Page Extension Object

Article
04/02/2024

The page extension object extends a Dynamics 365 Business Central page object and adds or overrides the functionality.

The structure of a page is hierarchical and breaks down into three sections. The first block contains metadata for the overall page; the type of the page and the source table it is showing data from. The next section; the layout, describes the visual parts on the page. The final section details the actions that are published on the page.

For more information about the Page and Page Extension objects, see Pages Overview.

Important

Only pages with the Extensible Property set to true can be extended.

Note

Extension objects can have a name with a maximum length of 30 characters.

Important

A page of type API page can't be extended by creating a page extension object. Instead, create a new API page by adding a new page object.

Note

Modifying actions in Cue groups on page extensions isn't supported.

Snippet support

Typing the shortcut tpageext will create the basic layout for a page extension object when using the AL Language extension for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central in Visual Studio Code.

Tip

Use Ctrl+Space to trigger IntelliSense and get assistance on code completion, parameter info, quick info, and member lists. For more information about snippets, see Syntax and snippets.

Views

Views in Dynamics 365 Business Central are used on list pages to define a different view of the data on a given page. Views can be defined for Pages, Page Extensions, and Page Customization. For more information, see Views.

Add tooltips on page fields

Starting in Business Central 2024 release wave 1, you can define tooltips on table fields. When a tooltip is defined on a table field, any page that uses the field automatically inherits the tooltip.

For more information, see Add tooltips to table and page fields.

Using keywords to place actions and controls

You can use the following keywords in the layout section to place and move fields and groups on the page extension. Similarly, in the actions section, you use these keywords to place actions in the ribbon.

Keywords	Syntax	Applies to
`addfirst`	`addfirst(Anchor)`	Anchor: areas and groups
`addlast`	`addlast(Anchor)`	Anchor: areas and groups
`addafter`	`addafter(Anchor)`	Anchor: controls, actions, and groups
`addbefore`	`addbefore(Anchor)`	Anchor: controls, actions, and groups
`movefirst`	`movefirst(Anchor; Target1, Target2)`	Anchor: area, group Target: list of actions or list of controls
`movelast`	`movelast(Anchor; Target1, Target2)`	Anchor: area, group Target: list of actions or list of controls
`moveafter`	`moveafter(Anchor; Target1, Target2)`	Anchor: controls, actions, and groups Target: list of actions or list of controls
`movebefore`	`movebefore(Anchor; Target1, Target2)`	Anchor: controls, actions, and groups Target: list of actions or list of controls
`modify`	`modify(Target)`	Target: controls, actions, and groups

Example

To modify the existing fields and groups on a page, you use the modify keyword. See the code snippet below for addlast, modify and action syntax. In the following example, the actions section creates a new group in the ribbon and places it last in the Creation group.

pageextension 70000020 CustomerCardExtension extends "Customer Card"
{
    layout
    {
        // Adding a new control field 'ShoeSize' in the group 'General'
        addlast(General)
        {
            field("Shoe Size"; ShoeSize)
            {
                Caption = 'Shoe size';

                trigger OnValidate();
                begin
                    if (ShoeSize < 10) then
                        Error('Feet too small');
                end;
            }
        }

        // Modifying the caption of the field 'Address'
        modify("Address 2")
        {
            Caption = 'New Address 2';
        }

        // Moving the two fields 'CreditLimit' and 'CalcCreditLimitLCYExpendedPct'
        // to be the first ones in the 'Balance' group.
        movefirst(Balance; CreditLimit, CalcCreditLimitLCYExpendedPct)
    }
    actions
    {
        // Adding a new action group 'MyNewActionGroup' in the 'Creation' area
        addlast(Creation)
        {
            group(MyNewActionGroup)
            {
                action(MyNewAction)
                {
                    Caption = 'My New Action';

                    trigger OnAction();
                    begin
                        Message('My message');
                    end;
                }
            }
        }
    }
}

tableextension 70000020 CustomerTableExtension extends Customer
{
    fields
    {
        // Adding a new table field in the 'Customer' table
        field(50100; ShoeSize; Integer) { }
    }
}

Page extension examples

In the following example, we use a table extension to extend the Customer table with a new field named ShoeSize of the datatype Integer. Then we create a page extension object that extends the Customer Card page object by adding a field control ShoeSize to the General group on the page. The field control is added as the last control in the group using the addlast method. The example also illustrates how to add a display-only control to the page. In the actions area, you can see what the syntax looks like for actions that execute triggers and actions that run objects.

tableextension 50115 RetailWinterSportsStore extends Customer
{
    fields
    {
        field(50116;ShoeSize;Integer)
        {
            Caption = 'ShoeSize';
            
            trigger OnValidate();
            begin
                if (rec.ShoeSize < 0) then
                begin
                   message('Shoe size not valid: %1', rec.ShoeSize);
                end;
            end;
        }
    }

    procedure HasShoeSize() : Boolean
    begin
        exit(ShoeSize <> 0);
    end;

    trigger OnBeforeInsert();
    begin
        if not HasShoeSize then
            ShoeSize := Random(42);
    end;
}

pageextension 50110 CustomerCardExtension extends "Customer Card"
{
    layout
    {
        addlast(General)
        {
            // control with underlying datasource
            field("Shoe Size"; ShoeSize)
            {
                ApplicationArea = All;

                trigger OnValidate();
                begin
                    if (ShoeSize < 10) then
                        Error('Feet too small');
                end;
            }
            // display-only control (without underlying datasource)
            field(ShoesInStock; 10)
            {
                ApplicationArea = All;
                Caption = 'Shoes in stock';

            }
        }

        modify("Address 2")
        {
            Caption = 'New Address 2';
        }
    }

    actions
    {
        addlast(Creation)
        {
            group(MyActionGroup)
            {
                Action(MyAction1)
                {
                    ApplicationArea = All;
                    Caption = 'Hello!';

                    trigger OnAction();
                    begin
                        Message('My message');
                    end;
                }

                Action(MyAction2)
                {
                    ApplicationArea = All;
                    
                    // Run page to test how actions work
                    RunObject = page "Absence Registration";                    
                }
            }
        }
    }
}

You can reference Report and XMLPort objects and use these objects in the RunObject property, as well as, declare variables of the types Report and XMLPort and call AL methods on them. This page extension object extends the Customer List page object by adding two actions; the first action calls the Customer - List report, the second action calls the Export Contact XMLPort.

pageextension 50114 AddCustomerReport extends "Customer List"
{
    actions
    {
        AddLast("&Customer")
        {
            action("Customer List Report")
            {
                trigger OnAction();
                var
                    rep : Report "Customer - List";
                begin
                    rep.Run;
                end;
            }

            action("Export Contact List")
            {
                trigger OnAction();
                var
                    xml : XmlPort "Export Contact";
                begin
                    xml.Run;
                end;
            }
        }
    }
}