Effect of change global dimention

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Posted on by CU09071021-0

Hi, and thank you in advance.

I am in the process of changing our global dimension from Purchaser to Area. I have tested this change on G/L Entries, Purchase Orders, and Purchase Invoices, and I did not observe any changes in the underlying data. However, I noticed that some reports reflect the new dimension in their filters. Have you encountered any data changes or experienced any reports failing after making such a change? Also, could you explain what exactly Business Central does when changing a global dimension, as shown in the attached screenshot? Thank you!

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Dynamics 365 Business Central

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YUN ZHU 85,982 Super User 2025 Season 1 on at

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Effect of change global dimention

Hi, just add some info. If you are interested in the standard logic behind it, you can also directly view the standard code.

Codeunit "Change Global Dimensions"

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics365/business-central/application/base-application/codeunit/microsoft.finance.dimension.change-global-dimensions?wt.mc_id=DX-MVP-5004336

Thanks.

ZHU
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Andrés Arias 1,378 on at

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Effect of change global dimention

Hello,

The following links might help you understand the process.

https://yzhums.com/5983/

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics365/business-central/finance-dimensions#to-change-global-dimensions

When you change a global or shortcut dimension, all entries posted with that dimension are updated. Because this process may be time-consuming and can affect performance, two different modes are provided to adapt the process to the size of the database.

I hope you can help.

Regards,

Andres
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Mansi Soni 5,682 on at

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Effect of change global dimention

Hello,
1. Does changing a global dimension modify existing data?

No, changing a global dimension (e.g., from Purchaser to Area) does not modify existing data. It only changes which dimension is treated as global for new entries.

2. Why do some reports reflect the new dimension after the change?

Reports and filters tied to Global Dimension 1 or 2 automatically reflect the new assigned dimension. That’s because the system uses those global slots for filtering and displaying data, so once changed, any report referencing those fields will now show the new dimension.

3. Have there been any data changes or failed reports due to this?

By default, no data changes occur, but reports relying on the previous global dimension may fail or show incomplete data unless reconfigured. Custom reports or analysis views may need to be reviewed and updated to align with the new dimension.

4. What exactly does Business Central do when changing a global dimension?

It reassigns Global Dimension 1 or 2 to a different dimension code. This impacts new data entries only, and existing entries won’t be updated unless you run the Change Global Dimensions tool, which can optionally update historical data but must be run carefully with backups.
Hope this will give you some hint!

Regards,
Mansi Soni
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Sohail Ahmed 4,829 on at

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Effect of change global dimention

When you change a Global Dimension in Business Central (as shown in your screenshot), the system updates the field names used for Global Dimension 1 or 2 across all relevant tables, including historical data (e.g., G/L Entry, Customer Ledger Entry, etc.).

Key points:

Underlying data values don’t change, only the dimension field name mapping changes (e.g., from "Purchaser" to "Area").

The job updates all tables where Global Dimensions are stored (see Log Entries in your screenshot).

Reports and pages using Global Dimension 2 will now show the new caption ("AREA") instead of the old one ("Purchaser").

If reports or extensions refer to the old dimension name hardcoded, they might break or behave unexpectedly.

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