Inside microsoft dynamics AX 2012 r3 nodrm

Foreword Introduction PART I A TOUR OF THE DEVELOPMENT ENVIRONMENT Chapter 1 Architectural overview Introduction AX 2012 five-layer solution architecture AX 2012 application platform arc

Inside Microsoft Dynamics AX

2012 R3

The Microsoft Dynamics AX Team

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Foreword

Introduction

PART I A TOUR OF THE DEVELOPMENT ENVIRONMENT

Chapter 1 Architectural overview

Introduction

AX 2012 five-layer solution architecture

AX 2012 application platform architecture

Application development environmentsData tier

Middle tierPresentation tier

AX 2012 application meta-model architecture

Application data element typesMorphX user interface control element typesWorkflow element types

Code element typesServices element typesRole-based security element typesWeb client element types

Documentation and resource element typesLicense and configuration element types

Chapter 2 The MorphX development environment and tools

Introduction

Application Object Tree

Navigating through the AOTCreating elements in the AOTModifying elements in the AOTRefreshing elements in the AOT

Element actions in the AOT

Element layers and models in the AOTProjects

Suppressing errors and warnings

Adding custom rules

Debugger

Enabling debugging

Debugger user interface

Debugger shortcut keys

Reverse Engineering tool

UML data model

UML object model

Entity relationship data model

Table Browser tool

Find tool

Compare tool

Starting the Compare tool

Using the Compare tool

Compare APIs

Cross-Reference tool

Version control

Element life cycleCommon version control tasksWorking with labels

Synchronizing elementsViewing the synchronization logShowing the history of an elementComparing revisions

Viewing pending elementsCreating a build

Integrating AX 2012 with other version control systems

Chapter 3 AX 2012 and NET

Introduction

Integrating AX 2012 with other systems

Using third-party assembliesWriting managed code

Hot swapping assemblies on the serverUsing LINQ with AX 2012 R3

The var keyword

Extension methodsAnonymous typesLambda expressionsWalkthrough: Constructing a LINQ queryUsing queries to read data

AX 2012 R3–specific extension methodsUpdating, deleting, and inserting recordsLimitations

Advanced: limiting overhead

Chapter 4 The X++ programming language

Introduction

Jobs

The type system

Value typesReference typesType hierarchiesSyntax

Variable declarationsExpressions

StatementsMacrosCommentsXML documentationClasses and interfaces

FieldsMethodsDelegatesPre-event and post-event handlersAttributes

Code access security

Compiling and running X++ as NET CILDesign and implementation patterns

Class-level patternsTable-level patterns

PART II DEVELOPING FOR AX 2012

Chapter 5 Designing the user experience

Introduction

Role-tailored design approach

User experience components

Navigation layer formsWork layer formsRole Center pages

Cues

Designing Role CentersArea pages

Designing area pagesList pages

Scenario: taking a call from a customerUsing list pages as an alternative to reportsDesigning list pages

Details forms

Transaction details forms

Enterprise Portal web client user experienceNavigation layer forms

Work layer formsDesigning for Enterprise PortalDesigning for your users

Chapter 6 The AX 2012 client

Introduction

Working with forms

Form patternsForm metadataForm data sourcesForm queriesAdding controls

Control overridesControl data binding

Design node properties

Run-time modificationsAction controls

Layout controlsInput controls

ManagedHost control

Other controlsUsing parts

Types of partsReferencing a part from a formAdding navigation items

MenuItem Menu

Menu definitionsCustomizing forms with code

Method overrides

Auto variables

Business logicCustom lookupsIntegrating with the Microsoft Office client

Make data sources available to Office Add-insBuild an Excel template

Build a Word templateAdd templates for users

Chapter 7 Enterprise Portal

Introduction

Enterprise Portal architecture

Enterprise Portal components

Web partsAOT elementsDatasets

Enterprise Portal framework controlsDeveloping for Enterprise Portal

Creating a model-driven list pageCreating a details page

AJAXSession disposal and cachingContext

DataMetadata

Proxy classes

ViewState

LabelsFormattingValidationError handlingSecurity

Secure web elementsRecord context and encryptionSharePoint integration

Site navigationSite definitions, page templates, and web partsImporting and deploying a web part pageEnterprise Search

