Dynamics Community Forum Thread Details

package configuration

Hello everyone,

I am currently migrating data from NAV to Business Central using RapidStart configuration packages. I have two questions.

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**Question 1 - VAT Registration No. and Validate Field**

I need to import VAT Registration Numbers (VAT Registration No.) for the Customer table (T18). My data contains VAT numbers from various EU countries (FR, BE, DE, IT, ES, HU, etc.) but some of them have incorrect formats in the NAV source (wrong length, spaces, etc.).

When I apply the package with "Validate Field" checked on the VAT Registration No. field, BC rejects all non-conforming numbers silently — the field is left empty without any clear error message.

My plan is to:
1. Uncheck "Validate Field" on the VAT Registration No. field in my T18 package
2. Re-import the customers with a small update package (only primary key + VAT Registration No.)
3. Let the client correct the invalid formats manually after go-live

My questions:
1. Is it safe to uncheck "Validate Field" on VAT Registration No. for a migration? Are there any known side effects?
2. Is this the recommended approach when source data quality is poor on this field?
3. Does unchecking "Validate Field" completely bypass the country-specific format check, or does BC still validate partially?

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**Question 2 - Contact duplicates during T5050 import**

When I imported my customers (T18), BC automatically created a contact for each customer. Then when I imported my NAV contacts file (T5050), BC detected duplicates because the same company names already existed as auto-created contacts.

BC prompted me with a popup for each duplicate asking whether to merge or keep as separate contacts. Since I had thousands of contacts, I checked "Ignore Table Triggers" on the T5050 package to bypass these popups and complete the import.

My questions:
1. Is checking "Ignore Table Triggers" the correct approach to handle this situation?
2. What are the risks of using this option during a contact import?
3. Is there a better recommended approach to handle duplicate contacts created automatically by BC during customer import?

Thank you for your help!

Categories:

Dynamics 365 Business Central

Hi,
On the VAT one, your plan is fine. Unchecking Validate Field for VAT Registration No. on a migration is normal, lots of us do it when source data is dirty. It skips the OnValidate so the country format check does not run, the value goes in as-is even if wrong length or spaces. No hidden side effect on the customer itself, you just lose the auto checks, and yes letting the client clean it after go-live is a reasonable approach. The reason it was emptying silently is exactly that validation rejecting the bad ones.

Question 2 I would be more careful. Ignore Table Triggers on T5050 skips the contact OnInsert, and that trigger is part of what builds the contact and its relations, so bypassing it can leave contacts not properly linked, not only skip the popup.

The popup was the duplicate-merge logic. Better usually is to not import the auto-created contacts again, or import contacts first / handle the business-relation link, instead of muting the trigger. Which BC version are you on, cloud or on-prem?

Glad to help - follow up if anything is unclear.
► If this solved it, marking it verified helps others too.
Regards,
Grigorios Mavrogeorgis
Business Central Consultant & AL Developer
Work: Gmsoft Limited
Blog: insidebusinesscentral
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/gregorymavrogeorgis

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