web
You’re offline. This is a read only version of the page.
close
Skip to main content

Announcements

Check out the Community Spotlight Video Series
News and Announcements icon
Community site session details

Community site session details

Session Id :
Dynamics 365 Community / Forums / Small and medium business | Business Central, N... / it possible to create ...
Small and medium business | Business Central, N...
Answered

it possible to create dynamic columns in a Business Central List page (pivot-style view)?

(3) ShareShare
ReportReport
Posted on by Indira88 1,037

Hi All,

 Is it possible to create dynamic columns in a Business Central List page (pivot-style view)?

I have a custom table with the following structure:

Job No. Step Completed
JOB001 Estimate TRUE
JOB001 Planning FALSE
JOB001 QA TRUE
JOB002 Estimate TRUE
JOB002 Repair TRUE

I would like to display the data in a List page like this:

Job No. Estimate Planning QA Repair
JOB001 ✓ ✗ ✓  
JOB002 ✓     ✓

The challenge is that the list of Steps is not fixed. New steps can be added over time, so I need the page to generate the columns dynamically based on the data.

From what I understand, Business Central page layouts are compiled, so fields and columns must be defined at design time. Is there any supported way to create truly dynamic columns in a List or Worksheet page?

If not, what is the recommended approach for implementing a pivot-style view in AL?

  • Is the Matrix page pattern the only native solution?

  • Has anyone implemented this using a Control Add-in?

  • Are there any standard Business Central pages or examples that achieve this?

I'm looking for a solution that stays within Business Central if possible, rather than exporting the data to Excel.

 

thank you

I have the same question (0)
  • Verified answer
    OussamaSabbouh Profile Picture
    OussamaSabbouh 18,776 Super User 2026 Season 2 on at
    Hello,
    No, you cannot create truly dynamic columns in a standard Business Central List or Worksheet page because the page controls are defined at compile time. For a native BC solution, the usual approach is the matrix pattern: define a fixed maximum number of column controls, then dynamically change their captions, visibility, and values based on the available Steps, with Next/Previous Set actions when there are more columns than can be displayed at once; standard pages such as Analysis by Dimensions use this kind of matrix behavior. A Control Add-in can provide fully dynamic columns, but I would only use it when the matrix pattern is not sufficient, because it adds more complexity and JavaScript dependency. So for your scenario, I would recommend a Matrix/Worksheet-style page with dynamic captions and values as the most Business Central-native solution.
    Regards,
    Oussama Sabbouh
  • Indira88 Profile Picture
    Indira88 1,037 on at
    Thank you @OussamaSabbouh it was my understanding too based on the Timesheet columns that we have I was just making sure.I have implemeneted the matrix solution like in the TimeSheet entry screen like the Business Central native solution.
  • Verified answer
    YUN ZHU Profile Picture
    YUN ZHU 102,765 Super User 2026 Season 2 on at
    Can't you update the data when the page loads? You can simply choose not to display columns that have no values; that’s easy to control. In any case, however, the number of columns must be determined in advance.
    Hope the following can give you some hints.
    Dynamics 365 Business Central: Dynamic Visibility of Controls (Hide and show fields dynamically)
    How to change field captions dynamically in Dynamics 365 Business Central
    Dynamics 365 Business Central: How to show or hide subform fields based on a value in the main page
     
    Thanks.
    ZHU
  • Indira88 Profile Picture
    Indira88 1,037 on at
    That is a great work around.Thank you have implemented the same
  • Suggested answer
    Grigorios Mavrogeorgis Profile Picture
    Grigorios Mavrogeorgis 3,079 Super User 2026 Season 2 on at
    Hi, correct, page layouts are compiled, so no there's no truly dynamic column generation at design time in native AL, you're right about that part. Matrix page type is still the standard way to fake it, columns are dynamic at runtime through a temp record + array of captions/values behind the scene, base app has an actual example of exactly this pattern, Demand Forecast Matrix, worth pulling that one apart since your case with Job No / Step / Completed is structurally almost identical to Item/Period matrix logic.

    Rough approach, generate distinct Step values into a temp table or array, build the matrix columns from that dynamically at OnOpenPage, then populate a boolean/text array per row matching column position. It works but gets messy once step count grows a lot or user wants sorting/filtering on individual dynamic columns, matrix pages have real limits there.

    Before going the AL Matrix route though, worth checking if Analysis Mode gets you close enough without writing anything, it's available on most list pages now and does pivot-style grouping and column layout on the fly, might cover this without any custom page at all depending what interactivity you actually need (editing True/False inline, for example, analysis mode is more for viewing/summarizing than for data entry).
     
    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
     

Under review

Thank you for your reply! To ensure a great experience for everyone, your content is awaiting approval by our Community Managers. Please check back later.

Helpful resources

News and Announcements

Check out the Community Spotlight Video Series

Quick Links

Season of Sharing Community Challenge Winners!

Congratulations to our community stars!

Women in Power Builds Momentum

Expanding mentorship, skilling, and AI innovation

Congratulations to the July Top 10 Community Leaders

These are the community rock stars!

Leaderboard > Small and medium business | Business Central, NAV, RMS

#1
OussamaSabbouh Profile Picture

OussamaSabbouh 524 Super User 2026 Season 2

#2
YUN ZHU Profile Picture

YUN ZHU 399 Super User 2026 Season 2

#3
Grigorios Mavrogeorgis Profile Picture

Grigorios Mavrogeorgis 354 Super User 2026 Season 2

Last 30 days Overall leaderboard

Featured topics

Microsoft Training Manuals

Product updates

Dynamics 365 release plans