Themes

Chapter 8 Workflow in AX 2012

Introduction

AX 2012 workflow infrastructure

Windows Workflow Foundation

Key workflow concepts

Workflow document and workflow document classWorkflow categories

Workflow typesEvent handlersMenu itemsWorkflow elementsQueues

ProvidersWorkflowsWorkflow instancesWork items

Workflow architecture

Workflow runtimeWorkflow runtime interactionLogical approval and task workflowsWorkflow life cycle

Implementing workflows

Creating workflow artifacts, dependent artifacts, and businesslogic

Managing stateCreating a workflow categoryCreating the workflow document classAdding a workflow display menu itemActivating the workflow

Chapter 9 Reporting in AX 2012

Introduction

Inside the AX 2012 reporting framework

Client-side reporting solutionsServer-side reporting solutionsReport execution sequencePlanning your reporting solution

Reporting and usersRoles in report developmentCreating production reports

Model elements for reportsSSRS extensions

AX 2012 extensionsCreating charts for Enterprise Portal

AX 2012 chart development toolsIntegration with AX 2012

Data seriesAdding interactive functions to a chartOverriding the default chart formatTroubleshooting the reporting framework

The report server cannot be validated

A report cannot be generated

A chart cannot be debugged because of SharePoint sandboxissues

A report times out

Chapter 10 BI and analytics

Introduction

Components of the AX 2012 BI solution

Implementing the AX 2012 BI solution

Implementing the prerequisitesConfiguring an SSAS serverDeploying cubes

Deploying cubes in an environment with multiple partitionsProcessing cubes

Provisioning usersCustomizing the AX 2012 BI solution

Configuring analytic contentCustomizing cubes

Extending cubesIntegrating AX 2012 analytic components with external datasources

Maintaining customized and extended projects in the AOTCreating cubes

Identifying requirementsDefining metadata

Generating and deploying the cubeAdding KPIs and calculationsDisplaying analytic content in Role Centers

Providing insights tailored to a personaChoosing a presentation tool based on a personaSQL Server Power View

Power BI for Office 365

Comparing Power View and Power BIAuthoring with Excel

Business Overview web part and KPI List web partDeveloping reports with Report Builder

Developing reports with the Visual Studio tools for AX 2012

Chapter 11 Security, licensing, and configuration

Introduction

Security framework overview

AuthenticationAuthorizationData securityDeveloping security artifacts

Setting permissions for a formSetting permissions for server methodsSetting permissions for controls

Creating privilegesAssigning privileges and duties to security rolesUsing valid time state tables

Validating security artifacts

Creating usersAssigning users to rolesSetting up segregation of duties rulesCreating extensible data security policies

Data security policy conceptsDeveloping an extensible data security policyDebugging extensible data security policiesSecurity coding

Table permissions frameworkCode access security frameworkBest practice rules

Security debuggingLicensing and configuration

Configuration hierarchyConfiguration keysUsing configuration keysTypes of CALs

Customization and licensing

Chapter 12 AX 2012 services and integration

Introduction

Types of AX 2012 services

System servicesCustom servicesDocument servicesSecurity considerationsPublishing AX 2012 servicesConsuming AX 2012 services

Sample WCF client for CustCustomerService

Consuming system servicesUpdating business documentsInvoking custom services asynchronouslyThe AX 2012 send framework

Implementing a trigger for transmissionConsuming external web services from AX 2012

Field lists

Field justificationPerformance configuration options

SQL Administration formServer Configuration formAOS configuration

Client configurationClient performanceNumber sequence cachingExtensive logging

Master scheduling and inventory closingCoding patterns for performance

Executing X++ code as common intermediate languageUsing parallel execution effectively

The SysOperation frameworkPatterns for checking to see whether a record existsRunning a query only as often as necessary

When to prefer two queries over a joinIndexing tips and tricks

When to use firstfast

Optimizing list pagesAggregating fields to reduce loop iterationsPerformance monitoring tools

Microsoft Dynamics AX Trace ParserMonitoring database activity

Using the SQL Server connection context to find the SPID oruser behind a client session

The client access logVisual Studio Profiler

Chapter 14 Extending AX 2012

Introduction

The SysOperation framework

SysOperation framework classes

SysOperation framework attributesComparing the SysOperation and RunBase frameworks

RunBase example: SysOpSampleBasicRunbaseBatch SysOperation example: SysOpSampleBasicController

