Dynamics AX Lookups

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Overview

• A lookup is a small form we use to select a value for a control

• A lookup can list the values in a grid or a form

• Often shows several fields that help us find and select the correct record

• For example, lookup for customer account number will also show customer name

• We can bind a lookup form to a field in the form datasource or a control in the form design

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Controls

• Following are the controls which can be bound to a lookup form:– DateEdit– GuidEdit– Int64Edit– IntEdit– RealEdit– ReferenceGroup– StringEdit– TimeEdit

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Types of Lookup Forms

• Standard Lookup Forms

• EDT Lookup Forms

• Runtime Lookup Forms

• Enum Lookup (Not exactly a lookup form)

Standard Lookup Forms

Example, Insight, Lab Activity, Demo

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Example

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Insight

• A standard lookup form is a system generated form

• To add a standard lookup form:– you bind a control to a field

– from the main table of the form data source

– that references the ID of a record in related table

• It uses a grid to list the records

• Field displayed in the control is dictated by the AutoIdentification field group of the related table

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Insight

• Fields appearing in the lookup form are specified by a field group or another set of fields from the related table– Lookup bound to surrogate/natural foreign key

• shows fields in the AutoLookup field group by default

• shows fields used in TitleField1, TitleField2 properties of the table if AutoLookup is empty

• shows the first natural key of the table if AutoLookup, TitleField1, TitleField2 all are empty

• Use it whenever possible because:– Consistent experience across forms

– Easier to maintain as lookup forms get synced with field groups changes

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Lab Activity

• In AOT, navigate to– Forms>>Form>>Data Sources>>Table>>Fields

• Open Fields node in a new window

• In the AOT that shows the form, navigate to– Designs>>Design

• Drag the field1 from the Fields list to the Design node of the form

• As a consequence, a control will be added to the Design node

• Check the properties of the newly added control

• Following above steps you will successfully build a standard lookup form

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Lab Activity

ReferenceGroup control

• Name

• DataSource– Should be the intended table

from the form data source

• Label

• ReferenceField– Should be the intended

surrogate foreign key field from the DataSource table you want to bind the control to

Other controls

• Name

• DataField– Should be the intended foreign

key field in the DataSource table

• DataSource– Should be the intended table

from the form data source

• Label

• LookupButton– Should be set to Auto

After finishing lab activity, make sure the following fields have been set correctly

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DEMOStandard Lookup Form

EDT Lookup Forms

Example, Insight, Lab Activity, Demo

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Example

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Insight

• EDT can be used to bind a lookup form, from the AOT, to– A field in a form data source table– A control in a form design. The control can be unbound

• Style property, of the AOT form to be used as a lookup form, should be set to Lookup1

• Code must be added to the form that updates the value of the control when you select a record. For example, onClose method may be returning a record

• Use whenever the lookup form layout is complex

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Lab Activity

• To add an EDT lookup form:– To a field, set the ExtendedDataType property of that field to the

name of the EDT

– To a control, set the ExtendedDataType property of that control to the name of the EDT

– Finally, set the FormHelp property of the EDT to the name of the AOT form you want to use as a lookup

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DEMOEDT Lookup Form

Runtime Lookup Forms

Example, Insight, API, Demo

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Example

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Insight

• It is a custom form you create with X++ code

• It can be added to a field in the form data source or a control in the form design

• To add a runtime lookup form to a field, override lookup or lookupReference method

• To add a runtime lookup form to a control, override lookup or lookupReference method

• Difficult to maintain because changes to the lookup require updates to the X++ code. Therefore use only when you need it

• Runtime lookup has higher precedence over standard and EDT lookups

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lookup() method

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lookupReference() method

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DEMORuntime Lookup Form

Enum Lookup

Example, Insight, API, Demo

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Example

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Insight

• Not exactly a lookup form

• Useful to know how to filter values in an enum lookup

• Possible in case of unbound controls

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API

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DEMOEnum Lookup

When to use what?

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• Consistent experience across different forms• Easier to maintain as they get auto synced with

changes in field groups• Best to show fields from a field group of a related table

Standard Lookups

• Best to use if the lookup form layout is complex• Performance hit due to form rendering

EDT Lookups

• Best to leverage the power of query• Difficult to maintain because of the need to update the

code in case of changesRuntime Lookups

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References

• http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa597861.aspx

• Inside Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 – Pg#188