Configuration Package tips from Business Central support

Creating Configuration Packages is a great way to import/export table data in Business Central.  In this blog, we will go over some tips in creating these packages.

Building the Configuration Package:

In Configuration Packages, we give you the option to remove/add columns to the pages you are trying to integrate. It is recommended to make sure that the fields you include in the Configuration package are the fields that you would normally ‘manually’ enter when entering the transaction in the front end solution.

To access the fields you would click the Fields button on the Configuration Package page:

To Add/Remove a column from the integration you would check/uncheck the Include Field Check box:

You can also order the fields of a configuration package. The best practice would be to order the fields in the same order as you would manually entering the line.  That way you ensure the proper checks are being made as some fields change based on another field.

To change the order of the columns you would use the Move up/Move Down buttons:

When manually entering a transaction, if there are fields that are automatically populated, before importing the transaction that field data will need to be in the system. For example, if you are importing Customers and you are including the Payment Terms, you need to make sure that the Payment Terms which you are including in the import exist in the system.

Adding Shortcut Dimensions (1&2) to a package:

There are a few ways to create Configuration Packages in Business Central.  The first is through the Configuration Package page and the other is through Configuration Worksheet page.  Through the Configuration Package page there is not an option to include Shortcut Dimensions in the integration.  With the Configuration Worksheet there is an option check box called Dimensions as Columns.  Below is the tooltip from that option field:

Specifies whether the configuration includes dimensions as columns. When you select the Dimensions as Columns check box, the dimensions are included in the Excel worksheet that you create for configuration. In order to select this check box, you must include the Default Dimension and Dimension Value tables in the configuration package.

Comparing integrated data vs manually entered data:

There are multiple ways to for data to flow into Business Central (Manual entry, Edit in Excel, Configuration Package/Worksheets).  If the data you are importing is not looking correct on the page you can manually enter the line on the page and export the configuration package.  You can then compare the manually entered line vs the integrated line to see what specific columns are populated that might be different than the imported file.

Integrating Historical data:

We don’t allow importing into historical (Archive) tables.  If you are importing Invoices and Payments/Cash Receipts those will need to be applied to be fully “settled” on the Customer/Vendor accounts.

Helpful Links:

Prepare a Configuration package

Importing Business Data from Other Finance Systems