The RunBase framework

Inheritance in the RunBase frameworkProperty method pattern

Pack-unpack patternClient/server considerationsThe extension framework

Create an extensionAdd metadata

Extension exampleEventing

Delegates

Pre and post events

Event handlersEventing example

Chapter 15 Testing

Introduction

Unit testing features in AX 2012

Using predefined test attributesCreating test attributes and filtersMicrosoft Visual Studio 2010 test tools

Using all aspects of the ALM solutionUsing an acceptance test driven development approachUsing shared steps

Recording shared steps for fast forwardingDeveloping test cases in an evolutionary mannerUsing ordered test suites for long scenariosPutting everything together

Executing tests as part of the build process

Using the right tests for the job

Chapter 16 Customizing and adding Help

Introduction

Help system overview

AX 2012 clientHelp viewerHelp serverAOS

Help content overview

TopicsPublisherTable of contentsSummary pageCreating content

Walkthrough: create a topic in HTMLAdding labels, fields, and menu items to a topicMake a topic context-sensitive

Update content from other publishersCreate a table of contents file

Creating non-HTML contentPublishing content

Add a publisher to the Web.config file

Publish content to the Help serverSet Help document set propertiesTroubleshooting the Help system

The Help viewer cannot display contentThe Help viewer cannot display the table of contents

PART III UNDER THE HOOD

Chapter 17 The database layer

Introduction

Temporary tables

InMemory temporary tables TempDB temporary tables

Creating temporary tablesSurrogate keys

Performance considerationsUnit of Work

Chapter 18 Automating tasks and document distribution

Introduction

Batch processing in AX 2012

Common uses of the batch frameworkPerformance

Creating and executing a batch job

Creating a batch-executable class

Creating a batch jobConfiguring the batch server and creating a batch groupManaging batch jobs

Debugging a batch taskPrint management in AX 2012

Common uses of print managementThe print management hierarchyPrint management settings

Chapter 19 Application domain frameworks

Introduction

The organization model framework

How the organization model framework worksWhen to use the organization model frameworkExtending the organization model frameworkThe product model framework

How the product model framework worksWhen to use the product model frameworkExtending the product model frameworkThe operations resource framework

How the operations resource framework worksWhen to use the operations resource frameworkExtending the operations resource frameworkMorphX model element prefixes for the operations resourceframework

The dimension framework

How the dimension framework worksConstraining combinations of valuesCreating values

Extending the dimension frameworkQuerying data

Physical table referencesThe accounting framework

How the accounting framework worksWhen to use the accounting frameworkExtensions to the accounting frameworkAccounting framework process statesMorphX model element prefixes for the accountingframework

The source document framework

How the source document framework worksWhen to use the source document frameworkExtensions to the source document frameworkMorphX model element prefixes for the source documentframework

Chapter 21 Application models

Preparing a model for publication

Setting the model manifestExporting the model

Signing the modelImporting model filesUpgrading a model

Moving a model from test to production

Creating a test environmentPreparing the test environmentDeploying the model to productionElement ID considerations

Model store API

Developing a mobile app

Platform options and considerationsDeveloper documentation and toolsThird-party libraries

Best practicesKey aspects of authenticationUser experience

Globalization and localizationApp monitoring

Web traffic debuggingArchitectural variations

On-corpnet appsWeb apps

Data import and export

Test Data Transfer ToolData Import/Export FrameworkChoosing between the Test Data Transfer Tool and DIXFBenchmarking

Index

About the authors

What do you think of this book? We want to hear from you!

Microsoft is interested in hearing your feedback so we can continually improve our books and learning resources for you To participate in a brief online survey, please visit:

microsoft.com/learning/booksurvey

The release of Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R3 and this book coincidewith the tenth anniversary of my involvement with the development of thisproduct I’ve had the pleasure to work with a great team of people

throughout that period When I reflect on the modest ambition we set outwith a decade ago, I’m excited to see all that we have achieved and amgrateful for all the support we received along the way from our customers,partners, and the community around this product

We set out to build a next-generation line-of-business system that

empowered people We wanted to go beyond traditional ERP in multipleways:

First and foremost was to create a system of empowerment, not asystem of records Microsoft Dynamics AX is designed to help

people do their jobs, not to record what they did after they did it Second, we wanted to maintain an agile system that allowed

businesses to change at their own pace and not at the pace of

previous generations of electronic concrete

Third, we wanted to provide functional depth and richness whilemaintaining simplicity of implementation, to allow both midsize andlarge organizations to use the same system

