The most unknown features to migrate master data to D365BC (Part 3)

The data migration for a new ERP is always a challenging task. It starts with the collection of the data from the legacy system, the cleansing of the data, the data modelling to the desired new format, and the upload to the new ERP. There are several studies that states "The data migration phase of a project can consume up to 30% of the total project resources". This post will describe the most unknown features to migrate master data to Dynamics 365 BC (part 3). All explained with practical examples using Configuration Packages. Official doc from MSFT: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics365/business-central/admin-migrate-customer-data.

How to delete the data before importing?

Before importing the data (first time or another try), it is handy to delete the existing data before importing. Sometimes, we just need to override the existing data.

The feature can be found at column "Delete Table Records Before Processing".

Use this functionality with caution as a wrong tick box can delete unwanted data.

How to create automatically missing related records to related tables?

When importing data to a BC table with some columns linked to related tables, it is frequent to have some missing records on related tables.

Examples:

Importing customers with a Country Code that doesn't exist on Country Code table

Importing vendors with a Purchaser Code that doesn't exist on Purchasers table

The standard workaround is to import the missing records before the master table.

The unknown feature is to use the column "Create Missing Codes" at field level under Configuration Package.

When a field has this option activated, all the missing codes will be created automatically on related records during the import.

Use this functionality with caution as wrong data can create unknown and incorrect codes on related tables (like misspelling codes for example).