My report from the technical conference.

Sorry to say that the fourth session on the second day was a letdown.

I attempted to get into The X++ language with Peter Villadsen but it was full – completely, overflowingly, full. They need to get him into bigger rooms. I gather it is currently available at mbspartner.microsoft.com/AX/Topic/48  but I don’t have Dynamics Learning Portal so I’m out of luck for now.

So then I went to a lab on Applying form patterns with Jason Green. It had a lot of potential, but too many wrinkles to work out. I ended up leaving. But here was the overview of the lab:

Lab: take a 2012 form and apply a pattern

Lab overview –

• Apply the details master form pattern

• In Solution Explorer, open a form
• Right click, set as startup object
• Press Ctrl-F5 to build/run
• Open the Patterns Information Panel by clicking the Patterns tab in the form designer
• Right click Design, point to Apply pattern, then select the pattern (details master)
• Add missing groups and controls
• When done, press Ctrl-F5 to build/run

• Utilize documentation to learn about patterns

• Help is at the AX Help Wiki at http://ax.help.dynamics.com; search for “details master” and open the “Details Master – Form Pattern” article

• Apply subpatterns to form controls
  • In VS, in the form designer, right click the form, select Addins, and select Form statistics
  • You will see coverage – look for Pattern=Unspecified to be zero
  • Use the VS form search to find all instances of “unspecified” in the form
  • Subpatterns are part of the Selecting a Form Pattern wiki page
  • Right click Comments, select Apply pattern, and select your pattern
  • Repeat until there are no more unspecified
  • Press Ctrl-F5 to run
• Use patterns-related Visual Studio add-ins

• In VS, click Dynamics AX, Addins, Run form patterns report
• You’ll get a notification of where the csv went; open it in Excel
• Filter it to your model and/or form

Shout-out tonight to Bobby Small – thanks for reading my blog and taking the time to say hello!  Bobby is @daxioms on twitter and daxioms.blogspot.com.

Happy DAXing!

Photo: Washington Park Arboretum Credit: me