The embodiment of our first goal is role-tailored computing and

pervasive BI Those new to the Microsoft Dynamics AX community after

AX 2009 can’t imagine a day when that wasn’t a standard part of the

product AX 2012 takes that richness to a whole new level with more than

80 predefined security roles, and Role Centers for more than 40 distinctfunctions in an organization

The implementation of our second goal is in the richness of the AX

2012 metadata system and tools, combined with the fact that all of oursolutions and localizations are designed to work together AX 2012

enhances those capabilities even further while adding the organizationalmodel, self-balancing dimensions, date effectivity, and other powerfulapplication foundation elements

The realization of the third goal came in the form of deep industry

solutions for manufacturing, distribution, retail, service industries, and thepublic sector, along with a comprehensive set of life cycle services fordesign, development, deployment, and operations

This book focuses on the enhancements to the Microsoft Dynamics AXdeveloper toolset and is written by the team that brought you those tools.It’s truly an insider’s view of the entire AX 2012 development and runtimeenvironment (now updated for the AX 2012 R3 release) I hope you enjoy

it as much as we enjoyed writing the book and creating the product

Here’s to the next ten years of our journey together

Thanks,

Hal Howard

Head of Product Development, Microsoft Dynamics AX

Corporate Vice President, Microsoft Dynamics Research and

Development

Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 represents a new generation of enterpriseresource planning (ERP) software With more than 1,000 new features andprebuilt industry capabilities for manufacturing, distribution, services,retail, and the public sector, AX 2012 provides a robust platform for

developers to deliver specialized functionality more efficiently to the

industries that they support AX 2012 is a truly global solution, able toscale with any business as it grows It is simple enough to deploy for asingle business unit in a single country, yet robust enough to support theunique requirements for business systems in 36 countries/regions—allfrom a single-instance deployment of the software With AX 2012 R3,Microsoft Dynamics AX delivers new levels of capability in warehouseand transportation management, demand planning, and retail

AX 2012 R3 also represents an important step forward in the evolution

of Microsoft Dynamics AX for the cloud As Microsoft Technical FellowMike Ehrenberg explains:

Microsoft is transforming for a cloud-first, mobile-first world As part of that transformation, with the AX 2012 R3 release, we are

certifying the deployment of Microsoft Dynamics AX on the

Microsoft Azure cloud platform, which uses the Azure

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) technology This opens up the

option for customers ready to move to the cloud to deploy the

power of Microsoft Dynamics AX to run their business; for

customers that favor on-premises deployment, it complements the option to harness the Microsoft Azure cloud platform for training, development, testing, and disaster recovery—all workloads with

the uneven demand that the cloud serves so well One of the most exciting new capabilities introduced with AX 2012 R3 is Lifecycle Services, our new Azure cloud-based service that streamlines

every aspect of the ERP deployment, management, servicing, and upgrade lifecycle—regardless of whether AX 2012 itself is

deployed on-premises or in the cloud We are leveraging the cloud

to deliver rapidly evolving services to help all of our customers

ensure that they are following best practices across their AX 2012 projects We are already seeing great results in rapid

deployments, streamlined support interactions, and performance

tuning—and this is only the beginning of our very exciting

Customers have also weighed in on the benefits of Microsoft Dynamics

AX 2012:

Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 allows us to collaborate within our

organization and with our constituents using built-in controls

and fund/encumbrance accounting capabilities to ensure

compliance with Public Sector requirements and using out-of

the-box Business Analytics and Intelligence so executives can

make effective decisions in real time.

Mike Bailey Director of Finance and Information Services

City of Redmond (Washington)

With AX 2012, developing for and customizing Microsoft

Dynamics AX will be easier than ever Developers will be able to

work with X++ directly from within Microsoft Visual Studio and

enjoy more sophisticated features in the X++ editor, for example Also, the release includes more prebuilt interoperability with

Microsoft SharePoint Server and SQL Server Reporting Services,

so that developers spend less time on mundane work when setting

up customer systems.

