you click the Go icon on the toolbar or press F5. Developers often write jobs when experimenting with X++ language features. You should not use jobs to write application code.

Service Use a service element type to enable an X++ class to be made available on an integration port.

Service group Use a service group element type to specify a web service deployment configuration that exposes web service operations as basic ports with web addresses.

Security policy Use a security policy element type to specify a configuration for constraining the view that a user has of data stored in one or more tables. A security policy configuration consists of a primary table specification and a policy query.

Code permission Use a code permission element type to specify one or more access permissions that secure access to logical units of application data and functionality. You can specify data access permissions to secure access to data stored in tables. You can specify code access permissions to secure access to forms, web controls, and server methods.

Privilege Use a privilege element type to specify one or more permissions that a user requires to perform a task, such as a data maintenance task; or a step in a task, such as a data view or data deletion step.

Duty Use a duty element type to specify a set of privileges that are required for a user to carry out internal control approval, review, and inquiry responsibilities and data maintenance responsibilities.

Role Use a role element type to specify the organization role, functional role, or application role that a user is assigned to in an organization. Sales agent is an example of an organization role, manager is an example of a functional role, and system user is an example of an application role.

Process cycle Use a process cycle element type to specify the operations and administration activities that are repetitively performed by users who are assigned duties in the security model. The expenditure cycle, the revenue cycle, the conversion cycle, and the accounting cycle are examples of process cycles.

The following model element types are part of the web client meta-model:

Web menu item Use a web menu item element type to specify web navigation actions that change the state of the AX 2012 system or user interface. If a label is specified for the menu item, the AX 2012 runtime will use it to name the action when that action is rendered in the user interface.

Web menu Use a web menu element type to specify a logical grouping of web menu items. Web menu specifications can group submenus. Web menus are rendered as hyperlinks on webpages.

Web content Use a web content element type to reference an ASP.NET user control. ASP.NET user controls are developed in the Visual Studio IDE and are stored in the AX 2012 model database.

Web part Use a web part element type to store a SharePoint web part in the AX 2012 model database. The web part will be saved to a web server when deployed.

Page definition Use a page definition element type to store a SharePoint webpage in the AX 2012 model database. The page definition will be saved to a web server when deployed.

Web control Use a web control element type to store an ASP.NET user control in the AX 2012 model database. The web controls will be saved to a web server when deployed.

List definition Use a list definition element type to store a SharePoint list definition in the AX 2012 model database. The list definition will be created on a SharePoint server when deployed.

Static file Use a static file element type to store a file in the AX 2012 model database. The file will be saved to a SharePoint server when deployed.

Web module Use a web module element type to specify the structure of a SharePoint website. The web modules are created as subsites under the home site in SharePoint.

The following model element types are part of the AX 2012 documentation and resource meta-model:

Help document set Use a Help documentation set element type to reference a collection of published documents. Help document sets are opened from the Help menu of the AX 2012 Windows client. For more information about creating and updating Help documents, see Chapter 16, “Customizing and adding Help.”

System documentation Use a system documentation element type to reference system library content and hyperlinks to MSDN content. System content describes the AX 2012 system reserved words, functions, tables, types, enums, and classes.

Label file Use a label file element type to store files of localized text resources in the AX 2012 model store.

Resource Use a resource element type to store file resources such as image files and animation files. These resources are stored in the AX 2012 model database.

The following model element types are part of the AX 2012 license, configuration, and application model security meta-model:

Configuration key Use a configuration key element type to assign application model elements to modules that a system administrator then uses to enable and disable application modules and module features. The AX 2012 runtime renders presentation controls that are bound to menu items with active configuration keys. Configuration keys can be specified as subkeys of parent keys.

License code Use a license code element type to lock or unlock the configuration of application modules developed by Microsoft. Modules are locked with license codes that must be unlocked with license keys. License codes can be specified as subcodes of parent codes.