Guido Van de Velde Director of MECOMS™ Ferranti Computer Systems

AX 2012 is substantially different from its predecessor, which can mean

a steep learning curve for developers and system implementers who haveworked with previous versions However, by providing a broad overview

of the architectural changes, new technologies, and tools for this release,

the authors of Inside Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R3 have created a

resource that will help reduce the time that it takes for developers to

become productive

The history of Microsoft Dynamics AX

Historically, Microsoft Dynamics AX encompasses more than 25 years ofexperience in business application innovation and developer productivity.Microsoft acquired the predecessor of Microsoft Dynamics AX, calledAxapta, in 2002, with its purchase of the Danish company Navision A/S.The success of the product has spurred an increasing commitment of

research and development resources, which allows Microsoft Dynamics

AX to grow and strengthen its offering continuously

The development team that created AX 2012 consists of three largeteams, two that are based in the United States (Fargo, North Dakota, andRedmond, Washington) and one that is based in Denmark (Copenhagen).The Fargo team focuses on finance and human resources (HR), the

Redmond team concentrates on project management and accounting andcustomer relationship management (CRM), and the Copenhagen teamdelivers supply chain management (SCM) In addition, a framework teamdevelops infrastructure components, and a worldwide distributed teamlocalizes the Microsoft Dynamics AX features to meet national regulations

or local differences in business practices in numerous languages and

markets around the world

To clarify a few aspects of the origins of Microsoft Dynamics AX, theauthors contacted people who participated in the early stages of the

Microsoft Dynamics AX development cycle The first question we askedwas, “How was the idea of using X++ as the programming language forMicrosoft Dynamics AX conceived?”

We had been working with an upgraded version of XAL for a while called OO XAL back in 1996/1997 At some point in time, we stopped and reviewed our approach and looked at other new languages like Java After working one long night, I decided that our approach had to change to align with the latest trends in programming languages, and

we started with X++.

Erik Damgaard Cofounder of Damgaard Data

Of course, the developers had several perspectives on this breakthroughevent

One morning when we came to work, nothing was working Later in the morning, we realized that we had changed programming

languages! But we did not have any tools, so for months we were

programming in Notepad without compiler or editor support.

Anonymous developer

Many hypotheses exist regarding the origin of the original product

name, Axapta Axapta was a constructed name, and the only requirementwas that the letter X be included, to mark the association with its

predecessor, XAL The X association carries over in the name Microsoft

Dynamics AX.

Who should read this book

This book explores the technology and development tools in AX 2012through the AX 2012 R3 release It is designed to help new and existingMicrosoft Dynamics AX developers by providing holistic and in-depthinformation about developing for AX 2012—information that may not beavailable from other resources, such as SDK documentation, blogs, orforums It aids developers who are either customizing AX 2012 for a

specific implementation or building modules or applications that blendseamlessly with AX 2012 System implementers and consultants will alsofind much of the information useful

Assumptions

To get full value from this book, you should have knowledge of commonobject-oriented concepts from languages such as C++, C#, and Java Youshould also have knowledge of relational database concepts Knowledge ofStructured Query Language (SQL) and Microsoft NET technology is alsoadvantageous Transact-SQL statements are used to perform relationaldatabase tasks, such as data updates and data retrieval

Who should not read this book

This book is not aimed at those who install, upgrade, or deploy AX 2012

It is also beyond the scope of this book to include details about the sizing

of production environments For more information about these topics, refer

to the extensive installation and implementation documentation that issupplied with the product or that is available on Microsoft TechNet,

Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN), and other websites

The book also does not provide instructions for those who configureparameter options within AX 2012 or the business users who use the

application in their day-to-day work For assistance with these activities,refer to the help that is included with the product and available on TechNet

at http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/gg852966.aspx

Organization of this book

Although Inside Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R3 does not provide

exhaustive coverage of every feature in the product, it does offer a broadview that will benefit developers as they develop for AX 2012

This book is divided into four sections, each of which focuses on AX

2012 from a different angle Part I, “A tour of the development

environment,” provides an overview of the AX 2012 architecture that hasbeen written with developers in mind The chapters in Part I also provide atour of the internal AX 2012 development environment to help new

developers familiarize themselves with the designers and tools that theywill use to implement their customizations, extensions, and integrations.Part II, “Developing for AX 2012,” provides the information that

developers need to customize and extend AX 2012 In addition to

explanations of the features, many chapters include examples, some ofwhich are available as downloadable files that can help you learn how tocode for AX 2012 For information about how to access these files, see the

“Code samples” section, later in this introduction

Part III, “Under the hood,” is largely devoted to illustrating how

developers can use the underlying foundation of the AX 2012 applicationframeworks to develop their solutions, with a focus on the database layer,system and application frameworks, reflection, and models

Part IV, “Beyond AX 2012,” focuses on developing companion apps formobile devices that allow AX 2012 users to participate in critical businessprocesses even when they are away from their computers It also describesexciting new techniques and tools, such as Lifecycle Services, that helppartners and customers manage every aspect of the application life cycle

Conventions and features in this book

This book presents information by using the following conventions, whichare designed to make the information readable and easy to follow

Application Object Tree (AOT) paths use backslashes to separate

nodes, such as Forms\AccountingDistribution\Methods.

The names of methods, functions, properties and property values,fields, and nodes appear in italics

Registry keys and T-SQL commands appear in capital letters

User interface (UI) paths use angle brackets to indicate actions—forexample, “On the File menu, point to Tools > Options.”

Boxed elements with labels such as “Note” provide additional

information or alternative methods for completing a step

successfully

Text that you type (apart from code blocks) appears in bold

A plus sign (+) between two key names means that you must pressthose keys at the same time For example, “Press Alt+Tab” means

that you hold down the Alt key while you press the Tab key.

System requirements

To work with most of the sample code, you must have the RTM version of

AX 2012 installed For the Language-Integrated Query (LINQ) samples,you must be using AX 2012 R3 For information about the system

requirements for installing Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012, see the

Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 Installation Guide at

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=12687

You must also have an Internet connection to download the sample filesthat are provided as supplements to many of the chapters

Note

Some of the features described in this book, such as data

partitioning and the EP Chart Control, apply only to AX 2012

R2 and AX 2012 R3 That is noted where those features are

discussed

Code samples

Most of the chapters in this book include code examples that let you

interactively try out the new material presented in the main text You candownload the example code from the following page:

http://aka.ms/InsideDynaAXR3

Follow the instructions to download the 9780735685109_files.zip file.

Installing the code samples

Follow these steps to install the code samples on your computer:

1 Unzip the file that you downloaded from the book’s website.

2 If prompted, review the displayed end user license agreement If you

accept the terms, select the accept option, and then click Next

Note

If the license agreement doesn’t appear, you can access it

from the same webpage from which you downloaded the file

Using the code samples

The code examples referenced in each chapter are provided as both xpofiles that you can import into Microsoft Dynamics AX and Visual Studioprojects that you can open through the corresponding csproj files Many

of these examples are incomplete, and you cannot import and run themsuccessfully without following the steps indicated in the associated

chapter

Acknowledgments

We want to thank all the people who assisted us in bringing this book topress We apologize for anyone whose name we missed

Microsoft Dynamics product team

Special thanks go to the following colleagues, whom we’re fortunate towork with

Margaret Sherman, whose Managing Editor duties included wranglingauthors, chasing down stray chapters, translating techno-speak into clearEnglish, keeping numerous balls in the air, and herding a few cats

Margaret kept the project moving forward, on schedule, on budget, andwith a real commitment to quality content Thank you, Margaret! Thisproject wouldn’t have happened without your leadership!

Mark Baker and Steve Kubis, who contributed ace project managementand editing work

Margo Crandall, who provided a quick and accurate technical review atthe last minute for Chapter 23

Hal Howard, Richard Barnwell, and Ann Beebe, who sponsored theproject and provided resources for it

We’re also grateful to the following members of the product team, whoprovided us with the reviews and research that helped us refine this book:Ned Baker

(http://dynamicsaxbuild.codeplex.com/releases), with supporting

documentation on his blog (http://daxmusings.blogspot.com/), and hiscollaboration as we investigated this approach for executing SysTests fromMicrosoft Dynamics AX were valuable resources as we prepared the

chapter on testing

Microsoft Press

Another big thank you goes to the great people at Microsoft Press for theirsupport and expertise throughout the writing and publishing process

Carol Dillingham, the Content Project Manager for the book, who

provided ongoing support and guidance throughout the life of the project.Rosemary Caperton—Acquisitions Editor

Allan Iversen—Technical Reviewer

Kathy Krause—Project Editor and Copyeditor with Online TrainingSolutions, Inc (OTSI)

Errata, updates, & book support

We’ve made every effort to ensure the accuracy of this book If you

discover an error, please submit it to us via mspinput@microsoft.com You

can also reach the Microsoft Press Book Support team for other supportvia the same alias Please note that product support for Microsoft softwareand hardware is not offered through this address For help with Microsoftsoftware or hardware, go to http://support.microsoft.com.

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Check back often to see what is new!

We want to hear from you

At Microsoft Press, your satisfaction is our top priority, and your feedbackour most valuable asset Please tell us what you think of this book at:

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We know you’re busy, so we’ve kept it short with just a few questions.Your answers go directly to the editors at Microsoft Press (No personalinformation will be requested.) Thanks in advance for your input!

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This edition of the book is dedicated to Hal Howard, with many

thanks for your leadership.

—The Microsoft Dynamics AX Team

Part I: A tour of the development

environmentCHAPTER 1 Architectural overview

CHAPTER 2 The MorphX development environment and tools CHAPTER 3 AX 2012 and NET

CHAPTER 4 The X++ programming language

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

Introduction

AX 2012 is an enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution that integratesfinancial resource management, operations resource management, andhuman resource management processes that can be owned and controlled

by multinational, multicompany, and multi-industry organizations,

including those in the public sector The AX 2012 solution encompassesboth the AX 2012 application and the AX 2012 application platform onwhich the application is built The application platform is designed to bethe platform of choice for developing scalable, customizable, and

extensible ERP applications in the shortest time possible, and for the

lowest cost The following key architectural design principles make thispossible:

Separation of concerns An AX 2012 end-to-end solution is

delivered by many development teams working inside Microsoft, inthe 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 overlapbetween 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 apresentation tier The AX 2012 Windows client, the Enterprise Portalweb client, and the Microsoft Office clients are components of thepresentation tier; the Application Object Server (AOS), the

Enterprise Portal extensions to Microsoft SharePoint Server, andMicrosoft SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS) are components ofthe 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-independentdevelopment, 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-specificreference models such as the units of measure reference model;

domain-specific resource models such as the person, product, andlocation models; and domain-specific workflow models such as theapproval and review models, which are relevant to all organizations

AX 2012 five-layer solution architecture

The AX 2012 five-layer solution architecture, illustrated in Figure 1-1,logically partitions an AX 2012 solution into an application platform layer,

a foundation application domain layer, a horizontal application domainlayer, an industry application domain layer, and a vertical application

domain layer The components in all architecture layers are designed tomeet Microsoft internationalization, localization, and security standards,and all layers are built on the Microsoft technology platform

FIGURE 1-1 AX 2012 five-layer architecture.

Note

The layers in the AX 2012 five-layer architecture are different

from the model layers that are part of the AX 2012

customization framework described later in this book

Architectural layers are logical partitions of an end-to-end

solution Customization layers are physical partitions of

application domain code For more information, see Chapter

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

Layer 1: Application platform The application platform layer

provides the system frameworks and tools that support the

development of scalable, customizable, and extensible applicationdomain components This layer consists of the MorphX model–based development environment, the X++ programming language,the Windows client framework, the Enterprise Portal framework, theAOS, and the application platform system framework For a

description of the component architecture in the application platformlayer, see the “AX 2012 application platform architecture” sectionlater in this chapter

Layer 2: Foundation The foundation layer consists of

domain-specific reference models in addition to domain-domain-specific resourcemodeling, 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 operationscalendar, the language code, and the unit of measure reference

models Examples of domain-specific resource models include theparty model, the organization model, the operations resource model,the product model, and the location model The source documentframework and the accounting distribution and journalizing processframeworks are also part of this layer Chapter 19, “Application

domain frameworks,” describes the conceptual design of a number ofthe frameworks in this layer

Layer 3: Horizontal The horizontal layer consists of application

domain workloads that integrate the financial resource, operationsresource, and human resource management processes that can beowned and controlled by organizations Example workloads includethe operations management workload, the supply chain managementworkload, 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 (Theworkloads 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 industriesinclude 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 organizationsthat operate in a particular vertical industry and to organizations thatare 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 industryand localization requirements

AX 2012 application platform architecture

The architecture of the AX 2012 application platform supports the

development of Windows client applications, SharePoint web client

applications, Office client integration applications, and third-party

integration applications Figure 1-2 shows the components that supportthese application configurations This section provides a brief description

of the application development environments, and a description of thecomponents in each of the data, middle, and presentation tiers of the AX

2012 platform architecture